Helping big feet find beautiful shoes

Hi all,

I’m off to London shortly for a few days and hope to pick up some shoes while there. Apart from Chiltern St and Amber and Jade at the markets, is there anywhere else I should check out in central London?

I’d be looking for fairly casual styles mainly - comfortable for walking in and wearing with jeans etc. I’m a sucker for ankle boot styles but I know it’s the wrong time of year for that!
Would be lovely to find some fashionable/modern styles.

Thanks a mill,
Janine.

Just to report back on my London trip:

Chiltern Street is still going strong:

Long Tall Sally had some great value as I caught the very end of their sale. Shoes for £10 and the like, but most in 10 UK plus. The website shows some lovely styles and they deliver worldwide.

Totally Large Shoes was new to me. They have a smaller range, focusing on dressy styles. But they have some really nice stuff. I bought a pair of black leather shoes that would work well with skirts, but also with jeans. They are very comfortable for a dressier style. They look much better in reality than on the website, so I must get a picture up! I did get a feeling that this shop was less established than the others and may be struggling in this climate. I really hope it’s still there on my next visit.

Magnus Shoes is still the best shop if you want a pair of everyday, comfortable walking shoes/boots. They do a lot more besides, but they would not have as much of a fashion focus. I also came across the Hampstead branch by accident. This stocks both male and female styles and has a bit of a smaller selection than Chiltern Street, but still has lots of stock. Hampstead Heath is a lovely area by the way, and only a short tube out from cental London - well worth it to get a world away - I could easily live there!

I got a pair of black walking boots in Magnus. Under jeans etc, they look well because you can only see the front of the boot and they are very neat - my wide size 9 foot looks TINY!

Finally, Crispins had a great selection of mainly formal/dressy styles. They also specialise in narrow fittings. The shoes are more expensive in here, but the quality seems very good.

Aside from Chiltern Street, I found that Evans in Oxford Street had a much better selection than other branches I’ve visited. In particular, they had several styles in a particular range, which I can’t remember the name of unfortunately - they were high fashion styles and looked really well, so hopefully this may be rolled out to other stores. They also do styles in an E width now (rather than just EEE), so if your foot has been too narrow for their styles in the past, drop by again. Remember, their sizes are very generous. I’m a size 9 UK, but I would always take an 8 in Evans.

Finally, after Karen kindly tipped me off on my blog, I visited TK Maxx in Kensington. Unlike TK Maxx stores I’ve visited in Ireland, this branch had a few shelves of ladies shoes in larger sizes, mainly 9 - 11 UK. Most of these were Amber and Jade shoes. I found I needed a 10 in these, even though I’m usually no bigger than a 9. The rows of size 9+ shoes in TK Maxx made a pretty picture I didn’t get a chance to visit Amber and Jade directly at Greenwich Market, so I’ll have to wait until my next visit.

I’m definitely glad I made the trip, and I will plan an Autumn/Winter visit next time as boots and shoes for jeans are my primary interest. I have quite awkward feet, and one thing the trip brought home to me is that I need to try before I buy. I tried on dozens of shoes during my trip, but only came back with 2 pairs. Sometimes I needed an 8 or a 10 rather than a 9 too. So for me, buying online would not work that well, and I’ll continue to make pilgrimages to London. London does have other attractions: shopping as a whole in on an entirely different scale, and unlike Dublin, they have Krispy Kreme doughnuts.