Long Tall Sally explores the amount of women forcing themselves into the wrong pair of shoes…
Let’s face it girls, we’re all been there. We’ve found the pair of shoes. That perfect heel, beautiful colour and ideal design and we feel our wardrobe’s will bear a large stiletto shaped hole until we bring this pair to their rightful home. Suddenly nothing else is important. We try them on and they feel a little tight – but the size above feels too big. We take the risk.
Friday night falls, as does the planned night out. We pair our brand new shoes with a dress and feel a million dollars, those shoes were worth every penny you tell yourself. Time to go- again you admire your footwear and thinking how beautiful they are- even as you’re squeezing your toes into the end and you can feel the strap beginning to rub. An hour later and blisters are beginning to form, your heels are starting to ache. Three hours on and dancing has taken it’s toll. Your feet are almost numb from the pain, throbbing, swollen and some areas beginning to bleed. You peer down at your footwear and vow never to do it again. How next time practicality will take precedence over looks. How you hate these shoes and wonder how you could have been so stupid.
And then the next night out come around. And hey presto, the cycle begins again.
Oh yes, you are not alone.
In fact, a recent survey by Long Tall Sally found that almost a third of British woman have hit the town in shoes they know will leave them unable to walk for up to two days after. This means up to eight million women could potentially be hobbling around every Monday after a regrettable Saturday night footwear choice. 14% were found to have cut short a night out due to not being able to stand the pain and 50% of the 1,000 survey participants would opt for dancing or walking in bare feet!
Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of women confess to owning at least one pair of shoes which are “absolute agony” to wear, “do not fit properly” or are “uncomfortable”, while more than a quarter (28%) of women admit to having “sit down shoes”, which can only be worn to seated events.
Lindsey Clark, Head of Garment and Shoe Tech for fashion and footwear retailer at Long Tall Sally, said:
“Our research suggests 32 per cent of women are wearing the wrong size shoes. Even the most beautiful shoes will look unattractive if they’re two sizes too small.
“Stats show that 62 per cent of women haven’t had their feet measured in more than five years, and 45 per cent in more than 10 years.
“We urge our customers to head in store and have their feet measured to check they’re wearing the right size shoes.
“Lots of lifestyle factors can change the shape of a woman’s foot, from pregnancy to ageing to weight loss.”
More than half of women (56 per cent) say having footwear which “looks good” is most important to them when buying shoes. And 20 per cent will go on to wear uncomfortable shoes if they match a certain outfit.
Diana Bonham, Head of Buying for Long Tall Sally, states:
“If your feet are miserable, you will be too. “Women are often choosing shoes because they look great with an outfit, but if they are too high or too tight women are spending whole evenings in pain.
“By having their feet measured, buying shoes which are both fashionable AND comfortable, these women can then step out in shoes which they can actually walk in, and look great as a consequence.
“At Long Tall Sally we’re filling a gap in the market by offering on-trend, well-fitting footwear in sizes 7-13.”
Take a look at Long Tall Sally’s collections at www.longtallsally.com and let us know your opinion on the story above, in the comments below…
