Thursday, February 24, 2011

Amy and the Mysterious Changing Shoe Sizes

My dear friend Amy is famous (well, at least in our circle) for rattling off what seem to be completely inaccurate, made up facts. Like the one about shoe sizes fluctuating with your weight.

"Your feet go up or down half a size for, like, every 10 lbs you lose," she said. "But I forget where I read that."

Now, I consider myself pretty informed. I listen to NPR, read good ol' fashioned newspapers, and  occasionally pick up a fashion magazine or two. And I've never, ever heard of this happening. In fact, I thought that shoes were the one clothing item guaranteed to fit, no matter what your weight fluctuated to. I was baffled.


This only encouraged her to make a mock of me at gatherings.

"Ensley's never heard of shoe size changing with your weight," she would say, shaking her head as if I'd declared that I still thought the Earth was flat.

Maybe the Earth was flat, for all I seemed to know about it. I fretted. I pondered. I analyzed. More than that, I became discouraged. If I can't one up everyone in the room with my intelligence, then what's the point of even being in the room? I just couldn't understand how I had never heard of this. Plus, I've just lost weight and I still wear the same shoe size.

Finally, the lightbulb came on. (Ok, it was a dim bulb. This wasn't exactly the most intellectually challenging conundrum my brain has come up against.)

"Wouldn't going up or down half a size just depend on...the brand of the shoe?" I ventured. "Like, at Target you wear a 9.5 8, but at Nine West you wear an 8.5." (This example is merely an illustration, since I do all of my shoe shopping exclusively at Target.)

Amy paused. She blinked. She shrugged. "That makes sense."

Indeed it does. It's comforting to know I can win even the most pointless of arguments, but even more so that I can still wear all of my Manolos Target specials no matter how fat I get.

If the shoe fits...

8 comments:

Adrienne Shubin said...

I actually did go up a full size when I was in my late twenties. I started backpacking and I think my feet flattened out or something from the weight of the pack and all the hiking.
It could also be that I was already a size 10 and would cram my foot into 10s at any cost because I was vain and really did not want to be an 11....which is what I am now.

You're right about shoes being different sizes. That's why it's important to read the reviews about fit on websites like Zappos. They'll tell you if a shoe runs big or small.

I have never had kids, but I hear your shoe size goes up a size when you're pregnant. So good for me for never giving birth or I'd be a 12! Can you imagine?

Shannon said...

My shoe size has dropped in every brand... I've gone from a 6 to a 5.5 sometimes a 5. It's frustrating. I think your friend might have a valid point though, my feet shrank after I lost my college weight gain.

Alyssa @ Life of bLyss said...

ah! hahaah. I love this. as I do every post.

truth be told, I was so dismayed every single time I saw your blog wasn't updated. call me crazy, but I ceheck way too often.

p.s. I DO know shoe sizes change after having babies!

Haughty by Nature said...

@Adrienne I think I used to do the same with shoes, but now I just own it. There's a Will and Grace episode where Grace says "I always waited to develop, and the only things that grew were my feet". She summed up my entire adolescence with that sentence.

@Shannon Did Amy pay you to post that? Just kidding. But seriously.

@Thanks Alyssa! I had some serious writer's block there for a week or two. Thanks for checking in! We still need to meet up!

FS said...

I think your shoe size can fluctuate. My shoes are always loose in the winter . . .If you're bloated from flying, driving, or sitting all day your shoes can seem tighter due to retaining water (possibly making it fluctuate a whole half size). Feet and fingers swell in the summer . . . my rings are always loose in the winter.

Leigh Powell Hines said...

I agree with you on the shoe brand thing. Maybe if you retain water than that could have some impact.

Your post was funny.

After children, my shoe size has changed a lot, and my feet have changed, and I just need new shoes.

Allison @ Happy Tales said...

How interesting! I know that my feet "swell" after I work out... so I'm sure they are a half size bigger whenever I get done with a run (and for probably a few hours afterwards)...also! My mom said she grew a shoe size (half size) when she got pregnant and had me... maybe it's related to hormones?

Kate said...

Actually, for some people, your friend is right. Because part of a shoe size is how it stretches over the foot, if you lose weight all over (like I do), then your shoe size may go down. I used to wear 11's, and while some of them are comfy, most are too big and it's 10's for me now. Some of it depends on the shoe, but some brands where I used to need more like a 12 their 11 fits beautifully. But some of my older shoes I've had forever, but used to pinch now fit perfectly.

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