Shoe shopping

Ok.  So I left a bunch of shoes behind in Lithuania. And before we moved there, I gave a lot of my shoes away.  So today I went out in search of some simple, black, flat, dressy but not too dressy, shoes.  My requirements were (I thought) simple:
1.  Cute
2.  Inexpensive*
3.  My size (9 1/2)

My first try, Target, was unsuccessful.  All the cute shoes did not have my size or were too expensive.  All the shoes that were my size were ugly or too expensive (or both).  All the inexpensive shoes were either ugly, or not my size.  Target, is it so hard to carry shoes in a half size?  The good news, is they had some cute slippers that fit me, so I got some of those (left my slippers behind in Lithuania, too).

So then I went to the nearby Marshalls, which is usually right up my alley, but they seemed to have a shortage of shoes as well.

So THEN I went to the next door Ross, a place that I don't go to that often, but am not against.  And I was astonished.  Not necessarily in a good way...but in such a way that I said, "You're kidding me" out loud and had to laugh as I walked out of the store empty handed.  I wish I had thought to take a picture, but I didn't so you get to see what it was like through Paint.  It's just as good as a picture, trust me.

They had an entire wall dedicated to shoes size 10 and bigger.  Then in front of the wall, they had about 4 aisles of shoes, each size had at least an aisle dedicated to it.  Except size 9.5, which had an eighth of an aisle with a few shoes on each shelf.  I looked around thinking that maybe they would continue the size near the 10s, but no such luck.  It was either big shoes or pillows on the wall.  So I didn't get any shoes there.

Picture not to scale.

My assumption at Target was that everyone must be the same size as I am with regards to shoes.  My assumption after I left Ross is that no one wears that size, because they don't even bother to have an entire aisle devoted to my size (Steve told me later that since Ross probably gets the leftovers from other stores, it is safe to assume that it is just a really common shoe size, and that's why they don't carry that many of them).

Anyway, I ended up having to go to the mall, and found a suitable pair for only $10.  They were pretty cute (not the cutest ones of the day, but suitable.  And inexpensive.  And fit my feet).

The flat toe is what sold it for me.  That and the fact that they were 10 dollars.

*I try really hard to use the word "inexpensive" when I am talking about low cost.  For me the word "cheap" suggests low quality.  Sometimes, yes, low cost can mean low quality, but not always.  And that is why I make the distinction.