Esteemed correspondent Christopher Bell (no blog to link to, as far as I know; sorry) has somehow developed an interest in keeping me constantly broke aware of new options for nice shoes. He has kindly sent me links to places to buy a brand of shoes hitherto unfamiliar to me: Kickers. Apparently these are all over the UK.
And all kidding aside, I do believe Mr. Bell's motivations are pure and innocent, that he is merely a fan of the Kickers because he already owns a pair -- 'cause they make wicked shoes for menfolk, too -- and that he genuinely means to be helpful, not at all an enabler or any other ugly thing.
While many of the styles might actually be too flat for use with an ordinary prosthetic foot, because, as I have explained elsewhere, completely flat shoes stress the mechanisms that create spring in an amputee's step, any with a stiff quarter-inch to flexy/squishy three-quarter-inch heel could be perfectly suitable. With that in mind, I'm coveting the styles "Mufet," "Chullet" (or "Chuckles," though I think whatever they're called, they're too flat for my little rubber Dynamic Response foot)," and "Retta" right now, just to name a few.
You can also find them at the Shoe-Shop.com website, which ships to the U.S. and carries the delectable "Nina" and, sadly possibly too flat, "Moveda" styles.
If you have a fake foot and own or buy a pair of these, please report! If you do not have a fake foot but own or buy a pair of these, please feel free to report anyway! Meanwhile, I'll be scrounging sofa cushions and laundry 'til the change jar in the living room fills up.
Thanks, Christopher!
Sara - don't worry, I'm just a rare individual: I have a bone condition that only 1000 other people in the UK have, and I'm a straight male shoe-lover. Yes, really. (Oh, and you'reright about the lack of a blog - won't have time for one soon - a return to student life beckons) I'm also not trying to make you bankrupt; in fact, due to not being as diligent in reading all of your blog entries as I should have been, I wasn't aware of your borassic state (borassic lint = cockney rhyming slang for skint) until your MassHealth post, during the reading of which I got even more angry than usual with the fact that our US friends such as your good self don't have any nationalised healthcare system (I might not like the current US administration, but I have a lot of respect for most US people; then again, I only respect some fellow Brits also - not out of arrogance but out of despair).
As for the Kickers, I was aware of the height issue, which is why I recommended the Kick-His and the other styles with the same sole - grippy but with enough lift to hopefully aid the prosthesis. They do make some very attractive women's styles, but, unfortunately, are known in the UK mainly for their "chav" styles which are, oddly-enough, based on native American moccasins crossed with boat shoes (think Sperry Top-Siders). I had a pair once, and whilst they are very comfy, they don't look right unless you're called Darren, have a loud mouth, an earring and are holding a can of White Lightning cider. The cool styles like those on the website are actually more popular in their native France and surrounding countries than here.
Posted by: Christopher Bell | July 25, 2007 at 10:48 AM
hahahahaha -- That's a vivid picture, that is.
Thank you for pointing out again that the soles on the men's shoes are likely to be quite prosthetic-friendly. (Dazzled by the pretty pretties, I forgot.) At size UK7/EU40/US8, my feet, flesh and rubber, are just barely too small for men's shoes; however, there are no doubt a lot of women who can make use of them.
Then, of course, there are also these, which I either didn't see the first time or completely forgot about when I wrote this post:
Kick-Lo-T
The thick soles make the heels look too high, but I think the slope is just in the right range. And so cute!
Cheers!
Posted by: Sara | July 25, 2007 at 12:44 PM
Okay, unfortunately, as should be patently obvious to anyone who reads this blog, I am not perfect, and sometimes I blog when there is insufficient caffeine in my system. Some days there is not a way to deliver sufficient caffeine to my system, but that's beside the point.
As a result of this condition, I misread your comment, Christopher, and interpreted "Kick His" as "Kicks Belonging to Him" not "Plural Kick Hi."
In the words of my fictional compatriot Homer Simpson, "Doh!"
In fact, the handsome Kick Hi line has beautiful boots for men and women -- and children! How awesome are those little silver ones? They are all extremely rock 'n' roll, as well as calm and solid if you want them to be. They do indeed have sole slopes that appear to be perfectly suitable for ordinary prosthetic feet.
Apologies for my airheadedness. Also, make no mistake, even if none of these appealed to or were suitable for me personally, I would still be grateful for the heads-up, because part of the purpose of this blog is to serve as a resource for other amputees. It doesn't all have to be about me all the time. So on that basis as well as for tickling my personal fashion tastebuds (even though I'm too broke to do anything in response besides coo appreciatively), I thank you again. :)
Posted by: Sara | July 25, 2007 at 01:45 PM
Sorry about the confusion, Sara. I didn't put "Kick Hi's" because it's grammatically incorrect, but it does make things clearer. Actually, my disability means that I am not only a wheelchair user, but also very small. I just about top-out at 4 feet tall! I therefore have to buy kid's clothes and shoes - my Kick-Hi boots (navy leather) are UK size 1 (Kickers run a UK size small in kid's sizes), which is around a US size 3! Those are the soles I recommend - the fronts are very flexible, whereas the heel and arch area is stiff and supportive, and the tread is incredible - I've tested my boots on as many slippy surfaces around the house as I can (pushing on them with my hands (not wearing them, of course!) and trying to make them slide), and I can confirm that they're the most tractiony things I've ever had.
Posted by: Christopher Bell | July 25, 2007 at 02:16 PM