This forum is inspired by Samatha Smile who is trying to persuade New look to make ladies shoes in sizes above a 9.

See her forum - A Call to Arms, here is the link
http://www.transtastic.com/se4/forums/topic/939/this-is-a-call-to-arms/view/post_id/10681

And then reading the comments and being myself "only" a size 8 or 9 I realized that there is a real need for ladies shoes in bigger sizes. So I did some research and came up with a fairly long list of retailers (online and high street) who either offer up to size 9 or who go up to size 11. Sadly size 12 seems to be the "glass ceiling" where choices become rather limited.

And I just got my Taillissime catalogue yesterday, and noticed that they have a wide range of shoes and boots up to size 45 (UK size 11). OK they are not the cheapest range around, but they do offer modern fashionable ladies footware in BIG sizes. They are part of the La Redoute/Castaluna group, so you order on line and they are delivered to your home or office to try on. If they don't fit then call the courier and send them back.
Here is the link - http://www.castaluna.co.uk/categories/new-in/412.aspx


So here is my list. It's not definitive but it shows that there are choices and that you ladies with larger feet don't all have to pay what Kate Silverton (who is a size 9) can afford.


1. Bon Prix do a limited range up to size 10

2. Shoe Tailor - up to size 9 and EEE

3. Evans do both on line and have shops in some places. I think they do up to size 10 (maybe 11) and with their shoes going up to EEE if you have a narrow foot then you can sometimes buy a smaller size.

4. Asda do up to size 9 as Helen said - and outside of their boots their shoes are always under £20

5. Primark - do up to a size 9 and wider fittings, though in my opinion they are more of a 42 than a 43.

6. I did some googling and came up with this site - Domestic Sluttery - which has looked at all the bigger sizes on offer from conventional sources, that's up to a 12. It seems to me that its a compendium of knowledge and at least offers some alternatives to New Look.....
http://www.domesticsluttery.com/2012/04/ultimate-size-9-13-shoe-guide.html

I also found some other retailers offering bigger sizes

7. The shoe Zone - at least in size 9 they have sandals, though above size 9 its sketchy, and size 11 is just wellies.
http://www.shoezone.com/Womens/All

8. Debenhams - only go up to size 9 but have 500 + pairs on their website in 9s. http://www.debenhams.com/women/shoes-boots

9. Tall Girls - goes up to a size 12 (UK) , not just flats they do heels for £39 !!!
http://www.tallgirls.co.uk/large-footwear/flats-low-heels

10. Crispin shoes go up to UK size 11, but they are expensive so I would suggest only buy in the sales and even then you need to think £100 plus
http://www.crispinsshoes.com/LADIES-SIZE-11-UK-%2845-European%29/

11. Brantano - they have 25 pairs in size 10, but all are black and none are elegant, size 9 more choice (just) and a 142 pairs. More practical than for a night out I would say
http://www.brantano.co.uk/ladies/size-9/page-4

12. Found another blog on size 9s and up, but its mainly focused on 9s and it isn't as comprehensive as Domestic Sluttery.
http://www.shoewawa.com/2013/02/shoes_for_big_feet_women.html

13. Shoesissima goes up to size 12 and whilst not cheap (about £70 upwards when there is no sale) it has a wide selection. Its recommended by Domestic Sluttery as well
http://www.shoesissima.com/collection

14. Medissa Shoes - seem to have a choice up to size 11, but not many pairs with elegant heels that i could see. Checkout their website http://www.medissashoes.com/

15. Cinderella - Irish site which has a range of heels up to UK size 11. Size 12 has a very small choice. http://www.cinderellashoes.ie/categories/Size/UK-Sizes/size-11

16. Katie Long - goes up to size 12 and nice choices http://www.katielongshoes.co.uk/

17. Feathers and Green - up to size 12 with elegant offerings, but not cheap http://www.feathersandgreen.com/

18. Totally large Shoes - limited range up to size 12 http://www.totallylargeshoes.co.uk/index.asp

19. Magnus - wide range of shoes up to size 11, some 12s, but are +- £100 a pair
http://www.magnusshoes.com/ladies-shoes/

20. After 8 Shoes - expensive but elegant and up to size 11
http://www.after8shoes.co.uk/collections/all-products

21. I have added an article from the daily mail on bigger sizes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239975/Female-feet-getting-larger-size-10s-demand.html

22. I have added an article from the Daily Telegraph from 2009 which points out that several celebrity women have size 9 feet. Sadly most of their choices could only be afforded by these rich ladies and only go up to size 9.
http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/galleries/TMG5652410/The-list-of-size-9-womens-shoe-stockists-is-bigger-than-you-think.html


I have ignored TG "friendly" sites like TransLife, as this is an attempt at a list where normal women would go, not fetish shoes. So everyday shoes and elegant heels and boots.

I do hope this is a useful starting point for those girls with larger feet, and please feel free to add other retailers and make comments as well.

As an American lady that I used to know once said to me...............

"When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping"


hugs


Pauline xxxx

A very informative piece. I still mourn the day that Hayway Shoes stopped trading. It was a wonderful family business.

K

Thanks Pauline for doing this research I am a size 10 and find shoes difficult to find

I need a size 10 wide and have only been able to buy that size a couple of times but they are no longer in business

Great informative and fully researched blog P. Asda's sandals are really good and come out around the £10-£12 mark, i had two different pairs for this years Sparkle. Shoe zone also are really good, i had one pair from there too, i think they was reduced to around the £9 mark. I've also had boots from shoe zone. I have found these to be a very good fit, and i would go as far as saying the sandals were probably a little on the big size. I've bought from Evan's bought only in their sale, as i find them a little to expensive. Hush puppies occasionally offer end of season sale item's, and i know they are expensive, but i believe i bought the same shoe as Jullie H, but in different colours, trust me if they get her seal of approval, they are good enough for us all !x

Hi Pauline, as someone who has size 12 feet, I do struggle to find places to buy shoes. However I have found a few places on eBay that do up to 12/13, and at a decent price, unlike some tranny friendly sites, and that's for the same shoes. Only other place I use sometimes believe it or not is amazon, but they don't have a large selection at the moment xxx

Hi Pauline, I am fortunate to be a size 8 but again thank you for another well written and informative article xxx

Thank you Pauline for an excellent article and some excellent research

As ever Pauline, meticulous and informative - thanks a million xxxx

Great piece of well needed research Pauline. It must be hell getting non-frumpy shoes in larger sizes. From a very fortunate size 7. xxx

Nice work Pauline. Rather than have this very useful work disappear over time as a Forum item perhaps it should be made forever accessible in some way as an important resource piece?

I've bought quite a few shoes this year from Evans. The have many modish styles and they have frequent sales and speccial promotions. Nearly all their shoes are extra wide "EEE" fittings and I have found their size 9EEE perfect for sandals & strappy shoes even though in men's shoes I have to buy size 11 !! For closed styles like a traditional court then I need their 10E.

Many of the other traders have the larger sizes but they tend to be for standard female sizes which usually are a little bit narrow for us girls who for some reason were born with men's feet.

Tall Girls (rival to Long Tall Sally) stock up to size 12 and I've had some lovely pairs from Shoessissima.

Alternative Footwear, although a fetish site, do if you look carefully have some nice 'ordinary' shoes but not many. I've got some lovely low-heeled maribou trimmed mules from them which I use as house slippers whenbreakfasting on the patio still in my negligee & gown, pretending to ne Lady Mary of Downton Abbey!

Hi there Pauline and thanks for crediting me.
This is a great collection of research and should be made a sticky!
(Admin??)

However, I should probably been more clear in my original post (Re - Call to arms) that my reasons for targeting New Look is the fact that their shoes are GORGEOUS. Much better than most high street shops in terms of classic styles and trend styles.

The reason I say this now, without intending to offend anyone, Ive been to about 15 of the shops that you listed, and didn't like a single pair with the exception of some of the flat ballet pumps.

Now I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, a great many of these large size specialists seem to believe that
-Big feet = Hundreds of pounds in disposable income
-Tall = You will never want to wear a pair of shoes with a heel height greater than 2"
-Big footed and tall = You have no concept of fashion.

If you get your shoes at these places and like them, more power to you, but a large number of younger, more fashion focused, CDs/TVs/TSs are not going to want 'classic' styles for every day use. They want what is in, they want high heels with glitter and spikes, bows, straps etc etc.
And unless you get them tailor made, you aint gettin them unless you have size 9s or smaller.

Thanks again for the nod though

There is a place which I won't mention, unless anyone knows Peterborough, where they do footwear up to 9, mainly kneehigh or ballet pumps, however, at Primark, strangely enough, there are size 9 ankle boots that I can get my size 10 feet in.

Has anyone turned a turned a blind eye to xtremefootwear.co.uk? they have any footwear in particular, up to size 13
This post was edited by Davina M at August 15, 2014 6:55 AM BST

...bananashoes.co.uk also do up to size 13

Court shoes and boots etc upto size 12+ -- http://www.alternative-footwear.co.uk/

I retain my original beef with lack of choice, but I just picked up some mary jane courts for my birthday from Banana shoes.
I ordered my size but they were a squeeze, emailing the shop was very easy, replies were prompt and on return they sent me a size larger out super quick - Cant recommend them enough.


+1 Banana Shoes
http://www.bananashoes.com/

Here's my rather belated effort. Not banking on a positive reply! But hope springs eternal! : -


From:
Trines Shinn

To:
headofcustomerservices@newlook.com


Dear Sirs,

I much admire your large range of trendy and inexpensive ladies’ footwear.

I have bought from you a number of size 9 wide-fitting pairs recently, both in-store and on-line, which fit me quite well but I can only consider some of your ‘open’ strappy-style sandals as, normally needing size 10, some of the sandals and all your size 9 Wide ‘closed’ shoes and boots are out of the question.

Footwear larger than size 9 is available from the specialist retailers such as Long Tall Sally, Tall Girls, Shoesissima etc but their styles tend to be ‘classic’ rather than trendy and all are very expensive, often up to £100 or more a pair. Evans go up to 10 but their heels are quite low and their styles, aimed more at the older woman, rather ‘frumpy’!

There must be a large unsatisfied demand for shoes of your style and price in size 10 and above which your company could most profitably tap into from the sizeable number of girls with large feet and from the hundreds of thousands of cross-dressing men and the many transgendered, of which I am one, who live as women most of the time if not permanently.

Were you to stock the larger sizes I believe you would be pleasantly surprised at the speed they would ‘walk’ off your shelves once it was widely known they were available, even if it were necessary to charge a modest premium for them if extra manufacturing costs were involved.

I would be most interested to hear whether you are prepared to consider stocking larger sizes in some if not all your styles in both standard and wide fittings.

Yours sincerely

Trines Shinn

I've received a very prompt reply to my email to New Look which I repeat below together with my rejoinder: -

This was their prompt reply, little different from the one Samantha received: -

Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2014 at 4:39 PM
From: ProofOfPostage <ProofOfPostage@NewLook.com>
To:Trines@mail.com
Subject: RE: Ladies' Shoes
Dear Trines,

Reference: 3281065

Thank you for your email to New Look regarding woman's shoe sizing.

We were sorry that you were disappointed with the fact our woman's shoe range only goes up to a size 9. Unfortunately we are not provided with information as to why certain stock or sizes are not catered for on our online and in store ranges. However, I have emailed our buying team so they are being made aware it is something that there could be a market for and that customers are requesting it.

We appreciate that you have taken the time to provide us with your feedback in regards to offering our woman's shoes in larger sizes and I hope it is something that we can look into in the future.

If you wish to discuss this further we can be contacted on this email or on 0344 499 6690 quoting the reference that can be found at the header of this email. Our opening hours are Monday-Saturday 8am-8pm and Sunday 10am-6pm.

Yours Sincerely

Francesca Radbourne
Customer Relations Specialist
New Look Customer Services

To which I have rejoined: -

Dear Francesca

I thank you for your prompt and courteous reply and note you have passed my email, or the gist of it, on to your buying team.

I wouldn't imagine for a moment that the buying team write back to individual customers but I really would appreciate it if you could ascertain from them what their thinking is about the introduction of larger sized shoes and relay their reply back to me.

I might add I am a subscriber to two large social websites for the transgendered and who between them have many tens of thousands of members. I am posting our correspondence on those sites and I am only one of a great many who are very interested to receive your reply !

Kind regards

Trines

I'll keep you informed of any reply!

If you haven't already contacted New Look along the same lines as suggested by Samantha why not do so now? Send to ProofOfPostage@NewLook.com marked for the attention of Francesca Radbourne, quoting their reference 3281065.

If you have previously emailed them, why not do so again? It couldn't possibly hurt and it could be your message that's the straw that breaks the camel's back !!

Hugs

Trines x x

From ProofOfPostage@NewLook.com

Good Afternoon Trines

Reference: 3281065

Thank you for taking the time to get back to us.

When any customer supply us with feedback it is greatly appreciated as we are always looking for ways to improve the business and supply our customers with the best quality and fashion products possible.

Unfortunately our buying team do not correspond directly with customers they will look over all requests at the end of each season to see the volume of prominent requests sent.

We have a very large transgender following so I feel that it is something that may well be considered in the future, Unfortunately we are not made aware of any decisions that are made until any new lines are launched.



But we thank you for putting forward your suggestions.



Best Wishes



Cassie King

Customer Relations Specialist

New Look Customer Services

Hi All
I managed to post new Look's last email before I commented on it!

I shall go back to them asking them to reply to my actual question (what is their buying team's current thinking about larger sized shoes) but their latest reply is most interesting.

1. "We have a large transgender following" is really great to see. This means they will not be upset to receive emails from us about women's clothing and

2. from what is said in their 3rd paragraph about noting the amount of requests they receive, the more of us who send in an email asking for larger sized shoes, the more likely this will happen.

So get writing girls - now! It will only take a minute and cost you nothing! The address to write to is ProofOfPostage@NewLook.com
quoting reference 3281065

Hugs

Trines x x

Great work Trines

Well done Trines - some great flag waving for those of you with larger feet.

hugs

Pauline xxx

This is my latest email to New Look

Hi Cassie

Thank you for your reply which I appreciate very much.

I was particularly pleased to see your comment about New Look being aware they have "a very large transgender following". And so you should have good support from this quarter selling, as you do, fashionable and inexpensive clothing and footwear.

Unfortunately the vast majority of transvestites are extremely secretive and nervous and would not dream of writing to you at all asking you to consider stocking extra sizes although they would be very happy to order them on-line, if not personally in-store, once they became available.

This rather militates against you and the buying team ending up with masses of requests, sufficient to persuade you that stocking some larger sized shoes would be worth a possible trial.

I could, of course, try and 'wind up' all my TG friends to write to you as I am doing and ask them to spread the word and get their friends to do the same but at the risk of possibly causing you some annoyance! Unfortunately I fear many of them would be unable to pluck up the courage to do so.

I have said previously I am sure there is a very large 'hidden', un-catered for and unsatisfied demand for inexpensive, trendy ladies' shoes such as yours in sizes 10 & 11 and which your company could very profitably tap into.

Is there any chance, please, of you being able to ask of your buying team the question I have previously put to you and that is, what is their current thinking about possibly stocking some larger sized ladies' shoes?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Trines

If you haven't yet written to New Look at ProofOfPostage@NewLook.com then, regardless of your own shoe size, please do so now while your PC's still switched on! Thanks girls. x x

Please forward this, Trines.

"I don't care, I'm a open transvestite who is neither secretive nor nervous. There is a business case for you making bigger shoes. Check out Texas, they have perfectly purchasable ladies' shoes up to size 12."

Julia Mae White.
This post was edited by Julia Mae White at October 19, 2014 1:28 AM BST

Thanks for the tip Julia but I must be thick or something! I've tried googling Texas Shoes (& Texas clothes) but all I get is cowboy boots etc from US outlets. What is the 'Texas' you refer to? x x