I swear I’m not trying to hasten the end of summer, but: I love leggings and sweaters and scarves (oh my). I also love boots, especially the knee-high ones. But here’s the problem: Most boots that you can buy off the shelf are made for people with skinny legs. It’s very frustrating if you have fat or even muscular calves. (After five years of half marathon training, I have some pretty big calf muscles.) I know quite a few women whose legs are much smaller than mine who have a problem finding knee-high boots that are wide enough.
A few years ago, I was at a Famous Footwear looking for some knee-high boots, and expressed my frustration to the store clerk (I’d already spent ages looking at DSW). He told me that when he was unpacking the boots for display, one pair was so skinny that he got his forearm stuck. Seriously!
I finally found a pair of boots that fit my calves, but I had to order them online. Ordering shoes or clothes online can be an exercise in frustration, given that you have no idea if anything will fit, if you’ll have to trek over to the post office to send the package back, if you’ll want to smack the designers for claiming something is an XL when it’s clearly a M.
Aside from having large calves, I also have small feet. Unfortunately, almost all wide-calf boots only go as low as a size 7, and I wear a 5 1/2. So, while I did find some cute boots that fit in the calf, I have to wear the thickest socks you can imagine so my feet don’t slide around inside. While I know not a lot of women have my size feet, I think it speaks to a bigger issue: that plus-size women are assumed to be plus-sized all over. Sorry to break it to you, manufacturers, but we come in all shapes and sizes, all over our bodies.
(And this whole discussion doesn’t even address the fact that women with smaller legs have a much better selection of knee-high boots to choose from, in terms of style, fashion, color, and price.)
The moral here is that, with some perseverance, you can find things that fit and flatter. But again, why aren’t more companies catering to my needs? Because they aren’t just my needs, they are the needs of the many women who want to wear some stylish knee-high boots, but who don’t have legs the size of a skinny guy’s forearm.
Also, is it too much to ask for a pair of wellies for a girl with big calves?
