It is believed that Socrates had famously said: "When our feet hurt we hurt all over".

This quote takes me back to one painful day in the office, after wearing a beautiful pair of low heeled shoes for approximately 10 hours. In my mind low heels equaled comfort, but in this case my wannabe comfortable shoes were cramming my toes to the point that my brain stopped functioning. And with the passing of the hours I could not focus on anything other than my pain. You probably ask yourself, why was I wearing shoes which were not made for me in the first place. Well, firstly every time I tried on a pair of shoes in the store, they all felt the same, so I assumed that this is normal and that most of the women endure the same pain. Believe it or not, back then I was not even aware that my feet were slightly wider than the standard and that shoes with different widths existed.

While researching on the topic of shoe widths I realized that no wonder that I had no idea about the existence of different widths. Producing in huge quantities across the world, meant standardizing the sizing of the shoes. Based on the study carried out in 2018, entitled: Incorrectly fitted footwear, foot pain and foot disorders: a systematic search and narrative review of the literature published in the National Library of Medicine, between 63% and 72% of participants were wearing shoes that did not accommodate either width or length dimensions of their feet.

"Correct footwear fitting is an inherently complex undertaking for two main reasons. The footwear industry is currently unable to design and manufacture footwear that can conform to the three-dimensional morphology of all feet in the population. This is because foot morphology is highly variable between individuals, and there is limited variety in the shape of lasts used to construct footwear."

The last is a foot-shaped form made of molded plastic, carved wood, cast aluminum, or 3D printed plastic. The word ‘last’ comes from the old English word ‘laest,’ which means ‘footprint.’

The study also found that "women are more likely to suffer foot pain compared to men most likely due to the narrower toe box of women’s shoes". The toe-box is the part at the front of the shoe which normally accommodates the widest part of the foot. We are aware that many feet problems arise because our shoes don't have a wide enough width in the toe box: bunions, hammer toes, ingrown nails. So why are we still wearing ill-fitted shoes?

Every foot is different and it is important to know your foot shape and size in order to buy the right shoes FOR YOU. In an ideal world each of us would have our own bespoke shoes, but because of the complex process of creating bespoke shoes, the price we would have to pay will be much much higher. This is understandable as they need the highest level of customization and highly skilled craftsmanship.

Do you know your foot type?

Based on most of the biological theories there are 5 main shapes of feet differentiated by the length of the toes, and the line they form, as depicted below:

There is no such thing as a perfect foot, but it is believed that if you have an Egyptian type foot it is easier to fit it and it is often narrower. The Egyptian foot is found in approximately 51% of the population. When it comes to the roman foot we can recognise it because all the toes are about the same length. People with Roman shaped feet often find it more difficult to find comfortable shoes. They are usually wider feet, so the standard fitting of the industry might be too narrow for them. The Roman foot is found in approximately 25% of the population. The Greek foot is recognized by the second toe being longer than the big toe and it is found in 5% of the world's population. 

Do you need a wider toe-box?

If the answer to the below questions is yes, you might considering going for a wider toe box:

Do you have a Roman shaped foot?

Do your feet tend to swell?

Are you trying on shoes in the store, apparently your size but they feel too narrow for you?

Do you have flatter feet?

Are you starting to develop bunions?

So what do you do if you need a wider toe box? The possibility for all of us to create our own bespoke shoes is not a viable option. A good compromise is to purchase your shoes from brands which use lasts that are more comfortable for your type of foot. At Lejer Boutique we use a North European shoe last, which is by default wider than the standard European size and we enlarge it by approximately 3mm. This special feature is one of the reasons why our shoes will be produced in limited quantities based on the orders placed in advance of the start of the production.