A short musing about footwear and gender

[pantryslut]

(to be sung to the tune of "You're So Vain")

As you know, Bob, my gender is most easily described as butch -- butchish, on the butch spectrum, low butch, butch with cleavage, genderfucked butch, whatever, feel free to add your own, but definitely some flavor of butch. I am also large, that is, tall and wide, and relatively narrow-hipped. Since I was a teenager it has therefore been easy to find men's clothing that fits me*, and that's what I tend to wear.

As a teenager, I also started wearing men's shoes.

This, it turns out, was a mistake. It's a mistake that may have contributed not insignificantly to my current foot pain, in fact. Men's shoes are too wide for my feet, which aren't in proportion to the rest of my body. My feet are long and ever so slightly narrow (except in the toebox :P ), and they have very high arches. Ridiculously high arches. So if I wear shoes that are too wide, my foot rolls in and I cause all sorts of strain on my foot tendons, ankles, knees, and now, hips and spine.

So now I wear women's shoes. Often with just a touch of heel, because that helps my feet too. Boot heels are my friend.

I think I just want to note here for posterity that it was more than mere vanity that drove me to wear men's shoes as a teen and young adult. It was a scrabble for identity.

I am glad to have more tools at my disposal now.



* ETA: Except for button-up shirts, for obvious reasons.

Comments

[freakysparks.livejournal.com]

might you have any comfy shoe recommendations?

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Right now Naot seems to work well for me, and they're a little more stylish than Birkenstocks, which I wear around the house but can't bring myself to wear in public. Many Naot styles run a little narrow, which is a plus for me as long as there's room in the toe box.

I wear a lot of Dansko and marydell recommended Sanita to me as similar to earlier Dansko styles.

I also like Wolky a lot.

And I own a little pair of ankle boots from Ralph Lauren that I've had for over ten years (with one resoling).

[susannochka.livejournal.com]

I just learned that Sanita used to make the older Dansko soles, back when they were narrower (and more like the Sanitas). So now a lot of people are going to Sanita since they preferred the narrower heels. I like the new ones. But another company used to make the really broad-soled Danskos, and they no longer do, alas, so I am a bit at a loss, because their Oxford-style shoes really were the best for my wide feet, and they don't make 'em anymore! Gah.
My mother swears by the Wolky sandals.

[shadefell.livejournal.com]

I have really wide feet, so men's shoes work well for me, especially sandals. It's frustrating when FLIP FLOPS are too narrow, y'know?

I used to wear Doc Martens a lot, but my feet have gotten wider over their years and they don't fit anymore. I love unisex shoes, sturdy shoes, work boot type shoes.

It's so great that you have shoes that don't cause you pain. :)