Do I just have ultra snowflake delicate feet?

[custardlover]

Or are all the people wearing the beautiful looking but razor sharp / flat as a pancake / rough edged sandals writhing in pain inside?

WHO BUYS AND WEARS THESE AND HOW? They look gorgeous but I know they are going to shred the skin off my toes/heels, they’re going to make me limp with damp and bloody digits, I will think of nothing other than the pain in my feel all day and eventually give up and cry and throw them away feeling like a feet failure.

I’d love there to be a secret method to wearing the strappy / glittery / pretty and delicate sandals that I just need to learn. Or do I need to just live with pain for beauty (I won’t)? Or are my feet just wrong somehow?

Yes, there are some shoes which is very obviously impossible from the start (and yet I have seen women wearing them on the street with my own eyes hence my original question as to HOW - am still hoping for a secret potion recipe DM’d to me…) and some others which are SECRETLY impossible - they pretend to be soft and yielding for the first 20 minutes of wearing - just long enough to buy them and perhaps walk to the tube and then become agony for the rest of the day when you can do f-all about them.

I would also very much like some shoe designers to get online and answer for themselves please, like what are you actually thinking?

Oh yes - the stealth attack! Just when you’ve worn them round the house, congratulating yourself on having found a really good pair and then… the tell-tale slight smarting on a toe or round the back… it gets worse… and before you know it you’re hobbling in a shoe full of blood.

Last year I threw my shoes into a bin in Covent Garden and walked in stockinged feet to a couple of shops to buy anything . I only hope a homeless person didn’t suffer like I did if they fished my shoes out and tried to wear them.

Im a foot shredder- in general I can blister and bleed from anything rubbing on my skin, but my feet are awful for it. I should have shares in blister plasters as I’ll wear them preventively and use body glide on my feet if I’m suspicious. With anything I can wear socks with I wear double layer socks which are blissful

I own plastic and non plastic birkies and a few other types of sandals. Unless I’m out I wear the comfy ones and keep the non comfy ones for outings (evenings and weekends) and use Compeed anti blister stick to prevent blisters.

I take a 5 and a half wide fit so those are the only size I wear. Which means I pay more.
I did however buy some normal width gorgeous very flat blue beaded sandals and put them on my industrial shoe stretcher and they were fine to wear after that. Its an ex cobblers shoe stretcher I bought off ebay years ago.
It works wonders for shoes that are not quite wide enough for my feet.

I’m the same. Why would anyone want completely flat, hard soles? I have been searching for sandals which are like a bouncy trainer sole, with comfy adjustable straps but don’t look like I’m going for a hike. Seems a pretty obvious summer sandal to me. But can’t find them. I tried on a pair of Tevas but wasn’t sure.

My only toe post type sandals are a cheap-ass Birkenstock copy that uses (leather, I checked) suede rather than plastic or anything hard/rough. They were supercomfortable from first wear - I also got some straight across ones that also have suede rather than hard leather that are good, but I'm still waiting for the footbed on those to finish settling, so they aren't quite right yet; I'll need to tighten the strap again when they're ready.

I've got a plastic shoe stretcher I bought from Amazon, less than £20 as I recall. It has saved a few shoes for me by stretching over my ridiculous high instep. The only failure was a lovely pair of Waldlaufer boots where the stitching at the base of the laces was tight and immovable. It seemed to press on all the little bones on top of my foot, actually felt quite sick with the pain. Of course these things never become apparent in the shop!

@TheyGrewUp my best shoes are Gabor Comfort. I have 3 pairs of their California moccasins in different colours. I bought some white ones in a sale and I wear them in summer with loose trousers or midi skirts and they look OK. Even Gabor sandals rub, though. I've never had comfy sandals ever.

Yes I totally understand this! I just need to look at a pair of sandals to know they would shred my feet to bits!

My feet are so bad I kept flip-flops and plasters in the office for the not rare occasion my shoes would rub my heels raw. New shoes are always a risk for me.

Chinese feet aren’t especially narrow, nor are Japanese feet. The Americans have the narrowest feet in the world apparently, I don’t understand why, they are a mix of so many ethnicities, yet they do. I read up on this years ago as I have wide Celtic feet . i feel I should go to Japan to stock up, I think the Japanese have the widest feet.
I am quite blister prone but one of my dds gets a blister from even the softest, most practical looking of sandals.

I feel your pain (literally!!) my feet are so pathetic, It’s not even funny. I’ve got to the point where the only shoes I can wear are Fatface flip flops (but only the ones with the woven strap!) or one single pair of m&s wide fit Chelsea boots. Thats it. Everything else has rubbed my feet raw; trainers, boots, sandals, heels, flats… everything. It’s actually awful.

Used to wear worse - 5inch stilletos in the 70's

And yes they hurt, but back then, you suffered for beauty :)

I was away last week on a city holiday and had a pair of flat sandals with a strap across the toes and across the ankles. They rubbed and I got too lovely blisters but Im so used to the discomfort of shoes, I sucked it up

DH only has to feel the slightest discomfort and hes - that's it, walking no more . I need to be more DH

I can't see any man suffering to be beautiful!

DH will only wear Padders leather shoes with the velcro strap, when one pair wears out they immediately get replaced with an identical pair which has to be stretched for a couple of days so they feel worn in. I have suggested trainers, boots etc, but he just wants instant comfort.

I remember it was said that the late Queen had a lady in waiting the same shoe size who wore in her new shoes for her. What luxury!

All I see in these photos is instruments of torture. My feet are the most sensitive things in the world!

Totally agree , as I said , Dh wears sketchers only now - slip ons - because bending is getting too much ( can I say hes mid 60's and arthritic without saying )

But my wee sandals , just rubbed one toe on each foot , the one nest to the big toe , just my foot shape and I wasnt dumping a 60 quid pair of sandals

£60 i'd persevere as well! You can get stick on padding 'Moleskin' I think that you cut to size and protect where it rubs. I've just given up on sandals, though.

DH is quite old and spent all his working life having to look smart so now he is all about comfort 😁

It took me a number of months to get used to toe post sandals. Once I did they were comfortable but I’ll be honest sliders are fucking amazing for the summer.

I buy sandals very, very carefully.

I don't bother anymore but I used to wear lots of pretty shoes. They needed breaking in, walking around the house in them for short periods before wearing them to go out. I still ended up with a blisters and bleeding feet sometimes. Especially if I did a lot of walking or dancing in them.

Fitflop do very pretty sandals. Changed my life.

I run 40km a week off road in ‘barefoot’ shoes and spend much of the rest of the time actually barefoot - can happily walk over rocks and through gorse. At this point you could probably lop a foot off with an axe and I wouldn’t notice. So yes, those sandals wouldn’t bother me, although I don’t wear heels as they are awful for your posterior chain. .

I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE.
I've tried all sorts of nice sandals and yet each summer I end up buying a cheap pair from New Look that I wear until they fall apart. Not everything they do is comfy, but i do find at least one comfy pair every year. This year's are the the
'Wide Fit Tan Faux Leather Strappy Flat Sandals'
A friend raves about FitFlop so they are on my list next... no doubt to throw 80 quid down the drain yet again.
And heels, again the other comfy ones ive ever found are New Look! Ive tried two different styles of Esskas and was quite confused about how people rave about them as they arent any softer than a New Look pair.

Hermes sandals look like the worst in the universe.
Not only are they totally flat but everyone says they take months to break in and cause awful blisters.
A snip at £640. Half sizes but no width fittings. No thanks Hermes.

@custardlover The sandals you showed are not my style but I could probably wear them without any issues. Somehow I tend not to get blisters from sandals, I have no idea why. Completely flat shoes don’t bother me. I genuinely find them comfortable, I wouldn’t wear shoes that cause me pain.

I often wear these cheap flat strappy Sandals from Amazon. I find them very comfortable, I’ve walked miles in them, including long days of sightseeing on holidays.