I played softball for 14 years, most of the time spring and fall. My position alternated between third base and catching, but 95% of my time was spent catching. Guess what that means? Yup, at 22 I have horrible knees. Whenever I squat down, they pop. If I stand for too long they get really stiff and sore. If I stretch, they strain. My left ankle is bad from being a stubborn dumbass and catching anyway while it was double rolled. I'm also a rather chesty girl so my shoulders and back constantly hurt. And I have bad posture from that. Constantly I hurt. Constantly I limp. Constantly when I move I go "Oooh! That hurts!" Constantly I'm identifying with my 85 year old Grammie. On top of this I managed to pick a career where I will be on my feet for eight or more hours a day.
So, yesterday I broke down and bought my first pair of comfort shoes. I know, I know. But seriously, they're super comfortable. And you know what? They're actually kind of cute.
These are mine.
These are mine.
They're called Alegria by PG Lite. This is the Paloma style, in soft black. They have several other styles, including sandals, clogs, boots, and a professional line for nurses.
The shoes have a Mild Rocker Outsole (Sketchers tried to do this with the ShapeUp) that roll with you in a natural walking motion. The Rocker helps with your posture, and reduces stress on your muscles, joints, and back. The foot bed is called a Perfect Fit Footbed, and is anatomically correct and molds to your foot, giving you a customized fit. They also have their Color Therapy, giving you a color for every mood, and lots of patterns. They firmly believe that shoes should make you happy. They're a little pricey, but worth it. And they're coming out with a 'Mini Rocker' for Fall 2010. You better believe I'm gonna be all over those, I'm tall enough at 5'7" and the ones I have make me 5'8". They come in lots of pretty colors and fun patterns. The shoes are in European sizes. Mine are a size 38 European, which is 8 - 8.5 American.
If you're anything like me, you won't wear it unless it's comfortable. And I don't mean you feel comfortable wearing it, 'cause there is a difference. I won't wear things that are uncomfortable. This is why I wear dresses, and like loose clothing. This is why I almost never wear heels, and when I do they are wedges, only an inch and a half tall. I can't do heels. Years of running around barefoot (I am from Georgia, after all) made me hate wearing shoes. So when I had to wear closed shoes I wore those super flat Target ballet flats (y'all know what I'm talking about). And I have a lot of them. And I do wear them. And they are comfortable when I'm not running around everywhere and standing a lot. However, wearing something with no support is not a good idea for me spending 8 hours on my feet at school. The days that I was really in severe pain were the days I wore those shoes.
Andrew told me I needed to get some comfort shoes, and I balked at the idea. Lets face it, most comfort shoes are not cute. At 22 I still care about looking cute, and I'm in a fashionable industry to boot. I was content to wear my purple mocs because they were the only flats I had that had any kind of real sole to it. However, last Friday I did a full highlight and my back and knees hurt so bad when I came home it was painful to move. At all. Andrew was right, but I didn't know where to begin. I've watched my Mom get frustrated for years trying to find cute comfort shoes. I had noticed a few girls around school wearing these shoes, and my favorite instructor wears them all the time. I finally asked my instructor about them. She gave them a glowing review and told me she loved them so much she had quite a collection. Then she told me where to find them.
Here are a few of my other favorites.
That is just a taste of the colors and patterns they have.
Seriously, I love mine. Obviously, seeing as this post has gotten rather long. Wether you're a hair stylist, nurse, teacher, whatever, if you have a cereer where you're on your feet a lot, I highly recommend these shoes. Even if you're just looking for comfortable shoes, I recommend these. I even told my Mom about them. If you're in Gwinnett County GA, they can be found at The Foot Traveler at the Mall of GA (there are directions on the site). To anyone else go to the Alegria site and they can help you.
No comments:
Post a Comment