I'd had a rough morning and decided I needed to do something nice for myself and googled stores that had large size women's shoes. Tarzana was a bit far from Pismo Beach, but I could actually try things on. So I gassed up the car and headed south.
When I walked into Chic Wide Shoes I was very warmly greeted by three wonderful people: Amira, Bill, and John.
Candidly, I'm very newly out to being a trans woman and presenting female full time in public. And I'm 6'3, 265, and don't have a clue what I'm doing with a lot of this. I just know that when you wear a Men's 14, it's already hard to find shoes. Make those women's shoes that aren't sandals or sneakers, and that search becomes even more impossible. I'd bought a few cheap pairs of shoes off Amazon, but none fit right, and they all felt like what I'd paid for.
I told them all this, and they could not have been warmer, friendlier, respectful, and professional. They asked questions about what I liked and what I didn't like, what I wanted in a shoe both in comfort and fashion. It really felt like the Disney princess treatment having pair after pair of really cute shoes in my size brought out to try on and pose in front of a mirror with. This was a brand new experience for me, and they honestly made me feel so special I almost cried several times.
I later learned that Bill and Amira own the shop, and John actually owns David Tate shoes, a company that specializes in wide and large size women's shoes. I ended up walking out with a pair of faux snake skin heeled boots, two tone black ballet flats, some strappy heels, and an amazing pair of hybrid sandals/walking shoes that might be the most comfortable footwear I've ever experienced. All were David Tate, which moving forward will be my shoe brand.
Shoes range from around $70 to $300 per pair from what I could tell with some other fashion items like purses and scarves. The pairs I bought ranged from $100 (sandals) -160 (boots).
As a small business owner I was absolutely blown away by the level of customer service. They earned my business with effortless grace, and most importantly; they made it easy to do business with them. Really something we all should aspire to. They all knew their products backwards and forwards, they took a collaborative approach to finding the perfect shoe and fit for me, and they take tremendous pride in sending customers away happy. I also got to hear some wonderful stories about John and an old friend of his, Lee Booster, providing shoes for trans women and cross dressers in both Los Angeles and New York. I could feel the passion and history from John. As someone in sales, everything was a perfectly executed pitch with genuine altruism for the client. I want to be sold things by people who are passionate about what they do, and I no doubt found the right spot.
There were pictures and hugs all around and I even received an amazing gift because they said I'd traveled so far. It was worth every mile and every penny and I will be back. I wore my ballet flats out, and later in the day when traversing IKEA I wore those sandals.
Bill, Amira, and John, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It was a truly landmark day in my transition, thank you. read more