Fashion, Feet and AFOs

Shoe shopping has been an annual headache, or rather foot ache, for many years now. I say annual, but I regularly put off shoe shopping until I absolutely have to buy a new pair of shoes, which is usually because my current well-worn pair have started to fall apart. As anyone that has slightly irregular feet will tell you, shoe shopping is no fun. In fact it's actually depressing. You walk into a shoe shop and see 4 or 5 pairs of shoes that you'd love to take home with you - but you can't, because your feet don't conform to an ideal size. And even the shoes that you think are 'ok' are still a problem. I have wide feet naturally anyway, but not freakishly wide so it isn't actually my feet causing me trouble - it's my splint. For those unaware of these contraptions - a splint is more accurately called an AFO (Ankle Foot Orthosis) or sometimes braces and calipers if you're still living in the dark ages. They're made by plaster casting your leg and then creating a thermoplastic mould of your ankle at a right angle so that when you walk with it, your foot is held in this position.

The AFO is the typical solution to someone that has drop foot, a condition which prevents the person from lifting their foot upwards. This is pretty essential if you want to walk normally, as you need to lift the front of your foot to clear the floor. If you suffer from this, as I do, your gait is exaggerated on the afflicted side - resulting in a pronounced limp because, to compensate, you have to raise your hip higher. This isn't to say the AFO actually stops you limping, it just stops you tripping over.

The Problem

Anyway, this technical talk to one side and back to the subject of shoes - most girls through their teens and young adulthood would have amassed a huge collection of shoes with a variety of heel heights to totter around on (I know many of my friends do). My collection of shoes typically extends to 1 or 2 pair at any one time, and almost all look the same. Usually in the form of a trainer, or a mary jane style shoe - I've given up on the hope of fitting into a calf boot. I've just completed another shoe shop at Clarks and left with two pairs of shoes which are pretty average looking mary jane's (or dolly shoes), that look similar to my current pair - and neither fully fit me, but I've come to realise over the years that I have to put up with a degree of discomfort with my feet. Some of my previous AFOs have caused permanent damage to my feet where the AFO has continuously rubbed under my foot as I've walked causing them to blister and scar.


The problem is that there are very few shoe makers that create stylish, comfortable shoes or even wide fit shoes. I know that AFO users are probably a very small proportion of society, but it would be nice if my options for comfortable, fitting shoes weren't restricted to orthopaedic granny slippers (case in point to the right).

The Solutions.. or close enough

There are some companies who go some way to helping out people with irregular feet, that don't desire to look like they're shuffling around in booties or slippers.

For those who hanker after knee-high boots that actually fit your legs (although I haven't tried them, so I can't honestly tell you that they do), because you weren't born with legs like a gazelle there's Duo (http://www.duoboots.com/) who will make boots (and shoes) to match the measurements of your legs - but be prepared to part with some serious cash.

Clarks are usually a safe bet, but even the most comfortable, flat-soled, mary jane styled shoe can be deceiving as my recent shopping trip showed me. To illustrate the problem, I've used the filtered search, which is very useful, out of 500+ size 6 shoes they stock, I've narrowed my options to 'wide fit' and only shoes with a bar or strap across the foot, which leaves about 10 options and several of those have heels that are too high.

Skechers, who I used to dismiss as a kids fashion trainer brand have of late been producing quite stylish shoes for women - my last pair and in honesty the pair of shoes I still rely on heavily are Skechers Biker Luxe Shoes (via Amazon):


These are pretty good because the back of the shoe is rounder and wider which helps to accommodate an AFO, they don't have a high heel (though I wouldn't mind it being an inch higher maybe) and they're wider across the foot which is helpful. They also have the all important velcro strap across the top of the foot, which helps strap in my AFO and my foot. However I did try out another Skecher shoe in their Biker range, assuming that they'd all be basically the same fit, and found that the shoe was significantly narrower than my Luxe shoe. While the Luxe is a comfy shoe, it is essentially a form of trainer, which doesn't really work well for every outfit occasion. It's a minefield to say the least, don't get me wrong I'm not expecting to be able to wear 3 inch high stiletto shoes that cripple even normal feet. I'd just like to find some nice looking, vaguely fashionable shoes, that accommodate wide feet, don't require lacing, keep my foot and AFO in place, have a reasonable depth (as the AFO adds to the height of your foot) and don't have a very high heel. Is that too much to ask? For the time being it seems so.