Has anyone else ever experienced their feet shrinking?

Over the past few years, I've gone from consistently wearing a size 8 1/2 or 9 shoe to an 8...and even bought a pair of 7 1/2s over the weekend. The pair I'm wearing today are 8s and are big on me. This seems consistent across everything--tennis shoes, heels, flats, pointy toes, round toes. I've even gone down a half size in skates when I bought my new pair (from a 6 1/2 to a 6, same brand I've always worn). I know sizes differ from one shoe maker to another but since it's across the board for me, it doesn't seem like that's the case. Even in trying shoes on at the store, I'm finding 9s and 8 1/2s too big.

I'm 27, have never had any kids, and haven't lost any weight that could impact fit (i.e. feet becoming narrower), if anything I've gained a little weight. No concerns of osteoperosis, no pain in my feet.

Has something like this happened to anyone else?

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Not shoes, but clothes. I've gone down a dress size without losing any weight (well the odd pound but that shouldn't make any difference). I'm thinking manufacturers are making things just plain larger because they know how much people like to feel like they're smaller.

Have you strengthed your feet? I know when I did ballet in college I went from a 5.5/6 to a 5 maybe 5.5, because the foot muscles (?) developed and my foot was actually smaller because it was less flat

Also - definetly factor in manufactorers differences. I like the Merrel "Jungle Moc" shoe- and wear a 5.5 in it, Lands' End has a rip off and I'm a kids 3!!! (same size my Jackson boots are, actually)

As for clothes- I changed jeans brands and had to buy a pair that was SIX sizes (well numbers) larger than the pair I had on at the time.

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-Jessi
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I've had that happen over the years as well. I believe part of this is because I have started wearing more than 1 pair of thick sport socks and my feet were kind of, compressed as it were gradually over the years. Another reason for this has I believe been walking in slippers around home, where my toes needed to curl down to grab hold of the slippers. Overall I'm not sure. I do know my feet haven't continued to shrink in the past few years since I started walking around home more barefooted.

It's the manufacturers! They have definitely lowered the numbers on sizes on both clothing and shoes. I can wear a size 8 dress that would have been a size 12 thirty years ago. I've worn a size 6.5 shoe since I was 18, which is almost 40 years ago. All of a sudden, maybe about 2 yrs ago, I noticed that I can wear a 6 many times, and sometimes even a 5.5.

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I've actually been doing some weight exercises that have an impact on the feet, and now that I went back to freestyle and am jumping, I've done off-ice training for the first time. A lot of my coach's drills really focus on using the whole foot to push off on jumps. So that could have a little something to do with it.

It's just weird becuse it's not just new shoes, my mom has always been an 8 shoe, her shoes that she's had for a while used to be too small on me, but now they fit. And some shoes I've had for a while are now loose.

I've also gone from being a full-time college student to a job where I was on my feet most of the day (teaching) to an office job...


As for clothes, there is a reason I love Ann Taylor Loft...I'm a size or two less there than everywhere else (well, that and the clothes, size aside, just fit me well).

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I've had three kids, gained weight, and stopped wearing narrow structured shoes and started wearing flat, comfy "teacher" shoes, and my feet have "shrank" as far as the number on the bottom. I wore a 7-1/2 for my entire life, and I still fit nicely in those 7-1/2s (you never throw away a pair of classic pumps!), but, I now shop in the kid's department a lot of the time as I fit a 6 to 6-1/2. I've held the old up to the new, and they are the same size despite the difference in numbers. Now, they haven't gotten any narrower, I still take an A to a AA, so, that also makes me believe that there's a design issue.

Due to "vanity sizing," clothing sizes have gotten larger and larger over the years (the measurements of a modern size 4 dress are those of a size 10 in the 70's) but I don't think shoe sizes have changed. I know my foot has stayed the same size since 20 years ago (because my Japanese shoe size is the same and their sizes are actual centimeter measurements), and I still wear a size 7-1/2 or 8 in practically all U.S. brand shoes. So I'm going to guess your feet really did get smaller!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

In light of this info, it really does seem like your feet have changed.

ITA about the vanity sizing, but I have also found it in some shoes.

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In high school, at 125 pounds, I wore a size 9. Now, (the # of years later will not be stated) 50 pounds heavier, I wear a 12. Yup, sizing has changed, and not for the better. I was briefly in 10s but nowhere near the size I was in high school.

I always find it amusing that the models plus size stores like Lane Bryant use in their ads aren't actuall plus sizes. They're about my size, but if I were to go into that store to buy clothes, their smallest clothing size, I think it's a 14, is too big for me. I went in there once trying to solve the mystery of finding a button down shirt for a gal with a chest that doesn't get the button gap, thought they may have something, and got dirtly "that are you doing in here" looks from the sales people.

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

It's partly that, but also you may well have gained muscle due to skating and so on - muscle is denser than fat, so it doesn't show on the scales but does show in one's dress sizes. Although of course if the clothes you already had still fit the same way they ever did, this does not apply!

A few years ago, the fitness instructor at our rink got a rowing-machine for Christmas and used it every day for several months - she put on several kilos, but her trousers nearly fell off when she stood up! And she told me that when she was an active dancer, she was required to keep her weight very low - but some years later, as a gymnast, she was a lot heavier but very much thinner!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Yes i have experienced the exact same thing that i put down to skating. Before i started skating (about age 25) my feet were consistently a UK 8, sometimes an 8.5 in smaller "taliored/work" shoes. About a year or two after i started skating i noticed that some of my old shoes were too big for me and some that had previously been snug fitted absolutely fine.

The next time i went to buy shoes i found that i had to buy a 7.5 and even a 7. At the time i put it down to losing about 5 stone (70lbs) in weight in that time period. Now I'm 30 and 3 stone (40lbs) heavier than my lightest in that period i'm consistently a 7 (had to buy a pair of Nike trainers in a 6.5 when the lady measured by feet!).

I think skating did it!

Ant

I have had this experience too - thinking that at times I might wear a 14 and I'm pretty tall - "This place is not for you, Missy" remarked the salesperson...

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I was beginning to think that I was unique--earlier this year I went from a 7.5 (US) to a 7 (US). I now find that in gym shoes at least I'm going to go down to a 6.5 (US).

So how come my butt's not getting smaller?

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

Because you're developing/strengthening THOSE muscles when you skate!

I used to wear LB, and I got the looks when I was there. I wore the smallest size (yes, it's 14) but wore larger shirts because I had huge boobs.