Gabrielle (@gabrielle.lisa.collard), one of our longest clients of the brand boldly shares her experience with plus sized fashion, the endless hunt for inclusive, comfortable footwear and how Wydr Studios has helped end her footwear search after 40 years of looking.
Hi, my name is Gabrielle, I'm a Canadian freelance journalist, content creator and huge Wydr Studios fan.
Since I was a child, I've always had the hardest time finding shoes (especially cute shoes!) that fit me. I have chubby feet that are also extremely flat and wide. I often have to wear orthotic insoles for some arch support as a result of my flat feet.
Combined, all of these factors make it virtually impossible for me to find any sort of shoes that fit.
Usually, I have to size up by 1 or 1½ sizes!
This helps me accommodate the width and girth of my foot. However, this creates a new problem where my shoes are far too long. Proportionally, it looks strange and it also isn't the most comfortable to walk in.
Even when I do find wide fit shoes from other brands where everything else might fit, the sole of the shoe always feels very narrow and doesn't ever give me the support I need. Slipping my orthotic insoles in will deform the shape of the shoe very quickly as it is wider than the shoe itself, plus, my feet don't feel as supported.
I never owned shoes where the soles were designed for plus sized feet.
One of the big things that attracted me to Wydr Studios was because they offered exactly what I was looking for: the soles of their shoes were designed wider and larger for wide width feet in particular. It might sound like a small detail, but this made the biggest impact on my wearing experience, as it had enough space for my foot to rest on for once!
The first pair I got were the Jolene Embroidered Ankle Cowboy Boots which I wear to this day and I've had them for almost a year now. The second I put them on changed everything for me. I didn't feel like my feet were rotating inwards. I felt really stable and so much more comfortable than what I would normally wear. Everything about the shoe was well-constructed and supported me in all the right places.
I got a size US 9 from Wydr Studios – typically, I would have had to buy a US 10.
Since it was wider and constructed for my foot type, it fit wonderfully right away in the US 9. I've had several more pairs since then, and all of them fit, not only in the toe area, but for the overall space that my actual foot needs. The sole is wider and the ankle is made bigger too.
I'm 40 now, and it's the first time in my life that I actually own several pairs of really good looking, comfortable shoes that I can wear with a bunch of different outfits.
I've always been into fashion, but as a plus size person, it was hard finding stuff I could and wanted to wear.
Lately, that hasn't gotten much better. Shoes were always the low point of all of my outfits because I'm all about comfort, and till now, I couldn't find any that worked well for me. I don't want to buy clothing that I'm not going to wear just because they look good in a picture for a second. That's just not how I roll.
Wydr Studios allowed me to own my very first pair of ballerina flats, ever.
I was a teenager in the late 90s, early 2000s when ballet flats were all the rage and I could not wear a single pair of them because my foot would look like a football. I would squish them into the shoe and it would spill out from the sides – it just didn't look good at all.
The pair I have now is so well constructed that I can just slip my foot into it and it doesn't even look big, even though it has an extra layer of cushioning in the sole! It just looks like a foot wearing a little dainty ballet flat, which is not something I was ever able to explore.
Finding high heels was also a really complicated journey.
With my foot being wider and my weight being heavier, I need a shoe that I could hold my balance in, and trust that it wasn't going to break. So I still need something pretty sturdy. Now, I have a few pairs of heels from Wydr Studios that I can genuinely wear all day, instead of feeling like I have to tiptoe and be cautious of them breaking. Their heels are wider in the toe area, the arch and the heel is also solidly constructed, all made possibly by custom-made shoe molds tailored to wide feet.
It has made a world of difference – just remember to measure your feet!
Footwear is probably something a lot of people take for granted, but when you're not being served properly by an industry, you end up making do with what you have. So it's very exciting for me, and for a lot of other people in my situation to finally have so many styles and looks to experiment with.
I've been having a ton of fun since I discovered Wydr Studios. I am a die-hard fan, a proud ambassador and I could not love this brand more! They are offering something that we as a community desperately need, so, please take the time to measure your foot well and follow their size guide to work out your size. If you're not sure, you can always drop the team a message and hopefully you're going to be as happy as I am!
We hope Gabrielle's story inspires and assists others in their quest for the perfect pair of shoes. To learn more about her experience, you can watch the full testimonial video here: https://youtu.be/gKkczFE4u8I.
Thank you for reading, and we look forward to Wydr Studios being part of your journey toward comfort and style.
Need help finding your size? No problem, just drop the team an email at support@wydrstudios.com with your measurements following our size guide.
