Happy Shoes for Rubber Feet (and flesh ones, too!)

When I got my new leg, I had no clue what kind of shoe would work best for learning how to walk.  I brought all my shoes in a big bag to my prosthetist Bob and let him select the best.  He picked an old pair of Rockport casuals.  He explained that hard heels would be a bad idea because no matter how low they are (even 1/2" or lower like my tasseled loafers and slouchy suede boots) their lack of flexibility all by itself could cause a great deal of tricky slippage.  Since it was winter in New England, and a snowy, icy winter at that, I was even more than normally concerned about traction, but this thing about hard heels being a tad risky for unskilled lower limb amputees is true even in dry climates.

Now, it so happened that I worked really hard and got my skills up, so that now I can wear whatever kind of 1/4"-3/4" heel I want.  (Higher heels are possible, of course, with a different kind of foot; more on that some other time.)  I will occasionally now, in dry weather or when I know I'll be on good pavement, wear either my tasseled loafers or my slouchy boots with absolute confidence, depending on the occasion of course.  But when you're new to walking on a prosthesis (or two), or when you expect to find yourself in an iffy traction situation, following Bob's initial shoe advice to me is a sound plan. 

Also, I work on my feet as a cashier at Whole Foods, and I often walk over a mile to get to work, usually not on a nice paved sidewalk.  Like anybody else, I need different kinds of shoes for different activities, but walking and standing for long periods of time comprise my most frequent shoe-wearing behavior.  Here are my absolutely favorite shoes for that behavior.  I enthusiastically recommend them for beginning prosthetic foot/leg users and also for intermediate and advanced users looking for footwear appropriate for a range of activities, from hiking to clubbing, and from ordinary urban walking to spontaneous off-trail adventuring.

L. L. Bean Comfort Mocs:  These are the best shoes I own, and the ones I wear more than any others.  (My friend Aura bought me my first pair.  Thanks, Aura!)  I wear them almost everywhere, like a lot of people wear tennis shoes.  I have them in two styles, one for warm weather and one for cold weather, and four colors.  (They come in a lot of colors, a different array every season.)  They have awesome traction in all styles, giving me safe footing in snow and rain.  With their good arch support and sproingy, squishy EVA soles, I can stand and walk in them for seven or eight hours without fatigue, plus they are durable and the all-suede ones are even stain- and weather-resistant.  At $29 a pair, they're an absolute steal.  And of course, when you shop at L. L. Bean, everything you buy is guaranteed for life, so if you're not happy or if you have a hard time getting the right size, it's no big deal to make exchanges.

T.U.K.: Oh, how I adore these! I have two pairs of the Anarchic line mary janes, the black-and-white kitties and black ones with two sets of changeable buckles, one a pair of stars and one a pair of death's heads. (Some people say the eyes are the windows to the soul. You can always tell what mood I'm in by looking at my feet.)

These are in many ways a young-to-middle-aged lower-limb amputee's dream shoes. Though T.U.K. England makes some very expensive shoes in the U.K., the T.U.K. and Anarchic lines, made in China, are inexpensive (about $35-40/pair for mary janes). The ones I like, not the "creeper" (sneaker) styles but the ones more like those I've pointed out, have wide, thick, squishy soles. They have a slight heel. (It looks higher than it is because the sole is so thick, but it fits my prosthetic little Barbie foot perfectly.) They have style and spunk. With buckles and laces, they can adapt to many foot widths. And they have TRACTION. Boy oh boy, do they have traction! Kind of hilarious: Much of the tread which provides the traction comes in the form of dozens of deeply embossed anarchy symbols on the bottom of the soles. Still, they have done well by me through sun and rain, sleet, very light snow, over spottedly icy pavement, and even on a sailing adventure in Rhode Island. They are so comfortable that I can walk miles in them (not exaggerating, really miles at a time).  I've also more than once worked a six-hour shift in them and then gone out somewhere nice with my boyfriend afterward. They make me happy every time I look at them, and they make other people happy, too. So what's not to like?

Finally, I also love, love, love my rubber boots.  I have much to do today, though, and little time in which to do it, so I must save a discussion of rubber boots for another day.*  For now, let's just say they are the shoe of choice for slogging through mud and puddles, and a must-have for spring and autumn gardening and wet adventuring.
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*As you can see, the day finally came for that discussion, and I have duly linked to it.

Comments

[Christopher Bell]

Hi Sara.
You mentioning Mary-Jane shoes with chunky, traction-tread soles for wet, icy weather must have stuck in my brain - look what I just found on e-Bay for you (hope they're your size)!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-CAT-Catepillar-womens-mary-jane-work-shoes-size-6-5_W0QQitemZ7706512613QQcategoryZ63889QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Check out the traction on those babies - I'll bet they'd really grip the ice!

[Sara]

Hey, cool, Chris. No, they're not my size, but I'm sure they're somebody's, so thanks for sharing. They are just that flavor of cute that I was talking about, but also they look really practical, especially for someone only just relearning to walk. They're not necessarily great for sheer ice, not without metal studs, but lug soles and the like do provide a very stable platform from which to launch a number of types of adventures! Also, though the soles can be thick, making the heel look high, as long as the difference between the sole thickness at its thinnest and the heel thickness at its thickest is no more than 1/2", shoes like this can be perfectly suitable for prosthetic feet, which are not flat because they use a metal shank to create spring and there has to be flexion in every step for that to happen. That flexion occurs when the wearer places weight on the suspended heel, and then the spring happens when the wearer steps off.

Thanks for thinking of us amputee chicks. Hope they sell to someone and make some feet happy. :)