Shoe | 4 Simple Pleasures

X-Ray Shoe Fitter: Image by Andrew Huff via Flickr

Over the past few days, I’ve been out and about and I’ve seen women who took the time to comb & curl their hair, put on makeup, pick out a beautiful ensemble to wear and then I got to their feet. What is going on at the bottom that isn’t quite projecting the top? The first woman I saw was going for a relaxing cup of her favorite Starbucks dressed beautifully and she was flawless…until I looked at the fact that her shoes were too big. The second woman I met today, she was a lovely lady, again dressed well, makeup done, hair nice and neat and as we walked down the stairs, she readily admitted that going up was easier because her shoes were too big. I didn’t dare ask because I already know the answer. They were the “perfect pair but they didn’t have them half size smaller”. I am a huge fan of shoes but I have to be honest, even with all of the heels I own, I am also a huge fan of comfort. Contrary to popular belief, I do not live my entire life in 4 inch heels, you must and I emphasize must take care of your feet. I recently posted on my fanpage that over the course of a lifetime, the average person walks 115,000 miles. That’s a lot of places your little tootsies are obliged to carry you.

If that shoe looks good but it doesn’t fit, it’s not for you. It’s that simple, it can’t be the perfect shoe if it’s going to create bunions, blisters, corns & other issues. Wearing shoes that are ill fitting only serve to exacerbate these issues. Here are a few tips to follow when you are adding new shoes to your closet:

Try on BOTH shoes, our bodies naturally have one side a little smaller than the other. In most cases it is not highly visible but your shoes know. Put them both on, walk around the store for a little while before making a final decision.
Before wearing the shoes out, determine the types of activities you will be involved in and practice. For example, if you are going out for a night on the town that includes dancing, shake your bum at the house first to determine if these are truly dancing shoes or just the ones you’ll wear to get inside the club.
Try your new shoes out on various surfaces. If you are going to an outdoor event, your shoes will perform differently on the pavement than they will on carpet or wood floors. I can tell you from personal experience, wooden bottomed shoes tend to be quite slick. Keep that in mind or purchase the shoe grips that attach to the soles of shoes prior to going out.
If you are out and notice your shoes starting to rub or become uncomfortable, ditch them as quickly as you can. No don’t throw them away but try to sit or take them off. Prolonged rubbing will surely affect you tomorrow when you are wearing your comfy shoes.
Travel with a pair of standby shoes. If you are wearing new shoes out for the first time, you can’t really practice enough for every situation and prolonged wear may still cause some new shoe discomfort. Be prepared and have a spare pair.

I hope these tips help keep you cute AND comfortable. It’s wonderful to go out looking great but remember, the shoes matter. I also feel compelled to say, please, Please, PLEASE make sure to polish your toenails if you’re going to wear open toed shoes. I’m just sayin’

I am always talking about shoes, everywhere I go, I see them, I comment on them, I make new friends because of them. The one thing I keep hearing is “my feet are too small, too wide, too big, too narrow…” I decided to go on a quest to find a shoe that would accommodate all the big, small, short and tall.

Here is my disclaimer, I can wear any shoe from anywhere and I’m good to go, therefore, I have not had the pleasure of trying out the wide and the narrow of this story but I am just hoping to give you all with these issues a little direction.

On my quest for shoes for women with larger feet, I found Barefoot Tess their motto is “Because style doesn’t stop at size 10″ I wholeheartedly agree, however, I must say that I am a heels person & if you are a woman who enjoys a stylish high heel, this is not where I’d want to be. Every woman obviously has her own style and perhaps they will have something that you enjoy but their heels don’t quite do it for me. They do however, have some really cute boots that had a heel on them but again, I wasn’t overly impressed. I tell you about them because everyones fashion sense is different. What I like most about them though is they offer a shoe up to a size 15. I also like the fact that Barefoot Tess has carved a niche in the fact that they do not offer a shoe any smaller than a size 10. Check them out, they have some nice things.

barefoot tess boot

My next stop was over at Designershoes.com where their motto is “For women who leave a larger footprint”. You can find a much larger selection here & they have some shoes that go clear up to a size 16! The other thing I really like about this site besides the variety is you can cut out wasting time looking at a shoe that may not fit you. They allow you to find shoes in their inventory based on your size and foot width. I love user friendly shopping sites! That rates a high squeal factor for me.

Now for those of you with tiny feet, Designershoes.com also has something for you as well. Many of their selections start at a size 4 so they not only cater to the woman who leaves a larger footprint, they also cater to those of you that have a smaller footprint. Again, they offer a fairly large selection but I must say again, as a woman who loves her heels, their selection is not vast enough for me.

I have found that my friends that are so short that they are at risk for not being able to ride some rollercoasters want some serious heels. I have a friend that would not go to crowded nightclubs because she would literally get overlooked because she was less than 5′ tall. She wanted a mega heel and she could walk in them too! For those of you that share her plight, check out Shoes USA! I fell in love with this site the first time I saw it. Not because they have a vast array of shoes for you to pick from but because you can literally build your own shoe. I love originality and if you can get the height, the size, the width AND the colors you want, honey, that’s a squeal factor 99 in my book all day long! Their price point starts a bit higher than the other sites mentioned but again, you get a look that is truly all your own. They do have inventory that you can buy from but building your own shoe is just a nice option. Well, I hope this has helped and if these sites don’t quite do it for you, submit a comment and I’ll do what I can to find you some other options.

heels usa

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