G-Market

I could only bring three suitcases to Korea so I was very limited in the amount of shoes I could bring. I think I brought ten pairs. I definitely have at least 60 at home (I have a problem...)

Anyway I am a 9.5/10 in US sizes and a 260/265 in Korean sizes (which are measured by centimeters.) The average Korean store only has up to a size 250. So it was really torture for me to walk by multitudes of cute shoes stores on the street or in shopping malls with super-cute, cheap, TINY shoes on display.

I bought a few pairs of shoes at Forever 21 and H&M but those are really not good places to buy shoes. The shoes I bought at Forever 21 are really slippery on the bottom and I always trip when I'm walking in them, and the pair I bought from H&M are a little bit too small, even though they were the biggest size the store had.

I looked for shoes on GMarket, which is like Korea's Amazon, awhile ago, but regular shoe vendors didn't have anything close to my size. I effectively gave up and just started daydreaming about Nine West Outlet shopping sprees when I come home in August. Then one day, I spent some time searching for 'Gmarket big shoe sizes' and found a link to a big shoe vendor on GMarket from some message board for people in the Philippines who are really obsessed with Korean stuff.

IT WAS HEAVEN knowing that I could buy as many pairs of shoes as I wanted! I ordered 3 pairs: quilted black flats with a shiny toe, black wedge heels, and another pair of black flats with a bow on the top. The prices were pretty good (like $12, $30, and $25 respectively) and the shoes were delivered within 3 days with a really low shipping cost (Korea FTW!)

Unfortunately, the wedge heels were the wrong color (instead of plain black I had accidentally ordered black with a hideous pattern of shoes and shopping bags and lipsticks) and the flats with the bows were way too big, so Jae Hyun aided me in exchanging them. Well, I returned one pair, but then had some trouble exchanging the other pair. I should really buy Jae Hyun a nice present for talking to the shoe company on the phone several times for me. We eventually worked it out and I chose another pair of shoes and they sent the difference in price in the box-- in cash (Korea FTW again!)

Unfortunately, this new pair of shoes (really cute pink ballet flats) are also too big. ㅠㅠ So I guess Jae Hyun will have to help me exchange them for a different size again... haha... sorry!

Anyway I am just really happy that I can buy shoes in my size in Korea, without importing them from the US or someplace else. Finally, I have access to cute, cheap Korean shoes!

If you wear above a size 8 in Korea and would like to buy decent shoes, search "sookyee" on GMarket. I have also heard that there is a big-size shoe store on the plus-size floor in Doota! in Dongdaemun.

And finally, I love GMarket because G-Dragon recorded the best song and video ever for GMarket:

Welcome to the G-Mar-ket, I'm captain G.