Next time you go shopping for shoes used for walking long distances, you would do yourself a favor by taking into consideration the following guidelines. The reason is that besides aesthetics, which I am sure you always look for while buying any pair of shoes, the fit (and certain other features) is something you will need to pay more attention to.
What actually happens is that people pay more attention to the looks and quality of leather of a pair of shoes while making a buy decision. Although, these are important, more so is the fit and certain other features. Especially, when you are going to use the shoes for walking long distances, not paying attention to the proper fitment of the shoes, will definitely endanger your health.
Every person has a unique pair of feet. Although the basic shape and sizes are usually categorized into standard patterns by manufacturers, what is important to note is that the height of the arch of the sole and the midsole varies considerably from person to person. Some people have irregularities in the bones of some of their toefingers. Some have wider feet at the toes than others and in some the balls of the feet are flatter than in others.
All such factors will combine in ways to make the same sized shoes not fit comfortably well in one individual's feet as compared to that in the feet of another such person, who is comfortable with that same size and pattern of the shoes. Let us go into more detail. Shoe manufacturers use a standard pattern to manufacture shoes of a certain size. They generally average out the midsole height dimension of the shoes so as to cover the feet of a majority of the population.
On the other hand, consider a person for whom the arch height of the midsole of his feet is much higher than the averaged out shoes midsole height kept by the manufacturer. In such a case, the midsole leather or material of the shoes will chafe the skin of the midsole portion of the feet.
This will result in discomfort at first followed by skin injury and after walking some distance with the shoes on the individual will simply refuse to wear them any longer. What a waste of money this will cause you can easily imagine. Moreover, the injury to the skin is something no wearer will tolerate considering that he has to walk a long distance in the shoes.
Another problem arises when manufacturers keep the ankle collar of the shoes too tight and raised. In such cases the wearer may injure the skin at the curve of the ankle. So, looking into all such issues, what is the solution?
It is to ask the individual for whom you are buying the shoes to wear both the shoes and walk as long as possible in the showroom of the shoe retail store. The clear test for proper fitment is that the shoes must be comfortable, neither too tight nor too loose. Moreover, the shoe material must not pinch or chafe any of the above described areas of the feet.
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