SOLE Blog

On June 12th, 2010, Bonnie Gibbons said:

Got mine yesterday. They seem to have the same great footbed I'm used to. But the sizing is bewildering. They are simultaneously too big and possibly too small. I am a woman with a shoe size of 11.5 wide. Actually an 11 is just barely not long enough for me and then I end up having to wear a 12 most of the time, which is too long. With these shoes, being larger than a ten means I have to buy the men's version -- but a men's medium is supposed to be the same width as a women's wide. (I wonder what women with wide feet not big enough for a men's size are supposed to do.) Well, despite being men's width I can barely get my feet into them. My sport flips from last year felt incredibly tight at first but have stretched out so maybe these will end up being wearable. On the other hand, the soles go on for about an inch past my toes, making the shoes look way too long. This is something that bugs me about the men's size 10 sport flips every time I look down. Who on earth wants their feet to look bigger than they need to? Because of the possibility that they will stretch I am tempted to try a size men's 9 but they are soooo tight at 10 so I'm kind of at a loss whether to keep the 10s and hope they stretch, send the 10s back and give up the idea of wearing this style, or try the 9. I wonder prefer to be able to buy my real, gender-specific size in wide so that I wouldn't have this giant unflattering extra length beyong my toes.

On June 15th, 2010, Rob Nathan said:

Hello Bonnie: We're glad you like our sandals, but unfortunately with non-adjustable slides we have to pick one foot volume to match. This is less apparent with flips, as the strap doesn't cover as much of one's foot. The Slides match a pretty big spectrum of feet, but if you have high volume feet, as it seems from your description, then they may not fit. Mine don't fit me very well either as I have lumps on my insteps from some ski boots. The most important thing with SOLE footwear is, as always, the footbed. You should always wear sandals that match the bottom of your feet, so the arches and metatarsal pad are in the right place for you. If this means that the Slides are just too tight, then unfortunately these won't work for you. We would prefer to lose a sale than to have you wearing shoes that are uncomfortable. On the bright side, the 2010 Sport Flips, and Casual Flips, have a slightly different toe shape from the 2009 models, and you may find that there is less extra material in front of your feet with the new models. Regards Rob

On June 16th, 2010, Bonnie said:

Actually I have flat feet. My husband has high arches so he's not even bothering to try them.