…and turns out my foot size has increased! To any regular person, I’m sure this is normal and uninteresting, but to me this was actually a shock.
Where it begins
I have been a size 12 for the past decade. This hasn’t changed. I’ve never had the issue where shoes feel tight or loose based on the brand or anything like that. Size 12 just worked for me and I didn’t really think about it any further.
On top of that, I knew the styles of shoes I liked. Plain, neutral shoes that could go with any outfit. Black Vans with white soles, nothing complicated. I never really had to go to shoe stores. I could just order them online. This is what I’ve been doing for the past decade.
What changed
Honestly, who knows. Maybe weight gain? Maybe this is a normal thing that happens as you get older?
All I know is that my fiancée got me some Allbirds for Christmas that I really wanted, and they felt tight. They were exactly my size and they felt tight in the toes. For the past few months I thought I was doing something wrong with my feet, or that maybe the shoes fit a bit more snug and I needed thinner insoles. My fiancée told me that maybe my foot grew, but I thought that was impossible!
Fortunately, we have a trip to Japan coming up in November and I wanted to get some comfortable shoes for it anyways. So I went to a Fleet Feet, got on a weird foot scanner machine, and they told me that my feet were size 12.2, and that it made sense to size up.
So yeah
Turns out that wearing a size 13 actually feels super comfortable. For the past few months I thought that I was the issue. Turns out I was, but in a slightly different way. Why doesn’t your body tell you when it plans to change?