Women's Shoes

 

I have written about shoes a number of times, but every time I read an article about foot care and shoes I feel compelled to share.  When your feet hurt you need to turn to the number one culprit, and that would be tight shoes.   Women research an unbelievable number of web-sites when they start looking for designer shoes.  We all seem to be obsessed with feet, and not necessarily in sensible ways.  A friend of mine loves cute shoes but her options have become a little more limited of late because she has a bunion, and it hurts.

 

I did a little research on bunions and while we can blame genetics just a little bit, it is our sense of fashion (or not) that has had the biggest impact.  We don’t have to go all the way back to when bound feet were considered a thing of beauty to discover that fashion has not always been our best friend.  My research also pointed out that the average woman wears a shoe that is 2 ½ sizes too small.  Ouch!

 

The vast majority of bunions can be attributed to footwear problems.  The painful bump on the inner side of the big toe is just the tip of the iceberg.  I dare you to check out some of the sites that show x-rays of cramped misshapen bones, and tell me if it was all worth it?  Prevention and/or prevention of progression, pretty much come down to this: wear comfortable shoes, wide toe boxes, avoid high heels.  Make sure that your shoe fits and pad painful area to prevent irritation.

 

What is a girl to do?  No matter what your age you want to wear cute shoes.  It’s not fair!  Teri Agins writes for the Style page of the Wall Street Journal (August 20, 2009) and she answers a question about finding pretty, high heel shoes for people with bunions.  Well, it seems that there are a few options out there as long as you can give up on the notion that stilettos and pointed toes styles are the only attractive footwear.

 

Advice proffered suggests looking for pumps, wedges and flats that have wide toe boxes, good inner cushioning and arch support.  The part that goes across the toe points (the vamp) should be made of soft leather or stretch fabric. The highest heel that you should be looking for is 2 inches and the heel circumference about an inch.  T-straps also provide added support.  I am sure there are others out there but two outfits recommended were Cole Haan pumps and those designed by Taryn Rose.  Yes, you will have to resign yourself to paying $200-300 for a pair of shoes but the styles do look rather timeless.  So, what is your foot worth to you?  It is hard to tell a young person about how important comfortable feet are, but grandma knows.