Did You Know?
• As we age, the skin padding on the bottom of our feet thins, leading to discomfort.
• Bunions can become larger from inflammation with constant pressure.
• Properly fitting shoes are key to preventing irritation and skin abrasions.
• A slight heel height can provide better support for your knees and back.
• Our foot anatomies are genetically determined to a significant degree.
Trying to navigate multiple venues in a day means finding easy solutions that aligned with our lifestyles. Feet deserve extra care at any age since they carry us forward through life our entire lives.
Let’s open with a few Interesting Insights:
Feet are genetically shaped for the most part, just as with the rest of our bodies. Just scout out the feet of relatives and you’ll likely spot yours somewhere in the DNA - bunions and hammertoes included. It’s also why we at àpropos look at feet as your “little body”.
Roughly 25% of your bones, tendons, and ligaments are considered "below the ankle” (an average 5’4” woman’s feet might be 3% of total body area), so it’s no surprise little and big issues occur with use over time. Over our entire body, including your feet, bones shift slowly as we mature.
Things life weight loss or gain, any injury or surgery involving the foot, and physiological issues such as arthritis can all manifest in the feet. Hammer toes specifically are mainly associated with bunions that push toes together.
Call out: We do so much with our feet mechanically and automatically – with relatively little thought.
When you reflect on your footwear journey over a lifetime, no doubt wearing shoes that were too small and pinched, oversized and rubbed as your foot slopped around, pointy-toe shoes, high heels and then those useless flip-flops, the changes we see now are all precipitating factors in what feet may look like now. While no mystery, it may bring us to a new mission to find shoes that feel and look they way you want, as you move forward.
How to build a footwear wardrobe?
Properly fitting shoes in any category are essential, and every style shoe has its place. Whether a style gets worn on a tennis court or at a restaurant is a personal choice but shouldn’t be a result of shrinking options as our need for comfort increases. Customizing a footwear closet to cover all your lifestyle needs can be a good way to avoid style or comfort compromises.
When selecting shoes, check out cushioning, toe-box roominess and smooth heel to toe transition for easy motion and traction. Response foams are those that will cushion underfoot when pressure is applied. This effect is superior to harder materials that force your feet to absorb the impact that can lead to inflammation. Density of an insole foam is key to its performing adequately – a good innersole doesn’t need to be a lot of layers but does need to have the right quality material in the layer provided.
FOOT SHAPES
Toe-box or forefoot room means the shoe doesn’t squeeze your toes. A good shoe-to-foot interface will also keep your foot from sliding and shifting inside and require almost zero break-in. Using soft, quality weaves on apropos shoes allows them to yield to contours and shapes instantly to avoid any chafing or inflammation (as fabric gets to “know” your feet, they can yield to your critical spots, becoming softer and even more comfortable.)
HOW WE BUILT APROPOS SHOES TO DELIVER WHEN FEET NEED AS THEY MATURE.
• Support and stability are built into our unique “shell-sole” bottom. A wall extends up from the sole and surrounds the foot to add stability for side-to-side, back to front movement.
• Innersole uses 5/16” foam for a complete shock-absorbing stack
• Cotton-based fabrics, lightly padded, provide surround foot shapes and contours with comfort, while maintaining breathability
• Non-binding straps system. Eliminates need for heel stiffeners that chafe, and lets foot and shoe mechanically become one unit for smooth, easy forward motion
• Heel height of ¼” for comfort (flats can cause stress on heel tendon)
• Fully lined in performance material called Micro-Dry for wicking and odor protection
In summary, your best casual comfort shoe has a low but higher than forefoot broad heel, a flexible sole, and some kind of lace, strap, or feature to ensure the shoe stays firmly attached to the foot. Exactly how apropos shoes are made.