Hi all, I’ve been meaning to write this post for ages. And I am not even sure why, as I am fairly certain I am Beyond Help. Perhaps just looking for some commiseration.

Footwear makes the outfit. Indeed. But I am now in a situation where there are basically three brands of footwear sold in the entire US that fit my crazy feet, and in two of those cases, most of the time they don’t.

I have always had wide feet, but now in my 50s they are wider, and one has a small bunion—not really painful if I wear the right shoes—that my orthopedist says it would not make sense to remove. I have super high volume feet, my arches are very high and so I have to be able to put rather serious inserts into most shoes.

I used to be able to wear W, then it became WW. Now I am staring down 4E and shoes made for diabetics (which I am not; I’m not even plus size; I just have these size 7 flipper feet; they’re like little bricks). It is scandalizing to me how many shoes marked as WW are not wider in the toe box. Literally the only brands that really are are Easy Spirit (their sneakers and very generic, cheap looking casual booties; any bootie they make in actual leather either doesn’t come in WW or just is less wide when it does, a fact that makes me crazy) and a brand called Dr. Comfort. Dr. Comfort makes literally the only even vaguely dressy black ankle booties I can now wear. They are black suede chukkas and are quite cheaply made, and cheap—the insoles almost save them, but the sole is thin and hard and made of plastic. They are, however, properly shaped with a wide toe box and narrow heel.

How I used to love Munro boots! But can’t wear them anymore without pain. (I do think they’ve gotten narrower—many commenters agree.). I have yet to find a single tall boot I can wear—which used to be another winter staple. I have some old La Canadiennes that are almost tolerable if I won’t be walking too much.

Warmer months are better. I can still wear some (not all) Munro sandals, and I have these great Louise et Cie mules, in a few colors, that have a slit in the top that makes them able to “widen” if that makes sense, along with being mules which is a plus as there is always some wiggle room with that style.

Otherwise, I have literally gone through the entire Maryland Square catalogue and tried on more incredibly ugly shoes than I could ever have imagined, and they still don’t fit. I tried a company that makes custom shoes to spec; the shoes were beautiful but did not fit and were hard as rocks in the sole. I am basically ready to give up, and if Dr. Comfort, lame as they are, ever goes out of business I am in big trouble. But can this situation really be so extreme? Are people like me just expected to wear sneakers all the time? I used to love putting fun footwear together with outfits and have clung to a closet full of shoes that barely fit me in hopes some miracle might occur and they might again. Anyway, just curious if there are any fellow sufferers out there, or any stone I’ve somehow left unturned. Happy holidays to all!