WIDE FEET

7 March 2021 | After about a year and a half of living in Singapore, our New Balance running shoes (and our extra pair which we shipped over) had taken a beating from the heat, humidity, sweat and rain, and we needed something new. We searched online for stores and easily found a New Balance store in VivoCity, one of our favorite malls. So, we ventured down to try on shoes and while we could find our size, all of the shoe widths were wide.

So, we wandered next door to ASICS, our old running brand. Same thing.

We checked online. No luck finding anything in the city and because we were still in COVID lockdown, shipping from the USA was cost-prohibitive.

So, we went back in and bought wide shoes that were just a bit shorter in length so we weren’t swimming in the shoes. And then we scratched our heads as to why we couldn’t find C width shoes. And it occurred to us that, of course, everyone in Singapore has wide feet. It’s hot year-round. Everyone walks around barefoot or in sandals. Even as a baby or child, you spend most of your time barefoot. So, unlike in other countries where you wear shoes early in life and your feet conform to the width of those shoes, closed-in shoes are less common here in Singapore. I have not seen any research studies on this nor do I have any empirical evidence to prove my hypothesis but I’m pretty sure the shoe companies already know this and, as such, only ship shoes with certain widths and lengths to Singapore.