Why shoes do not fit is the subject of today’s blog. Have you ever wondered if buying manufactured goods from China makes a difference in size/fit for your clothes and shoes? You might have noticed for example that your shoe size seems to have gotten wider and/or bigger.
Why is this happening, the simple answer is that the mold, called a last, is not based on American feet. It is modeled on Asian feet which can be quite different from the way our own feet are.
From the Daily Mail, “As recently as 15 years ago, the factory foot moulds, known as ‘lasts’, were still made in Britain to a standard size.
But as retailers pushed for cheaper ways to produce their goods to increase profit margins and fuel our obsession with fast fashion, the majority of shoe production has moved to Asia.
And so one foot mould may be used for several countries.
‘This will result in a different fit, because a British foot is a different shape and proportion to a Chinese foot,’ says Rosemary.”
So because of this we have shoes that are not made for our American feet, how wonderful. And to make matters even worse shoe manufacturers have been also making their sizes a little bigger and wider to minimize returns. What is wrong with making them to their correct size and letting people get shoes that fit well?
Also I have heard that because as a population we are much heavier than ever before and this makes our feet wider. So I have to conclude that not only is the problem of foreign manufacturers, but also from our own problems battling our problems with being too heavy.
Those who think that big is beautiful are just fueling both a shoe/clothing fit problem, but also a health crisis which will end up costing all of us money.
It is time to start manufacturing shoes here in the USA again and to realize that cheap products are doing us more harm than good. Saving a dollar is costing us at least a dollar and a half in problems. So if you can find a made in America shoe, buy it!
We have to realize that we have been fooling ourselves into thinking that by moving our manufacturing offshore we have been doing a good thing for both the consumer and seller. Well guess what, we were very wrong!
By making something overseas we have a lot less control on how the product is made, on how good quality control is and on how the work force making these products are being treated.
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
