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By
Kari Jensen Translated by Iva Huang
If
you're a woman with large feet, you no longer have to
resort to buying men's shoes. Oki Size Shoes Store stocks
shoes for both women and men in sizes not readily available
in most shops or department stores here. Located next
to the Gold Seoul Korean restaurant, near the intersection
of JhongHua and SinTian roads, Oki Size features mostly
women's shoes in casual and dressy styles, varying from
sandals and sneakers to loafers and pumps. Fall and
winter styles include fashion leather boots.
Both
the men's and women's shoes are imported from Italy,
Spain, and Asian countries. Men's styles include sneakers,
sandals, loafers and dress shoes. Oki Size stocks women's
European sizes 39-and-a-half to 42 and men's European
sizes 43 to 46. That equals women's American sizes eight-and-a-half
to 10, and men's American sizes nine-and-a-half to 14.
Prices range from NT$1,300 for a pair of woman's sandals,
to NT$3,500 for a sleek pair of Italian men's loafers.
Oki Size has sister stores in Taipei and Taichung, so
if your size isn't available in the local store, ask
a clerk to special order it for you. It usually takes
a few days for the shoes to be transferred from one
store to another.
Upstairs,
you'll find up-size, upscale women's clothes. It's surprising
to find a boutique inside a shoe shop, but Oki stocks
stylish slacks and pedal pushers, T-shirts, sweaters,
blouses and tanks. These are moderately priced, and
range in size from 14 to 24 for bottoms and large to
5X for tops. A red boat-neck T-shirt with straps across
the shoulders goes for NT$699.
Many
of the clothes at Oki Size have special details, such
as flower embroidery on khaki cargo pants or laces threaded
through grommets on the shoulders of another nautical-inspired
striped T-shirt. Many of the garments are made in Taiwan.
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