Geezer
Senior Member
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- Sep 13, 2009
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Search says we haven't discussed this since 2005.
So, picking up on yesterday's "are feet getting fatter" thread: who still makes decent shoes in narrow fittings as a regular stock item?
My experience: until about 10 years ago, I could walk into Edward Green, Fosters, Wildsmith or Church (at least Church on Burlington Arcade) and walk out with a pair of D or even C width shoes. Even more before then - I still have, but rarely wear a 22-year old pair of New and Lingwood penny loafers in a C width.
The first three stopped that around 1999-2000 (I recall earlier being told in one of them that "it's for the Americans Sir: them Yanks have narrow feet" - clearly no more). This sale, I popped into Church on the Arcade to discover fewer narrow fittings than in years before (none in my size) and to be told "we're stopping doing them, Sir: not enough demand".
C and J still do Cs and Ds. But experiments last year suggest that none of their narrow fittings is on a last that fits my feet. Similar experiments show that Cleverley's and N and L "E"s are too wide in the heel. As for Trickers, give me strength - they are like wearing barges.
The EG sale this year gave me a pair of B widths that are snug, but not - I hope - too tight. The one pair of decent black shoes for sale in London that fit me? That's ridiculous.
What is annoying me is that I suspect a lot of today's buyers are (say) a D width, but don't know it, have never bothered to find out, and have been conditioned by wearing "athletic" shoes to equate proper fit with clumping about in shoes that are too big for them.
So, am I doomed to on the one hand keep polishing and repairing my old shoes and special ordering new ones? Or do others produce a D/C width shoe of good quality, or an E on a narrow-heeled last? Sargent? JLP? Someone?
So, picking up on yesterday's "are feet getting fatter" thread: who still makes decent shoes in narrow fittings as a regular stock item?
My experience: until about 10 years ago, I could walk into Edward Green, Fosters, Wildsmith or Church (at least Church on Burlington Arcade) and walk out with a pair of D or even C width shoes. Even more before then - I still have, but rarely wear a 22-year old pair of New and Lingwood penny loafers in a C width.
The first three stopped that around 1999-2000 (I recall earlier being told in one of them that "it's for the Americans Sir: them Yanks have narrow feet" - clearly no more). This sale, I popped into Church on the Arcade to discover fewer narrow fittings than in years before (none in my size) and to be told "we're stopping doing them, Sir: not enough demand".
C and J still do Cs and Ds. But experiments last year suggest that none of their narrow fittings is on a last that fits my feet. Similar experiments show that Cleverley's and N and L "E"s are too wide in the heel. As for Trickers, give me strength - they are like wearing barges.
The EG sale this year gave me a pair of B widths that are snug, but not - I hope - too tight. The one pair of decent black shoes for sale in London that fit me? That's ridiculous.
What is annoying me is that I suspect a lot of today's buyers are (say) a D width, but don't know it, have never bothered to find out, and have been conditioned by wearing "athletic" shoes to equate proper fit with clumping about in shoes that are too big for them.
So, am I doomed to on the one hand keep polishing and repairing my old shoes and special ordering new ones? Or do others produce a D/C width shoe of good quality, or an E on a narrow-heeled last? Sargent? JLP? Someone?