Steppin' Out Shoes

Let's face it - we've got some ugly feet. Skinny calves, short and wide feet, oh, and don't forget the scars. Gals - those 6-inch spikes? Uh-uh. Guys? Those Ferragamo slippers? Ehhh, nope. But, like nearly every other human on this small, blue orb, we have those ego issues. Who doesn't want to look good, even if they feel not-so-good?

Here's a prime example. Many years back, when I first got into making footwear, I was presented with a 14 year-old girl (NO, now stop that nasty-minded thinking! She wasn't "presented" to me - she became a client, OK?) Anyway, this young girl had been born in Vietnam. When she was three, a bomb struck so close to her house that a wall collapsed on her, crushing one of her legs. There was no choice at the time but to take out nearly eleven inches of bone. The doctor who referred this girl told us she had an 11 inch leg length discrepancy. So, we thought we were prepared. Oh, no we weren't!

She came into the clinic, and as she walked toward me, I observed her gait. I was instantly confused - she showed no signs at all of a discrepancy. None. Zero. Zilch. She wore a long skirt that just showed the tops of her shoes, so I could see that her heel was hitting the ground, and she had clearly not adapted as a toe-walker. It wasn't until we had her raise her skirt to mid-thigh that we saw the truth of the matter, and to this day, I've never seen another person present like this girl did.

Because she was a young girl, appearance was everything (sorry, not trying to be sexist, just a realist.) She had accomplished a form of compensation that defied all logic - she had learned to walk with the knee of her long, good leg, bent. To the degree that she had no pelvic tilt, no limp, no discrepancy in any other aspect of her gait. If this still doesn't make sense, let me explain one more thing.

The goal of biomechanical compensation is to do three things: maintain, for the visual processing we need to do, a level horizon line; maintain a balanced inner ear (or vertigo will result); and minimize energy expenditure. If walking on your toes answers these three criteria, that will do the trick. But to walk in the manner she did, with the knee on her good side bent at nearly 40 degrees, to address these same three criteria? She addressed the first two remarkably well. But the last one? This girl was using more than any reasonable amount of energy, all in the name of her all-too-human vanity. After we designed a pair of very fashionable boots (that placed most of the lift inside the boot,) she took nearly a year to straighten out the good leg.

By the way, she absolutely loved the boots - they had flowers stitched all over them.

The point of this story is to show just how far even the most handicapped person will go to feel normal. So, its no surprise, nor should there be any need to have to explain, why we all wish to be a little more fashionable, simply to "fit in." But with feet like most of us have, this mostly seems like a futile dream. We have fit problems, balance problems, different-sized shoe problems, orthotic needs, etc., etc. Plus, some of us like purple - no, not talking about me here, just saying!

For many of us, merely finding a good shoemaker who can make us even moderately comfortable is a feat in and of itself (sorry, can't help myself.) To get the extra option of having those shoes look like the latest at Macy's, well, not so easy. There are a few out there who can do both - looks, and comfort, but they are few and far between. With that in mind, what has been your experience in this? Have you found that ideal shoe person? What did it take for you to make yourself understood, regarding your shoe needs? Share your story here, and maybe we can get a few more folks less afraid to get out there on the dance floor.

Or at least, happier when they look in the mirror.