I used to be stylish. 1 injured toe and 2 years later, I'm a slob. Help!

March 28, 2016 11:42 PM

I used to love shoes and dressing nice even on off-days with a slick pair of Stacey Adams Concordes... Well, long story short, partially through my own clumsiness & through my work, I injured my toe and had to go through physical therapy for a long time. Funny how a really minor injury can mess your life up.

Suffice to say that my approach to fashion changed dramatically, and I switched over to exceedingly comfortable joggers and wide, comfortable Vans all the time. It is in its own right a style...but today, at the local CVS, looking at my passing reflection in the windows as I bought chocolate at 1:00am...I realised I'd become an entirely different beast. One my formerly hipster self would revile!

But seriously forks. I just want options to be more sharp-looking, especially since I freelance and have to look halfway-put together some of the time.

SO: My question is, do people have any experience with "comfortable", potentially orthotics-accommodating (and by this I mean super minimal, literally just a tiny strip of foam) shoes that don't look like a pile of garbage? I've found some myself from just googling, but it's a bit of a crap-shoot. Any leads would be much appreciated.

Thanks again to the still-fighting, persistent, *undying* hive mind.

posted by parkbench to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Check out New Balance's Cobb Hill line. That's where I got shoes that were comfortable but stylish and that I didn't need to break in when I was using a standing desk in an office setting.
posted by limeonaire at 11:47 PM on March 28, 2016

Ziera (out of NZ, findable in the US) and Ecco (Denmark, easier to find in Europe) are my current choices for comfortable shoes. I also like SAS but they only have limited stylish options.

If your primary comfort concern is width, then I would search out lines that feature shoes of different width- in women's footwear, I liked duo boots (now Ted and Muffy), but I don't know a menswear equivalent.
posted by nat at 1:05 AM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Merrell have some cute offers and are great for feet.

Rieker are also excellent, I swear by them. They have quite a few cute wide styles.
posted by fraula at 5:53 AM on March 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: How much money do you want to throw at this? And where are you located? These Alden Footbalance shoes are specifically for accommodating orthotics, for instance.

Also, if there's an Allen Edmonds in your area, go in and try on some of their shoes in wide widths with your foam strips - they don't have all styles in stock in all widths, but they will have all lasts in stock in most widths, so you can see what the fit is like. They have, like, one pair of heinously ugly shoes currently that are designed for orthotics, but since you describe having only a little foam thing, maybe just a wide width shoe would work.

Also, how dressy do these need to be? Would you be able to wear some of these styles from Trippen? They come with removable cork soles, they tend to run wide and they are rather stretchy. Again, not especially cheap, but I have ordered from the German website and they are completely reliable for international shipping. The shoes last very, very well - I used to have two pairs which I wore to death year round for a while.

If you are willing to order from England, Sanders has both ordinary wide-width and a few models in extra wide. I have some Sanders shoes (used via eBay) and they are nicer and generally more comfortable than Allen Edmonds. Pediwear is a reliable international shipper and might have some fit advice. IME, Sanders shoes run a little wide - they fit me comfortably in a standard size and I have slightly wide feet. I take a US 8.5 and wear a UK 7.5

What about semi-custom? You could contact Rancourt; I believe they work from foot tracings for their custom pairs and might have some advice.

Also, what about dressier sneakers? There's a lot of stuff like this floating around right now at various price points.
posted by Frowner at 7:10 AM on March 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

These shoes from Sahalie are amazing! I guess they may not be everyone's cup of tea but I get a lot of complements when I wear them and they are SO comfortable. I had the same problem when a foot injury left me feeling frumpy and unfashionable, these shoes were the perfect solution, they go with everything.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 5:12 PM on March 29, 2016

Barking Dog Shoes reviews shoes for problem feet. No guarantees re: stylish-ness but they try. They really really try.

Unsolicited advice: If you find something that works and seems like it will be in fashion for the next 5 years or so, buy multiples.
posted by purple_bird at 2:00 PM on March 30, 2016