The Big C in Shoes

Men and women have a common criterion when it comes to selecting shoes and that is comfort. For whatever occasion be it formal or casual; for whatever activity whether it’s just the lazy walk in the park or the grueling exercise routine; wherever the venue is for the event, in the beach or in a classy restaurant – people want their shoes to be comfortable. Wearing a pair of shoes, in order to be classified as comfortable, should not take so much effort. It should be like wearing bedroom slippers or should even feel like going barefoot.

The shoe industry is a busy industry because of the high demand for shoes as this footwear can be considered a necessity nowadays. In fact, because of this demand, many designs come out in the market and some are manufactured particularly for different types of activities. For women, many shoe styles have been designed appropriate for different types of occasions. Some of these types are flat shoes, peep toe shoes, ankle strap shoes, mules, athletic shoes and high heel shoes. For men, there are black shoes, boots, loafers, leather shoes and athletic shoes. There are even highly specialized shoes that are created specifically for certain kinds of sports like tennis shoes or skate shoes.

Although shoes can be considered a status symbol separating basically those who can buy a good pair and those who can only afford discount shoes, people’s shoe choice go beyond price. More importantly, they go comfort. But why is this so? A couple of reasons can be cited.

People, being bipedal species, have their weight centered on their feet when upright. From the time people wake up in the morning until they go to bed at night to sleep, the feet receives the greatest toll in all physical activities that are done while doing common activities like walking or running. The kind of footwear can either provide ease to the feet or cause pain. If shoes are not comfortable, they can lead to corns, calluses, blisters or eventually malformations to the toes.

Another reason is safety. For very active people, uncomfortable shoes can lead to foot injuries like ankle twists or sprains and broken or fractured bones. The discomfort may either be caused by the wrong fit of the shoes or the inappropriateness of the shoes to the activity.

There is truth to the saying that “when your feet hurt, you hurt all over.” This is manifested by what people usually look for in shoes – the big C called comfort.