A Shoe Warning
If I have a real weakness when it comes to fashion, it’s shoes. I’ve owned everything from shiny purple Doc Martens to teal boat shoes to my latest favorites, a pair of brown Lands End slip-ons I got from an op shop going out of business that make me two inches taller. However, I can only wear those to one of my jobs. My retail job requires that I wear black, “professional looking” shoes. I owned two pairs that fit the description when I started the job, and not satisfied with either my black loafers or my black dress shoes, I went looking and found a pair of black “dress” sneakers at Goodwill, still with the tags on.
Nothing says “I’m a swank motherfucker” like wearing these with khakis and no socks.
As the weeks went on, I noticed that not only did my feet hurt a lot when I was on them all day, but I was having more joint pain than usual — not just in my bad knee, but in both knees, my ankles, and even my hips. I wondered if it was an unavoidable side effect of working retail and trying to increase the amount of walking I did, or if maybe it was because of the oncoming winter cold.
When I happened to mention it to the nurse when I was getting a shot last week, she pointed out something that I realized I should have thought of earlier. My dress sneakers have very little built in support. I planned to pick up some insoles, but in the meantime, I decided to wear my interview shoes for a few days, and the difference was remarkable.
Not thinking too much about it, though, I threw my sneakers on again yesterday. Once I was paying attention to the way my feet hurt when I was wearing them, though, I couldn’t stop being aware of how much it hurt just to have them on. The soles were thin, yes, but there was another problem. Because of the cold, I’ve been choosing thick wool socks made by my spouse, rather than the thin black socks that officially meet the dress code requirements. When I’m wearing the thicker socks, those shoes are actually too small.
I got married in shiny purple docs, and I regret nothing about that decision.
This is not the first time I’ve run into a problem like this. It’s definitely the worst, but when I’m at the thrift store and I’ve already fallen in love with a pair of boots or sneakers or dress shoes, it’s all too easy for me to say that they’re fine, they’re not that tight or I’ll wear them with thin socks or they’ll break in. But it never happens, not really. No matter how much I love them, they’ll never really fit and I’m just filled with regret every time I look at them.
I think it’s really easy for people who don’t wear high heels or high-performance sports shoes to not really think about how our shoes might be affecting us. Let this be an object lesson, though. Being on your feet all day might result in sore feet, but it shouldn’t result in stabbing pain, obvious limps, or other clear signs of distress from your joints. Either you have a more serious medical issue, or there’s probably something wrong with your shoes. Any kind of shoe can fit badly or not offer enough support, so pay attention to what your body is telling you about the shoes that are carrying it.
Originally published at www.dressingthespectrum.com on November 30, 2015.
