Being a size 10 is usually a good thing unless it is your feet! UNTIL NOW!

Have you found that shoe shopping is disheartening? Do you fit into a non-existent footwear category (size 10+ and tall)? Welcome to my world!

Disastrous shoe shopping became the norm to me at an early age. I once thought I grew along the ground first (Size 10.5 feet) but then realised that there was no stopping my race toward the clouds either (182cm) – I could never find beautiful shoes for any event without looking frumpy in flats or like a skyscraper in stiletto’s.

I decided that if someone else wouldn't make them, I will either source or design a full shoe collection for myself and hopefully I can assist other ladies that have experienced the same problem all of their lives!

I created www.vertigoshoes.com.au to source and design stylish, comfortable, low heeled ladies shoes in larger sizes 7 to 14 and even bigger if you need them. NO GRANNY SHOES allowed – I said stylish! Why shouldn’t we have gorgeous shoes that fit perfectly without awkwardly increasing our height?

Large size ladies shoes for the 'non' vertically challenged!?  Hard to find? Not anymore! Checkout www.vertigoshoes.com.au or like us on www.facebook.com/Vertigoshoes and we will keep you up to date on new collection launches!

For any of you out there that can relate to my story, I would love to hear your thoughts on your experiences and what you would like to see in our range of larger shoes for women – please comment below. 

Karla 

What do you (and your size 10+ feet) have in common with a Supermodel?

While their waistlines are tiny – their feet are NOT! I am proud to say that I have one body part smaller (if only by a smidge) than Elle MacPherson. Elle MacPherson takes a size 12 shoe while mine are only a tiny (hehe) Size 10.5! Another fellow Aussie, Nicole Kidman takes a size 11.5!

It goes to show that your height and shoe size are, in most cases, proportional being that Elle is 1.83cm tall (again I am smaller than by an entire centremetre). If only other shoe manufacturers would realise this and create shoes with smaller heels to prevent us from hitting our heads on the doorway! Or possibly provide matching helmets?

FUN FACT - many other supermodels and celebrities also have a firm hold on the ground while being high in the sky:-

• ·         Paris Hilton – Size 11.5 – Height 173cm
• ·         Cindy Crawford – Size 10.5 – Height 175cm
• ·         Tyra Banks – Size 12 – Height 178cm
• ·         Uma Thurman – Size 11.5 – Height 181cm
• ·         Jenna Elfman – Size 10.5 – Height 178cm
• ·         Geena Davis – Size 12 – Height 183cm
• ·         Nicole Kidman – Size 11.5 – Height 180cm
• ·         Brooke Shields – Size 10 – Height 183cm
• ·         Liv Tyler – Size 10 – Height 178cm
• ·         Heidi Klum – Size 10 – Height 177cm

So be PROUD ladies that are sky high with long feet – at least we have something in common with supermodels :). Your Size 10+ feet are famous!

For a full list see:- http://perezhilton.com/2012-01-19-female-celebs-with-really-large-feet-gallery#.UZcQ77WB-8A

Sports people with large feet: http://www.elle.com/pop-culture/celebrities/celebrities-with-big-feet#slide-1

For shoes in larger ladies sizes with low heels www.vertigoshoes.com.au

Ladies Footwear Design size 10+. It’s not quite as simple drawing a pair of shoes!

All of my life I have had trouble trying to find shoes that fit! I am almost 6 foot tall with size 10.5 feet so it makes it quite difficult to find shoes! If I can find the right size shoe, they always have a giant heel which makes me way too tall OR if I find a low heel shoe, they only go to size 10 or they look like granny shoes so I miss out either way!

So I set off to learn how to design shoes so I could launch www.vertigoshoes.com.au and create beautiful shoes in larger sizes for Women (Size 7 to Size 14 – and bigger if you need them).

I did my Footwear Design course on the Gold Coast at the Australian Institute of Creative Design http://www.aicdedu.com.au/ and loved every minute of it! Designing shoes is so exciting. I created a collection of 12 pairs of gorgeous ladies shoes that were stylish and elegant with the added feature of a low (1.5 inch maximum) heel as I saw a huge gap in this section of the ladies footwear market.

Now that was easy wasn’t it? I thought so….. OK now to get the shoes made.... 

Searching for a manufacturer on the internet is very time consuming especially when you are not in the same country. There are not currently any Ladies Footwear manufacturers in Australia that could produce the type of shoes that I had designed. I then looked at China, Fiji, Indonesia, Spain, Italy and the list goes on. The time difference and the language barriers have all been part of the process.

In order to make shoes you need a ‘last’. Though a last is made approximately in the shape of a human foot, the precise shape is tailored to the kind of footwear being made. You need a last for every size, width, height and finding a manufacturer that already owned these lasts in the sizes I required was becoming almost impossible. So perhaps ladies with long feet, this is the reason that there are not more shoe designers specialising in these larger sizes for Women.

You also need to learn about materials to use for the upper, the lining, the stitching, the buckles, the heels etc.

I have now found my manufacturer and have had lasts made in larger sizes for Women. It’s been fun and I have come a long way from the first sketch of a shoe and almost ready for the launch of my new personally designed collection www.vertigoshoes.com.au – I hope you all love them too!

If you would like to learn more about the shoe creation process, I have added a video from Salvatore Ferragamo – enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ5JiGsw5O4

Now to research what my customers want or need! Tell me what you look for in design, materials and quality of a shoe and your favourite heel height? Let’s work together and create the exact collection that you have always dreamt of!

Karla