Jeremy Cherfas inquired about sensible shoe solutions in his post Sensible Shoes. I have an answer that’s not specific, but is something I feel may be useful and worth a read for others:
I don’t have quite the same level of shoe and foot troubles. But I have thoughts on shoes. I also am old enough to now know that despite a good activity level; age comes with bunion risk, joint issues, and the like.
Between the ages of 8 and 35: I don’t think I ever quite had shoes that fit right.
That changed when I went to a shoe store and found a highly attentive and knowledgeable shoe salesman. He was a bit older and asked me questions about my experience with shoes. It felt cloying and silly at the time. It’s just shoes. It’s just feet.
He asked questions about the wear patterns visible on my leather shoes. He asked about foot pain, back issues, what kind of work I did, how much walking I did and where. He also asked about my weight and whether it fluctuated.
That fella basically nailed down a diagnosis: I was wearing cheap footwear and cheap socks. I wore shoes that were too tight. I needed more cushion in the sole. The choices I’d made had led to terrible fitting shoes–they had inadequate give–that had no give and resulted in blisters if I had to do walking. He talked to me and steered me toward a way to judge a shoe rather than starting with “I like this style” and then choosing whatever fit.
He brought me options. He had me walk and pressed on the shoe with my feet in them to tell me how they ought to feel and how much give ought to be present. The only other experience I’d had like that was the times my grandmother made me shirts.
I left, and I walked out having paid double what I normally would pay. I think it was $90 for a pair of shoes I paid at a time I would have considered $40 overpaying. He had steered me to a slip-on black pair of Ecco shoes with a nice cushion and thicker heel. They didn’t look like me.
Is this useful to Jeremy? Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t have advice to find a diligent shoe professional. But these days when confronted with an issue with off-the-rack items not quite doing the job they need to I consider what an experienced professional can add to it.
Mind you, when I walked out of that shoe shop I kind of felt ripped off. I was skeptical that maybe he’d been a hustler.
But the questions he asked, and the shoe that he steered me to ended up more comfortable, and lasted longer than any shoe I’d ever had.
I’ve been wearing basically the same style shoe ever since and they stand up to the most intense walking I do, at San Diego Comic-Con. They’re so good I wear out the soles and I’ve had them resoled even as I get new ones.
I was gobsmacked a month after that first purchase: I had inadvertently lucked into a good shoe experience
Good luck Jeremy!
lastly, a header from 2004:
I used to wear my shoes to the level of disrepair. Part of that was financial, but it was also that I’d made bad choices about shoes.
