Show sizes

I have an issue with my current shoes, they are only any good for a short amount of time.  I have one beige pair with 8cm heels and I borrowed (stole?) a black pair from Mrs Stace that she doesn't wear very often that are also 8cm.

Whilst short distances are no problem for me - I can walk in the shoes without a problem when just walking between the car and therapy, or the car and a cafe.  But when I last tried to walk a longer distance I ended up with blisters. Mrs Stace suggested (well actually she scolded me for buying shoes based on looks rather than comfort) that I get some with lower heels, that I can wear and walk in all day - we've been looking for a couple of weeks and there were a couple of pairs that I liked a lot:

I'd seen both shoes in the catalogue that came through the door a couple of weeks ago, the beige ones look fantastic in the pictures.  The grey suede, with the material ties just looked stunning on the model.  I hate most of my body (who doesn't) but my ankles I'm actually quite happy with - at 7,5" they are smaller than average and I do like shoes that show that off.
The black ones just looked like simple classy low heeled black shoes, nothing too showy - just nice.

We went to the shop to try them before food shopping on Friday evening (Mrs Stace went with her husband as she was going to try them for me), and that's where it went a little wrong :)

Firstly the materiel on the grey shoes is not actually material - it's a very soft, very fine leather.  And when you see it in the shop as just a mangled mess on display they look much less impressive.  For some reason I think a mangled mess of ribbon would look much better in the shop than the leather straps lying in disarray.  So with that in mind I thought there was no point in Mrs Stace trying them on - I needed to know what they looked like on me, with the clothes that I would be wearing with them.

The black ones do look pretty much the same in real life as in the catalogue (or on screen) and they had our size on display.  Mrs Stace tried them but they were a little too small. but not much too small. This proved an issue as whilst we have just about the same size we don't have exactly the same size.  Where as I am a 39/40 she is a 40/41 - and so we did not want to take the risk of buying them and finding that they were still too small.

And so we left the shop empty handed...

Yesterday we went back - Mrs Stace and Stacy - so that I could try the shoes on.  So a second trip out for the both of us.  Much more stressful for the both of us this time though - we went to the town center of where we lived and had a much higher chance of running into someone that we knew. And the town where we live is starting to get very popular - it's grown massively in the last 5 years or so as the town center has gone under regeneration.  Gulp, for both of us.

Secondly, we were going purely for the shoes.  And so purely to go to the shop where Mrs Stace brought a pair of shoes last week - with a good chance of being served by the same person and so being read wasn't as much a possibility as a given (I may not look too bad as Stacy but if you know me then you would know me...).  And of course buying shoes is a fairly intimate - you do not just pick something and go to the cashiers counter, you have to speak to the assistant, ask questions and get advice. Gulp again!

Now the reason for the title (took some time getting there didn't it! ;p) - I tried on the black shoes and they were indeed too small, my toes curled at the end and they were too narrow.  Damn.  Then I tried the grey ones (also in a 40) and they were like boats.  Damn again.

The assistant came and asked if I needed help, and yes, it was Mrs Stace's assistant from the previous week and whilst she was very professional I would say yes she knew very well that she had served Mrs Stace and me the previous week...  Hohum, at that point there is nothing else that you can do is there?  I tried to put it at the back of my mind.

She brought out the shoes for me. 41 for the black and 39 for the grey, and did I feel like a nutter asking for two shoes with such completely different sizes!

The grey ones fitted fine, a little tight across the bridge of my foot - but the assistant said that was as it should be, as long they were not painful, so that the leather can give a little when you break them in.  The straps looks wonderful on and so they were a definite yes.

The black ones on display must have had the wrong size put on them though.  I tried the 41's and they were so big I walked out of them.  Which is such a shame as they were also nice looking shoes on!

So I took the grey ones, we went back to the car and started to breath again.  Another successful trip I think - or at least we survived :)