Many of you have heard me lament, I’ve been overdue for new shoes for a considerable while.
So finally, After work a few of weeks ago, I barged into our local shoe store in Brantford just at closing time (apologies to all the staff at “Al’s Shoe Factory”) for a little game of speed shopping.
My foot structure and right knee are not the greatest, so my shoes need to provide stable support to get through a long day in the clinic. Many of you have been the recipients of our lecture on stable shoe features and good design, so I’ll skip repeating myself right now, but the link is HERE.
The point I’m trying to make in a very roundabout way is this; Brand and price point don’t matter when it comes to choosing shoes. Yes to some degree you get what you pay for, but equally, you can pay a serious sum of money and get complete rubbish with a fancy label.
So time was ticking by quickly and I’m testing shoes as fast as I can. My criteria is stability first, they can’t be screaming LOOK AT ME, I prefer somewhat subtle colours, obviously comfortable and not crazy expensive, as I tend to kill them quickly.
Finally, we have 3 contestants, Brooks (because I’ve always liked the brand), Asics ( because I want them to return to the glory of yesteryears) and Under Armour. Yes, you read that correctly. Seriously Under Armour? don’t they make sports underwear?
Ok please forgive my skepticism, I grew up in a world where brands that made a unique product and stuck to that product. They didn’t wander off and make something completely different and expect to be accepted in a different market. Like Nike making hockey skates, bit of a shock to begin with, then not so much.
So after a back-to-back test of the three contestants (without my orthotics) the clear winner was……….the Under Armour. Truthfully I didn’t expect, want them to win or even expect them to win but they did. A final check with my orthotics in place confirmed the decision and I sprinted to the checkout before a lock-in took place.
The orange flash was cute, but NOT for work, the “All Black” version didn’t come in my size so that left the stylish and very comfortable blue model that I’ve been sporting at work for the last month.
So the moral of this story is, to leave your biases and preconceptions outside of the store when you go shoe shopping. Have the decency to arrive at a suitable time before the advertised store closing. Take the time to test many shoes and select at least 3 models before requesting your size and try them back-to-back.
Don’t even try on a shoe that fails your stability test, you know you’ll accidentally wear it to an appointment and then have to listen to that boring lecture all over again about shoe design.
If you have enjoyed our past blogs and videos over the last year and beyond, then like and subscribe to our Facebook or Instagram feeds. We love when you share our blog, more people need to be exposed to good factual information without bias.We will be updating them with a steady stream of new educational and informative subjects. Any subjects you would like us to write about then please send suggestions. We are easy to get hold of through any of our social media outlets or directly through our website @ www.podiatryassociates.ca
