I have had RA for 11 years now and it is mainly in my feet. As the years have had progressed, so has my selection of shoes I can wear. I am 44 and teach preschool. I wear alot of crocks, crock sandals, Keen, Merrells and Clarkes. I dress very casual at work and and also at church. So I have ample selections for "dressing casual" shoes. But there are those occassions, like this weekend, I must wear a dress. My good friends daughter's wedding was yesterday and I wore my most comfortable pair of dressy shoes and my feet were so miserable. I could not even attend the reception and that disappointed me. I am not ready for an orpthopedic shoe nor am I ready to wear shoes that look like what my grandmother would wear. So, i guess the solution is to stay home on those occassions!! If any of you have a certain type comfortable dress shoe that you have had a good experience with please I would love to hear from you.
I truly empathize with you. My feet are very arthritic also, and I have had multiple surgeries and fusions. The only shoes that are semi confortable for me are Dansko clogs. I can't even wear a top of the line walking or running shoe for more than an hour or so without major discomfort.
My daughter recently got married, and I was faced with the same dilemma as you. I found a pair of low heeled pumps and wore them to the wedding, but I don't think I had them on more than a few minutes before my feet were absolutely KILLING me. Once we got to the reception, I had to take them off. Mostly I stayed at my table and didn't walk around much, but when I did get up, my floor length gown covered my feet. I know that sounds tacky, but unfortunately, it is what it is.
Like yourself, I really wish I could find a pair of shoes that are both comfortable and dressy, but for the very reason that I can't, I don't attend formal or semi-formal occasions.
What is a dress?Laker
I just went to our son's wedding and had the same dilemma. I found these Dansko shoes (pricey) but they are the only ones that looked halfway dressy and were very comfortable.Ok, bear with me on this.
My foot problems went away with treatment and I've recently been able to wear high heals again. Before that the only things that would work were thick athletic shoes or these ugly wide patent leather clogs I wore when pregnant.
I had a transgender friend. She ordered all her shoes on line. And I mean some fabulous shoes. All for bigger girls. Later I'd even seen those Eastern Indian slip ons with jewels - all in wide and larger sizes. I think those would work with those extra cushiony insoles. They would be flat - and soft.
So...maybe some Googling for stores specializing for that clientel.
Nothing like a Drag Queen for faaaaabulous style!
Pip
I just posted these on another thread.They are really comfortable an come in other colours. www.crocs.eu I got mine in Bluewater if you are anywhere near there Also, before a big day out in less comfortable than usual shoes, I run Ibuprofen gel into the joints of my feet. That can help
I suck it up, and wear 4" heels whenever I get dressed up to go out. I
can't help it. I have a closet full of gorgeous shoes that I bought
before all my joint pain started. This is one of my most difficult problems too. For me, I need a thick sole, so flip flops and even going barefoot don't work. Because of the loss of cartilage in my hip, one is leg 1/2 inch shorter than the other and if I wear a thicker, plusher sole I seem to be a little more balanced - you all knew I was slightly unbalanced anyway!
Silly Side Note: For those of you who don't know me that well, I proudly boast of my West Virginia hillbilly heritage. I always heard hillbillies had one leg shorter than the other from walking on hillsides, so I guess its an in-bred (pun intended) genetic thing! So I digress, back to the topic. The rebirth of platform shoes has actually been good for me! But still I buy so many shoes, thinking they feel really good in the store, and then the first time I wear them ends up being the last. I've always dreamed of going to one of those Italian shoe makers that takes a mold of your foot and makes a shoe custom-designed for you. Wouldn't that be amazing? Sandy; girlfriend I would have gone on to the reception and either slipped on my flip-flops or kicked off my shoes under the table! Don't miss out on anything just because you can't wear high fashion shoes. For years I refused to give into my problems and wore high heeled shoes all the time. Even my sandals had high heels. Over time the joints in my feet refused to let me do it any longer. I'll have to admit that things have settled down (some) in my feet since I broke down and stopped wearing those things every day. The ball of my foot right at the big toes joint was constantly swollen and extremely painful! I work in a business office where I wear slacks and dress 80% of the time. the other 20% we're fairly casual. I still wear heels but I've found that if you get a wider heel or even a platform style shoe they are more comfortable. Easy Spirits and some of those "comfy sompanies" now make several styles that are a little more comfortable. I also have a huge variety of cute flip flops and don't think for a minute I won't sport them to work on any given day. I also keep a pair of flip flop style houseshoes under my desk and wear those when out of site of others at the office. Hill~When I was younger I had one leg longer than the other. I don't live in West VA......but NC isn't too far from there.
Pin; I love those hot pink fancy crocs. I just might have to check those out! Their really cute. Clod hoppers look more elegant than limping. Drew dress shoes sold at www.footsmart.com might work for you. I used to wear plain tan colored shoes that matched my hosiery shade with block heels about 3 inches and adequate toe room. They were not high style but didn't attract attention to themselves. They were made by Drew. Look in the yellow pages and see if you can find a store that carries Drew shoes. You might get lucky! Otherwise wear an elegant pair of black flowing silk dress slacks and a beautiful blouse with the plainist pair of black walking shoes you can find and still tolerate. One looks best when not in extreme pain. It is better to wear the wrong shoes than miss out. Really!!! (Honestly did you ever really hate somebody because they needed to wear clunky shoes? Nobody whose opinion matters, will think less of you because of stupid shoes, unless of course it is a teenager.)
My son does refuse to go out of the house with me in my crocs. He says "Momma, come on now; what if we get in a wreck?" I'll only wear them off if I'm planning on being in the car; but my son never fails to remind me that there's always an outside chance we could break down or something. He'd be far more embarrashed than I would be......their kind of growing on me! I blame myself really. I've used those same lines with him when he leaves the house in something I find rediculous looking (Which is often!)this os also one of my biggest problems. i wear skirts a lot and never have the appropriate shoes. i love my flip flops and they are actually very comfy for me but any sort of dress shoe is just awfull. i cant do a heal at all. if it were up to me i was just go in my tap shoes-sooo comfy!I really like Merrils. Don't know if they make a dressy shoe. I agree with other posters about going to Footsmart. They have lots of choices. If you can find a dressy flat sandal, that would probably work in the summer. It's those winter events that are really tricky!
Pop an extra pain pill, and suck it up, it typically what I do.
I wore a really pretty dress for the baby's 1st birthday, and slipped
on my new pair of 4.5" shoes (oh boy, they are SO gorgeous!!!!!!), and
my MIL made so much fun of me. But damnit, I looked cute!!! LOL. DH's
aunt was like "Julia, how on EARTH are you STANDING on those". I told
her it wasn't anything 2 percocet couldn't get me through. (her husband
is a Dr.....so she just laughed and agreed)
Mostly though, I have some really dressy flats that I keep in
"reserve", as I only last about an hour or so in heels. I will
tell you, the MORE you spend on heels, they ARE more comfortable. Cheap
shoes are SO bad for feet in pain!
http://www.footsmart.com/Storefront.aspx?productCategoryId=1 3&srccode=WD000251&fs_t=22439906&fs_l=121&cm _ven=DI&cm_cat=RR1&cm_pla=A&cm_ite=2
They have ortho sandals which can accommodate my orthotics. There return policy is no hassle as well. Since I have worn orthotics since I was 6, I have resigned to the not so cute shoe. The pain just is not worth it to me.
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