Shoes, Glorious Shoes~!

Yes, I'm talking about my favorite obsession today, just a little bit. Today, it's mostly about how to find heels you can walk COMFORTABLY in. Because they do exist - and they're not super expensive. Obviously, this is all coming from what I know as comfortable. I have a really low, almost flat, arch. If you've got a higher arch, your feet are probably WAY more finicky than mine about what shoes are comfy. (My mother has a high arch and can't wear heels at all, as they're simply too painful). There are, however, certain things that will make you more uncomfortable in a pair of shoes.

The main thing you want to think about with heels is the combination of the toe style and the heel style, because there are really good combinations, and really bad combinations.

Found at Dillard's five and a half years ago.

The above shoes are my least favorite, most uncomfortable pair of shoes ever. I only hang onto them because they're the first pair of heels I ever owned. Why do I find them so uncomfortable? They have a very narrow heel, and a peep toe. Yes, peep toes can be super fun and not uncomfortable - sometimes. I have approximately six pairs of heels with peep toes, only two of which I consider very comfortable. Just be careful with peep toes, as the heel on a pair of high heels can and will scrunch your toe up into that area. Peep toes, at least in my experience, work best with wedges or square heels.

Bought at Payless.

Another bad combination is narrow heels with slingbacks with peeptoe. Pretty, but ultimately, rather uncomfortable. Ask me about running barefoot to a choir performance sometime... Slingbacks are best paired with a wedge, as far as I'm concerned. But overall, I'm not a fan of slingbacks, and own very few of them, so do take it with a grain of salt. They take a LOT of time to break in - these didn't start approaching 'does not leave ankle blisters' until three years after I bought them.

From Payless as well.

For the record, these heels are magical and the only exception to my 'no pointy toed heels' rule. Why do I have such a rule? Well...let's just say, my mother told me horror stories about her mom's feet. Her mother wore pointy toed, narrow heeled heels every day for years, and her feet wound up deformed. Much as I like heels, I like my feet the same shape! These have surprisingly stable heels, despite how narrow they are, and my feet don't scrunch up too much in the toe, mostly thanks to me stuffing something down there to prevent that. These are, generally, a rather iffy shoe style to wear, I think - it's a lot of luck on getting the right shoe. My pair are a size higher than my usual shoes - a nine instead of an eight - which I think has a lot to do with how I can stand wearing them.

Bought at Payless. (Is this a theme...?)

Ah, platform shoes, narrow heel, round toe. To be honest, this is one of my favorite shoe combinations. Round toes are incredibly comfortable, and don't induce the panicky voice in my head to go "YOU'RE GONNA HAVE DEFORMED FEET!!!!11!!1!" The rounded toe helps balance out the pressure being shoved onto the ball of your foot by the narrow heel as well, since it keeps the toes in one place, not letting them cram into a super-narrow space. The platform, of course, balances out the height of the heel.

Also from Payless. Seriously, I have a thing for them, I think.

Square heel, round toe. Or a cone heel, round toe. Either way, you get a really comfy heel. It's very stable, easy to walk in, and still pretty. These are the kind of heels that, as a total novice to wearing and walking in heels, you can take off after eight hours and have feet that barely hurt. You're able to place more weight on the heel because it has a wider base both on and off the ground, therefore, there's a more even distribution of stress between the heel and toe areas.

No, I didn't get into wedges, or booties, or any of the other zillion shoe areas. ;) That would be because I'm planning on turning this into a series.

Tell me what you think, and your favorite shoe styles, in the comments! I love hearing from people. :)