HaH! I'll bet there are other mothers on here who've been through this mill but I've never heard it mentioned so I thought I'd throw it out there and see.
My son, who is 12 now wears a size 7 man's shoe.

The trouble started when he moved up from a size 6 youth and we discoverd that many children's sections didn't carry sixes. I was told that a boys six was the same as a man's six but just try finding a store that sells a man's shoe in a size six...go on, I dare ya!

So now that the lad is about a seven man's shoe I took him into Chicago yesterday to hunt for winter shoes.

Of course he's thrilled to be in mens sizes but again, it's the rare store that carries a man's size much below a size 8, and quite a few shoes don't even seem to come in an 8!

Here is were we take a free fall into little-boy-machismo hell. In order to find shoes that fit (and the kid needs good winter boots, we live in Wisconsin for pity's sake) I have to either order online...a crapshoot since I find it best to have growing feet measured and to have Pete try running and moving about in his shoes to ensure a good fit that won't be history within a week of buying the darned things...OR...

GULP, I buy him a woman's size 8.5 or 9. Poor Pete, he's patient and easy going about it, and luckily there are lots of unisex styles out there, like the Merrells and Ugg boots the boy wears, but still he does sigh a little when he has to carry a shoebox with the word "WOMENS" emblazoned on it.

The thing is that a man's size 7 (rare) equals one of the most common sizes for a woman, and a size that just doesn't exist for a youth.
Any other parents of boys go through this period of being neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring when it came to buying shoes?

Jaysus, don't make him wear girl's shoes!!



You can order any size in the world from Zappo's, and it will come in two days, and let him walk around on them on the carpet. If they don't fit, you can return them with no hassle whatsoever. I sometimes return 10 pairs of shoes before I find one that fits. I have never had any problems.

Just black out the WO on the women's :)

My oldest son, age now 13, wears men's sizes now. I'm just shocked how much more shoes cost when you're buying adult sizes!!

I agree, Zappo's is the way to go!

For me, I shop in the girl's section, did you know you can buy the same exact pair of Ugg's slippers in a girl's size 4 (which is a women's size 5 or 5.5) for 2/3 the price they charge in the women's dept? What a crock.

My husband wears mens' 7 or 7 1/2, depending on the shoe.... Yes, they're difficult to find. We did okay getting Doc Martens at Macy's, and I got him Eccos at Nordtroms once. But nearly nothing in that size is worth looking at in a Marshall's. Oh well.

Thirding Zappos. They arrive next day. Free. Did I mention that they arrive the next day, free? Oh, and they have NEXT DAY FREE SHIPPING.

I am a Zappos fiend.

I do empathize with the whole baby-man problem. I deal with them every day. All I can tell you is that it's temporary, hun. Hugs to both of you.... :-)

My soon-to-be 11 yr. old DS wears a size 6; and we did have a pretty small selection at back to school time. I think I finally found his New Balance athletic shoes at Sears; JC Penney had no size 6. I recently had to buy him a new pair of wrestling shoes which you can buy a little larger, and I found them in size 7 at Dick's Sporting Goods. Dick's also seems to carry some other shoes besides athletic shoes--boots, specifically, so that might be a place to check if you have them in your area. Another store that surprisingly enough, has a good shoe selection and wide range of sizes is Cabela's.

I second Sears on hard to find stuff, including shoes. Once I was desperate for boys suit in a hurry. The JCP at the mall near me had closed, Macy's had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, but I was able to find a suit that would do in a pinch at Sears. Also, Famous Footwear had a great selection of athletic shoes in all sizes. For cheapie-playthings, swimshoes, flip flops, etc. Payless carries the smaller sizes.

I hear Nordstrom's is supposed to be good about carrying the less "popular" sizes so maybe if you have one around you?

LBC, thanks for the heads-up. That's really surprising. Why would stores neglect part of the shoe-buying market like that? My son is 10 and has just moved into a size 4, but I now know what to expect in a couple of years, shoe-wise. I'm going to print this thread... I'm sure the tips will be valuable.

And Alto, I think I may try Zappos. But how's their shipping? Any chance it's free?
:-)

Zappos is It. The S***. The Be-All and End-All. Da Bomb. The Living End.

And, I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but they have free next day shipping.....

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've had the little guy properly sized and we're going to be staking out Zappos.
As to cost, it's an ugly fact that men's sizes are hideously more expensive than kids sizes and the kicker is that when you have to buy men's sizes for a 12 year old boy you just KNOW little dude is going to grow out of them long before they wear out.

WAHHHHHH, the onset of puberty. Where-oh-where has my little baby gone?