Dollas, Dollas, Big Money Cash « Barefoot Tess’s Blog

Dollas, Dollas, Big Money Cash

July 14, 2008

Hi everyone! For all you newcomers, I’m Tess and this is my blog, “The Height of Fashion,” about my shopping adventures as a tall girl. (Scroll down to read about what I’ve been up to these past couple of days.) To kick things off, I’m hosting a mini-contest.

Here’s the deal – you share your most horrifying/embarrassing clothing or shoe-related experience as a tall woman. Leave your story as a “comment” to this post, making sure to include your email address somewhere. Best story wins a $100 shopping spree to my shoe store, Barefoot Tess! I’ll start:

When I was in high school, my cross-country coach gave me a pair of special racing shoes so I could run faster in competition. They were very flashy and colorful, so I just assumed they were women’s shoes, until I found out that he had actually purchased them for himself but passed them on to me because they were too big for him.

Pictured below is the $99 Corso Como ‘Fair’ sandal, just one of your many amazing options if you take the top honors. Let your creative juices flow!

Entry Filed under: Contests and Promotions. Tags: Contests and Promotions.

18 Comments Add your own

1. Brandi Mangum | July 15, 2008 at 12:35 AM

Bridal Horror

So I’m getting married in two weeks and I bought three pairs of shoes since I wear a 13W that I thought would look nice with my dress. Well I got the last pair today. I’m so heartbroken because I feel like it’s not fair to have to sacrifice what I want on my one day because no one wants to think about tall women. So as I sit here and type this I’m having the hardest time reading the screen from the tears.

I’m thankful that I have feet, but I really don’t understand why they have to be soo big. When I was a little girl I used to pray to God that he would shrink my feet and then I would lay in the bed and wait, and wait, and wait, thinking that he would come through for me. Being 8 years old and wearing a size 8 women’s shoe is no fun. Now that I’m 23 I’ve come to accpet the fact that I have big feet, but I don’t know what to do about my wedding situation.

Thanks for letting me vent!

B
2. Krista Mayne | July 15, 2008 at 3:18 AM

One of my worst shoe moment happened a few weeks ago. I was out of town and realized I didn’t bring some of my most supportive shoes. So, I decided to go shopping at the mall ( a rare event for me). I went to a store that I knew carried women’s larger size shoes. I looked around and was very disgusted by my choices. Finally I asked the salesman to bring me any comfortable slip on shoes in size 12 that he had. He came back with 2 pairs and they were UGLY! He must have known I would hate them as he handed them to me and made a mad dash to the next customer. I was pretty heartbroken. I vowed then and there that I will never purchase another pair of shoes in a store again. There are so many choices online that there is no reason to ever suffer that kind of humiliation again! Thanks Barefoot Tess for making such beautiful shoes!
3. Kacy | July 16, 2008 at 9:12 PM

From my early years as a medical case study in sudden and excessive growth patterns up until quite recently, I’ve had interesting forays into finding footwear to fit what once were considered excessively rare size 12 peds (not surprisingly, pants that covered my ankles were also difficult to find.)

As a toddler, I very reluctantly donned heavy brown orthopedic boots to help correct my tendency to trip over my own rapidly-growing feet. Even at the ripe age of four, I had a sense of disenfranchisement as I recognized that all my preschool friends got to wear glittery jelly sandals while I was restricted to brown boots in my leisure hours. Needless to say, my parents always were met with a screaming tantrum on every occasion when the boots went on.

As I grew up and my feet grew out in elementary school, I started venturing into the womens’ shoe department looking for size 8s. Third grade saw me in Rockport boat shoes, which were a far cry from the sparkly sneakers and candy-colored Keds that my classmates so proudly showed off. I had determined by this point that I was really angry that I couldn’t be “like everyone else.”

By junior high I was shopping in the mens’ department. I had given up on dreams of girly Dutch clogs in size 11 materializing on my doorstep in favor of Nike sneakers in a mens’ 9 that fit perfectly. I would have made it through these couple of years relatively unscathed were it not for being mistaken for a boy on several occasions.

High school found me nose-deep in mail-order catalogs. My choices were still limited, though I managed to find a pair of size 12 satin shoes for my senior prom. An extra-long custom dress made by my mother hid their dark, dirty secret-they were perfectly suited to their customer-that is, a typical customer who ordered from a catalogue that catered to comfort footwear for the elderly.

By college, I had developed a sense of humor about it all, and even accepted my “Bigfoot” nickname garnered from coaches having to install custom foot stretchers in order to get me in a boat and on the crew team. At about the same time when I was ready to adopt flip-flops for life, more footwear options started showing up-designer shoes up to size 12 in department stores, websites catering specifically to footwear for tall women, and suddenly, wonderfully, I had options beyond mens’ shoes and the orthopedic footwear of my youth.

When I discovered Barefoot Tess two years ago, I was positively delighted. And continue to be delighted by the depth and range of options that have transformed me from a girl who once wished for someone else’s shoe rack to a woman who truly loves taking a walk in her own (highly fashionable) shoes.
4. fullfiguredfabulous | July 16, 2008 at 11:54 PM

Living in Australia there are not that many shoe store options….oh how I WISHED I lived in the USA or UK for shopping purposes until the advent of the internet of course!!

I remember very clearly about 5 years ago when I was shopping for wedding shoes, walking into a well known bridal store tha was rumoured to have “larger” sizes. When I asked to see what shoes that had in a size 11.5 or 12 I was looked up and down by the saleswoman who then, in a VERY loud voice, said “I’m sorry madam, we only have NORMAL size shoes here – perhaps you could try XYZ shop on the corner – they have a lot of transexual clients who have big feet”.

I was horrififed and so embarassed – not only was I being told that I was not “normal”, but when shopping for my princess wedding shoes I was compared to a transexual (not that there’s anything wrong with that – it’s just not in my dream of a perfect wedding!!).
5. Leticia McLeod | July 17, 2008 at 1:51 AM

Most embarrassing story, I have so many! I am 24 years old, 5′11” and wear a size 15. During my freshman year in collage, I was walking out of my dorm for my morning class. As I was leaving the building two other girls were walking back to the dorm. Suddenly one turned to the other and said “Oh my God, Becky, look at her feet. They are so big!” (a-la “Baby’s Got Back” style). So the other one looks down at them and they both begin to have a big laugh, even as they passed me. After that all I could do is stand there in the cold and stare at huge, ugly, man feet. Thank you Sir Mix-a-lot! I won’t even go into how people used to call my feet boats or when my nick name became Side Show Bob in high school.

On the lighter side: Recently I was walking around at work when a young nurse behind me loudly said “Wow! You have big feet. What size do you wear?”. Normally this would have embarrassed me a lot and it would have ruined my whole
work day. However, I was wearing the Tess Classic Scrunch shoes in gold. So I proudly told her size 15 and continued marching down the hall. It makes a world of difference when you have cute shoes.
6. Mandy | July 19, 2008 at 1:30 PM

Skipping straight past all the years of wearing boys clothes because the pants were too short in girls clothes, and the horror of wearing old-lady loafers with high-waters, I’ll relate an adult-humiliation story. I think childhood stories are somewhat expected, as children mostly are mutinous beasts–even the cute ones who get to wear sparkly Keds

Living in New York City was a fashion-dream come true. After all, the options for clothing and shoes exponentially outdo every other town or city I’ve lived in. The best part: not everything has high-end prices, which was brilliant for when I was struggling to make ends meet.

As many know, Chinatown is the mecca for fashion knock-offs. Imagine my surprise when I was strolling through with a friend and we stumbled upon a shoe store catering to high-end knock-off shoes. I thought, “I have found Heaven.”

We entered the store, and began perusing the wares amid the stench of plastic-coated leather. (Nothing but quality, my friends.) An Asian salesclerk approached me, asking me in broken English what size I would to try. When I told her, she covered her mouth and started giggling, looked bashfully down, and managed to squeak out: “We don’t have such big sizes.” She then turned to the other clerks (all typically petite Asian women) and said something in her native tongue. They all started giggling and shaking their heads, saying, “No, no size.”

This was the closest I’ve ever come to feeling like I was in Seinfeld.
7. Alesha | July 19, 2008 at 2:30 PM

I was in Vegas with friends and had just purchased two great pumps at a Nordstrom sale (size 12) so I was in a great mood. At the time there were no Nordstrom locations near me so the store was a treat. As we were walking around the city someone stepped on the pack of my flip-flop and my foot pulled the thong out of the base… what I had left was a ruined shoe; totally unwearable. We were no where near the hotel, so I had to put on a pair of pumps (wearing shorts and a tee shirt, it looked nuts) and run through the mall trying to find some where to buy a pair of sandals in my size that wouldn’t break the bank. Unfortunately that was impossible, so I ended up having to settle for an ugly pair of sandals that cost me $100!! To top it off they killed my feet so I ended up buying sneakers (if your keeling count I have now purchased 4 pairs of shoes in one day!) in a size smaller just to get into something slightly more comfortable and a whole lot more flattering. When I got home from Vegas I gave the sandals and sneakers to goodwill. What a waste of money.
8. Catherine Schreiber | July 19, 2008 at 4:11 PM

I am 44 years old and 6′3″. At 18 I was 6′, and had been modeling for a few years, but my feet were size 12 and finding shoes was next to impossible. I usually had to take my own when doing fashion shows, so I bought them wherever I could. I remember being in a very crowded shoe store one Saturday afternoon and asking the salesman, very quietly, if they had any 12s. And he said, practically yelling, ‘Oh my God, you wear size 12? Holy cow, that’s HUGE! I don’t think we have anything to fit you, except maybe the BOXES!’ Snort, snort, giggle… Everyone was staring. The salesman was about 5′2″ and clearly hated me. He told me to sit down because it hurt his neck to ‘look that high’. The worst part was that he brought out these horribly ugly men’s clogs and made me try them on, then walk around in them. I actually bought them because I was so demoralized I couldn’t think of anything else to do.
Thankfully, things have changed, especially my self-esteem. I would never be pressured into buying anything, and short men – well, let’s just say I know how lucky I am, and I don’t let the ‘little things’ get me down. I am now a 12.5, and, even though it’s still tough to find pretty shoes that fit, places like Barefoot Tess are my own little slices of Nirvana.
Thanks.
9. A Friendly Reminder ̷&hellip | July 21, 2008 at 7:53 PM

[...] 21, 2008 … that our $100 gift certificate contest is still going strong! Simply share your most horrifying/embarrassing clothing or shoe-related [...]
10. Barbara | July 22, 2008 at 2:52 AM

When I was in college in the 70’s we used to wear those sun dresses that were rows of elastic on the top – you could wear them with the skinny straps or not. They sold the stuff by the roll at the fabric store and you just sewed up one seam. I think I have seen some around lately – the retro thing. Anyway, I was flying home from college – the plane was full of business men from Atlanta going to DC. I was wearing my sundress, pooka shell necklace, panties and flipflops. That’s it. I was seated in the first row of the plane and the restroom was in the rear. So, being 6 foot tall you get noticed whenever you walk anywhere. I could feel all eyes were on me, the only female passenger as I pranced down the aisle to the lavatory, did my business, and pranced back up the aisle like a model on a runway. A few moments later one of the male passengers tapped me on the shoulder and said “Hey toots – I don’t know how to tell you this but your dress is caught in your underwear and you butt is hanging out. Just thought you’d like to know.” I was the first and fastest passenger off of that plane.
About two years ago I was on the train to NYC and used the lavatory at the front and I was seated in the rear of the train. I was wearing a pair of elastic waste wool pants, white T shirt and matching black wool jacket. When I left the restroom and made my way back to my seat, a female passenger came all the way to the back of the train to let me know that I had a “tail of toilet paper” hanging out of the back of my slacks. I blindly grabbed at the back of my pants to find about a six foot long piece of tp that was caught in the crack of my you know what.. I burst out in hysterical laughter, thinking about my previous airplane experience with toilet paper over thirty years ago.
11. Daisy | July 22, 2008 at 3:52 PM

The worst experience I’ve had as a big footie was when I was learning to drive and had my first lesson with a new instructor following a test failure. Imagine a slightly nervous person, first time driving in a big city and then being met by a middle aged suited slightly sweaty cliche of a man who promptly screamed, “OH MY GOD HOW DO YOU DRIVE WITH FEET SO BIG?!”

I sort of stared at him at this point, and he kept going on and on about it for the whole lesson. “How do you do it? I’ve never seen a woman with feet so big! But you cover both pedals with one foot? How do you drive?”

Suffice to say I took up my first free lesson and then refused to go back for more. And I also gave a quite detailed reason why when the instructer’s boss phoned back …
12. Leticia McLeod | July 25, 2008 at 4:04 AM

(Not to be included in contest) I wanted to share this with everyone but didn’t know where to post it. So, please, exclude this from the contest.

I would say that there was one small but significant thing that has happened thanks to having big feet. Once a man, who didn’t know me well enough to ask this, wanted to know if my husband was bothered by my big feet. This made me recall the time when my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I were stretched out on the couch one afternoon. He picked up my feet and began rubbing them. I instantly pulled them away and shoved them under some pillows (remember, I wear a size 15). Surprised by my reaction, he questioned what was the matter and I had to explain that I was just embarrassed. He then rolled his eyes, picked up my feet, and kissed the bottom of both. It was such a great feeling knowing that I was accepted.
13. Courtney Bobbitt | July 25, 2008 at 9:44 PM

The womens basketball team were buying team shoes for that season. The salesman with all the different sizes was calling everyone up to see what size they needed to buy. I was last to be called. When I finally got up there he asked me “what size do you wear”. I told him my size and he said “woha thats huge we will have to buy your shoes in a mens size if you want the same shoes as the rest of the team”. I did want the same shoes so I ended up waiting four weeks longer than the rest of my team just to get the same shoes.
14. Lindsay | July 30, 2008 at 1:08 AM

I am six feet tall and wear size 12. I was travelling in Thailand with my boyfriend who has family friends who have a shoe factory and showroom, and he insisted that we go visit and I could get some shoes that I liked. Even though they supply a lot of shoes to America and Europe, I knew they wouldn’t have my size. We went all over the showroom of beautiful shoes, and sure enough, no 12s!

So my boyfriend explained the situation to his friends, who promptly came over and examined my feet. They did not have a mold big enough for them, so they made me take my shoes off to measure them and trace around my foot! In the meantime, other workers gathered around to look at the size of my feet and marvel over them, speaking in Thai so I had no idea what jokes they were making. It was mortifying.
15. Eleni | July 31, 2008 at 2:28 PM

Hello everybody!

I am Eleni from Greece and I am 1.86cm tall with a footprint of 12-13 US size.
Since I can remember myself I could not find nice shoes to wear and my life is full of stories with people laughing at me because of my height and shoe size.

One of the most embarassing experiences was 5 years ago. I used to play basketball and everytime I had a training I used to change my shoes to wear the basketball ones. One day I left the other pair at the entrance with the rest of my personal things. After a wile some boys came in and when they saw my shoes they started laughing and commenting that I was a transexual!!!! I can never forget the embarassment I felt.

Now I have learnet to live with it. I just try to buy nice feminine shoes and I adore high heels!!!!
16. Rochelle | August 24, 2008 at 1:10 AM

One embarrassing moment-
I was about 14 years old taking a group of my younger cousins bowling. The clerk at the rent-a-shoe section was taking down the list of everyone’s sizes. As I told him mine (size 11), he looked up from his pad and asked, “Is that another size or is that the sum?”
17. Susan Yates | November 13, 2008 at 7:49 PM

I came to your blog to enter the $500 Sweepstakes but can’t find the place to enter it.
18. barefoottess | November 24, 2008 at 11:02 AM

Susan – there is a link to sign up for the newsletter if you don’t already receive it on the newest blog post. thanks! Tess

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