Adventures in Shoe Readiness

Nelly, you have taken shoe-fitting to a whole new level! Thank you for your detailed explanation and ideas.

I keep a box of shoe-fitting pads and insoles to experiment with, as well as a number of different styles of so kettles and footies, but am always happy to learn about new solutions.

My current challenge is a pair of Clark's Hidi Holly suede sneakers. They are very soft, lightweight, and comfortable, with an insole that is 1/2 inch thick at the heel, thinner at the toe. But they lack an arch support. So I first tried my usual solution, which is to substitute Superfeet for the insole. This did not work because my heel was too low in the shoe. I tried a wedge heel lifter under the insole, But that raised it up too much. So then I ordered a Pedaq leather arch support from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Pedag-Symmetrical-Adhesive-Support-Medium/dp/B001E6OS9S/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_121_lp_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WGHHQSKRDZ3NZ2B7SZJS

They have two styles, Step and Balance, and I chose the wrong one, but Amazon let me exchange for the better one. I am going to walk around in them with the arch unattached before I peel off the backing and make it adhere in place.

As for sockettes, I have never found one low enough for Mary Janes that will stay in place. So I do not have any Mary Janes. I do have low-cut Smartwool socks that stay hidden under my sneakers, and do not roll down and end up underneath my foot.

For sandals, I too have found that a long walk will often cause abrasion on the sole of my foot, even if the surface my foot rests on is suede or Nubuck. I haven't tried the paper tape thing yet but I will, as I will be carrying paper tape on our next trip to tape down my patella. But I have had good results with a little sleeve of soft knit nylon that fits around my forefoot, leaving the toes uncovered but protecting the metatarsal area from abrasion but underfoot and from the sandal straps. In nude color these hardly show under the sandal straps. Mine are made by Hue and are called "foot tubes." They come packaged in sets of 2-3 pairs on a card, hanging up among the socks.

About the sockettes. I think you are talking about something like no-show socks or liners. I have some Raffini bamboo ones in gray, purple and black. They are similar to these. I got them at my local Walking Company store.

The woman who helped me that day taught me a little trick. Put the liners on the inner sole, not on your foot. Make sure the little heel stability bit is in the heel where it will do some good. The exterior of the sock will be up and your foot will be touching it.

I wear these with my Abeo 3590 Mary Janes. No show and very comfortable. I have 2 pair of those shoes, black and silver. They are both lightweight and supportive. I wish they were available in more colors and I dearly hope Abeo continues to make them.

@Lo, can you clarify what you mean by this?

"The woman who helped me that day taught me a little trick. Put the liners on the inner sole, not on your foot."

No-show socks always slide off my heel, and I'd love to hear about tricks to avoid this. But I can't picture what you mean.

I just returned from 2 weeks in Hungary and Germany and thought I had brought comfy, well-broken in ankle boots (I am not a sandal wearer) but on day #1 I developed a stupid blister on the underside of one little toe. The misery! Then I realized the top of the toe was blistered, too. Both pairs of boots were just too confining. I always travel well-prepared with foot care items (despite not having an issue in the past 4 trips, always be prepared is my motto) and made good use of some toe tubes, cut to size and is a great cushion over the Band-Aid. I also bought a great cute & comfy pair of Legero sneakers at Humanic in Vienna that absolutely saved my feet and I'm not taking chances on boots in May ever again--Legero and my favorite Ecco sneakers are my travel shoes from now on. I like the low-cut Smartwool socks for sneakers, and if need be can fold down a pair of crew style.

Eowyn, I think Lo means to take the insole out of your shoe and put the sock on the insole with the bottom "foot" of the sock on the upper part of the insole where your foot would touch the insole. The hole for your foot would go on the bottom on the insole. Replace the insole in the shoe and wear the shoe without additional socks. This would only work for shoes with removable insoles.

Eowyn, it is hard to explain, but I'll try.

Remove the innersoles from the shoes. Pretend that the innersole is your foot. Stretch the inside of the liner over the innersole top. It will be awkward, especially if the innersole is flimsy.

You should end up with the inside of the liner next to the innersole, like it would be if it was on your foot. The outside of the liner will be on the top of the innersole.

Put the innersole back in the shoe. The liner will be covering the innersole. It will only touch the soles of you feet, not the sides or back.

Good quality liners will absorb the sweat. I've worn my Mary Janes with and without my bamboo Raffini liners done this way. They definitely absorb the moisture and make my feet much happier when I wear them.

Wow, an intriguing idea. Make the insole wear the sock, rather than me.
Thanks for the tip, and the extra explanation!

Sockettes on the insole - what a great idea! In my case, I'm using a 3/4 length insole, so I wonder if the socks would now bunch up under my toes instead of heels. But maybe I didn't need to buy special Gekks socks with sticky bits on the sole. However, they are working great. They stay put and don't stink, as advertised. I'll put this extra idea in my tip bag for another time.

Nelly, thanks for your recommendation: I now have the Orthaheel Slim Fit 3/4 insoles. I assume you are using these instead of the Merrell insoles in the Zoe Mary Janes as they seem too thick otherwise. But how does the toe section not covered by the 3/4 insoles stand up to wear, especially if you wear the shoes barefoot? Or do you always use a sock or sockette?

I always wear a sockette. The stick-in Gekks sockette keeps the 3/4 insole from sliding around but I think it would stay in place anyway. I think the toe area with the full insole removed is a little rough with the stitching showing, it might rub without sockettes. But I haven’t tried it barefoot. Just my preference.

Thanks, Nelly. Glad you came back to give me this info.

I feel ya on the annoying socklette issue. You want to wear something so your feet don't sweat and stink. Ok you are going to laugh, read about this so had to try it (and it works). Put a panty liner (or 2....cover whole inner sole) in your shoe. They peel right out and easy to replace!

I did, however, find some socklettes on Amazon the have that stretchy kind of sticky material around them that are comfy and don't slide down. I keep the panty liner idea for emergencies...lol!

I use these terry insoles--comfortable, absorbent, and washable. They say to handwash, but I put them in the washer, then air dry.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G0NSWK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1