An article about shoes, feet and going barefoot

[rhythmia]

I was link hopping and read a fascinating article today, "You Walk Wrong" in New York Magazine, here: http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

First off- the trompe l'oeil pictures of shoes painted on people's bare feet were cooooool. :D

Comments

[artemidora]

Is there a better way to walk in those? I get the same problem with heeled shoes or shoes with no straps, like most work shoes where the top is open. It makes me floppy walk because I'm stepping *out* of my shoes since they don't follow my foot as it rolls across from heel to toe. Suggestions?

Dude, no suggestions, because I don't know that either. I absolutely cannot walk in those kinds of shoes, and I have *no idea* how other people do it. I mean, I suspect that part of it is that they take smaller steps than I do? (Because I do take much bigger steps and land harder on my heel when I have shoes on, just like the article said, oh yes. In fact, it's always kind of annoyed me that I can't take the same long steps when I'm barefoot. Oops?) But smaller steps don't seem to be even *close* to all of it, so I think maybe they sacrifice pigeons or otherwise perform magic. :-P So for several years my solution has been to just always buy shoes with straps over the top, if they're not closed entirely, because I *hate* having to constantly

[rhythmia]

Halloooo! *careful glomp*

Ahh, you're no help. :P I pretty much refused point blank as a child to wear any shoes that weren't sneakers or didn't have straps of some sort. But I'm kinda stuck with my work shoes. Over the course of the last year I've more or less got the hang of walking in them, but I still often have the situation where the back hem of my pant legs get caught in my shoes when my heels come back down into the shoes. ^^;;; orz Maybe I need to sacrifice some pigeons or squirrels?

Hmmm, moccasins. I may have to look into those. or the flat black ballet/martial arts shoes that people mentioned in the comments for working in, something that breathes better than my work flats.

Also, it strikes me as kind of weird that that person told you to leave your shoes on. Well, they didn't force me. But in several homes I've asked if it's a shoes on or a shoes off house, and I've been told, keep them on, keep them on! Because the floor's cold, or dirty, or whatever whatever and it's weird to them that I want to be barefoot. (well

[emryssa]

i HATE wearing shoes. even socks = too constricting most of the time (though Austin is colder than home so i took to wearing socks this winter. at least they were cute socks ^_~

this is why i own 13 pairs of flip flops. i think i just got used to walking in them, they don't bother me, and i can still walk heel to toe...or shuffle diffidently, depending on my mood. =P

i am a definite fan of flats for work-wear. though having to wear real shoes was one of the banes of having a job. getting a paycheck is nice though ^_~

[scififreak]

I loved this article (and I read every single comment to it) because it validated a lot of what I knew by experience. I have almost entirely flat feet and yet have very little foot pain. I walk everywhere I can barefoot and have forever. People always chastised me and said I'd get arthritis and other problems because of the cold, hard ground, but walking barefoot is the most comfy for me. Also, as all the bare footers in the article pointed out, you walk MUCH more carefully when barefoot. Your feet know what they are doing. And all the foot injuries I've gotten from stepping on stuff? From crap on the floor in the house like broken glass not swept up well. My most comfortable shoes are my Converse that are totally flat and have no arch support. But the new Sketchers Sports I bought for the gym and walking around? Kill my feet after like 5 hours.