While shopping with my husband this afternoon I looked down at his heels and noticed, he was like one of the cobbler’s children without any shoes. He was walking on the outside of the heels of his shoes to the point that he looked like he had a limp and was hobbling from side to side. When I asked him how he could possibly walk pain free in his shoes, he replied, “I can’t, so we won’t be shopping for long”.
Fortunately we were right next to Nordstrom and could buy new shoes, because we had a lot of shopping to do. Once in the men’s shoe salon I quickly wandered around and found him the following three pair of shoes. My husbands challenges are that his foot is very deep and he has a long heel to ball. Lace styles suit him best, but he is drawn to slip-ons because of the ease of getting them on and off.
He wears orthotics for functional hallux limitus, i.e. sore big toe joints and is most comfortable when the shoe is torsionally stable and has an inflexible forefoot sole. Within 5 minutes, I had the following three contentenders in hand.
1. Mephisto Gaham – Size 12
A very handsome tie shoe, wide and deep – Sticker price – $395
2. Ecco Montreal – Size 46 Euro
Beautiful slip on shoes – Sticker Price – $275
3. Merrell Jungle Moc – Size 12
Wide and deep, very orthotic friendly – Sticker Price – $79.95
Much to our dismay, when the shoes were retrieved, my husband was unable to fit his orthotics into the shoes. Although all shoes had removable foot beds, the heel cup of his orthotic was unable to seat fully back. The result, a tight fit in the vamp and excessive heel slippage in the back. It didn’t matter whether the shoes heel counter was soft or firm, the orthotic would still not seat back.
Worried that we still wouldn’t be able to shop, because it was increasingly apparent my husband wouldn’t be getting shoes, I thought AHA, I know, lets remove the custom orthotics and insert a pair of mens 3/4″ Superfeet instead.
Great for flats and slip on tennis shoes – Sticker – $19.95
Within a minute of trying these beauties on with the Merrell’s – order was restored in the world. With a kiss and hug, my prince charming had found his slipper that fit. From then on he commented more than once on how he felt as though he was walking on a cloud.
Thanks Nordstrom. Thanks Superfeet.
Dr. Jenny Sanders Shoe Blog 