‘A good fit?’
there was often a sense of compromise apparent
in shoe choice, as ‘comfortable’ shoes that aided
mobility might also be described as ‘clumpy’ and
undesirable and might limit clothing choices and
participants’ ability to present themselves as
they wanted. Crucially, there was also a sense
of the feet transforming from something that
could be adorned and displayed to something to
be kept hidden. The powerful feelings of shame,
stigma and exclusion that could be associated
for women with wearing the ‘wrong’ shoes
may go some way towards explaining why over
70% of the footwear choices of women with RA
could be classified as ‘poor’ [19] . Such findings
suggest that the ‘right’ shoes must be more
than just a good physical fit, but ideally should
‘fit’ the wearer mentally too. Seferin and Van
der Linden [20] extend this idea theoretically by
differentiating between physical comfort and
psychological comfort (e.g. feeling attractive or
feeling shoes ‘fit’ the occasion rather than just
‘fit’ physically). Comfort is thus not necessarily
measured objectively or rationally but is rather a
complex and subjective way of assessing shoes,
meaning that physical comfort is not always the
top priority in footwear selection.
Whilst such contributions are hugely
important, there has been a tendency for
research to focus on older populations [2, 21, 22] or
those with health conditions such as diabetes,
gout or RA [17–19, 23, 24] , and studies from a more
sociological, qualitative perspective still remain
comparatively rare. However, Branthwaite
et al. [25] offer a fresh perspective in their
research with teenage girls regarding their
shoe purchases over 6 months. For the young
women involved in the research, fashion was
prioritized over physical fit, function or health
considerations. Once again, the links between
shoe choice, identity and body image were
highlighted. This work with younger populations
is important because research suggests that
shoe choice in youth and midlife can have a huge
impact on foot health in later life. Furthermore,
front-line foot health practitioners have an
important preventative role to play in educating
the wider public before specific conditions and
complications arise [26] .
More recently, research with patients and
podiatrists explores why patients may resist
practitioner advice around changing their
footwear practices and draws more explicitly
on social science theories and methodologies,
bringing together a research team of podiatrists
and social scientists [27] . Building directly on a
previous sociological research project in this
area [11] which received a high level of interest
from podiatrists, semi-structured interviews
and focus groups were utilized alongside
more innovative methods such as photography
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