Dear shoe designers and purveyors of footwear,

On behalf of transfeminine people (and the many cisgender women) with larger feet everywhere I want to implore you to make all your shoes in sizes at or above 13W. As someone assigned male at birth (AMAB) and someone who is tall and sturdy, my feet are not the delicate appendages you seem to think all women should have. I need my shoes to not only be long and wide, but sturdy enough to support my weight (see Kinky Boots for reference).

Sadly, whenever I search for anything remotely cute, I see a plethora of options size 9 or below, a few up to size 11, and the rare unicorns of shoes that come in size 13 but are too narrow for my feet. I know I am not alone in this. When I talk to others in my community – people who are transgender, intersex, tall, gloriously fat, or just blessed with nice supportive feet – we all share the common curse of limited shoe options.

If I search any shoe store online, I come up with only a page or two of results. My recent searches of DSW, for example, come up with single digits in each category for 13W. And God forbid I try to go into a store to try anything on; DSW gave me a blank stare when I asked where size 12 and 13 were. The only place I have ever seen my size on the rack was Payless Shoes where they don’t have a sign for my category but I might find a few ill-fitting, uncomfortable options on the end of the isle. Most of my shopping involves looking for obscure shops on Amazon.com and hope they come with good return policies.

Based on my friends group and family alone, I know there is a huge untapped market out there for larger shoe sizes with wide options. So please, when you invent all those cute heels, pumps, flats, and boots, scale them up and put them on the market for us. We would be eternally grateful.

Sincerely,

A shoe-loving genderqueer