OUR HEALTH
by Nancy Welch I grew up in Buster Browns and didn’t think twice about shoes until, at 21, I met a pair of strappy, shock-me-red wedge heels. These shoes stopped me in my tracks, literally. The wedges were made of stacked dice. As I stared at them, it was as if each die teased and dared me to step into a new world—the world of shoes. I rose to the dare and, in a single step, became addicted. I am passionate about shoes. They are the bright lights in my otherwise fashion-dull life. I look at shoes constantly—they beckon me from boutique windows, they flirt at their sexy, air-brushed best in magazines; they stride down the street on someone else’s feet. They always catch my eye. Looking and touching; I cannot help myself. Holding a supple, beautifully-crafted shoe in my hand leaves me weak at the knees. Of course, by the time my knees start to buckle, I’m already looking for someplace to sit so I can try on yet another pair. SHOES AND WOMEN; WOMEN AND SHOES: A MATCH MADE IN BOTH HEAVEN AND HELL Catherine de Medici slipped into her first high heeled shoes in about 1533; since then, legions of women have followed in her footsteps. Heels gained a permanent place in international fashion when, in the 1950s, Italy gave us the stiletto. Women and men wore stilettos as formal wear for a decade or so; through much of the 80s and 90s, however, stilettos teetered on the thin line between fashion and fetish. They’ve come back into fashion with a vengeance. This season, sky-high stilettos, cone, blade, and wedge heels are attached to every conceivable kind of dress shoe and boot. Four- to six-inch high heels are commonplace. But can anyone actually walk in them? InStyle magazine to the rescue! The October issue features a “master class” article titled “How to Walk in High Heels.” The illustrated, step-by-step instructions cover posture, re-balancing weight, length
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of stride, correct foot positions—and how to combine all these elements into actual walking with the help of an essential, if exaggerated, figure-eight hip-roll. The article even includes foot exercises designed to help women acclimate to high altitude sauntering. I like to think that most women reside at far saner spots on the shoe spectrum than this, or any other fashion magazine, suggests. Even I do—addiction, collection, and all. Heels may score high on the sex and panache scale, but in every other respect they fail. Wearing heels distorts posture and balance, and completely overrides one’s normal walking motion. Forget going fast; there’s no such thing as running, or even trotting, in heels. And if you wear heels on a regular basis, your body—particularly your feet—can pay a painful price. Walking with
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I don’t need an infinite number of fancy, cheap shoes; I need shoes I don’t have to sell my soul and morals to afford. Andrea Van Husen
your feet at an extreme slant shortens your Achilles tendons and calf muscles, forces your toes to bend unnaturally upward, and puts tremendous pressure on the balls of your feet. Wearing heels higher than 2” increases the pressure on knee joints, and this specific heel-produced pressure, if experienced repeatedly over time, increases one’s risk for osteoarthritis. “High heels with roomy toe boxes…” welcome to Oxymoron Land. Current fashions feature pointed toes so long that they could only be on loan from a witch’s wardrobe. So what is it about heels? Those of us who are vertically-challenged may claim that heels are about gaining a height advantage—gosh, when I wear heels, I can reach practically everything in my kitchen!—wrong. That’s altitude sickness talking. Heels are all about S-E-X. While the height may produce posture and stride distortion, it also elongates your legs, thrusts your bust forward, exaggerates your butt, and forces you to either stay perched on a couch or roll your hips like there’s no tomorrow. Just think Marilyn Monroe—high heels personified. Sadly, Monroe and high heels are mostly about marketing sex, even at the price of tremendous pain. The only real-world bonus to heels is that wearing them can win you a ticket to about ten days off from work—so you can recuperate from bunion surgery. Having been on that particular vacation twice, I can tell you that it is absolutely no fun at all. Let me put it this way: how often in life would you willingly choose a bedpan before you’d stand up and walk to the bathroom?
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ALL MAN-MADE MATERIALS Every matter inevitably has a crux, and shoes are no exception. With shoes, the matters of materials and manufacturing carry consequences that are significant and inescapable. Our conventional shoe choices boil down to two basic options: leather or man-made materials. Neither choice ensures that your shoes were produced under fair trade regulations (few are), and neither choice is environmentally friendly. There’s the crux. Choosing leather means choosing shoes made from animals that are hunted or farmed solely for our footwear pleasure. Choosing leather means choosing toxic industrial tanning, and may mean choosing sweat shop production, as well.On the other hand, choosing manmade materials means choosing shoes that spare the animals but encase your feet in synthetics—plastics, synthetic fabrics, and pleathers (plastic “leathers” made from PVC and polyurethane). Choosing any of these synthetics means choosing heavily polluting manufacturing processes that rely on toxic chemicals. Because synthetic materials are relatively easy to work with (particularly compared to leather), many shoes made of synthetics are produced in sweat shops. If your shoes are labeled “Made in China,” they almost certainly were made by marginally-paid workers toiling under unacceptable conditions. While there are terrific shoes that rightfully claim to be good for your feet (see sidebar), it is dauntingly dif-
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Sadly, Marilyn Monroe and high heels are mostly about marketing sex, even at the price of tremendous pain. OUR FAVORITE SHOES ARIAT Founded by two women in 1990, Ariat specializes in riding boots and also offers a wide variety of shoes, clogs, mules and sandals for women and men. My Ariats are the only fullprice, new shoes I’ve ever bought, and they are the most comfortable, wearable shoes I’ve ever owned. Right out of the box, they were an ideal fit, enough so that I never had to break them in. Available by catalogue, retail and e-tail through distributors; Ariat’s web site has a catalogue and store locator. www.ariat.com DANSKO Clogs, shoes, boots and sandals—Dansko has a stunning line of footwear with a focus on roomy toe boxes. Their web site provides detailed information about the specific construction and comfort features of each style. You can shop on line at the Dansko outlet (www.danskooutlet.com), or retail/ e-tail through distributors; their web site has a store locator. www.dansko.com MEPHISTO Our walking shoes are Mephistos. These French shoes are taking terrific care of our feet whether we are hiking or just walking around the block. Mephistos are not inexpensive (shoes start around $250), but they are superbly made, provide excellent support and are available in more than 600 styles for women and men, including boots and sandals. Available retail and e-tail through distributors; Mephisto’s web site has a store locator. www.mephisto.com
ficult to find shoes that are earth-friendly (i.e. made of natural fibers and produced using green manufacturing processes), and close to impossible to find shoes that are manufactured according to fair trade regulations. Ask for both earth-friendly and fair trade, and you might as well go barefoot. SOUL SIMPLE: SO HOW TO CHOOSE? Most of us end up wearing shoes at least some of the time (yes, even barefoot gardeners generally shoe-up before we head far from home). Given the lack of truly good—as in Mindful Consumer truly good—choices in the shoe marketplace, what’s a soul to do? First of all, pay attention to your feet. Admittedly, I don’t have a great track record in this department, but I believe—right down to my permanently installed, stainless steel bunion-correcting screws—that good fit and support is important. If your feet, like mine, are two different sizes, buy for the larger foot and stuff a little lambswool in the toe of the other shoe so you won’t slide around in it. If your feet are radically different sizes, buy two pairs of shoes (or give in and shop at Nordstrom, one of the only places on earth where you can buy different size singles to make a pair). Seriously, fit matters. If you haven’t had your shoe size checked since you were thirteen, go ahead and do it—and pay at-
SWEAT SHOP-FREE VEGAN SHOES For those who are adamant about not wearing leather, there are a multitude of shoes made from synthetics, but they come with all the baggage of our chemical industries, and most are manufactured in sweat shops. We did find a selection of cruelty-free, vegan (no animal products) shoes from No Sweat Apparel—their sneaks are adorable. The company claims that their shoes are the only cool looking and politically correct footwear available. Shop online at www. nosweatapparel.com The shoes at the right are from No Sweat Apparel and cost $46. They are available for both men and women.
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tention to how you measure up. Not only is foot-binding illegal, there’s simply no grace in squeezing size 7 ½ feet into size 6 shoes. Next, think about your priorities. If being vegan is very important to you, leather is likely not an option. If you don’t like the reality of animal hides and tanning but dislike the fossil-fuel composition of synthetics even more, let that be your guide. It’s important to know what you’re buying and why—and if you’ve read this far, I have a hunch that you agree, at least in part, with that statement. THE PC PERFECT PAIR I’ve been collecting and wearing terrific shoes ever since those dice-wedged heels stole my heart. For at least twenty years, I’ve bought only recycled shoes (with one exception—my Ariats—see sidebar), and I recycle shoes I no longer wear. (For those of you who missed the last issue of Seeds, my alma mater is the thrift store.) I am picky about what I buy; I only go for well-made shoes in excellent condition. And I find them, often with little to no visible wear, at extraordinarily reasonable prices. Virtually all of the shoes I buy cost less than $5 a pair. Shoddy? Not in my book. Well shod? You bet—and earth friendly, inexpensive, and fun, to boot!
SOCKS TO GO WITH THOSE SHOES I first encountered SmartWool socks as I was preparing for a winter camping expedition in the Utah desert; I bought three pairs of extra-heavy mid-calf mountaineering socks and spent the next ten days dry, toasty and completely itch-free. I was a happy camper—literally!
GETTIN’ THE BOOT I’ve never met Robert Redford, but I get mail from him on a regular basis. He would really like to dress me up (whether or not he’ll take me out is something else altogether). The Sundance Catalogue… Redford’s film festival has sprouted another arm. He’s marketing trendy, private-label clothing and accessories, with rustic home furnishings on the side. I confess that I sometimes want to slide out of my own life and into the high-altitude, always-on-vacation life that Sundance radiates. Frankly, I could use a little time wandering around in great clothes looking dreamy and a bit mussed, like I’d just had a roll in the hay with a buff ranch hand. Bob is eager for me to buy some mules. In fact these mules, above. Just $298, plus $35.95 ground shipping. Those of you who know me probably realize that I have a serious addiction—a double whammy, actually. Shoes and thrift stores. And I am not willing to consider treatment. Sometimes I wonder what Bob would think if he knew how successfully—and cheaply—I can duplicate his masterfully marketed Sundance look. And I don’t even have hay or a ranch hand. My mules, with their backsides still intact, below. Value Village, $4.98. No shipping charge; I tossed my old shoes in the donation bin and wore these home.
SmartWool offers socks for every imaginable sport, including my all-time favorite activity: putting my feet up in front of the fire. The company is dedicated to using environmentally-friendly materials and manufacturing practices. You can buy from one of their many retailers (the web site includes a store locator) or online at www.smartwool.com NW
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