I promise, I was a 7.5/8 shoe size! But I go shoe shopping today and I’m comfortably a 7…sometimes, even a 6.5! There are two theories to explain this:
Theory One
My feet are shrinking. There are multiple sub-theories to this one. Two of my favorites go as follows:
- It could be a degenerative condition associated with ageing…
- It could be that running in vibrams has increased the use of muscles in my feet leading to a leaner look… (see “Born to Run“)
Theory Two
Shoe companies are switching the standard for shoe size in a conspiracy to make me self-conscious. This happened to me with clothes sizes before. I went from a 4 to a 0 without losing a pound! I mean, I really don’t have that much to lose 🙁 . Express probably told Nine West it was their turn to pull a fast one on me.
Irrespective of the cause, the effect is incontrovertible – my shoe size is decreasing!
Happened to me when I started running. 🙂 That’s a vote for option One. Section B. Kinda. Since I didn’t use vibrams. Or minimalist shoes. It’s just the tightening of the arches, I think.
hmmm…. I’m a 7/7.5 but i can sometimes fit 6.5 although rarely. I think it’s your theory two. Although may be all your running did make you very lean in the feet~ 😀
Consider yourself blessed. I think most women would be self-conscious if their shoe or dress size went up, and glad if it went down. For theory 2, probably someone in marketing figured this out, and decided they could sell more shoes if their sizes made women feel petite. But they weren’t counting on Sikhu!
I wonder if our feet can get small enough to shop in kids shoe section…? Their shoes are way cheaper!
You’re a conspiracy theorist, Sarah 😛
Thanks for the positive outlook, Rob!
I’ve been having issues with shoe size too. Sometimes I need to go half a size smaller, for length, or half a size to a full size larger, for width. I have been running for the last year and a half…but not in minimalist shoes. So I have no idea what’s going on…