Why wasn't Barack able to find shoes that fit his feet?

Michelle Obama says about Barack Obama:

You see, even though back then Barack was a Senator and a presidential candidate … to me, he was still the guy who’d picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going by through a hole in the passenger side door … he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he’d found in a dumpster, and whose only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small. (emphasis mine)

Methinks the lady is trying too hard.

In my life, there were many moments when my parents had to wear ill fitting clothes so my brother and I could go to a great school. I have worn my share of ill fitting clothes as well.

I just do not understand, if you have some means of obtaining a pair of shoes, why would you procure a pair that does not fit your feet.

I can understand not having decent shoes.

We can assume Barack was a fully grown man, and his growth spurt had ended by the time he met Michelle. So, presumably, his feet were still the same size as when he had obtained the shoes (whether through purchase, donation, or dumpster diving). So, why get ones that did not fit his feet?

I know you shhtruggled oh so much, but, give me a break. If you can figure out a way to go to Harvard Law, you can figure out a way to get a pair of shoes that actually fit your feet.

Otherwise, what business do you have, claiming you can run a country?

Ooops, I almost forgot, no, you really can't do that very well.