Why do US shoe companies skip women's 10.5?

January 6, 2018 5:07 PM

I'm able with the help of the internet these days to find enough shoes that I'm not going shoeless or anything, but it's come up several times recently and I can't seem to find the answer: Why do companies that even make women's size 11 shoes skip 10.5?

Size 10s emphatically do not fit, and size 11s without heavy socks are huge on me--dress shoes were completely miserable for me until I found them on the internet and even now I feel like there's a super limited selection of reasonably-priced companies that sell shoes in my size, but I don't feel like my feet are really abnormal in any way for a reasonably tall person. I realize there are fewer women with larger feet, but I don't understand why not just a cutoff at 10, or at 10.5, or at 11--why do even places that'll make 11s and sometimes even 12s start skipping half sizes?

posted by Sequence to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

Perhaps they are in league with shoemakers who carry wide widths only up to size 10.
posted by sarcasticah at 6:12 PM on January 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Having the exact same issue, I hypothesize that it’s because the profit margin to make a 10.5 isn’t there (which you and I know isn’t true) and it could be similar to the problem of women’s plus sizes – the demand is there but no one wants to meet it.

My solution has been to find size 11s that run small.
posted by tooloudinhere at 6:22 PM on January 6, 2018 [2 favorites]

It's so frustrating. My personal thought is that the shoe manufacturers work with old data. Shoes in the past went from sizes 6-10, with most people falling in the middle, but fewer at the top and bottom edges. From personal experience, though, it seems like so many people wear larger sizes now. It makes sense, given increased height over time, if those things are related in some way. But I also see how larger sizes go more quickly, whereas the smaller ones are always out there on the clearance racks. Anyway, 11's weren't always as plentiful - those, and now size 12, got added on more recently, like an afterthought. So they never dealt with the half sizes. Now I bet those would sell just as well as a 9.5, if they were made. (Also - go-to brands with a 10.5 are Nine West, Bandolino, and Ann Klein).
posted by bizzyb at 6:36 PM on January 6, 2018 [4 favorites]

Oh, man! I truly sympathize. Since Naturalizer disappeared, I hardly know what to do with myself. 4A heel, 2A foot, size 10.5. Mind you the 2A has probably changed over the years, but finding anything that won't slip off my heels is a challenge. And don't get me started on length. I'm okay in summer, when an 8.5 or 9 often will be fine in a sandal (yep, the width is still an issue, I guess) but holy moly, the rest of the time is a real problem.
Try Dr. Scholl sport insoles. They have helped me. I just keep on trying, and reiker are my current go-to with an insole.
posted by Enid Lareg at 7:01 PM on January 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Once you get above size 10, they don't bother making half sizes because there aren't enough of us to make it financially worthwhile. Sympathy.
posted by Lexica at 8:09 PM on January 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Once you get above size 10, they don't bother making half sizes because there aren't enough of us to make it financially worthwhile.

I guess I should clarify a little that I know this in general terms, but I don't understand how there aren't enough 10.5s but there are enough 11s. If foot size is on some kind of an ordinary bell curve sort of distribution, shouldn't there be more 10.5s than 11s? I'm looking for something in the way of more specifics as to why they'll do those whole sizes but not the spaces in the middle, rather than just why the selection falls off at larger sizes.

I've actually had pretty good luck with the help of Zappos/Amazon/etc in finding enough to keep me in shoes--right now my primary shoes are Chucks which fit fine--but I've always wondered more about the specifics of the reasoning behind the decision, if anybody happens to know.
posted by Sequence at 8:46 PM on January 6, 2018

A related quirk, but I’ve noticed that women’s athletic shoes do often come in a 10.5, or at least way more often than other styles. I can walk in a major dept store and expect to find my size; that’s never true for non-athletic shoes, even if the brand manufactures them.
posted by bizzyb at 8:57 PM on January 6, 2018 [1 favorite]

Kid Ruki wears a size 12 women's shoe, and I've often browsed online shops that cater to transwomen to look for shoes for her. I've yet to find a single shop that offers half sizes at all. I'm a 9 myself, but given my feet's tendency to swell in the heat, I like to go a half size up for summer shoes, and I'm finding it harder to find 9.5s as well. I chalk it up to the general inconvenience of women's fashion, since the mister has no problem getting his 10.5 wide Sperry boat shoes.
posted by Ruki at 9:10 PM on January 6, 2018

I don't understand how there aren't enough 10.5s but there are enough 11s. If foot size is on some kind of an ordinary bell curve sort of distribution, shouldn't there be more 10.5s than 11s? I'm looking for something in the way of more specifics as to why they'll do those whole sizes but not the spaces in the middle, rather than just why the selection falls off at larger sizes.

There may well be more potential size 10½ customers than size 11, but that doesn't mean you'll achieve enough sales volume for both of those together to make it worthwhile investing in two sets of tooling. And if you're only going to invest in one set of tooling for customers in that size range, it makes more sense to offer the size that doesn't result in customers at the smaller end of the range having to buy the Cruel Shoes.
posted by flabdablet at 10:00 PM on January 6, 2018 [2 favorites]

Supposedly the average foot is now a size 9.... so eventually large sizes will become more prevalent.

Overall though I think there is basically an attitude that women's shoes do not need to be comfortable or fit well, they just need to be on trend and cute and women need to deal with the poor fit, pain, blisters, heel spurs and bunions. Older women, with smaller feet, are the main market for comfortable formal shoes, not younger women. We've done it to ourselves. I refuse to wear uncomfortable shoes anymore and I have big feet so I have a hell of a time finding anything to wear to work when I need to look "professional" or "dressy" which is ludicrous when you think about it.
posted by fshgrl at 10:26 PM on January 6, 2018 [7 favorites]

Oh the pain. I feel it. I ask the same question every single time I need shoes. I figure shoe manufactures hate us. Or it just isn't cost effective. But with average shoe size increasing, hopefully we'll get 10.5 shoes (pipe dream)
posted by kathrynm at 8:45 AM on January 7, 2018

I just want to point out that I don't think this phenomenon is common in european sizes. A half step in US sizes is about a full step in euro sizes. Thus there isn't the arbitrary illusion that a half size is "between" 2 sizes.

A 10.5 U.S. Womens' is a 42 euro, and I it's not like at size 43 there's a wider selection than at size 42. Maybe if you start focusing on manufacturers using euro sizing, it'd be a better experience.
posted by cotterpin at 11:03 AM on January 7, 2018 [4 favorites]

Count me in as someone else who feels your pain keenly. It's hard to find nice shoes that fit well, but if I need cheap shoes, 10 wides from Payless work well. (I don't normally have wide feet, but I guess that extra width give my feet just enough breathing room.) But I don't want cheap shoes! Ugh.
posted by pyjammy at 3:14 PM on January 8, 2018