Quote:
most places round here stop at UK size 11 and I usually need a 12

You should worry, I take a 14!
You've obviously registered, but just to point it out to the thread, US sizes are slightly different.
Curiously, noting Todd's address, I've twice got shoes imported from the US from a firm called Minnetonka.
I've bought 3 Timberlands and 2 trainers in the US, over the years, with no difficulty, but here you get stuck, as you say, with size 11's. I used to go in to Dolcis on the offchance to be told "11 largest", but they would always have larger sizes at sale time, strange!
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Politics and Ideology: Not my bag