Shoes - The Highs and the Lows

There always comes that difficult decision whether to sacrifice glamour and style in favour of comfort! As we see heels stacking up it's tempting to go for that very girly look, which is great if you don't have to walk anywhere!

When I see the young girls staggering home after a night out, often carrying their shoes, I remember that the glamour can be shortlived!

So I thought it would be good to think about the highs and lows!

Let's think about where we feel any pain or discomfort! My running order would be heel, then ball of foot, then sole then toes, but, I imagine, depending on our feet and shoes, this order may vary!

I know that too narrow a heel doesn't give as much support, my heels tell me, so wedges are always a better option. Although, perhaps not as attractive as a simple heel, there is no doubt that your weight is distributed along the length of the foot. Another flattering option is the modern platform which is stylish and not so clumpy as the 70's originals, and I would say easier to walk on! If you think your days of heels are over, then these are definitely worth the try!

Then comes the ball of the foot, which takes a tremendous pounding and can carry up to seven times our body weight! Where we gain weight with ageing, we strangely lose padding in the ball of the foot. So look for a shoe that offers its own padding or one that you can easily add your own padding to!

The comes the sole! Flat shoes are good, but there are still some pitfalls to look for! Too flat and you may find that your arches start to collapse a bit, which happened to me after a summer of wearing flip flops! So, look for padding between you and the ground, preferably swap your shoes around a bit and a bit of a strap to hold the shoe on will always help!

As for the toes, rounded ones will always give you more room for manoeuvre! I love pointy ones and if you prefer this option then at least choose them in a soft material that will allow your toes to move! Always leave around a thumb width between your big toe and the end of the shoe.

As with all my advice - if in doubt, leave it out! You know from bitter experience that the shoe which you bought on the advice that it will "break in", rarely does, as, for a start you can't bear the break-in process! Try shoes on a surface that you will actually walk on!If your shoe shop only offers a carpet, this can give you a false sense of comfort! As for trainers, I refuse to go there!