Shoes

Growing up, I had weird feet, apparently.

Most shoes didn't fit well.  And so,  I wore a lot of Stride Rite.  (And as I'm writing this, I'm discovering that they still exist.)

Stride Rite had great customer service.  When we would go to get me shoes, we would usually go there first, and then walk around the mall afterwards.  This would let me partially break in the shoes and see if they were truly a good fit.  I can remember a couple times when we walked back to return shoes that were painful or causing blisters.

It was a big thing to finally be able to wear different shoes.  Sure, I had dress shoes, and my favorite cowboy boots, but finally wearing Nikes was great.

Nikes work well for me.  They tend to have a more narrow heel, and most styles have a sloped sole at the back.  This work for me because I have a narrow heel and walk heel to toe.

This walking style was reinforced by marching band.  Years of marching band.

When I wear other brands of shoes, the square back of the shoe makes a weird shock on my foot.  I tend to get blisters and/or weird calluses.

And yet, as an adult, I've experimented with other brands, most recently trying Skechers.  They've got some nice memory foam insoles, but the soles don't last, and the extra-soft insole makes for strange bike riding sometimes.

This weekend, we went to Nordstrom Rack to try to decide my shoe size for various shoe brands.  I had learned over the past few years that for 20 to 30 years, I had been buying shoes with growing room in them.  And I've had the same size foot since I graduated high school.

So, shoe shopping is still an adventure sometimes.

But when we got to the Rack, I beheld a lovely site: a giant pile of orange Nike shoe boxes.  There was an event going on.  And I got to slip into my favorite shoe brand again.  There's still the getting used to wearing a shoe that my big toe goes to the end of, but I'm working on that.

All Grown Up

What common phrase is it that we all suffer through as children?

"Don't worry, you'll grow into it."

I had issues with shoes.  I rarely got to wear a pair out, and if a pair did happen to wear out, then it was a sure sign of shoddy workmanship.

Jennifer talks about growing out of pants in a season.

And where does that leave me now?  It has taken years to be comfortable in clothes that fit, specifically ones that do not have room to grow into.

Now this isn't an attack on my parents.  I know how expensive shoes are, and as a necessary wearer of Stride-Rites due to narrow ankles and wide... whatever you call the end with the toes, I was not cheaply dressed.  We developed a pattern of buying the shoes as a first stop in the mall, then doing the rest of the shopping.  If Erik was uncomfortable walking or developing blisters from walking in the mall, then the shoes got returned (this happened more than once).

So, now I am becoming comfortable with wearing clothes that cling and hug.  I will admit that I still have trouble buying shoes without allowing for at least an extra half an inch of room in the toes.