New sneakers - finally!

After several months of looking in vain, I finally found me a new pair of "out in public" sneakers. And - as I've started walking a couple of miles most mornings - I got a pair of walking shoes, too.

After spending a fruitless afternoon at the mall and visiting several stand-alone shoe stores, I found exactly nothing for my very wide and weirdly-shaped feet. So I resorted to my old standby. I bought my new sneakers online. Yep. Actually, a lot of the shoes in my closet I've bought online. (And I pay top price for most of them, too. You do that when you wear a weird size.)

I've known for years that New Balance shoes come in widths from 2A-4E for women. Unfortunately, shoe stores usually don't carry the full range of sizes. So, I had never found a New Balance shoe that fit.

Well, I found the New Balance online store. They have a page that shows how all the lasts of their shoes fit - heel width, instep height, toe box width, etc. Once you know the lasts, you can look at all the shoes with your preferred last and width. Over a certain purchase amount, you get free shipping. Returns are free, too.

I ordered nine different pairs of shoes and tried them all, keeping the two that fit best. Unfortunately, my walking shoes have hot pink trim on them. They DID have the same pair in two shades of brown, but it didn't come in my width. I may die of shame. Fortunately, I'll only be wearing these on my early morning daily walks. ☺

These will last me for five or six years. I'm not hard on shoes and I don't wear them out quickly. I have a couple of pairs of shoes in my closet that are close to ten years old and I still wear them. Lucky for me as I hate shoe shopping so much.