Plain white sneakers for wide feet
January 8, 2016 5:08 AM Subscribe
I have wide feet (mens 12EEEE or 12WW). I wear sneakers most of the time when I'm not in motorcycle boots. I will not buy New Balance since my last two pairs both came un-stitched within three months of purchase and NB wouldn't do anything for me. I prefer old-school mostly white court shoes. Can you suggest a shoe for me?
My favorite sneaks are Adidas Superstars, Abdul Jabbars or Stan Smiths, but Adidas hasn't made any shoes in 12EEEE for over five years and my previous ones are worn out. Too far gone to be re-soled, even. In the past, Adidas would do a batch of wide shoes every three or four years, but they're overdue and I need footwear.
Before someone suggests it, the Brooks Beast is hideous looking to me. Will not buy.
The squeaky Nike Airs are my last choice, but I'm not fond of having to sprinkle talc inside them every few months when they start squeaking again.
Amazon and Zappos aren't showing me much. Am I missing something? Are you my shoe?
My favorite sneaks are Adidas Superstars, Abdul Jabbars or Stan Smiths, but Adidas hasn't made any shoes in 12EEEE for over five years and my previous ones are worn out. Too far gone to be re-soled, even. In the past, Adidas would do a batch of wide shoes every three or four years, but they're overdue and I need footwear.
Before someone suggests it, the Brooks Beast is hideous looking to me. Will not buy.
The squeaky Nike Airs are my last choice, but I'm not fond of having to sprinkle talc inside them every few months when they start squeaking again.
Amazon and Zappos aren't showing me much. Am I missing something? Are you my shoe?
Not doubting your experience with New Balance, but I've had the completely opposite one - - they last ridiculously long. Perhaps a different model might perform properly.
posted by fairmettle at 6:48 AM on January 8, 2016
posted by fairmettle at 6:48 AM on January 8, 2016
Dunlop have always made shoes which fit my big wide flipper-feet, I wore their Green Flash ones for years and they lasted pretty well. It appears that they have all-white kinds, you could give them a go!
posted by greenish at 8:17 AM on January 8, 2016
posted by greenish at 8:17 AM on January 8, 2016
Best answer: I have 7 1/2 EEEEE feet, so I feel some of your pain. The place where I have pretty much had to buy all my shoes for the last 30 years is Hitchcock Shoes. They have a wide selection of athletic shoes to choose from, including a house brand (their white "canvas casual" might be close to what you're looking for, although they have much sportier models). Their customer service is great.
posted by slkinsey at 10:52 AM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by slkinsey at 10:52 AM on January 8, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've had mixed experience with NB but haven't found anywhere else to get an 11 6E, so I still wear them. Do you have a NB store nearby? I would try to get something done in person if I had a problem with a shoe after 3 months. Mine usually last 6 months, but I figure that's as long as an athletic shoe will last for me.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 3:26 PM on January 8, 2016
posted by Grumpy old geek at 3:26 PM on January 8, 2016
Best answer: Drew Shoes have sizes up to 6E. Their shoes are orthopedic and some are more orthopedic looking than others. I have bought several pairs of shoes from them, they are very well constructed.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:41 PM on January 8, 2016
posted by doctor_negative at 3:41 PM on January 8, 2016
Response by poster: To clarify, my problem with New Balance was not the construction of the shoes. It's disappointing that they fell apart so quickly, but mistakes happen.
The thing that will keep me from ever buying them again, is that when I called in, and informed them that two pairs of shoes had fallen apart on me due to stitching coming apart, complete with all the information available on the boxes, so they could discover what had gone wrong in that manufacturing run (a bad batch of thread?), two different customer service people wouldn't even fake taking down the information. They just blew me off.
Will not waste any more of my time on New Balance. They don't care enough to fake paying attention.
posted by DaveP at 3:48 AM on January 9, 2016
The thing that will keep me from ever buying them again, is that when I called in, and informed them that two pairs of shoes had fallen apart on me due to stitching coming apart, complete with all the information available on the boxes, so they could discover what had gone wrong in that manufacturing run (a bad batch of thread?), two different customer service people wouldn't even fake taking down the information. They just blew me off.
Will not waste any more of my time on New Balance. They don't care enough to fake paying attention.
posted by DaveP at 3:48 AM on January 9, 2016
Response by poster: To follow up, I haven't bought any new sneaks yet. I've been wearing a pair of Red Wing 606 boots that were kicking around my closet. Since the weather's been sloppier than usual this winter (warm enough to melt more often), I figured new shoes can wait until the snow is gone. I'll probably get a pair of Hitchcocks and a pair of Drews and see how they go. But that's probably a couple months off.
posted by DaveP at 5:47 PM on February 7, 2016
posted by DaveP at 5:47 PM on February 7, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zachlipton at 6:09 AM on January 8, 2016