Thank you Birch Living for sponsoring! Click here birchliving.com/nicolerudolph to get 25% off your Birch mattress (plus two free Eco-Rest pillows!) during their Memorial Day sale. Offers subject to change. #birchliving
If you are allergic to latex and or wool, you should avoid this bed. Also if you are a bigger person this mattress may not give you the support you need because the weight level is so low.
With a matching dog-shaped wiggly body pillow, yes pretty please! As it happens I bought a similar all-latex mattress a few years ago and like it, but the next one must have a firmed-up edge like this Birch. On-topic, it's oddly reassuring to hear a professional artisan like you lay out all the reasons I've struggled to find well fitting shoes. Even after a lifetime of puzzling out what features to look for (like a snug instep and the best toe shapes for my Roman foot) it's not easy, but at least I'm able to rule out some styles upfront. In terms of style, I've been waiting for T-straps and Cuban heels to make a comeback, then I'll pounce.
I love how Nicole doesn't say 'you shouldn't wear these types of shoes', she says 'these types of shoes might hurt you in these ways, do with that information what you will' which is a nice reframing compared to many other shoe guides
Exactly. My podiatrist said saying heels are bad for you is simplified nonsense. All shoes can be bad for you. But if they fit well, are made well and you know how to walk in them you'll be ok
Exactly the reason I got into barefoot shoes. My feet were so wide that I was going up two whole sizes for width. Transitioning takes time, my feet are still changing two years later. And it's the best thing I've ever done, because my whole body feels so much better
Yeah. The pertinent word being 'cute'. I can hardly ever find shoes in my size (by length), that have enough room for my toes. And sizing up isn't an option, as the shoe will be too wide and long overall then. And no, I do not want to wear barefoot/health shows all the effing time 😏. Especially since they make the problem worse, long-term, as they encourage the feet to spread out even more.
I like footshaped shoes with more of a protective and cushioned sole than is common in barefoot shoes. They're so hard to find. I used to wear barefoot but got a lot of stone bruises and got tired of it.
@@jeanettemullins Merrell has foot shaped shoes with a more padded sole. They have different lines, from the very thinly soled 'Vapor Gloves' to downright hiking boots. The 'Trail Gloves' are a great compromise between comfort and sturdiness, imo. With normal shoe brands, Geox is the one, that comes closes to a comfortable shoe for me. They aren't quite as squeezy tight in the toebox as most other brands and they have nicely cushioned soles.
my mom is an archeological shoe expert and so i grew up with exceptionally healthy (and usually ugly) shoes, as an adult ive had the opportunity to experiment with cute but painful shoes, this video is incredibly helpful to avoid a lot of expensive trial and error. Ultimately i still go for comfort over style but sometimes i just want to look cute too
SAME!! I have very wide feet with high arch but they are very short ! I'm forced to put on wide version of shoes 3 size.over mine and i keep getting hurt :( and i still can't find or wear most shoes
@@MiniMimots i feel your pain, i have a 4 sizes difference between width and length, in Brazil we don't have the wide version of shoes, so i had to start importing shoes (that gets expensive really quickly) and still i never get away without hurting my feet
Same here... I have my dad's feet. He wore an unusual men's size: 6.5 EEE and never had comfortable shoes. I found a brand that was making shoes quite wide, and was comfortable for the first time ever. Then people with "normal" feet noticed the brand, and the shoes began to run narrower.
I am the exact opposite of that, and finding shoes is also a nightmare. My sister on the other hand seems to be exactly the size, shape, and proportions of the average UK7 last, and can wear so many cute shoes. I'm kinda jealous.
I find many of these points super fascinating. I used to do ballet, and noticed that the canvas uppers and leather soles were so much more comfortable than my regular shoes. They were soft (in terms of structure) and moulded to my feet in a way that modern shoes simply don't. I would love to see a video comparing how dance shoes and modern shoes are constructed, and how they differ from more historical shoes
Most dance shoes are based on styles from the 1830s and haven't changed much! Obviously pointe shoes are built out more, but the shape is still there (and the layers are entirely materials used around the mid to late 19th c commonly)
Agreed as a former ballet student and there is so much variation in pointe shoes to make sure they fit properly and are comfortable as well as what you put on your feet before you slip your shoes on and where the ribbons are placed and I had elastic to help.
Oh yes. When I was little my parents had me take all sorts of dance classes. The jazz shoes were actually my favorite, if the teacher had let us wear them outside the studio I would've. They were as soft as ballet slipper but had split soles with a grippy texture, and were super flexible in the arch, fit like a glove, loved those. Ballet slippers were 2nd fave, cause the middle of the shoe would peel away from my arch when I flexed my foot. And then there were the tap shoes, which felt like a solid plastic shell, and absolutely murdered my feet. They pinched my heel, and the arch was too low with zero give, so my feet always slid forward, and I jammed my two longest toes in the toe box every class. Every tap move was like stubbing my toes against a wall at full speed. Dancing shoes are underrated!
I have “difficult” feet - narrow heels, wide square toes, and Ehlers-Danlos skin (the layers of which can shear away from each other causing huge blisters at the slightest provocation). My childhood was a nightmare every time I needed new shoes. I’ve been a barefooter now for over 20 years and (apart from poor circulation) have healthy, strong and very flexible feet! I only wear footwear when absolutely physically necessary, and I’ve come to the conclusion that if I ever need historically accurate shoes I am likely to need to make them myself!
Reasons I became a shoemaker! I do wear slippers around the house though- but they're a really soft backless style from Sabahs so I'm still working the muscles. They actually look a lot like 18th c slippers! Just always had aches from going fully barefoot.
@@NicoleRudolph For the majority of people who don’t actually have malformed or badly damaged feet, it takes 6 - 12 weeks for the feet to acclimatise to going barefoot. Those first few weeks can be tricky for many people (especially those who are used to wearing heels), but the end result is worth it! My feet look like undamaged teen feet - and I’m a great grandmother!
I grew up in Hawaii and was always barefoot at home, in the neighborhood and at the beach as a kid. And I mostly wore thong sandals to school. As a result, my feet are very wide, but my toes are perfectly straight. So many people my age have bunions and hammer toes, and I'm blissfully free of them. Though It is tricky to find shoes to fit me.
Something that might be helpful for people, you can look up lacing patterns for shoes to make the toebox looser or more compressed or offer more slack in the arch! Obviously this is more useful for runners or boots, not the shoes in the video, but it can help!
Lol I’ve always viewed ”breaking in shoes” as just building thicker skin/calluses on the parts that get blisters instead of trying to mold the shoe somehow 😂
Hydrocolloid plasters are awesome if you have new shoes, I always just stick them on heels if I wear shoes for the first time. And if you have shoes that give you blisters on heel, my dad who worked in shoe production for some time taught me a trick, but it works only on leather shoes. You take soft cloth, hammer, wrap the heel in this cloth (inside and outside), and gently use the flat side of hammer on the inside of the shoe in the place where it rubs your skin, it will soften, it sounds ridiculous but I swear it works. Just do it gently so you won't damage the shoe and remember to have the cloth under the shoe, not only on the inside. Or dampen the part that rubs you with sponge and wear them with a little bit thicker socks at home, they will mould quicker. I know wet shoes and socks don't go together but it's better than blisters and wounds, isn't it?
@@betmo I do too. If I wear heels I’ll wear something protective like skintape or on a hydrocolloid patch cos they’ll cause blisters no matter what but with other shoes I just cover a blister if I get one. Sometimes trying to anticipate blisters backfires and the plaster itself ends up chafing or the hydrocolloid rolls up and attaches to your sock and gets all slimy and it’s impossible to fully get out.
Oh my gosh, this. Like, I just suffer through getting blisters in one spot or another for a particular pair of shoes and then I'm golden because it heals into a callous so no more blisters from those shoes lol. There is a limit to this, but it mostly works
The first department store I worked in had a leased space shoe department with sales help who actually knew how to measure and fit. The best advice I got was to go shoe shopping at the END of my work day. Shoes that fit then would stand me in good stead. Eventually got well fitting basic pumps that fit well and could be re-heeled and half-soled. Not the cutest choice, but much much more practical.
And this is why I hate shoe shopping. Half the shoes don't fit at all and the other half would possibly fit after significant modification (something you can't really do or judge without buying them). Even if the shoes seem okay in the store, they probably will end up killing my feet if I wear them for a few hours. Every once in a while I give in to temptation and get a pair of shoes, because they look nice (and are still reasonably practical), but I always end up wearing the same two pairs of shoes, because I know they fit.
Theres always the Cinderella stepsister method if your shoe doesn't fit ;) All jokes aside, this video makes me think we should bring back custom shoe making as a regular thing. I know theres specialty cobblers out there but theyre not always accessible. Id rather have one or two pairs of really good shoes than a closet of pain
In the 1960s, some women had their little toes amputated to suit the super-pointy toes. My mum warned me about it when pointy toes came back in the 80s. I loved 80s pointy toes for the reasons Nicole outlined -- I found they were actually better for wide widths and longer toes -- but they seem to have got narrower since then.
What's really frustrating is all the people who try and offer helpful suggestions and recommend places you can get custom shoes. But "custom" these days frequently just means "pick the patterns and colours", and they're all built to the same size and shape.
Maybe doctors, lawyers, corporate VPs , and members of Congress could afford custom built shoes. Teachers and nurses probably couldn't afford more than one pair. It would be a rich or at least upper middle class thing. It wouldn't be something that teachers and secretaries could afford.
Wish I could go and show this video to shoe salespeople. I've got short and wide feet, with a high bridge. And the amount of times I've been told to "just get a size up" is astounding. Sure, maybe (almost never) the width is better, but now I have the extra length for my foot to slide about in....
Me, too! Short/wide feet with both a high arch and instep. I tell people I have "Duck" feet. LOL!!! I had 4th and 5th grade students with bigger feet than mine. Most shoe stores only receive 1-2 pair of shoes in size 6 which is what I had to go to because I couldn't find the 5.5 size. I had to compete with children to find shoes in my size. I don't think shoe manufacturers are "in tune" with what the public really needs. They just make what is the easiest to produce in the shortest amount of time.
Same. This is my pain. I have narrow heels. If it fits my heel but is too tight for my toes "just get a size up". No cus then it fits my toes but I get heel slip and I can't walk. Finding a shoe that fits is ludicrous.
I have 'male' shaped feet; I discovered that in a high-end shoe shop back in 1973. As soon as I stopped trying to wear women's shoes and went to the boy's section, I found shoes that are comfortable to wear at reasonable prices. They are not 'pretty' but my feet don't hurt, and that is all I care about. I wear Birkenstocks for the same reason. To have comfortable heels, it was advised to find a custom shoe maker. I still haven't won the lottery, so...
I used to be able to shop for winter boots in the kids' section of cheapy department stores. Aside from getting the Transformers and Scooby-Doo themed blinky-light footwear, kids' shoes were made wider and shorter than adults' shoes in either gendered section. As a mom of pre-adolescents, my feet were just small enough to fit the largest kids' size available. I couldn't get men's shoes because though I had the width, they didn't make them short enough. And if I sized up in the women's section, I'd be tripping over the toes and still feeling a pinch in the heels, instep, and ball of my foot. I miss my Transformers and Scooby-Doo boots...
Last year I got a pair of Vans by accident and they are really great. I think they are men’s sizing but the colors and patterns are so fun! As an 11-12 wide women’s they are the best closed shoe that’s not butt ugly.
This explains my problem with shoes that seem to be too big and too small at the same time. I slide forward in shoes. When I was a teen my mother and a sales assistant argued whether the heels I was trying on were too small or to big. My toes were hanging over the front of the shoe, but I had plenty of space in the back. I can't wear ballerina flats or pumps that don't have straps and slingbacks don't work at all. I'll take two steps and then I'm barefoot. They just don't stay on my feet. My mother always suggested sizing down (then the shoes are too short) or putting half an insole at the front of the shoes (the part that actually fit), because that works for _her_ feet.😑
That's the very reason I cannot wear open toe slippers nor any open toe shoes for that matter! Like sandals or whatever! Do you also get accused by others that you are sneaking? I don't really produce noise while walking and was told different things, like I'm walking like a fairy (lol), asked if I ever did ballett (nope) and accused to walk stealthily (not trying to be quiet, it's just how I walk) and recently I discovered I kinda put my weight more on the umm... not the toes, but the part of the feet right before the toes, sorry, idk the name of this body part in any language. And others seem to walk on their heels more? At least judging by their stomping. I'm not walking like that on purpose, though, and your comment about sliding forward in shoes made me aware this might be the reason so many say I'm walking quietle even though I don't try. At least I hope so, just confirm others say you are sneaking, too. 😅😂
@@vanillablossom Oh yes, I walk the same way. At one job I was known as the office ninja. 🥷 I'm quite tall and heavy and was always confused when people who were much smaller and lighter than me made so much noise when walking. Maybe the way we walk and our foot shape are related. I wonder if we would walk differently, if we weren't used to wearing shoes. I think that body part is called the ball of the foot, but I'm not sure (I'm German).
I am new, so lmk if there is a video on this: I am a ballroom dancer, and it is difficult to tell people that we dance in heels, and that they are comfortable and made to move in. Because the sole is flexible, some take them to a cobbler and replace the suede sole and add something to wear out and about due to concerns addressed in this video. I would love to see a video on ballroom dance shoes, where they came from/what older styles or techniques they borrow from and your opimion of cobblers turning them into everyday wearable shoes.
This is something everyone needs to understand: ready to wear doesn't mean ready to wear, for most people, without some adjustment. You need to learn what brands, whether it be shoes, bras, pants, etc., what brands suit you. I learned at a young age that my feet were special. I love my feet: love them, but they're shaped like an oblong box, with extremely high arches, short toes, and narrow heels. It's not a joy finding shoes, but at least I know what to look for.
Daaaaaamn, that explains my lifelong mystery of why my sneakers always end up with uppers pulled out of the shoe due to hiw tight I have to lace them in the middle. Turns out its not that I dont know how to lace or tie shoes properly, I just have very high arch [which I knew about] with very low instep [which I had no clue of], so I end up with a very small circumference in that area and I have to compensate by lacing so tight, that a victorian fashionista would be impressed.
My friend needed orthotics some time ago, and thus found out that there are shoe stores that specialise in shoes that need orthotics: the particular one she brought me to can also modify shoes (such as building up a sole for someone whose legs are different lengths), and can make shoes. I am sure that other cities have such stores. So I now have two pairs of shoes for 'everyday', which I actually alternate through so that the shoes can rest and dry out properly - and so that my feet aren't in one pair of shoes all the time. I also have a pretty pair of 'mary-janes' that I can wear when I need to be elegant. They don't support my foot as well as the fully enclosed, ankle supporting everyday shoes do (oh do pretend to look surprised, Nicole), but I can rest my feet when I'm in them.
Any cobbler can modify shoes for foot issues! It's not just a family store run by shoemakers/cobblers (different occupations.) We have both a cobbler and a shoe store run by 3 generations of shoemakers.
my usual joy in watching the BEAUTIFUL and historically informative Nicole vids was AMPLIFIED by the modern useful information. i was reminded that people that are the same measurements can "lace down" to different sizes because some are more "squishy" than others. my "DUH" moment in this vid was Nicole telling us that some FEET are more "squishy" than others!
I had the worst time trying to wear Docs because they had a seam attaching the front and the tongue that cut into my high instep. I also once thought I had an injury from my feet going numb, but it was from wearing a specific pair of sandals which had rivets pushing on the nerves around my ankle bones.
Ouch! I had the hardest time finding examples of decent shoes for this video- so many were full of metal bits and I just can't understand WHY. It's all a very "Princess and the Pea" experience with feet.
I have the same problem! Every time I try to wear my boot Docs I lose circulation past my instep. That seam squeezes my foot so much that it leaves an indent on my feet that lasts days.
This! High instep here and same issue. I have skinny feet as well. Plus Doc Marts have that ugly pee colored thread that looks like someone took a whiz on the boot.
Seeing how flexible the historical shoes are in comparison to what we have on offer now is so illuminating. That bit about how they add padding to make it “feel better” to disguise that the shoe is actually working against you kinda blew my mind. I finally figured out a few years back that I have very long toes and narrow heels but a wide midfoot and that this causes issues with where the arch of my foot lands in the shoe and I gotta say, all that “support” they put in shoes is my nemesis. Foot aches, smashed toes, and heel blisters abound. I know that “better quality” lasts longer and is made with better materials, but I think you just explained to me why that rarely works out for me. The “better quality” shoes usually have quite stiff soles to them unless you go into the stratosphere bracket that I cannot afford. So, in the end, I actually find a lot of my most comfortable shoes at a really cheap fast fashion outlet because the shoes have super flexible soles and the material they are made of is usually so thin it allows my feet to do whatever the heck it is they need to do to work properly. I’m practically barefoot in them as they also, often, have no added support moulding in the footbeds. I also started buying lambs wool with soft leather sole inserts that I wear all year round. The wool keeps my feet (perhaps counterintuitively) cool in the summer (it wicks away moisture wonderfully) and warm in the winter but it also adds some springiness to my shoes so I get the twofold bonus of super flexible, thin, non irritating shoes with the kind of shock absorption you get walking on naturally more pliable surfaces. I hate the gel and memory foam inserts. The wool is much more responsive to my actual foot mechanics. Also, I am an aggressive heel smasher on my shoes lol. They put such stiff material even in lace up ankle boots and I smash that material to bits to get it to give enough that it doesn’t tear my heels to shreds. I keep the medical tape industry in business just with the amount of it I use just to keep blisters at bay 😂 But now I have even more information about my particular shoe requirements. This is so awesome. I can’t thank you enough for this lol ❤❤❤. It’s kinda reassuring to read all the comments and realize that it’s not just me that struggles so mightily with shoes. You’re so right - by manufacturers picking some mythical “median” in terms of foot sizes and shapes they’ve managed to produce shoes that are nearly universally inadequate. It seems profoundly ridiculous that we’re basically forced to become Sherlock Holmes, winkling out the best option that will still require some degree of modification for them to be not horrible. Considering how much money we end up spending on “affordable” inadequate options, we really would, in the long term, save ourselves a bundle to have our shoes made specifically for us. If we can manage the up front cost and have access to a shoe maker.
I got to go to the Ferragamo Museum in Italy ages ago and loved to see the wooden shoe molds with famous names on them. 'K. Hepburn' 'A Hepburn' 'Loren' 'Monroe' etc. It really made me want a shoe designer to have molds of my feet so I could have shoes made specifically for me!
This video couldn't have come at a better time! I'm finishing up a costume of Violet Evergarden, and as much as I'm excited to show off the big floofy edwardian dress, I've had nothing but problems with the heeled boots I've thrifted. As a transmasc person, my experience with heels is near zero, so I'm learning as I go lol. I tried them on for a day and had to take them off on the walk home. In the rain. And cold. They were that painful! I filled in the empty space under the arch and they're already infinitely better! I'm gonna try some other tips and tricks I've seen, hopefully I won't have to break out my emergency ballet flats too soon into the event 😅
And also keep in mind that your feet can be different from each other too. My right foot often has instep related pain, even when I lace my boot pretty loosely. My left foot on the other hand can be laced as tight as the laces will allow and never have a problem there
It would be awesome to see a collaboration between you and Josephine from @ThePointeShop talking about the evolution of shoes into dance slippers! You both have similar ways of talking about how important it is to understand how feet and shoes work
I am a toe walker, and that spread out the front part of my feet quite a bit. This video helped me understand why I am always, always slipping forward in my shoes and my little toe hurts. Thank you!
I tend to walk more mid-foot, but run with a forefoot strike. I used to only wear Crocs because the width was nice, but they're kind of slippery. Getting wider width, and trying a few different brands of running shoe helped a lot. If you want some suggestions, Altra, Topo, and New Balance seemed to be pretty good for athletic shoes. But "barefoot" brands also have some good options, and having no heel height also means less slipping forward. I have a pair of boots from Xero Shoes, and I can walk/run on my toes no problem in them, but I find if I'm standing a lot, I like to add arch support inserts.
I design hand knitting patterns for socks. It’s really useful that knitted fabric stretches, but there are standard sizes that assume if you have this circumference you also have this length or vice versa. So they’ll say knit x many inches then do this this many inches of this, and it assumes that the length and circumference are always statistically related for us all. Some people have very asymmetrical feet so they make a right sock and left sock. My second toe is longest and so I really do better without right and left socks. It’s like my foot is pointed in the middle. The downside to a right and left sock is that they wear out faster because you always wear them the same side and that doesn’t spread out the wear.
I have found my best fuzzy sock longevity is wear them, switch feet and wear them again, then reset them in the wash.... I also wear cotton liners under most, and I find the few pairs I don't do this with (exclusively worn barefoot in the house) end up needing to be darned a lot earlier than the ones I wear in work boots at work.
@@bunhelsingslegacy3549 I don’t know about cotton liners! I have a handful of wool liners from Smartwool. I wear them on extra cold days underneath or I’ll wear them when I need thin socks they’re boring because they’re white. I have dyed a few pairs. Wool can be dyed with Kool-Aid or food coloring and vinegar, plus heat and time.
Hey, Babylon 5!! I keep hearing great things about that show. I can't wait until I get my hands on it (gonna borrow some dvds and watch it as soon as I'm able to. I have a sneaking suspicion that Londo will be one of my favourite characters)
As somebody with "tall toes," learning about the type of materials used to make the toe boxes of shoes was so helpful and fascinating! I have cracked toenails because the synthetic materials used in the shoe toe box were so hard!
I lost a whole big toenail once and had to go up a size. But my big toenail stills wears out the inside of the upper, it almost makes a hole. I have to be careful to alternate shoes and avoid inflexible shoes with lots of seams, etc. I prefer suede to patent or other leather.
I had unmanageable plantar fasciitis when I lived in DC - hard walking surfaces outdoors and concrete under-floors in mid-20th century buildings indoors. I got HUGE relief when I moved back to the Boston area with all the 100+ years old housing and its springy floor boards. So much better!
Weight changes can also change how one's shoes fit - trying to wear my pre-2020 work shoes has been torture because I gained weight, so the front of my foot spreads more. That infernal supersensitive bone at the instep - that's what that is? I have so much trouble with that (I have high arches too) in anything outside of sneakers (when Ariat still did clogs those were great, alas those seem to have stopped). I am not able to afford new shoes at the moment, but definitely bookmarking this before I get new work shoes. Thank you for the info!
This puts words to exactly the issues I had with my feet in modern shoes. I have very wide feet, at least an E/EE width, and very short toes. My feet were turned inwards quite severely, and my feet were also very overpronated, where the walking surface on the outside of my foot was pointed sideways. I ended up in the barefoot shoe community, where I found shoes wide enough for my feet and flexible enough that I could feel the ground underneath me. And I found exercises that helped me build my foot muscles back up. It's made such a huge difference in my life. I fall so much less, my back and knees and hips feel so much better, my feet look completely different because the overpronation and turn in has changed. I'll never go back to conventional shoes again
Yes, too many shoes = more than you use. That is of course separate from if you have a collection hobby of shoes not intended for you to wear, e.g. historic shoes
Toe shape and space truly is an interesting thing that shoemakers seem to have forgotten over time. Like, Converse has been making shoes that are basically the exact same shape for decades, and nowadays they're apparently so used to selling to people with narrow, curved toe areas, that they actually say their shoes run large and people should order a half size down.... not for me! They absolutely fit true to size due to the curve and narrowing of the toe area. Outside of them, I always go for much straighter shaped shoes that don't narrow as much. I've never owned a pair of historical straight last shoes, but I'm thinking they may be a nicer fit than most modern ones....
Really love how you presented this topic, as it doesn't get a lot of attention in a mass manufactured world. I personally learned a lot about foot shapes when I learned to knit socks, because every pair has been a lesson in what fits my particular feet best. I have a slightly narrow heel, a high instep, and hard feet that don't spread much. Knowing these things helps me adapt the patterns I try so I don't end up with baggy socks or a cuff that doesn't go over my heel.
I was born with flat feet, which was noticed when I started to walk. It was due to a lengthened achilles tendon. I spent years wearing special shoes and going to physiotherapy. I have very narrow feet with a prominent bone on top. I am careful what type of shoes I buy and usually buy them a half size up so I can pad them out with insoles and heel grips to prevent rubbing. I still love pretty shoes and vividly remember the awful shoes I was forced to wear as a child.
I have to be honest, I don't do 'shoes' anymore. Just running shoes with lots of cushioning and Birkenstock sandels. And a weird sort of hybrid mountain walking sneaker thing for winter. I'm a very boring shoe girl with large feet.
Birkenstock sandals are the best! I always wear mine out too quickly because they are the only ones I wear when I have them... Even around the house in winter...
I was so sad that Footprints by Birkenstock disappeared only a couple of years after a shoemaker recommended them. They had comfortable, well-made leather shoes on a Birkenstock sole and looked good (in a Euro-hippie kinda way). Now I have given up and my daily wear shoes are men's hiking shoes.
Yup, I wear Keen hiking boots in winter. Timberland was pinching my toes, Sorel boots are too heavy and slid around, and more comfortable boots weren't waterproof. My physiotherapist suggested Birkenstocks, but I worried they'd fall off, and I don't really do open toe.
This has been a long awaited video for me. In all my 50 plus years, I have always found any shoe, except a slip on comfort shoe exttemely painful. I have a very prominent medial malleolus, making boots a problem and heels and Oxfords just a no go zone. I also have a very high pointy instep. Which was totally devastating when your beautiful Am Duch 18th C shoes, (altho the "right size"), were sadly unbearable to wear. I do have a stereotypical toe profile, that pretty slope of evenly graduating size toes, but rather slim heels. But as a result of a life suffering with shoes, even with sneakers or trainers as you call them, always make my feet hot and swell, i now have severe sessamoiditis under both big toes, and morton neuromas with bursitis - 3 in each foot. Every doc has blamed everything from my height, to my spine to my weight, or the fact thhat my feet are diff sizes, not enough for a diff shoe, but enough for one foot to always be sore. Also the choice of shoe for a size 11 C has always been limited. So now im going to try too invest in tailor made retro style shoes because we do a lot of history bounding and i just cant do this commercial shoe thing anymore. Thankyou for explaining how and why shoes do or dont fit. I now understand why I have such a tiny selection of shoes available to me.
Many, many moons ago I was a child when consumers began to buy shoes made outside the USA. I remember seeing ads advising against these shoes saying they were narrower and not suited for the general foot. I also recall coming across a box of shoes as a child made in the1940-1950’s or so. Im guessing they were made in the US as they were vintage at the time. I’m guessing here about when the shoes were made given what I was told at the time. The shoes were so sturdy and beautifully made and all had high heels. Some heels were lower than others. But they were all comfortable, stylish, and supportive (we played with them because the original owner had really, really small feet). Even back then “modern” shoe quality had changed.
Please bring back those shoemakers from the old times! I felt uncomfortable while wearing most of the modern shoes since I have a very wide toe box. I’ve switched to barefoot shoes, it did become better, but it also means I should spend more money with limited options😢
Same thing my mom says about our feet 😂 In my case, I have very long feet and toes, with them being very wide in the balls of the feet and toes while having narrow heels. We joke that it's to keep knights from knocking us over as we work the land.
My mom never allowed me to buy shoes with rigid soles especially in the front. I was annoyed many times as a kid because she wouldn't buy some shoes that I liked the look of, but she probably saved me a lot of feet pain and comfort. Also, I learned me lesson to never buy shoes online! I bought a few pairs of cute sandals online and although they felt comfy enough in a quick try-on at home for me to keep them, I never reach for them to actually wear out.
Comming from the running community, we talk about shoe fit a lot! (The algorithm knew) This explains a lot of the issues people experience, & perhaps some solutions. I realized I suffer a bit with pressure on the top of my foot (high instep) but avoiding lace up styles isn't really an option!
I would love to wear heels again, but alas, a back injury prevents me from even wearing kitten heels. I've decided to start making my own flats with orthodic supports to match the dresses I'm sewing. At this point, I'll take what I can get.
I have similar issues eccept my problem is in the knees. I am toying with the same idea of making my own flats that stylishly will go with eveningwear...
Narrow feet with long toes! I'm in my Keds phase since they are the only mid range brand I can find with a slim option. Reeboks run pretty narrow as well. My best fitting shoes are from the clearance rack since they don't fit average people, and a few lucky finds from thrifting because those shoes (if used) are already be worn in ✌️ My most comfortable heels are both vintage which is devastating.
I also have narrow feet with long toes, high arches and US 12 women's size shoe. I have had success with Taos shoes, they're a little pricey but can be found on sale for a good price. They're almost too narrow for me by the end of the day.
I tend to live exclusively in flip-flops, flipflop style sandals (theyre flip-flops, but it said sandal on the box) and round toed boots. I never considered why, but this actually makes sense. I used to wear trainers near exclusively in winter till I first bought myself and tried on this nice looking pair of wool lined suede boots that have a relatively flat and wide sole and less of a point than most trainers. They've been kinda life changing tbh.
That sounds like me as a kid, lol. Nothing but flats, flip-flops, sneakers, and round-toed boots. Now I've graduated to nicer round-toed boots, nicer sandals, roomy loafers, pointy-toed goth boots with very stretchy, forgiving leather (so my toes don't feel so squished; IMPERATIVE to get boots with thin stretchy leather), and every once in a while, flexible fabric pointy-toed kitten heels. I still don't like pointy toes unless they give me plenty of room before the point, and plenty of flexibility (though I love how they look, hence the search for flexible shoes)
Having shoes that fit is so important, especially for children! If you're a parent or are otherwise responsible for a young child, especially one who doesn't like wearing shoes, and/or perhaps has autism and isn't very good at communicating what's wrong, make sure you're regularly checking that their shoes still fit! My parents kind of just wrote me off whenever I complained that shoes hurt my feet, because I hated wearing shoes in general (and yes, I'm autistic). As a result, I ended up wearing shoes that were too small and the bones of my toes are deformed to this day. They're bent and warped and twisted and just generally fit together like puzzle pieces to form a perfect toebox shape. My pinkie toes are even stunted and twisted 90° and tuck under the toe next to it, and the nail doesn't really grow. (Correction: These days, only one of my pinkie toes is sideways because I broke one of them about ten years ago when I stubbed it on a shelf, and I set it facing upwards). If you're familiar with the process of foot binding, you might recognize that forcing the pinkie toe to tuck under the others until it stays that way is part of the first step in the process. Also, my second toes are also so curved from the top view that the inner edge of the tip of the toe is further out than the outer edge at the root of the toe. But yeah, pay attention to your kids, and don't mess them up for live and leave them with a lifetime of foot pain.
As an individual who stopped counting after three hundred pairs of shoes, you are the soul of practically. Your sage advice, as well as your no-nonsense clear and forthright commentary are not only more than welcomed, but I am grateful and appreciative of it. ❤
I haven't tried on many, but every single ballet style flat I've tried on or worn has hurt. The top part of the shoe, the kind that covers the toes always seems to lay directly across the widest part of my foot, so it digs in on the sides, but more importantly, I have very bony feet so that is directly pressing onto the bone beside my big toes. Also the one opposite it. I mean I don't love ballet flats anyways, but it would be nice to have a fancier shoe that isn't heeled as I can't wear heels anymore. Ankle issues.
So many "ballet flats" are made from unforgiving materials with stiff soles and extra top stitching- they go for cheap and cute. Even if they go on ok, they don't flex and are awful about blisters and rubbing! Definitely try for knit or nappa leather- anything super soft, unlined, etc. Lots more brands making them now at least!
Did you know literal ballet shoes (soft practice ones, not pointe shoes) come in multiple widths, are very soft, cost less than pretty much any shoe at the shoe shop and can be painted any colour you like? Honestly the best shoe to buy if you like the ballet flat look.
@@haveaballcrafting8686 That sounds nice, but what are the soles like? Most "ballet flats" have the usual sole made for constant walking. They are not just soft and for practice, they are a proper walking shoe. And I've worn soft practice shoes before, and while they would be nice for at home slippers, I wouldn't wear them even once to walk on any sidewalk. Are you talking about something different that I haven't heard of? Can you tell me more about what you mean?
@@naomilangevin3944 I’m talking normal ballet practice shoes. yes, they might wear out quicker than shoes with hard soles, but they’re also cheaper, and they are certainly more durable than bedroom slippers. my daughters wore them about 200 hours per year, and some pairs were passed down through my three and then given to another child because they were still ok. personally, i wear vivobarefoot shoes, so i haven’t tested ballet slippers for daily use, but i’ve been tempted to get some for myself! if you found the soles wore out too fast, you can buy thin rubber sole material from leather suppliers like Tandy, cut to size and glue on your own outsole, and still be more comfy than a standard ballet flat and a lot cheaper than official barefoot shoes.
Hi! This is such a great idea for a video, and I myself often struggle finding a decent pair of shoes due to a fair number of factors, from my feet being about one size too small for the sizes most men’s shoes are made in, to my sunken arches and weirdly shaped toes. A lot of me seems to exist in these weird places where all my measurements are almost-but-not-quite whatever the standard measurements are deemed to be. It makes finding decently fitting clothes much more difficult, for a start. One of the strangest things to me is that the sizing numbers of shoes differ in width between men’s and women’s shoes when the numbers are the same. I do t get why we still have this, why not just use the same measurements and then divide those into numbers or words like “small, medium, large” if we want to? This should also apply to clothes, it’s so strange that a men’s Medium and a woman’s Medium can be extremely different in size when you take the measurements of both garments.
It's extra weird, because we used to have one size range for everyone in the US! Other countries still do. Somewhere in the 1930s range women shifted up almost two numbers. I'm still looking for why! It's strangely the opposite of the "vanity sizing" we're used to. I can only assume it was to differentiate between genders more (they do that a lot in that era), but why women's changed that way is still baffling.
I am currently wearing out what I consider to be my perfect pair of shoes. I broke my left ankle at the age of 10 and have had problems with it ever since. But when bought a pair of shoes in my actual size (size 3 UK) and in a more Victorian child style, suddenly the issues I was having with my ankle dropped dramatically. I can now actually work 5 hour shifts on my feet two days in a row and not die from pain! And I think it's partly the rubber sole is quite thin and only slightly raised, and they're quite narrow, so they actually hold my feet properly rather than let them slip around. They're also a boot, so go the full way round my foot and ankle. My doctor always said to wear trainers with an insole to raise my heel up, which were very painful, and it was only when I bought these flatter and better fitting, light-weight boots that I noticed a real positive change!
I have feet that are very wide in front with short toes, a high instep, and high arches. And to top it all off, my feet underpronate/supinate. About the only shoes that I can find that are comfortable are the ones that take orthotics and look like they're for old ladies. I would love to find some cute flats or sandals or something other than lace up granny shoes. But they just don't seem to be out there, unless they're custom, which is prohibitively expensive. Maybe I can use this information to try finding more styles that might work.
Man, this helps explain why I kept rubbing through the lining on the edges of the heel of athletic shoes and flats! really any shoe with a closed back. I would rub through the lining completely before the soles gave out on every pair of closed-back shoes I own.
My tactic: find a manufacturer, and the lasts Ishoe styles) within that manufacturer's line that fit, then buy them OR use them as exemplars and match them, measure for measure, feature for feature, with other manufacturer's shoes. For instance, I know that Munro oxfords and loafers fit me perfectly. I take my Munro loafers with me when I shop and compare it to another maker's shoes. It is immediately obvious when the lasts too wide, too narrow, too curved, the toe box isn't tall enough, etc., etc. Weird trick, but it works. Hope this helps!
I would love to see a conversation between you and Josephine Lee. Even though you're in two different industries, I see so much overlap in your knowledge. I feel like the two of you could talk about feet and shoes for hours.
I had a pair of docs I was breaking in, and they decided to crease horizontally, inwards, exactly over my Achilles tendon... they eventually softened up but until they did, yeowch!
'Anatomic barefoot' and Fare Bare are quite reasonably priced. Watch the circumference of the foot with Farebare - they vary with the style of the shoe a lot but the maker gives you the numbers.
huh, today I learned I have a very high arch (which I did know), a very low instep, a wide ball, a very narrow heel, and long toes (which I also knew). it's no wonder I walk around bare foot! hugely interesting Nicole, and very informative.
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom! I had never thought about the ankle point or stiffness affecting the heel. Since starting dancing as an adult a couple of years ago, my demands for shoes have changed drastically, and I can now see how that has addressed several of the points you mention - particularly the stiffness! For example, for everyday shoes that I will be walking a lot in, I always check the for sole flexibility. I don't even bother buying high heels anywhere else anymore than at stores that sell dancing shoes. The strong arch support, ability to point my toes and ability to adjust the part that wraps around the foot means that I can dance in these for hours while I suffer in normal heels after a brief period. I had a pair resoled with rubber at the front so that I can wear them to parties (latin shoes - which I mostly wear generally have a suede sole, that cannot be worn outside).
This is an insanely helpful video thank you so much. There are two different styles of heeled shoes from two different brands that i have in multiple colours and wear exclusively and now I know why those work so well for me hopefully i can find similar flat shoes! Great advice to trace the outside of the foot and then the bits that actually touch the ground - i knew i had high arches but i had no idea i had such an extreme inward curve. Good thing to know and to remember to correct for when walking 😂
Sadly, my feet def have problems cause they aren't normal sizes. For other women with high arches and wide feet, it's a LOT easier to buy men's shoes then try to find a pair that fits normally. Those are sized assuming your feet aren't ruler thin. General rule is size down around 2 sizes for men's shoes, so an 11 women's / 41 euro = men's 9. 8 women's / 28 euro / men's or boys 6, women's 6 / 36 euro / men's or boys 4... Obviously you can't exactly get heels, but with so many lower costs footwear places closing and the swap to online only no returns you gotta wear whatever fits.
This is honestly a super helpful guide explaining how in *some* cases the "bere feet" shoe works for some people but other times it doesn't work for different. sure the bere feet is flexiable, but not everyone's foot is shaped the same as how the shoe is built. The whole toe area tilt section is a perfect example how that wouldn't work for everyone. I don't think I woud do well with the bere feet because I struggle with toe socks as is as my feet aren't made for them. it also explains how I still struggle with the shafing in the back of my heel with my renfair boots a little because I do slide back and fourth smidge in the shoe and have to double the socks and make sure I'm wearing thicker socks on top of that. apparently my feet are smaller than most people my height and when they see my feet they're like "How come you have the cute feet?" Which I never really thought of my feet that way? considering that I'm fustrated with my shoe size mostly. (I think my big toe is the longest as the rest of my toes curl under but the ball of the foot is wide and making it more semetrical and doesn't tilt all that much. though weirdly enough the pointed toe shoes felt more comfortable for a while?) and I don't do good with rigid shoes as much. The sneakers that I bought for one of my temp jobs, I had to literally step on the top of them and the back of the heel just so they could move with my foot. Is it not ideal? No, bit it works for my personally and now my sneakers are the most comfortable they could be and I can handle longer hours in them since sometimes I have trouble with my feet (I've fractured acrossed the the toe area almost all the way across of the foot in the 3rd grade and I also spranged that same foot due to standing on concrete on extreamly old degrated shoes for 6 hours straight in College.)
This is why I like being barefoot or wear Teva squishy flip flops that looks to your foot as much as possible. Last year I got a pair of Vans that are the best pair of closed shoes I’ve had.
That was extremely informative! I have had trouble with my feet and shoes all of my life, and I would spend so much time trying on shoes that didn’t fit, but I didn’t know exactly what styles and shapes were so troublesome. I have literally made my own shoes out of leather, so I would have something comfortable to walk around in while in the house. I will now go and find the shoes that are the most comfortable and take note of the shape, Most shoes pinch across the top of my foot and the arch never seems to be in the right place in most of them. Thank you again.. 😊
You didn't discuss weight - I used to be hooked on processed foods and was very overweight, feet and ankles were swollen, now I'm a normal weight (thanks to the Physicians Committee's channel) and shoes feel more comfortable. I am 58 and when I became 40 my foot size went from 4 (UK size) to 5. I was told this is very common as the arches fall and to expect it might even go up more to a 5 and a half or even a 6. I still have some Italian size 4 shoes that fit me fine because they're wider, in the UK shoes seem to be narrower and i was told that American women have narrower feet so American shoes might be even narrower. I have quite wide feet, I try to walk on grass in my garden as much as I can and also wear comfortable slippers with a slight heel when I'm at home. I don't think completely flat shoes are either healthy or comfortable, a little heel (preferably block heel) is better for me. I have recently started to wear heels again after years of discounting them. I actually found some amazingly comfortable medium heel boots (e.g. Hobbs Imogen in the UK, Dune, Carvela), I feel so much better now I look a couple of inches taller! You didn't discuss heels very much and I would love you to do so in greater depth. Very interesting video, thank you. Generally I feel sorry for my bunioned feet but losing weight and investing in elegant but comfortable shoes/boots has been very worthwhile. It's so sad to see frumpy comfort shoes, usually with plastic/rubber heels, it doesn't have to be this way, it's just poor design. Just because our feet are a bit wider, etc. we shouldn't have to settle for ugly shoes. We need good designers as there's a lot of us and we want to be both chic and pain-free.
Wow, so much information in this video. Thanks for making this. I've always hated shopping for shoes. As a tall woman with feet that need shoes with orthotics it used to be hard to find nice shoes. Now with online shopping the range is bigger, but ordering shoes without trying them on first is still not great. I'm sure your tips will help me in the future!
This video made me realise I really want a Cinderella video from Nicole! Personally I have terribly sensitive feet, most shoes WILL give me a lot of blisters. I had episodes of people warning me that my feet were bleeding when I was a teenager, because I was USED to the pain already. I really need to avoid any hard details on the inside and I indeed work better with more flexible shoes and I don't wear heels. I like to wear ballet flats since they really go with my style but they can be really evil shoes sometimes. I wish I had more sturdy feet, it's really annoying lol (My feet are also extremely straight with no inward curve at all so I learned today I gotta watch out for those inward tilted shoes)
This is such an excellent breakdown of all the different ways our shoes and feet can interact. Incredible. And I love how it's done so matter of factly, addressing every aspect. It's not about whether you have fat or wide feet, it's all about proportions that can vary wildly from person to person. Thank-you.
I wear a 5.5 flat shoe. If I want a heel, I need to start at a 5, and possibly go down. Except it’s already REALLY REALLY hard to find women’s shoes smaller than a 6 in stores. It’s why I liked Payless: they actually carried smaller women’s shoe sizes. I will sometimes get lucky at DSW, but I have to in prepared to be completely overwhelmed, not to mention I have to figure out how they have decided which shoes are “work” shoes, dressy shoes, sandals, sneakers, athletic shoes…I hate it.
That was an incredible amount of information in 30 minutes of video, wow! I've worn a very cheap, no-name brand of boot for the last 7 or 8 years. They're actively falling apart on me and are not for sale anywhere any more, but they are the best shoes I've ever had. I bought (what I thought was) a similar pair, but they just don't work at all. The information in the video explains a lot of the problems I have with my newer pair compared to the old ones. It's amazing what history can teach us even in these sorts of things!
I shoe shop on QVC because they carry more Wide width sizes than the same brands carry in stores. I like the Spenco, Vionic and Ryka brands for arch support. Propet also carries WW and WWW options. Knee pain is reduced when I wear arch supported shoes or use arch support inserts. I have a high instep that is proportionally farther forward because arthritis has pushed my heels farther back. Mary Jane straps and Teva straps are just too short to accommodate my foot shape. I do much better with lace up shoes and skip using the top laces. I really appreciate the extra padding that manufacturers are putting inside heels. As I get older, circulation is not as good. Swelling is an issue. I was wearing Men's slippers and flipflops to fit my instep and width. When I found wide sizes on QVC, I threw those out and now own wide women's designs. When I do find a style and size that is comfortable I tend to panic and buy multiples. It's a problem as I age and my feet keep changing. I wind up donating unworn pairs that no longer fit. Quality is always worth the investment in shoes.
I thought I had a wide foot until i tried on straight last shoes. What a difference! I just wish more makers had them. I never knew how fascinating shoes and feet shapes were until i found this channel. 😁
Hello! Thank you so much! I am new here, but I find out so much about my feet and why no shoes ever fit my feet no matter how many years I wear them. In the end, I became so frustrated that I started to write on my shoe boxes where should I cover my feet with the band-aid once I wear a particular pair of shoes. I have a lot of shoes. At some point, I worked in the shoe store selling them. I spend a lot of money on shoes chasing that "perfect pair," which magically will not hurt my feet anywhere from day one. Believe it or not it actually happened once or twice in my life. 😅 I actually have a similar shape of the foot as you do and my little toe always suffers... I always thought that the round shape of shoes is the best for my foot. My foot is a bit on the flat side, so I need an arch support which does not exist in modern shoes anymore as it's too expensive to make that, so I have been told by a sales person. I think that I will look for someone who can make shoes just for me so it will fit perfectly. ❤ That's my dream! Could you please make a video about what height of the heel is the best for each of us? Thank you in advance! 😊 Love from Sweden! 🎉
I once dated a woman who was fond of the highest of heels. She said that the secret to wearing them comfortably was to find manufacturers whose lasts happen to match your feet, and consistently buy from them.
Ahhhh, yes. Shoe conundrums are very familiar to me. Thanks for talking to people about how feet are all different! Until my late 20s I had very narrow feet (AAAA) with ridiculously high arches, which made shoe shopping a nightmare. Since I've, ah, matured the ball of my foot now comfortably fits into B width shoes and my arch is flatter, but my heel is still narrow. So, if I don't have some sort of buckle (Mary Janes are my friend) or lace front I'm going to walk right out of any shoe that fits my forefoot. I also have spaghetti ankles--I've had more than one round of crutches and finally just had to have the ligaments totally rebuilt in one ankle. I saved up an bought my dream oxfords from A Certain Historical Shoemaker and am coming to the very sad conclusion that they probably are just not going to work for my feet no matter how I pad them out because of that my higher arch and narrow heel problem. Such are the small annoyances of life!
Thank you for sharing your insights on shoe fit. Especially these days sinc so many people shop online. Hopefully they can take a look at there shoe and pretty much know whether it'll work with the information that you have given them.
There are a few things you didn't touch, which apply to boots: circumference of ankle and calf, how high the narrowest/widest point is and how tall the boot itself is. It can be really hard to find boots that fit over your calf if you have more calf muscles than average. There are manufacturers who take this into account, but even those manufacturers still assume that foot length is proportional to height, so the same boot in small size is designed for a short person, but in a larger size it's for a tall person with much longer legs and consequently calves being much higher up. When you're a taller person with smaller feet, all "knee length" boots will end in the middle of your calf with the calf profile hanging loose halfway between your calf and ankle 😢 and when you're a shorter person with larger feet, boots dig under your knee.
This is such a wonderful video! I (AFAB) have wide feet, after watching this, I'm pretty sure I have a "Man's wide foot " instead of a "Woman's wide foot". My brother has double-wide feet! And my grandfather had extremely high arches. I, also, have a connective tissue disorder, so all those bones you were talking about move around! I feel so seen! Thank you! ETA: Oh! And that connective tissue disorder also causes sensitive skin and get blisters super easy.
I'm AFAB and 95% of the time I wear men's hiking shoes. I wrecked my feet wearing women's pumps as part of the 90s office dress code, and only THEN did I find out from a podiatrist that I was born with a foot structure that is not compatible with heels. I should've gotten an ADA letter to be excused from the dress code and worn nice flats.
Thank you for this video. I have bought two rather expensive shoes for dance, only to find them not fitting how I expected, even when I had tried them on before purchasing. Knowing what to look for in terms of stitching, toe box, and material, I feel ready to try looking for my next dance shoe.
I was lucky enough that switching to work boots usually gives me enough room, even in women's models. I even found steel toed women's dress work boots.
Thank you so so much Nicole, this video is such an invaluable resource for anyone needing to know why and how shoes are uncomfortable and what the remedies are 💎
I have problem feet -- wide but not thick, low arches, second toe longest, and a Morton's neuroma. I took 4 pr shoes on a 3-week vacation to Spain.😬(not ideal) When I discover a shoe that works well, suddenly I want it in all available colors. My current passion is Birkenstock's closed tennies ("Bend low"), and I have them in white, brown, beige, and have painted some pink and now red, more ordered to paint yellow and blue. I think your shoe making is fascinating.
I have a B size shoe, but a narrow heel, with a high arch. I have found that with heels, the only ones I can wear are sling backs. I can adjust the strap to my size.
Wow, this was so interesting. I have a horrible time with my heels - I have a connective tissue disorder, so they don’t blister, the skin pretty much immediately tears open. I started wearing silicone heel cups until shoes are broken in and softened, decided I don’t care if the heel cup looks weird.
My biggest problem with dress flats and high heels is that the back of the heel is almost always too tall for my feet, especially when they're very stiff, and they tend to cut into the back of my ankle.
It took until I was in my 60s to figure out what shoes work for my super-wide, short toe, high volume, high arch feet - true barefoot shoes. Barefoot shoes are wider than conventional ones. Not all are wide enough for me, but many are. They also have a wide toe box that works well with my toes. They usually have absolutely no arch support. That's perfect for me, as my arches are super strong. True barefoot shoes are also very minimal and flexible. If leather or fabric, they will break in. Any toe or heel structure is soft. I don't need the absolute flatness of barefoot shoes ... while my feet can manage heels, any modern heeled shoe has too many other problems. Barefoot shoes also have a couple of other advantages. They're usually made by small manufacturers in countries that pay workers a living wage. I have shoes from Germany, Greece and Slovakia. No giant factories full of near-slave labor. Since those who care about sustainability often prefer barefoot shoes, they use far less synthetic materials, usually leather or fabric uppers. The soles are often rubber or synthetic, but use less material and hold up to walking on city surfaces better than you might think. Barefoot shoes won't work for everyone; I'm no evangelist. But if you have strong feet and most modern shoes don't work, give them a try. Oh, and if you ever come across fashionable heels with some barefoot features and wide toeboxes, please let me know! Edited to add: for those looking, check out the Anya's Reviews blog and shop. She's a former fashionista who developed major foot problems that were relieved by barefoot shoes. Being into style, she searches the world for stylish barefoot shoes. She's branched out and covers men's and kid's shoes too, and eventually opened a shop to sell the best shoes that are hard to get in the USA. No affiliation, other than being a happy customer.
Thank you for this wonderful video and your sage advice! I need to get rid of a lot of inexpensive, uncomfortable styles that I've held onto for too long. Having key areas to look out for (especially flexibility) when testing and walking around in shoes is so invaluable.
Fun to read all the foot/shoe horror stories! and thanks to much for the video! I tried heels about 50 years ago and found that while they looked nice, my facial expression did the opposite. Just looking at shoes, my feet hurt. Hard leather. plastic, no flexibility, flat toe boxes. My big toe curls up. For the past 10 years or more I have been wearing Skechers ballerina flats mostly, with some adjustable sandals in the summer. I only wear skirts (mostly long) so sneakers are not an option., I don't run or do sports, so I don't need them. Boots are a problem but we haven't had much snow the past several years. Recently I found out about pronation/supination and decided I supinate. I bought some inserts that raise the outer part of my foot and I think that adjustment is helping. We'll see--all my life I have worn 1/4-1/2 inch off the outer sid of my heel.
![[FULL EP.16] เซียนพาลุย "เผือก-ฟรอยด์" กรี๊ดลั่น จนปูหนี | เฮ็ดอย่างเซียนหรั่ง | One Playground](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FsqUvwS3b-Y/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you Birch Living for sponsoring! Click here birchliving.com/nicolerudolph to get 25% off your Birch mattress (plus two free Eco-Rest pillows!) during their Memorial Day sale. Offers subject to change. #birchliving
If you are allergic to latex and or wool, you should avoid this bed. Also if you are a bigger person this mattress may not give you the support you need because the weight level is so low.
With a matching dog-shaped wiggly body pillow, yes pretty please! As it happens I bought a similar all-latex mattress a few years ago and like it, but the next one must have a firmed-up edge like this Birch.
On-topic, it's oddly reassuring to hear a professional artisan like you lay out all the reasons I've struggled to find well fitting shoes. Even after a lifetime of puzzling out what features to look for (like a snug instep and the best toe shapes for my Roman foot) it's not easy, but at least I'm able to rule out some styles upfront. In terms of style, I've been waiting for T-straps and Cuban heels to make a comeback, then I'll pounce.
I love how Nicole doesn't say 'you shouldn't wear these types of shoes', she says 'these types of shoes might hurt you in these ways, do with that information what you will' which is a nice reframing compared to many other shoe guides
Exactly. My podiatrist said saying heels are bad for you is simplified nonsense. All shoes can be bad for you. But if they fit well, are made well and you know how to walk in them you'll be ok
Face tattoos are arguably bad for you, people are free to do whatever damage they want if it doesn't hurt anyone else
@@AirQuotes How is it nonsense? Humans haven't evolved to walk on their toes all day.
I want cute shoes with a large toe box! My toes need to spread out not be pushed together like sardines in a can.
i mainly use barefoot shoes with large toebox and I find them very comfortable and my balance is much better (I fall less)
Exactly the reason I got into barefoot shoes. My feet were so wide that I was going up two whole sizes for width. Transitioning takes time, my feet are still changing two years later. And it's the best thing I've ever done, because my whole body feels so much better
Yeah. The pertinent word being 'cute'. I can hardly ever find shoes in my size (by length), that have enough room for my toes. And sizing up isn't an option, as the shoe will be too wide and long overall then. And no, I do not want to wear barefoot/health shows all the effing time 😏. Especially since they make the problem worse, long-term, as they encourage the feet to spread out even more.
I like footshaped shoes with more of a protective and cushioned sole than is common in barefoot shoes. They're so hard to find. I used to wear barefoot but got a lot of stone bruises and got tired of it.
@@jeanettemullins
Merrell has foot shaped shoes with a more padded sole. They have different lines, from the very thinly soled 'Vapor Gloves' to downright hiking boots. The 'Trail Gloves' are a great compromise between comfort and sturdiness, imo.
With normal shoe brands, Geox is the one, that comes closes to a comfortable shoe for me. They aren't quite as squeezy tight in the toebox as most other brands and they have nicely cushioned soles.
my mom is an archeological shoe expert and so i grew up with exceptionally healthy (and usually ugly) shoes, as an adult ive had the opportunity to experiment with cute but painful shoes, this video is incredibly helpful to avoid a lot of expensive trial and error.
Ultimately i still go for comfort over style but sometimes i just want to look cute too
My feet is extremely wide, with really short toes and really high arched, and let me tell yall, finding shoes that fit is a nightmare
SAME!! I have very wide feet with high arch but they are very short !
I'm forced to put on wide version of shoes 3 size.over mine and i keep getting hurt :( and i still can't find or wear most shoes
@@MiniMimots i feel your pain, i have a 4 sizes difference between width and length, in Brazil we don't have the wide version of shoes, so i had to start importing shoes (that gets expensive really quickly) and still i never get away without hurting my feet
same here, haha
Same here... I have my dad's feet. He wore an unusual men's size: 6.5 EEE and never had comfortable shoes.
I found a brand that was making shoes quite wide, and was comfortable for the first time ever. Then people with "normal" feet noticed the brand, and the shoes began to run narrower.
I am the exact opposite of that, and finding shoes is also a nightmare. My sister on the other hand seems to be exactly the size, shape, and proportions of the average UK7 last, and can wear so many cute shoes. I'm kinda jealous.
I find many of these points super fascinating. I used to do ballet, and noticed that the canvas uppers and leather soles were so much more comfortable than my regular shoes. They were soft (in terms of structure) and moulded to my feet in a way that modern shoes simply don't. I would love to see a video comparing how dance shoes and modern shoes are constructed, and how they differ from more historical shoes
Most dance shoes are based on styles from the 1830s and haven't changed much! Obviously pointe shoes are built out more, but the shape is still there (and the layers are entirely materials used around the mid to late 19th c commonly)
A Collab video with that pointe shoe fitter woman would be fascinating to watch! I will try to remember her name
@@eirintowne Josephine from the Pointe Shop :-)
Agreed as a former ballet student and there is so much variation in pointe shoes to make sure they fit properly and are comfortable as well as what you put on your feet before you slip your shoes on and where the ribbons are placed and I had elastic to help.
Oh yes. When I was little my parents had me take all sorts of dance classes. The jazz shoes were actually my favorite, if the teacher had let us wear them outside the studio I would've. They were as soft as ballet slipper but had split soles with a grippy texture, and were super flexible in the arch, fit like a glove, loved those. Ballet slippers were 2nd fave, cause the middle of the shoe would peel away from my arch when I flexed my foot.
And then there were the tap shoes, which felt like a solid plastic shell, and absolutely murdered my feet. They pinched my heel, and the arch was too low with zero give, so my feet always slid forward, and I jammed my two longest toes in the toe box every class. Every tap move was like stubbing my toes against a wall at full speed.
Dancing shoes are underrated!
I have “difficult” feet - narrow heels, wide square toes, and Ehlers-Danlos skin (the layers of which can shear away from each other causing huge blisters at the slightest provocation). My childhood was a nightmare every time I needed new shoes. I’ve been a barefooter now for over 20 years and (apart from poor circulation) have healthy, strong and very flexible feet! I only wear footwear when absolutely physically necessary, and I’ve come to the conclusion that if I ever need historically accurate shoes I am likely to need to make them myself!
Reasons I became a shoemaker! I do wear slippers around the house though- but they're a really soft backless style from Sabahs so I'm still working the muscles. They actually look a lot like 18th c slippers! Just always had aches from going fully barefoot.
@@NicoleRudolph For the majority of people who don’t actually have malformed or badly damaged feet, it takes 6 - 12 weeks for the feet to acclimatise to going barefoot. Those first few weeks can be tricky for many people (especially those who are used to wearing heels), but the end result is worth it! My feet look like undamaged teen feet - and I’m a great grandmother!
I only realised in the last year I have EDS and I figured out why my feet destroyed by most shoe styles.
🙋♀️ i'm barefoot at home always...🙋♀️🙋♀️🙋♀️
I grew up in Hawaii and was always barefoot at home, in the neighborhood and at the beach as a kid. And I mostly wore thong sandals to school. As a result, my feet are very wide, but my toes are perfectly straight. So many people my age have bunions and hammer toes, and I'm blissfully free of them. Though It is tricky to find shoes to fit me.
Something that might be helpful for people, you can look up lacing patterns for shoes to make the toebox looser or more compressed or offer more slack in the arch! Obviously this is more useful for runners or boots, not the shoes in the video, but it can help!
Lol I’ve always viewed ”breaking in shoes” as just building thicker skin/calluses on the parts that get blisters instead of trying to mold the shoe somehow 😂
i keep bandaids in my purse
Hydrocolloid plasters are awesome if you have new shoes, I always just stick them on heels if I wear shoes for the first time. And if you have shoes that give you blisters on heel, my dad who worked in shoe production for some time taught me a trick, but it works only on leather shoes. You take soft cloth, hammer, wrap the heel in this cloth (inside and outside), and gently use the flat side of hammer on the inside of the shoe in the place where it rubs your skin, it will soften, it sounds ridiculous but I swear it works. Just do it gently so you won't damage the shoe and remember to have the cloth under the shoe, not only on the inside. Or dampen the part that rubs you with sponge and wear them with a little bit thicker socks at home, they will mould quicker. I know wet shoes and socks don't go together but it's better than blisters and wounds, isn't it?
@@betmo I do too. If I wear heels I’ll wear something protective like skintape or on a hydrocolloid patch cos they’ll cause blisters no matter what but with other shoes I just cover a blister if I get one. Sometimes trying to anticipate blisters backfires and the plaster itself ends up chafing or the hydrocolloid rolls up and attaches to your sock and gets all slimy and it’s impossible to fully get out.
Ouch! Sounds terrible!
Oh my gosh, this. Like, I just suffer through getting blisters in one spot or another for a particular pair of shoes and then I'm golden because it heals into a callous so no more blisters from those shoes lol. There is a limit to this, but it mostly works
The first department store I worked in had a leased space shoe department with sales help who actually knew how to measure and fit. The best advice I got was to go shoe shopping at the END of my work day. Shoes that fit then would stand me in good stead. Eventually got well fitting basic pumps that fit well and could be re-heeled and half-soled. Not the cutest choice, but much much more practical.
And this is why I hate shoe shopping. Half the shoes don't fit at all and the other half would possibly fit after significant modification (something you can't really do or judge without buying them). Even if the shoes seem okay in the store, they probably will end up killing my feet if I wear them for a few hours. Every once in a while I give in to temptation and get a pair of shoes, because they look nice (and are still reasonably practical), but I always end up wearing the same two pairs of shoes, because I know they fit.
Theres always the Cinderella stepsister method if your shoe doesn't fit ;)
All jokes aside, this video makes me think we should bring back custom shoe making as a regular thing. I know theres specialty cobblers out there but theyre not always accessible. Id rather have one or two pairs of really good shoes than a closet of pain
In the 1960s, some women had their little toes amputated to suit the super-pointy toes. My mum warned me about it when pointy toes came back in the 80s.
I loved 80s pointy toes for the reasons Nicole outlined -- I found they were actually better for wide widths and longer toes -- but they seem to have got narrower since then.
I have long narrow feet with long skinny toes and always found pointy shoes quite comfortable. I don’t wear heels ever, though.
@@gadgetgirl02 that's actually horrifying and now I'm going to be looking at all older ladies feet 😆
What's really frustrating is all the people who try and offer helpful suggestions and recommend places you can get custom shoes. But "custom" these days frequently just means "pick the patterns and colours", and they're all built to the same size and shape.
Maybe doctors, lawyers, corporate VPs , and members of Congress could afford custom built shoes. Teachers and nurses probably couldn't afford more than one pair. It would be a rich or at least upper middle class thing. It wouldn't be something that teachers and secretaries could afford.
Wish I could go and show this video to shoe salespeople. I've got short and wide feet, with a high bridge. And the amount of times I've been told to "just get a size up" is astounding. Sure, maybe (almost never) the width is better, but now I have the extra length for my foot to slide about in....
Me, too! Short/wide feet with both a high arch and instep.
I tell people I have "Duck" feet. LOL!!!
I had 4th and 5th grade students with bigger feet than mine. Most shoe stores only receive 1-2 pair of shoes in size 6 which is what I had to go to because I couldn't find the 5.5 size. I had to compete with children to find shoes in my size.
I don't think shoe manufacturers are "in tune" with what the public really needs.
They just make what is the easiest to produce in the shortest amount of time.
Same. This is my pain. I have narrow heels. If it fits my heel but is too tight for my toes "just get a size up". No cus then it fits my toes but I get heel slip and I can't walk. Finding a shoe that fits is ludicrous.
I have 'male' shaped feet; I discovered that in a high-end shoe shop back in 1973. As soon as I stopped trying to wear women's shoes and went to the boy's section, I found shoes that are comfortable to wear at reasonable prices. They are not 'pretty' but my feet don't hurt, and that is all I care about. I wear Birkenstocks for the same reason. To have comfortable heels, it was advised to find a custom shoe maker. I still haven't won the lottery, so...
I have to shop the mens section for tennis shoes too. Women's don't size up well and feel good.its hard being a usa women's 11!
@@ah5721 Yeah, I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum with smallish feet.
@@ah5721 Try being a US women's size 11WW - I generally wear men's shoes. Best "womens" shoes I ever found were made for male cross dressers!
I used to be able to shop for winter boots in the kids' section of cheapy department stores. Aside from getting the Transformers and Scooby-Doo themed blinky-light footwear, kids' shoes were made wider and shorter than adults' shoes in either gendered section. As a mom of pre-adolescents, my feet were just small enough to fit the largest kids' size available. I couldn't get men's shoes because though I had the width, they didn't make them short enough. And if I sized up in the women's section, I'd be tripping over the toes and still feeling a pinch in the heels, instep, and ball of my foot.
I miss my Transformers and Scooby-Doo boots...
Last year I got a pair of Vans by accident and they are really great. I think they are men’s sizing but the colors and patterns are so fun! As an 11-12 wide women’s they are the best closed shoe that’s not butt ugly.
This explains my problem with shoes that seem to be too big and too small at the same time. I slide forward in shoes. When I was a teen my mother and a sales assistant argued whether the heels I was trying on were too small or to big. My toes were hanging over the front of the shoe, but I had plenty of space in the back. I can't wear ballerina flats or pumps that don't have straps and slingbacks don't work at all. I'll take two steps and then I'm barefoot. They just don't stay on my feet. My mother always suggested sizing down (then the shoes are too short) or putting half an insole at the front of the shoes (the part that actually fit), because that works for _her_ feet.😑
That's the very reason I cannot wear open toe slippers nor any open toe shoes for that matter! Like sandals or whatever!
Do you also get accused by others that you are sneaking? I don't really produce noise while walking and was told different things, like I'm walking like a fairy (lol), asked if I ever did ballett (nope) and accused to walk stealthily (not trying to be quiet, it's just how I walk) and recently I discovered I kinda put my weight more on the umm... not the toes, but the part of the feet right before the toes, sorry, idk the name of this body part in any language. And others seem to walk on their heels more? At least judging by their stomping. I'm not walking like that on purpose, though, and your comment about sliding forward in shoes made me aware this might be the reason so many say I'm walking quietle even though I don't try. At least I hope so, just confirm others say you are sneaking, too. 😅😂
@@vanillablossom Oh yes, I walk the same way. At one job I was known as the office ninja. 🥷 I'm quite tall and heavy and was always confused when people who were much smaller and lighter than me made so much noise when walking. Maybe the way we walk and our foot shape are related. I wonder if we would walk differently, if we weren't used to wearing shoes. I think that body part is called the ball of the foot, but I'm not sure (I'm German).
Same for me
@@vanillablossomWe call it the "balls of the feet"
I am new, so lmk if there is a video on this: I am a ballroom dancer, and it is difficult to tell people that we dance in heels, and that they are comfortable and made to move in. Because the sole is flexible, some take them to a cobbler and replace the suede sole and add something to wear out and about due to concerns addressed in this video. I would love to see a video on ballroom dance shoes, where they came from/what older styles or techniques they borrow from and your opimion of cobblers turning them into everyday wearable shoes.
This is something everyone needs to understand: ready to wear doesn't mean ready to wear, for most people, without some adjustment. You need to learn what brands, whether it be shoes, bras, pants, etc., what brands suit you.
I learned at a young age that my feet were special. I love my feet: love them, but they're shaped like an oblong box, with extremely high arches, short toes, and narrow heels.
It's not a joy finding shoes, but at least I know what to look for.
Daaaaaamn, that explains my lifelong mystery of why my sneakers always end up with uppers pulled out of the shoe due to hiw tight I have to lace them in the middle. Turns out its not that I dont know how to lace or tie shoes properly, I just have very high arch [which I knew about] with very low instep [which I had no clue of], so I end up with a very small circumference in that area and I have to compensate by lacing so tight, that a victorian fashionista would be impressed.
My friend needed orthotics some time ago, and thus found out that there are shoe stores that specialise in shoes that need orthotics: the particular one she brought me to can also modify shoes (such as building up a sole for someone whose legs are different lengths), and can make shoes.
I am sure that other cities have such stores.
So I now have two pairs of shoes for 'everyday', which I actually alternate through so that the shoes can rest and dry out properly - and so that my feet aren't in one pair of shoes all the time.
I also have a pretty pair of 'mary-janes' that I can wear when I need to be elegant. They don't support my foot as well as the fully enclosed, ankle supporting everyday shoes do (oh do pretend to look surprised, Nicole), but I can rest my feet when I'm in them.
Any cobbler can modify shoes for foot issues! It's not just a family store run by shoemakers/cobblers (different occupations.) We have both a cobbler and a shoe store run by 3 generations of shoemakers.
my usual joy in watching the BEAUTIFUL and historically informative Nicole vids was AMPLIFIED by the modern useful information. i was reminded that people that are the same measurements can "lace down" to different sizes because some are more "squishy" than others. my "DUH" moment in this vid was Nicole telling us that some FEET are more "squishy" than others!
I had the worst time trying to wear Docs because they had a seam attaching the front and the tongue that cut into my high instep. I also once thought I had an injury from my feet going numb, but it was from wearing a specific pair of sandals which had rivets pushing on the nerves around my ankle bones.
Ouch! I had the hardest time finding examples of decent shoes for this video- so many were full of metal bits and I just can't understand WHY. It's all a very "Princess and the Pea" experience with feet.
I have the same problem! Every time I try to wear my boot Docs I lose circulation past my instep. That seam squeezes my foot so much that it leaves an indent on my feet that lasts days.
This! High instep here and same issue. I have skinny feet as well.
Plus Doc Marts have that ugly pee colored thread that looks like someone took a whiz on the boot.
I have the exakt same problem. I can wear Grinders though, or could, it was a while ago, I don't know if they still work.
I can't wear Docs either. I haven't worn them yet, but I got a pair of knockoffs at Kohl's that come in a wide enough size and fit me better.
Seeing how flexible the historical shoes are in comparison to what we have on offer now is so illuminating. That bit about how they add padding to make it “feel better” to disguise that the shoe is actually working against you kinda blew my mind. I finally figured out a few years back that I have very long toes and narrow heels but a wide midfoot and that this causes issues with where the arch of my foot lands in the shoe and I gotta say, all that “support” they put in shoes is my nemesis. Foot aches, smashed toes, and heel blisters abound. I know that “better quality” lasts longer and is made with better materials, but I think you just explained to me why that rarely works out for me. The “better quality” shoes usually have quite stiff soles to them unless you go into the stratosphere bracket that I cannot afford. So, in the end, I actually find a lot of my most comfortable shoes at a really cheap fast fashion outlet because the shoes have super flexible soles and the material they are made of is usually so thin it allows my feet to do whatever the heck it is they need to do to work properly. I’m practically barefoot in them as they also, often, have no added support moulding in the footbeds. I also started buying lambs wool with soft leather sole inserts that I wear all year round. The wool keeps my feet (perhaps counterintuitively) cool in the summer (it wicks away moisture wonderfully) and warm in the winter but it also adds some springiness to my shoes so I get the twofold bonus of super flexible, thin, non irritating shoes with the kind of shock absorption you get walking on naturally more pliable surfaces. I hate the gel and memory foam inserts. The wool is much more responsive to my actual foot mechanics. Also, I am an aggressive heel smasher on my shoes lol. They put such stiff material even in lace up ankle boots and I smash that material to bits to get it to give enough that it doesn’t tear my heels to shreds. I keep the medical tape industry in business just with the amount of it I use just to keep blisters at bay 😂 But now I have even more information about my particular shoe requirements. This is so awesome. I can’t thank you enough for this lol ❤❤❤. It’s kinda reassuring to read all the comments and realize that it’s not just me that struggles so mightily with shoes. You’re so right - by manufacturers picking some mythical “median” in terms of foot sizes and shapes they’ve managed to produce shoes that are nearly universally inadequate. It seems profoundly ridiculous that we’re basically forced to become Sherlock Holmes, winkling out the best option that will still require some degree of modification for them to be not horrible. Considering how much money we end up spending on “affordable” inadequate options, we really would, in the long term, save ourselves a bundle to have our shoes made specifically for us. If we can manage the up front cost and have access to a shoe maker.
I got to go to the Ferragamo Museum in Italy ages ago and loved to see the wooden shoe molds with famous names on them. 'K. Hepburn' 'A Hepburn' 'Loren' 'Monroe' etc. It really made me want a shoe designer to have molds of my feet so I could have shoes made specifically for me!
I'm so glad that there is an increasing movement towards healthier shoes.
This video couldn't have come at a better time! I'm finishing up a costume of Violet Evergarden, and as much as I'm excited to show off the big floofy edwardian dress, I've had nothing but problems with the heeled boots I've thrifted. As a transmasc person, my experience with heels is near zero, so I'm learning as I go lol.
I tried them on for a day and had to take them off on the walk home. In the rain. And cold. They were that painful!
I filled in the empty space under the arch and they're already infinitely better! I'm gonna try some other tips and tricks I've seen, hopefully I won't have to break out my emergency ballet flats too soon into the event 😅
And also keep in mind that your feet can be different from each other too. My right foot often has instep related pain, even when I lace my boot pretty loosely. My left foot on the other hand can be laced as tight as the laces will allow and never have a problem there
It would be awesome to see a collaboration between you and Josephine from @ThePointeShop talking about the evolution of shoes into dance slippers! You both have similar ways of talking about how important it is to understand how feet and shoes work
Yes, this please!
I am a toe walker, and that spread out the front part of my feet quite a bit. This video helped me understand why I am always, always slipping forward in my shoes and my little toe hurts. Thank you!
Me too! My feet are super wide at the front with a narrow heel bc I’ve been walking on my toes my whole life. Shoes feel like torture!
I tend to walk more mid-foot, but run with a forefoot strike. I used to only wear Crocs because the width was nice, but they're kind of slippery. Getting wider width, and trying a few different brands of running shoe helped a lot. If you want some suggestions, Altra, Topo, and New Balance seemed to be pretty good for athletic shoes. But "barefoot" brands also have some good options, and having no heel height also means less slipping forward. I have a pair of boots from Xero Shoes, and I can walk/run on my toes no problem in them, but I find if I'm standing a lot, I like to add arch support inserts.
I design hand knitting patterns for socks. It’s really useful that knitted fabric stretches, but there are standard sizes that assume if you have this circumference you also have this length or vice versa. So they’ll say knit x many inches then do this this many inches of this, and it assumes that the length and circumference are always statistically related for us all.
Some people have very asymmetrical feet so they make a right sock and left sock. My second toe is longest and so I really do better without right and left socks. It’s like my foot is pointed in the middle. The downside to a right and left sock is that they wear out faster because you always wear them the same side and that doesn’t spread out the wear.
I have found my best fuzzy sock longevity is wear them, switch feet and wear them again, then reset them in the wash.... I also wear cotton liners under most, and I find the few pairs I don't do this with (exclusively worn barefoot in the house) end up needing to be darned a lot earlier than the ones I wear in work boots at work.
@@bunhelsingslegacy3549 I don’t know about cotton liners! I have a handful of wool liners from Smartwool. I wear them on extra cold days underneath or I’ll wear them when I need thin socks they’re boring because they’re white. I have dyed a few pairs. Wool can be dyed with Kool-Aid or food coloring and vinegar, plus heat and time.
Are you on ravelry? Your own site?
"My shoes are too tight. And, I have forgotten how to dance." Londo Mollari. You've convinced me to get rid of those winter boots that are tight
Hey, Babylon 5!! I keep hearing great things about that show. I can't wait until I get my hands on it (gonna borrow some dvds and watch it as soon as I'm able to. I have a sneaking suspicion that Londo will be one of my favourite characters)
As somebody with "tall toes," learning about the type of materials used to make the toe boxes of shoes was so helpful and fascinating! I have cracked toenails because the synthetic materials used in the shoe toe box were so hard!
I lost a whole big toenail once and had to go up a size. But my big toenail stills wears out the inside of the upper, it almost makes a hole. I have to be careful to alternate shoes and avoid inflexible shoes with lots of seams, etc. I prefer suede to patent or other leather.
I had unmanageable plantar fasciitis when I lived in DC - hard walking surfaces outdoors and concrete under-floors in mid-20th century buildings indoors. I got HUGE relief when I moved back to the Boston area with all the 100+ years old housing and its springy floor boards. So much better!
Weight changes can also change how one's shoes fit - trying to wear my pre-2020 work shoes has been torture because I gained weight, so the front of my foot spreads more.
That infernal supersensitive bone at the instep - that's what that is? I have so much trouble with that (I have high arches too) in anything outside of sneakers (when Ariat still did clogs those were great, alas those seem to have stopped).
I am not able to afford new shoes at the moment, but definitely bookmarking this before I get new work shoes. Thank you for the info!
Green is your color, your eyes are so bright ❤
This puts words to exactly the issues I had with my feet in modern shoes. I have very wide feet, at least an E/EE width, and very short toes. My feet were turned inwards quite severely, and my feet were also very overpronated, where the walking surface on the outside of my foot was pointed sideways. I ended up in the barefoot shoe community, where I found shoes wide enough for my feet and flexible enough that I could feel the ground underneath me. And I found exercises that helped me build my foot muscles back up. It's made such a huge difference in my life. I fall so much less, my back and knees and hips feel so much better, my feet look completely different because the overpronation and turn in has changed. I'll never go back to conventional shoes again
"you don't want one perfect pair, you want a lot of pairs." Yes! Is there a thing as too many shoes?
Yes, too many shoes = more than you use. That is of course separate from if you have a collection hobby of shoes not intended for you to wear, e.g. historic shoes
Toe shape and space truly is an interesting thing that shoemakers seem to have forgotten over time. Like, Converse has been making shoes that are basically the exact same shape for decades, and nowadays they're apparently so used to selling to people with narrow, curved toe areas, that they actually say their shoes run large and people should order a half size down.... not for me! They absolutely fit true to size due to the curve and narrowing of the toe area. Outside of them, I always go for much straighter shaped shoes that don't narrow as much. I've never owned a pair of historical straight last shoes, but I'm thinking they may be a nicer fit than most modern ones....
Really love how you presented this topic, as it doesn't get a lot of attention in a mass manufactured world. I personally learned a lot about foot shapes when I learned to knit socks, because every pair has been a lesson in what fits my particular feet best. I have a slightly narrow heel, a high instep, and hard feet that don't spread much. Knowing these things helps me adapt the patterns I try so I don't end up with baggy socks or a cuff that doesn't go over my heel.
I was born with flat feet, which was noticed when I started to walk. It was due to a lengthened achilles tendon. I spent years wearing special shoes and going to physiotherapy. I have very narrow feet with a prominent bone on top. I am careful what type of shoes I buy and usually buy them a half size up so I can pad them out with insoles and heel grips to prevent rubbing. I still love pretty shoes and vividly remember the awful shoes I was forced to wear as a child.
I have to be honest, I don't do 'shoes' anymore. Just running shoes with lots of cushioning and Birkenstock sandels. And a weird sort of hybrid mountain walking sneaker thing for winter. I'm a very boring shoe girl with large feet.
Birkenstock sandals are the best! I always wear mine out too quickly because they are the only ones I wear when I have them... Even around the house in winter...
I was so sad that Footprints by Birkenstock disappeared only a couple of years after a shoemaker recommended them. They had comfortable, well-made leather shoes on a Birkenstock sole and looked good (in a Euro-hippie kinda way). Now I have given up and my daily wear shoes are men's hiking shoes.
Yup, I wear Keen hiking boots in winter. Timberland was pinching my toes, Sorel boots are too heavy and slid around, and more comfortable boots weren't waterproof. My physiotherapist suggested Birkenstocks, but I worried they'd fall off, and I don't really do open toe.
This has been a long awaited video for me. In all my 50 plus years, I have always found any shoe, except a slip on comfort shoe exttemely painful. I have a very prominent medial malleolus, making boots a problem and heels and Oxfords just a no go zone. I also have a very high pointy instep. Which was totally devastating when your beautiful Am Duch 18th C shoes, (altho the "right size"), were sadly unbearable to wear. I do have a stereotypical toe profile, that pretty slope of evenly graduating size toes, but rather slim heels. But as a result of a life suffering with shoes, even with sneakers or trainers as you call them, always make my feet hot and swell, i now have severe sessamoiditis under both big toes, and morton neuromas with bursitis - 3 in each foot. Every doc has blamed everything from my height, to my spine to my weight, or the fact thhat my feet are diff sizes, not enough for a diff shoe, but enough for one foot to always be sore. Also the choice of shoe for a size 11 C has always been limited. So now im going to try too invest in tailor made retro style shoes because we do a lot of history bounding and i just cant do this commercial shoe thing anymore. Thankyou for explaining how and why shoes do or dont fit. I now understand why I have such a tiny selection of shoes available to me.
Many, many moons ago I was a child when consumers began to buy shoes made outside the USA. I remember seeing ads advising against these shoes saying they were narrower and not suited for the general foot. I also recall coming across a box of shoes as a child made in the1940-1950’s or so. Im guessing they were made in the US as they were vintage at the time. I’m guessing here about when the shoes were made given what I was told at the time. The shoes were so sturdy and beautifully made and all had high heels. Some heels were lower than others. But they were all comfortable, stylish, and supportive (we played with them because the original owner had really, really small feet). Even back then “modern” shoe quality had changed.
Please bring back those shoemakers from the old times!
I felt uncomfortable while wearing most of the modern shoes since I have a very wide toe box.
I’ve switched to barefoot shoes, it did become better, but it also means I should spend more money with limited options😢
My mom says that we have "strong peasant feet" (very wide with short toes)
Same thing my mom says about our feet 😂 In my case, I have very long feet and toes, with them being very wide in the balls of the feet and toes while having narrow heels. We joke that it's to keep knights from knocking us over as we work the land.
My mom never allowed me to buy shoes with rigid soles especially in the front. I was annoyed many times as a kid because she wouldn't buy some shoes that I liked the look of, but she probably saved me a lot of feet pain and comfort. Also, I learned me lesson to never buy shoes online! I bought a few pairs of cute sandals online and although they felt comfy enough in a quick try-on at home for me to keep them, I never reach for them to actually wear out.
Comming from the running community, we talk about shoe fit a lot! (The algorithm knew)
This explains a lot of the issues people experience, & perhaps some solutions.
I realized I suffer a bit with pressure on the top of my foot (high instep) but avoiding lace up styles isn't really an option!
I would love to wear heels again, but alas, a back injury prevents me from even wearing kitten heels.
I've decided to start making my own flats with orthodic supports to match the dresses I'm sewing. At this point, I'll take what I can get.
I have similar issues eccept my problem is in the knees. I am toying with the same idea of making my own flats that stylishly will go with eveningwear...
Narrow feet with long toes! I'm in my Keds phase since they are the only mid range brand I can find with a slim option. Reeboks run pretty narrow as well. My best fitting shoes are from the clearance rack since they don't fit average people, and a few lucky finds from thrifting because those shoes (if used) are already be worn in ✌️
My most comfortable heels are both vintage which is devastating.
I also have narrow feet with long toes, high arches and US 12 women's size shoe. I have had success with Taos shoes, they're a little pricey but can be found on sale for a good price. They're almost too narrow for me by the end of the day.
I tend to live exclusively in flip-flops, flipflop style sandals (theyre flip-flops, but it said sandal on the box) and round toed boots. I never considered why, but this actually makes sense. I used to wear trainers near exclusively in winter till I first bought myself and tried on this nice looking pair of wool lined suede boots that have a relatively flat and wide sole and less of a point than most trainers. They've been kinda life changing tbh.
That sounds like me as a kid, lol. Nothing but flats, flip-flops, sneakers, and round-toed boots. Now I've graduated to nicer round-toed boots, nicer sandals, roomy loafers, pointy-toed goth boots with very stretchy, forgiving leather (so my toes don't feel so squished; IMPERATIVE to get boots with thin stretchy leather), and every once in a while, flexible fabric pointy-toed kitten heels. I still don't like pointy toes unless they give me plenty of room before the point, and plenty of flexibility (though I love how they look, hence the search for flexible shoes)
Having shoes that fit is so important, especially for children! If you're a parent or are otherwise responsible for a young child, especially one who doesn't like wearing shoes, and/or perhaps has autism and isn't very good at communicating what's wrong, make sure you're regularly checking that their shoes still fit! My parents kind of just wrote me off whenever I complained that shoes hurt my feet, because I hated wearing shoes in general (and yes, I'm autistic). As a result, I ended up wearing shoes that were too small and the bones of my toes are deformed to this day. They're bent and warped and twisted and just generally fit together like puzzle pieces to form a perfect toebox shape. My pinkie toes are even stunted and twisted 90° and tuck under the toe next to it, and the nail doesn't really grow. (Correction: These days, only one of my pinkie toes is sideways because I broke one of them about ten years ago when I stubbed it on a shelf, and I set it facing upwards). If you're familiar with the process of foot binding, you might recognize that forcing the pinkie toe to tuck under the others until it stays that way is part of the first step in the process. Also, my second toes are also so curved from the top view that the inner edge of the tip of the toe is further out than the outer edge at the root of the toe.
But yeah, pay attention to your kids, and don't mess them up for live and leave them with a lifetime of foot pain.
As an individual who stopped counting after three hundred pairs of shoes, you are the soul of practically.
Your sage advice, as well as your no-nonsense clear and forthright commentary are not only more than welcomed, but I am grateful and appreciative of it. ❤
I haven't tried on many, but every single ballet style flat I've tried on or worn has hurt. The top part of the shoe, the kind that covers the toes always seems to lay directly across the widest part of my foot, so it digs in on the sides, but more importantly, I have very bony feet so that is directly pressing onto the bone beside my big toes. Also the one opposite it. I mean I don't love ballet flats anyways, but it would be nice to have a fancier shoe that isn't heeled as I can't wear heels anymore. Ankle issues.
So many "ballet flats" are made from unforgiving materials with stiff soles and extra top stitching- they go for cheap and cute. Even if they go on ok, they don't flex and are awful about blisters and rubbing! Definitely try for knit or nappa leather- anything super soft, unlined, etc. Lots more brands making them now at least!
Did you know literal ballet shoes (soft practice ones, not pointe shoes) come in multiple widths, are very soft, cost less than pretty much any shoe at the shoe shop and can be painted any colour you like? Honestly the best shoe to buy if you like the ballet flat look.
@@haveaballcrafting8686 That sounds nice, but what are the soles like? Most "ballet flats" have the usual sole made for constant walking. They are not just soft and for practice, they are a proper walking shoe. And I've worn soft practice shoes before, and while they would be nice for at home slippers, I wouldn't wear them even once to walk on any sidewalk. Are you talking about something different that I haven't heard of? Can you tell me more about what you mean?
@@naomilangevin3944 I’m talking normal ballet practice shoes. yes, they might wear out quicker than shoes with hard soles, but they’re also cheaper, and they are certainly more durable than bedroom slippers. my daughters wore them about 200 hours per year, and some pairs were passed down through my three and then given to another child because they were still ok. personally, i wear vivobarefoot shoes, so i haven’t tested ballet slippers for daily use, but i’ve been tempted to get some for myself! if you found the soles wore out too fast, you can buy thin rubber sole material from leather suppliers like Tandy, cut to size and glue on your own outsole, and still be more comfy than a standard ballet flat and a lot cheaper than official barefoot shoes.
Hi! This is such a great idea for a video, and I myself often struggle finding a decent pair of shoes due to a fair number of factors, from my feet being about one size too small for the sizes most men’s shoes are made in, to my sunken arches and weirdly shaped toes. A lot of me seems to exist in these weird places where all my measurements are almost-but-not-quite whatever the standard measurements are deemed to be. It makes finding decently fitting clothes much more difficult, for a start.
One of the strangest things to me is that the sizing numbers of shoes differ in width between men’s and women’s shoes when the numbers are the same. I do t get why we still have this, why not just use the same measurements and then divide those into numbers or words like “small, medium, large” if we want to? This should also apply to clothes, it’s so strange that a men’s Medium and a woman’s Medium can be extremely different in size when you take the measurements of both garments.
It's extra weird, because we used to have one size range for everyone in the US! Other countries still do. Somewhere in the 1930s range women shifted up almost two numbers. I'm still looking for why! It's strangely the opposite of the "vanity sizing" we're used to. I can only assume it was to differentiate between genders more (they do that a lot in that era), but why women's changed that way is still baffling.
I am currently wearing out what I consider to be my perfect pair of shoes. I broke my left ankle at the age of 10 and have had problems with it ever since. But when bought a pair of shoes in my actual size (size 3 UK) and in a more Victorian child style, suddenly the issues I was having with my ankle dropped dramatically. I can now actually work 5 hour shifts on my feet two days in a row and not die from pain! And I think it's partly the rubber sole is quite thin and only slightly raised, and they're quite narrow, so they actually hold my feet properly rather than let them slip around. They're also a boot, so go the full way round my foot and ankle. My doctor always said to wear trainers with an insole to raise my heel up, which were very painful, and it was only when I bought these flatter and better fitting, light-weight boots that I noticed a real positive change!
I have feet that are very wide in front with short toes, a high instep, and high arches. And to top it all off, my feet underpronate/supinate. About the only shoes that I can find that are comfortable are the ones that take orthotics and look like they're for old ladies. I would love to find some cute flats or sandals or something other than lace up granny shoes. But they just don't seem to be out there, unless they're custom, which is prohibitively expensive.
Maybe I can use this information to try finding more styles that might work.
Man, this helps explain why I kept rubbing through the lining on the edges of the heel of athletic shoes and flats! really any shoe with a closed back. I would rub through the lining completely before the soles gave out on every pair of closed-back shoes I own.
My tactic: find a manufacturer, and the lasts Ishoe styles) within that manufacturer's line that fit, then buy them OR use them as exemplars and match them, measure for measure, feature for feature, with other manufacturer's shoes. For instance, I know that Munro oxfords and loafers fit me perfectly. I take my Munro loafers with me when I shop and compare it to another maker's shoes. It is immediately obvious when the lasts too wide, too narrow, too curved, the toe box isn't tall enough, etc., etc. Weird trick, but it works. Hope this helps!
I would love to see a conversation between you and Josephine Lee. Even though you're in two different industries, I see so much overlap in your knowledge. I feel like the two of you could talk about feet and shoes for hours.
Thank you for the name, I would be fascinated by a collaborative between Nichole and Josephine!
I love this idea, too. I’ve learned so much about feet and fit from Josephine’s videos and I’ve never been a dancer.
I have struggled with fitting shoes my whole life - and now I know why pointed toes work best for me, my little toe does the same thing!
I had a pair of docs I was breaking in, and they decided to crease horizontally, inwards, exactly over my Achilles tendon... they eventually softened up but until they did, yeowch!
I have Ugly Stepsister feet! I am sick of not being able to find reasonably priced wide shoes- that also have room for toes, and arch.
'Anatomic barefoot' and Fare Bare are quite reasonably priced. Watch the circumference of the foot with Farebare - they vary with the style of the shoe a lot but the maker gives you the numbers.
huh, today I learned I have a very high arch (which I did know), a very low instep, a wide ball, a very narrow heel, and long toes (which I also knew). it's no wonder I walk around bare foot! hugely interesting Nicole, and very informative.
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom! I had never thought about the ankle point or stiffness affecting the heel. Since starting dancing as an adult a couple of years ago, my demands for shoes have changed drastically, and I can now see how that has addressed several of the points you mention - particularly the stiffness!
For example, for everyday shoes that I will be walking a lot in, I always check the for sole flexibility. I don't even bother buying high heels anywhere else anymore than at stores that sell dancing shoes. The strong arch support, ability to point my toes and ability to adjust the part that wraps around the foot means that I can dance in these for hours while I suffer in normal heels after a brief period. I had a pair resoled with rubber at the front so that I can wear them to parties (latin shoes - which I mostly wear generally have a suede sole, that cannot be worn outside).
This is an insanely helpful video thank you so much. There are two different styles of heeled shoes from two different brands that i have in multiple colours and wear exclusively and now I know why those work so well for me hopefully i can find similar flat shoes! Great advice to trace the outside of the foot and then the bits that actually touch the ground - i knew i had high arches but i had no idea i had such an extreme inward curve. Good thing to know and to remember to correct for when walking 😂
Sadly, my feet def have problems cause they aren't normal sizes. For other women with high arches and wide feet, it's a LOT easier to buy men's shoes then try to find a pair that fits normally. Those are sized assuming your feet aren't ruler thin.
General rule is size down around 2 sizes for men's shoes, so an 11 women's / 41 euro = men's 9. 8 women's / 28 euro / men's or boys 6, women's 6 / 36 euro / men's or boys 4... Obviously you can't exactly get heels, but with so many lower costs footwear places closing and the swap to online only no returns you gotta wear whatever fits.
This is honestly a super helpful guide explaining how in *some* cases the "bere feet" shoe works for some people but other times it doesn't work for different. sure the bere feet is flexiable, but not everyone's foot is shaped the same as how the shoe is built. The whole toe area tilt section is a perfect example how that wouldn't work for everyone.
I don't think I woud do well with the bere feet because I struggle with toe socks as is as my feet aren't made for them. it also explains how I still struggle with the shafing in the back of my heel with my renfair boots a little because I do slide back and fourth smidge in the shoe and have to double the socks and make sure I'm wearing thicker socks on top of that. apparently my feet are smaller than most people my height and when they see my feet they're like "How come you have the cute feet?" Which I never really thought of my feet that way? considering that I'm fustrated with my shoe size mostly. (I think my big toe is the longest as the rest of my toes curl under but the ball of the foot is wide and making it more semetrical and doesn't tilt all that much. though weirdly enough the pointed toe shoes felt more comfortable for a while?) and I don't do good with rigid shoes as much. The sneakers that I bought for one of my temp jobs, I had to literally step on the top of them and the back of the heel just so they could move with my foot. Is it not ideal? No, bit it works for my personally and now my sneakers are the most comfortable they could be and I can handle longer hours in them since sometimes I have trouble with my feet (I've fractured acrossed the the toe area almost all the way across of the foot in the 3rd grade and I also spranged that same foot due to standing on concrete on extreamly old degrated shoes for 6 hours straight in College.)
This is why I like being barefoot or wear Teva squishy flip flops that looks to your foot as much as possible. Last year I got a pair of Vans that are the best pair of closed shoes I’ve had.
That was extremely informative! I have had trouble with my feet and shoes all of my life, and I would spend so much time trying on shoes that didn’t fit, but I didn’t know exactly what styles and shapes were so troublesome. I have literally made my own shoes out of leather, so I would have something comfortable to walk around in while in the house. I will now go and find the shoes that are the most comfortable and take note of the shape, Most shoes pinch across the top of my foot and the arch never seems to be in the right place in most of them. Thank you again.. 😊
You didn't discuss weight - I used to be hooked on processed foods and was very overweight, feet and ankles were swollen, now I'm a normal weight (thanks to the Physicians Committee's channel) and shoes feel more comfortable. I am 58 and when I became 40 my foot size went from 4 (UK size) to 5. I was told this is very common as the arches fall and to expect it might even go up more to a 5 and a half or even a 6. I still have some Italian size 4 shoes that fit me fine because they're wider, in the UK shoes seem to be narrower and i was told that American women have narrower feet so American shoes might be even narrower. I have quite wide feet, I try to walk on grass in my garden as much as I can and also wear comfortable slippers with a slight heel when I'm at home. I don't think completely flat shoes are either healthy or comfortable, a little heel (preferably block heel) is better for me. I have recently started to wear heels again after years of discounting them. I actually found some amazingly comfortable medium heel boots (e.g. Hobbs Imogen in the UK, Dune, Carvela), I feel so much better now I look a couple of inches taller!
You didn't discuss heels very much and I would love you to do so in greater depth. Very interesting video, thank you. Generally I feel sorry for my bunioned feet but losing weight and investing in elegant but comfortable shoes/boots has been very worthwhile. It's so sad to see frumpy comfort shoes, usually with plastic/rubber heels, it doesn't have to be this way, it's just poor design. Just because our feet are a bit wider, etc. we shouldn't have to settle for ugly shoes. We need good designers as there's a lot of us and we want to be both chic and pain-free.
Watching this while recovering from surgery on my broken foot has been quite the journey! Thank you as always, Nicole!
Wow, so much information in this video. Thanks for making this. I've always hated shopping for shoes. As a tall woman with feet that need shoes with orthotics it used to be hard to find nice shoes. Now with online shopping the range is bigger, but ordering shoes without trying them on first is still not great. I'm sure your tips will help me in the future!
This video made me realise I really want a Cinderella video from Nicole!
Personally I have terribly sensitive feet, most shoes WILL give me a lot of blisters. I had episodes of people warning me that my feet were bleeding when I was a teenager, because I was USED to the pain already.
I really need to avoid any hard details on the inside and I indeed work better with more flexible shoes and I don't wear heels. I like to wear ballet flats since they really go with my style but they can be really evil shoes sometimes. I wish I had more sturdy feet, it's really annoying lol (My feet are also extremely straight with no inward curve at all so I learned today I gotta watch out for those inward tilted shoes)
This is such an excellent breakdown of all the different ways our shoes and feet can interact. Incredible. And I love how it's done so matter of factly, addressing every aspect. It's not about whether you have fat or wide feet, it's all about proportions that can vary wildly from person to person. Thank-you.
I wear a 5.5 flat shoe. If I want a heel, I need to start at a 5, and possibly go down. Except it’s already REALLY REALLY hard to find women’s shoes smaller than a 6 in stores. It’s why I liked Payless: they actually carried smaller women’s shoe sizes. I will sometimes get lucky at DSW, but I have to in prepared to be completely overwhelmed, not to mention I have to figure out how they have decided which shoes are “work” shoes, dressy shoes, sandals, sneakers, athletic shoes…I hate it.
That was an incredible amount of information in 30 minutes of video, wow! I've worn a very cheap, no-name brand of boot for the last 7 or 8 years. They're actively falling apart on me and are not for sale anywhere any more, but they are the best shoes I've ever had. I bought (what I thought was) a similar pair, but they just don't work at all. The information in the video explains a lot of the problems I have with my newer pair compared to the old ones. It's amazing what history can teach us even in these sorts of things!
I shoe shop on QVC because they carry more Wide width sizes than the same brands carry in stores. I like the Spenco, Vionic and Ryka brands for arch support. Propet also carries WW and WWW options.
Knee pain is reduced when I wear arch supported shoes or use arch support inserts.
I have a high instep that is proportionally farther forward because arthritis has pushed my heels farther back. Mary Jane straps and Teva straps are just too short to accommodate my foot shape. I do much better with lace up shoes and skip using the top laces. I really appreciate the extra padding that manufacturers are putting inside heels. As I get older, circulation is not as good. Swelling is an issue. I was wearing Men's slippers and flipflops to fit my instep and width. When I found wide sizes on QVC, I threw those out and now own wide women's designs. When I do find a style and size that is comfortable I tend to panic and buy multiples. It's a problem as I age and my feet keep changing. I wind up donating unworn pairs that no longer fit. Quality is always worth the investment in shoes.
I thought I had a wide foot until i tried on straight last shoes. What a difference! I just wish more makers had them.
I never knew how fascinating shoes and feet shapes were until i found this channel. 😁
Hello! Thank you so much! I am new here, but I find out so much about my feet and why no shoes ever fit my feet no matter how many years I wear them. In the end, I became so frustrated that I started to write on my shoe boxes where should I cover my feet with the band-aid once I wear a particular pair of shoes. I have a lot of shoes. At some point, I worked in the shoe store selling them. I spend a lot of money on shoes chasing that "perfect pair," which magically will not hurt my feet anywhere from day one. Believe it or not it actually happened once or twice in my life. 😅 I actually have a similar shape of the foot as you do and my little toe always suffers... I always thought that the round shape of shoes is the best for my foot. My foot is a bit on the flat side, so I need an arch support which does not exist in modern shoes anymore as it's too expensive to make that, so I have been told by a sales person. I think that I will look for someone who can make shoes just for me so it will fit perfectly. ❤ That's my dream! Could you please make a video about what height of the heel is the best for each of us? Thank you in advance! 😊 Love from Sweden! 🎉
This will be a fun watch
I once dated a woman who was fond of the highest of heels. She said that the secret to wearing them comfortably was to find manufacturers whose lasts happen to match your feet, and consistently buy from them.
So many excellent tips! Thank you! I’m really starting to realize that non-leather shoes are not worth the money.
Ahhhh, yes. Shoe conundrums are very familiar to me. Thanks for talking to people about how feet are all different! Until my late 20s I had very narrow feet (AAAA) with ridiculously high arches, which made shoe shopping a nightmare. Since I've, ah, matured the ball of my foot now comfortably fits into B width shoes and my arch is flatter, but my heel is still narrow. So, if I don't have some sort of buckle (Mary Janes are my friend) or lace front I'm going to walk right out of any shoe that fits my forefoot. I also have spaghetti ankles--I've had more than one round of crutches and finally just had to have the ligaments totally rebuilt in one ankle. I saved up an bought my dream oxfords from A Certain Historical Shoemaker and am coming to the very sad conclusion that they probably are just not going to work for my feet no matter how I pad them out because of that my higher arch and narrow heel problem. Such are the small annoyances of life!
Thank you for sharing your insights on shoe fit. Especially these days sinc so many people shop online. Hopefully they can take a look at there shoe and pretty much know whether it'll work with the information that you have given them.
Thank you for good advices. I learnt how to choose comfy shoes hard way, but some of your advices could me help to choose next time more wisely.
There are a few things you didn't touch, which apply to boots: circumference of ankle and calf, how high the narrowest/widest point is and how tall the boot itself is.
It can be really hard to find boots that fit over your calf if you have more calf muscles than average. There are manufacturers who take this into account, but even those manufacturers still assume that foot length is proportional to height, so the same boot in small size is designed for a short person, but in a larger size it's for a tall person with much longer legs and consequently calves being much higher up. When you're a taller person with smaller feet, all "knee length" boots will end in the middle of your calf with the calf profile hanging loose halfway between your calf and ankle 😢 and when you're a shorter person with larger feet, boots dig under your knee.
This is such a wonderful video! I (AFAB) have wide feet, after watching this, I'm pretty sure I have a "Man's wide foot " instead of a "Woman's wide foot". My brother has double-wide feet! And my grandfather had extremely high arches. I, also, have a connective tissue disorder, so all those bones you were talking about move around! I feel so seen! Thank you! ETA: Oh! And that connective tissue disorder also causes sensitive skin and get blisters super easy.
I'm AFAB and 95% of the time I wear men's hiking shoes. I wrecked my feet wearing women's pumps as part of the 90s office dress code, and only THEN did I find out from a podiatrist that I was born with a foot structure that is not compatible with heels. I should've gotten an ADA letter to be excused from the dress code and worn nice flats.
Thank you for this video. I have bought two rather expensive shoes for dance, only to find them not fitting how I expected, even when I had tried them on before purchasing. Knowing what to look for in terms of stitching, toe box, and material, I feel ready to try looking for my next dance shoe.
nice to have an explanation of what might be causing my pinky toes to always try to escape even in wide shoes
Ever since I learned about extra wide shoes, it’s been a game changer. I wear 4E shoes. Options are painfully limited, but my feet don’t hurt anymore!
I was lucky enough that switching to work boots usually gives me enough room, even in women's models. I even found steel toed women's dress work boots.
Thank you so so much Nicole, this video is such an invaluable resource for anyone needing to know why and how shoes are uncomfortable and what the remedies are 💎
Thank you for this very interesting video! Plus I enjoyed the rich colors of your clothing, hair, and background.
I have problem feet -- wide but not thick, low arches, second toe longest, and a Morton's neuroma. I took 4 pr shoes on a 3-week vacation to Spain.😬(not ideal) When I discover a shoe that works well, suddenly I want it in all available colors. My current passion is Birkenstock's closed tennies ("Bend low"), and I have them in white, brown, beige, and have painted some pink and now red, more ordered to paint yellow and blue. I think your shoe making is fascinating.
Thank you Nicole! Great explanation of a lot of the various shoe fitting issues and how to help you help your feet.
I have a B size shoe, but a narrow heel, with a high arch. I have found that with heels, the only ones I can wear are sling backs. I can adjust the strap to my size.
Wow, this was so interesting. I have a horrible time with my heels - I have a connective tissue disorder, so they don’t blister, the skin pretty much immediately tears open. I started wearing silicone heel cups until shoes are broken in and softened, decided I don’t care if the heel cup looks weird.
Too many times of just giant wounds on the back of my heels.
My biggest problem with dress flats and high heels is that the back of the heel is almost always too tall for my feet, especially when they're very stiff, and they tend to cut into the back of my ankle.
It took until I was in my 60s to figure out what shoes work for my super-wide, short toe, high volume, high arch feet - true barefoot shoes.
Barefoot shoes are wider than conventional ones. Not all are wide enough for me, but many are. They also have a wide toe box that works well with my toes.
They usually have absolutely no arch support. That's perfect for me, as my arches are super strong.
True barefoot shoes are also very minimal and flexible. If leather or fabric, they will break in. Any toe or heel structure is soft.
I don't need the absolute flatness of barefoot shoes ... while my feet can manage heels, any modern heeled shoe has too many other problems.
Barefoot shoes also have a couple of other advantages. They're usually made by small manufacturers in countries that pay workers a living wage. I have shoes from Germany, Greece and Slovakia. No giant factories full of near-slave labor.
Since those who care about sustainability often prefer barefoot shoes, they use far less synthetic materials, usually leather or fabric uppers. The soles are often rubber or synthetic, but use less material and hold up to walking on city surfaces better than you might think.
Barefoot shoes won't work for everyone; I'm no evangelist. But if you have strong feet and most modern shoes don't work, give them a try. Oh, and if you ever come across fashionable heels with some barefoot features and wide toeboxes, please let me know!
Edited to add: for those looking, check out the Anya's Reviews blog and shop. She's a former fashionista who developed major foot problems that were relieved by barefoot shoes. Being into style, she searches the world for stylish barefoot shoes. She's branched out and covers men's and kid's shoes too, and eventually opened a shop to sell the best shoes that are hard to get in the USA. No affiliation, other than being a happy customer.
Thank you for this wonderful video and your sage advice! I need to get rid of a lot of inexpensive, uncomfortable styles that I've held onto for too long. Having key areas to look out for (especially flexibility) when testing and walking around in shoes is so invaluable.
Fun to read all the foot/shoe horror stories! and thanks to much for the video! I tried heels about 50 years ago and found that while they looked nice, my facial expression did the opposite. Just looking at shoes, my feet hurt. Hard leather. plastic, no flexibility, flat toe boxes. My big toe curls up.
For the past 10 years or more I have been wearing Skechers ballerina flats mostly, with some adjustable sandals in the summer. I only wear skirts (mostly long) so sneakers are not an option., I don't run or do sports, so I don't need them. Boots are a problem but we haven't had much snow the past several years.
Recently I found out about pronation/supination and decided I supinate. I bought some inserts that raise the outer part of my foot and I think that adjustment is helping. We'll see--all my life I have worn 1/4-1/2 inch off the outer sid of my heel.
Happy to drop by… My Great Grandfather sailed from Ireland in 1851 all sons became cobblers .. your channel is quite interesting…🫶🏼
If this is your first video of hers, she has tons of actual shoe making videos! :) I'm fascinated by her process.