To me, shoes are like pizza: There is no bad shoe. Plus, I think ovens and refrigerators would be better used as shoe storage. I love shoes. Shoes can cost a fortune; while money itself doesn’t bring happiness, a pair of new shoes brings on a kind of exaltation. Unlike clothes, shoes have a distinct advantage. Whether you’re fat or thin, short or tall, beautiful or plain, you can buy all the shoes your heart desires. They are capable of making you feel sexy, elegant or sporty at a single step.
Spiked, gladiator, slingback, wedge, flip-flop – the names sound like wrestling moves. After all, some of these styles are more like sadomasochistic torture devices for your feet. We, as women, will endure the pinching, rubbing, swelling and blisters for fashion. Why? Well, there’s nothing that makes you feel more like a goddess than stepping out in an awesome pair of shoes … say it with me, my red-sole little loves: Louboutin (loo-boo-TAN)
Summer is peak season for foot pain. Heat causes more swelling, so while we’re enjoying those strappy open-toes, it’s important that we remember the following:
• Black tea foot soak is great for sore, blistered feet. A 10-minute soak acts much like an astringent by killing bacteria, but it also helps with swelling and will revive your feet. Add a few old golf balls to the soak and I promise you’ll be in ecstasy.
• Candle wax (beeswax) for rubbing inside sandal straps helps soften the shoe and lessen friction.
• Moleskin is a big Hollywood standard. I love this stuff because I can cut it into any shape I want. Depending on the shoe I will stick it directly on the skin or cut it and adhere it to the shoe itself.
• Dr. Scholl’s makes Rub
Relief Strips or the prettier version, Foot Petals (available locally at Feet First).
• Band-Aid offers Advanced Healing Blister Cushions (they help prevent the rub, too).
Tips:
• Consider buying a pair
of shoes half a size bigger, as comfort is integral to elegance.
• As you get older, feet tend
to get longer and wider; it becomes useless to try and squeeze into your younger
self’s size.
• Buy shoes in the evening, when feet are at their biggest; never in the morning.
• Try not to wear the same shoes too many days in a row. Ideally, you should change them every day to keep them from losing shape too soon.
• Whenever you get the chance, walk around barefoot.
• After an evening of walking in high heels, massage the soles
of your feet with a tennis ball.
• Look at the feet of your mother and grandmother. Many small deformations are hereditary but can be preventable.
Whatever kind of shoes you wear and whatever the shape of your feet, accept and love them and pamper them
with great care and pedicures. Your feet are the pedestal that supports your soul.