I have extraorinarliy big feet and have enormous trouble buying shoes even in England. I have them made to measure at the moment because it is very reasonable here. So, to the question. Will I have trouble buying shoes for ladies or will I end up wearing men's shoes? If it is the latter, I will make a concerted effort when we leave Thailand to get some in the UK, we will be going on holiday there in about 4 weeks time.
Thank you very much in advance
Yeti (aka big foot)
I should add my feet are a UK womens size 9/10

I'm afraid I can't help you find shoes, but I did see an interesting documentary on BBC prime recently that addressed the same problem. The general topic was about exceptionally tall women and many mentioned they too found it difficult to buy shoes in larger sizes. Quite often when they did find the correct size, they had high heels. As you can imagine, the last thing they wanted was to be any taller. The reason for this apparent error in identifying the market is quite simple. A high percentage of large-sized women's shoes are purchased by transvestites, who enjoy the femininity of high heels.

Good luck with the shoe hunting.

Dan, you read my mind! Haha!

I wear a women's UK 7/ US 9.5/ CH 41 and I have wide feet to boot (so who am I to laugh at trannies, right?)

My feet are considered fairly big, so it's usually slim pickin's for me here in Switzerland! I have better luck now than I did 6-7 years ago, though.

So unfortunately, Madam Yeti, I suggest giving your shoe-shopping a go in the UK. Don't expect to find anything so easily here.

Hey I have the same 'problem' and haven't been able to find decent, big sized shoes in Switzerland (ZH) so if anyone knows a place... pls drop a line!

Maybe we should open our own store

This shop will solve all your prayers...

http://www.bigshoes.ch/

The tall ladies who work there also speak English.

Diem
(Don't forget to give me zillions of reputation points )

Thank you so much for the replies. As you can imagine (or possibly not),being on the taller/larger/less feminine side has caused major problems in Thailand. One of the most common questions has been 'are you a post op transexual?!) alternatively I have had people looking at my neck for the tell tale adams apple (or removal).
I'll either sort out my shoe situation in the UK or have a foot reduction done before we leave - either is possible

Heya Girls

I too am a bigfoot ( CH size 41) but I dont have too much trouble finding my size.

That being said there is often NOT the range in 41 that you see in the smaller sizes, but I can still find a smaller but reasonable selection in most of the major shoe chains like Oschner.

I also have the problem that I have a narrow foot and most of the time with things like boots I have to wear double sox or in the case of heeled boots ie knee high, the leg is too wide for my calves and so looks funny with a skirt .

Does anyone know of a good boot maker where I can have them adjusted? Such a shame not to be able to wear those beautiful boots with anything other than skinny leg jeans.... ( yes its a girl thing.. )

Hope this helps

Enjoy
kt

You could always shop in the mens section, well except for the heals, transvestite section may be hard to find...

I have the same problem! Most shops will only stock shoes up to 41. The only ones I've found are Coop city in Bahnhofstrasse - have up to at least 43 and Walder Schuhe by Lowenplatz.

There's also a shop opposite one of the entrances to Jelmoli (I can't remember the name, but if you go out of Jelmoli there's a pedestrian crossing immediately infront of you, and directly opposite there's a shoe shop - not Tiefenbacher) and they sometimes have larger sizes.

Tiefenbacher will order larger sizes, but you have to guarantee to buy it, which seems a little pointless to me.

Hope you manage to find something!

I have yet to try shoe shopping, It's one of my least favourite things, as it usualy means hours and hours of going round all the shoe shops in town. I hate buying shoes so much, I usualy buy hiking shoes just so I don't have to go for a couple of years.

I already failed at getting some snowboard boots, but that was only a half hearted attempt. I now need to get some lighter shoes for summer, as my hiking boots are getting too sweaty for the weather.

So, please pass on any suggestions of shops that would stock around the EU 48 mark, preferably good brands too, they are out there somewhere.

In the UK i eventually found a shop called "Open Air" which did excellent branded sports shoes, but very expensive, but I'll pay the premiun if I have a one stop shop.

I'm not a big fan of online shopping for clothes and shoes, as sizes and shape vary widely, and I never have time to make it to the post office for returns.

Bump,

Can we broaden the title of this thread! I also need big shoes, but I'm not cross dressing, honest

Try St Annerhof Co op in ZH Bahnhofstrasse they have up to a size 46 for women expensive though but a good choice i have also found larger sizes in Vogele shoe department up to date fashion sandals and shoes at reasonable prices.

Hey thanks everyone. I also have some boats (CH 43/44) and had entirely given up on shoes here. I'm always tempted to ask for the 'sasquatch' department! The other option is Germany--the shops I've been in tend to have larger sizes. Guess we Americans must run big--I rarely have trouble finding shoes back home.

Thanks so much matthew95 for the large shoes advice. I am now the very happy owner of a pair of boots from Vogele in Basel, where they have lots of size 42s. I am a size 43/44 usually, but found that a few of Vogele's size 42 fitted me. What a relief as I was just starting to get my annual "boot depression" where I gaze longingly at women's feet (not in a wierd way, just if they are wearing boots - which in Switzerland appears to be almost all women in the winter!) and then drag my partner, in vain, around far too many shoe shops just hoping to find large size shoes. I can assure you that my partner is equally grateful!

Have a look at : www.klm-schweiz.ch/shopping

In Berne, Schneider Schuhe, Schwanengasse, is specialized in very little and very large sizes.

By the way, "KLM" means here "Klub Langer Menschen".

I hope it helps.
FMX

Schneider is very good - they also have a mephisto store across the street from their main store and they have at least 40, 41 and possibly higher for women.

best
e.

Hey everyone,
This is my first post since joining but i've been thoroughly enjoying reading various threads for a little while now... Not too good with technology but a friend recommended this forum and i've been hooked ever since. I'm leaving Sydney, Australia for Lausanne in one week to study on exchange for 2008 and i'm sooo incredibly excited... I've been reading up on all the ins and outs of la suisse and i'm scared i'm going to fall in love with the place and never want to go back home hehe! Its just so cute and quaint

The reason i'm posting actually is to ask for some advice... I'm pretty tall - 5'10.5ish and i have pretty 'long' feet - i'm usually a size 11-11.5 in Aus which i think may translate to a 42-43 in European sizes. I've found some fantastic specialist shoe stores back here but i'll need to buy boots for the Swiss winter (Australian boots are pretty crap) - does anyone know of any shoe stores in Switzerland which sell bigger shoes for women?? I'm worried that i'm going to have to always wear 3 pairs of socks...

Any info would be very much appreciated!!!! Thanks in advance

Now really sure where you will get these boots. Also you need to know that an 11-11.5 is actually a 44 in Europe. The standard shoes for women go to 42 sometimes 43...

What is good news for you is that cross-dressing is relative to many countries quite popular here so you can find shoes for "ladies" up to size 47...

Check out http://listings.ebay.de/_W0QQsocmdZL...6fsoo%3D2&fgtp=

True, my girlfriend sells her old shoes on ricardo and ebay. 100% of the time they have been bought by men. They admitted to having a shoe fetish, or being of a certain persuasion.

Thats awesome!!!! How funny, i can't believe that. I never really thought about it before, i guess cross dressing isn't as big in Aus as it is in Europe or maybe its because the scene is just more underground. This has been a great thread, shame some of the sites are in german as i only speak french. But c'est la vie eh? Thanks!