The hidden challenges of making Women’s Shoes in larger sizes (and why they’re worth it).

If you’ve ever hunted endlessly for size 9 shoes, or anything bigger, you’ve probably wondered why — when there are Facebook groups brimming with thousands of women desperate for large-size women’s shoes — do so few brands acknowledge that we exist?

Before I was a founder, I was an indignant consumer. I spent years writing about the fashion experience of tall women on my former blog, All the Tall Things, and was utterly perplexed by the lack of large-sized footwear available, especially given what I knew of the potential market. 

In 2018, armed with a thousand survey responses from fellow tall women looking for size 9, size 10, size 11 and size 12 women’s shoes, I boarded a plane to visit factories that might help. Surely it would be simple. I’ll make pretty shoes, but… bigger. How hard could it be?

Spoiler alert: It was pretty bloody hard. 

It took nearly 2 years to get Otto + Ivy off the ground, and the hurdles along the way seemed endless. So today, I’m lifting the curtain on some of the challenges — and answering a few of the questions I see all the time in the world of large size women’s shoes.

Why don’t high street brands just offer larger sizes?

You’d think that the big retailers — who already make thousands of shoes per style — could easily add a few extra larger sizes, right? But the reality is: high street brands will always focus on their biggest, most lucrative market. In footwear, that’s the size 6s. Making size 9 women’s shoes or size 10 shoes costs more, even just in materials. And because retailers need to price all sizes equally, the higher cost of producing larger sizes would drive up the price of their smaller, more popular sizes too — making them less competitive. So they stick to what sells fastest, and leave those of us needing size 9 shoes (and beyond) out in the cold. Urgh. 

But men’s shoes are the same size. Why aren't they the same price to make?

It’s all about volume.

Men’s shoes are often made in huge quantities. If you’re producing thousands of a style, your costs go down.

When you’re making large size women’s shoes — size 9 shoes, size 10 shoes, size 11 shoes, or size 12 shoes — you’re usually producing hundreds, not thousands of one style. That smaller production run pushes the cost per pair much higher.

Is it really just a case of making the shoes bigger? 

Designing flattering, stylish shoes for women with longer feet is a bit of an art form. Most tall women don’t like sky-high heels, and many are (tragically) self conscious of their foot length. Yet a frustrating truth is that high heels make feet look shorter (thanks, trigonometry). A low heel on a size 11 foot can look completely different to a low heel on a size 5 foot. The proportions have to be perfect — or the shoe risks looking clunky, unflattering, or just not right. We work incredibly hard at Otto + Ivy to strike that balance, and we employ lots of clever techniques (panelling, additional seams, embellishments), to help you fall in love with your long feet. 

Why don’t more factories want to make large size women’s shoes?

Finding the right factories has been one of the biggest challenges.

There are very few footwear factories left in the UK, and any that do exist tend to make exclusively for their own brand. So you need to travel. But most factories are set up for standard sizes — and they aren’t used to making larger sizes like size 10 or 12 women’s shoes.

They also want big orders. And since the demand for large size women’s shoes — while passionate — is smaller overall, many factories don’t see the potential and aren’t willing to invest time, tooling, or training to work with "outsize" start-ups. 

Footwear has far higher minimum order quantities than clothing because of the expensive tooling involved. So launching just one new style costs several thousand pounds — before a single shoe is even sold.

But it's just a few extra centimetres, why does it cost so much more?

It certainly looks that way when when the shoe is in its complete, 3D form. But it's the sum of all its components. 

And when you lay out all the components of a shoe in flat pattern form — the upper, the lining, the insole — they use significantly more leather and materials in a size 10 shoe or size 11 shoe than a size 5. 

Tooling is also a major investment. Standard shoe lasts (the 3D moulds that shoes are built around) are readily available for average sizes. But for larger sizes, we have to commission custom lasts, and sometimes even custom hardware, and specially made heels to fit neatly across the back of a larger size shoe.

And anything chunky — like a platform sole or wedge — is even trickier, because those components don’t exist in smaller sizes on the shelf, so they need to be made bespoke, with moulds cut for every size, 9-12. 

Shipping is another massive factor. Shipping is priced by volume, not weight. Bigger shoes mean bigger boxes, and that means much higher freight costs — something that’s only gotten worse since Covid, with rates never returning to their pre-pandemic levels. And if you’re buying packaging in small volume then the prices are considerably higher per box… particularly when you’re looking for a large box that will fit multiple styles and sizes. 

What else makes it difficult?

Sizing at the larger end of the scale is a bit of a minefield.

UK and EU sizing start to go wildly out of sync beyond a UK 8. What one brand calls a size 10 shoe could be very different from another brand’s size 10.

If the sizing is off, customers understandably get frustrated. It’s one of the fastest ways a new brand can fail — which is why we’re incredibly picky about fit and sizing at Otto + Ivy.

Returns are another big consideration. We proudly offer free UK returns — because we know how rare it is to try on large size women’s shoes in-store — but if returns are over-used or abused, it can become financially crushing for a small business.

Why can't I try my shoes in a store? 

With all the above considered, we put the largest percentage of our money at Otto + Ivy into our stock, and reduce our other overheads (like rent) so that we can reduce our margins. We sell direct-to-customer rather than wholesale to physical stores, because we just don't have any room in our margins for a middle-man... and most of our potential customers aren't perusing the shoe racks at John Lewis and Selfridges on the off-chance there's a size 10 shoe. They're hunting for us online, wearied from years of traipsing the high street with tears threatening to fall. That's not to say we won't plan a pop-up shop in the future (we're already seeking out cost-effective possibilities), and having a real life permanent shoe shop remains an absolute DREAM of mine that I'm determined to fulfil. But it will be slow and cautious progress to get there. 

Depressed yet? Don't be. While creating stylish, comfortable large size women’s shoes — from a size 8 to a size 12 — isn’t easy, we know that it’s absolutely worth it. Every time a woman tells us she’s bought a pair of Otto + Ivy shoes that makes her feel confident, sexy and – joy of joys – normal, I’m reminded why we fought so hard to do this. We'll continue in our mission, finding new and inventive ways to disrupt the industry, and bring you the joyous shoe shopping experience you've craved for so flipping long. 

Laura xx