Girls thread cont.

I was looking round the sale section of a shoe website earlier, and had specified some other search term which took away the choice of men's vs women's, and everything I liked enough to click on turned out to be a man's shoe, and therefore only start at size 6, whereas I'm a size 5. Hmf.

(and because of my wide feet I am actually a size 3 lengthways but a 5 width-wise or something, so going up another size = bad fit. and also the skinny man-calves thing, my fat ankles often don't even fit into women's boots. and argh etc.)

i have similar boot issues -- i look for boots that lace up.

I have exactly one pair of boots that I can actually lace up over my fat calves. It's so frustrating. But at least I have big feet, it must be so annoying that they're all just one size too big.

Which is why I'm so annoyed that my original pair of motorcycle boots died - they were German manboots for fat old man bikers which actually fit my calves! And then the heel on one of them got all squishy and weird after breaking on some sharp Cornish rocks. I have tried cutting the other heel in the same way to get it to collapse down so at least they're at the same height, but no dice.

German biker boots sound awesome. Actually I'm reminded that the army surplus shop has sturdy-looking boots in a wide range of sizes. I think I even tried some on before and found that they fitted. Must go back.

yeah, try there! - i got mine at military surplus stores

Actually I should go to the FORUM MAN SHOP, which sounds like it should be a gay baths, but it's not, even thought it's right next to a gay baths, it's a shop selling steel toed boots and high visibility gear for ppl who work on actual trains and construction crews and the like. THEY probably have boots that will be indestructible, though I do get odd looks / completely ignored by sales people if I go in there.

that also sounds like a good bet! i had good luck in a similar type of place in finding sturdy work pants for doing construction that fit me.

Oh god I hate shoe shopping. I went in the posh shoe shop and they had ~beautiful~ brown engineering type boots, but they were £135 which is too steep for my blood. But then I went to the FORUM MENS PROTECTIVE FOOTGEAR shop which was brilliant, loads of amazing shoes in the more reasonable £30 - £60 range and I was just trying to figure out which kind of steel toed boot to buy when the little man at the desk announced he was closing for lunch and I should come back in an hour. Sigh. Which I might not do, I might just lie here and look at that bottle of whisky until I give in and start drinking it.

Problem is, what I really really want is an "engineers boot" or "motorcycle boot" with buckles or steel hoops and straps for pulling up by. And I saw the PERFECT pair in Penzance for only fifty pounds!!!!! but I didn't buy them because I didn't want to have to lug them home on the train.

But these are all either lace-ups or chelsea boot style with the elasticated web on the sides - now I love me some chelsea boots, but I know those elasticated webs get holes in them and give way after about a year.

re: SHOES/boots, i just need to say that i bought Blundstones in the fall and they make me wish i'd been wearing them my whole life. i wore docs very often from age 14-26 (plus more girlie shoes occasionally) and docs are far less comfortable than blundstones (apparently there is some even 'better' similar shoe that can only be go in australia but i don't know what that is). anyway, what i'm saying is that if you want a black boot and walk a lot and have wide feet you should get these boots because they are awesome.

the elastic webs on the sides of blundstones take forever to fall apart - i know people who have had their boots for 10+ years

and they are unisex.
that is my sales pitch! lol

Well, I ended up getting a pair of very chunky charcoal brown suede lace-up steel-toed work boots of some brand I have now forgotten. I had to try on about 3 different brands to get one that was the right length for my foot without being *too* wide (which is a problem I'd much rather have than too narrow.) But the funny thing is, it has been so long since I bought a pair of proper boots (i.e. not rubber boots or stupid flimsy vegan boots made of hemp and cardboard) that I forgot, with steel toed boots, you don't break them in, so much as they break you in, and my ankles got ripped to shreds before I taped them up. I know this will pass. So I'm pretty happy.

Might still go to Camden and see if I can find motorcycle/engineers boots, or I might persist with trying to break the heel of the left boot of the pair I have.