Zatera Ul

My off-and-on quest for pretty, wearable shoes in size 11 wide or extra-wide continues. Last week we went to the Mall of America with MFH’s visiting sister, and stopped in a huge shoe store there. I remembered from before that they had a decent number of size 11’s, all grouped together nicely, but mostly less classic styles than I wanted. This time, the shoes were all sorted by style, and I had quite a time even finding a size 11 at all. In the end, I only found three pairs in my size, and I didn’t like any of them enough to plunk down sixty or eighty dollars on them.

Then I sent off a question about how shoes stores are stocked to Hey Tom and he very kindly answered it. So now I know that there’s not much hope for me at the shoe stores.

I’ve heard of Zappo’s, and might give it a try sometime, but I’m not much of an online shopper.

On Craftster, I heard of people repainting their shoes, and I gave that a try yesterday. I took a pair of old black boots, that I mostly wear just for taking out the trash, and sponged on some green paint. Later, I gave it a very light coat of polyurethane; spray-on acrylic was recommended, but polyurethane is what I have on hand. Now the boots look like they’re covered in verdigris; almost too foofy to wear.(Do they go with any of my clothes? Of course not.)

One Craftster also had a link to this site: Make Your Own Shoes. This shoemaking process starts with pouring plaster into your old shoes to make plaster lasts for your feet. I am going to try it out, but first I need plaster!