My Quest for Comfortable Shoes

Today's post is about the not so glamourous side of shoes. No, don't worry I'm not going to talk about celebrity bunion woes. It is about my quest for comfortable shoes.

It is tough to find a comfortable and pretty shoe in the mythical size 5 1/2 wide (American size) with good arch support.

May not be pretty, but at least they're comfortable.
 Too bad they are banned at work.  

But now-a-days it is all about comfort since I have an over-pronation that contributes to my knee pain. The cartridge behind my knee cap is worn down and apparently the two are related. Go figure. And I wear knee braces too. Yeah, I'm a real fashion plate.

I've been wearing Birkenstocks and Mephistos because they're so fashionable and go with many of my Vogue pattern looks. I jest. Seriously, I wear them to prevent knee and foot pain since they have good arch support in their footwear. My typical daily footwear used to look like this. Yeah, I know, not pretty but at least they're comfortable.

But now I can't wear these anymore at work. I'm quite sad about this new development. I understand the perspective of it being a safety issue, blah, blah, blah... I'm still sad though.

Apparently, the crack-down on our workplace footwear came about because of the appearance of flip-flops on the workplace scene. Now my Mephistos are banned too because the dress code in the Catholic School handbook states that we must wear "closed-toe shoes".  And that is why I'm mourning the loss of my standby comfortable footwear.  

Josef Seibel boots

It really is a challenging quest to find comfortable footwear. I did find these Josef Seibel boots this fall and they are size 5 1/2 that have perfect width. They are very comfortable but they won't cut it for the warmer weather that is on it's way.

Fly London Mary-Janes

These size 6 Mary-Jane style shoes by Fly London made it into my footwear wardrobe. I bought them because they were on sale even though are a little big in the length. I thought that I could wear tights or socks to fill them in a bit. Sadly, they do not have good arch support. So close. But they will do for short errand runs.

Groundhog Shoes

I love that these Groundhog shoes are environmentally friendly footwear. Bonus! And they are comfortable for short shopping trips and running errands. Not so comfortable for working in a school. My feet ache like nobody's business by the time my day is over.

I've even purchased arch support inserts to see if they work with my shoes but nope. The Fly London and Groundhog shoes both have a wee bit of a heel that don't work with the insert.  

So my quest continues. I long to shop at Rooster and it has, many times, been a detour from the quest. But today, I think there just might be hope. Chatting with my massage therapist this evening she asked if I ever heard of Keen shoes.

"No," I curiously replied.

She informs me that many of her clients rave about these shoes and their arch support. I think I found my shoe that has the arch support and comfort that I desire and which my boss can give the seal of professional approval.

Now, I just have to locate a pair in my size.