When I was in school, I don’t remember buying any shoes other than the white canvas school shoes. That means that I do my shoe shopping only once a year, and at a Bata outlet!
When I was in college, I went crazy for heels. I had rows and rows of Vincci heels. They were only RM45.00 each but the quality is so shoddy that I kept having my heart broken when they broke.
When I was in university, I had a culture shock when I saw that many Australian girls don’t wear heels. Even when they are dressed for work in smart suits and pencil skirts, they wear sneakers! To be fair, they keep a pair of kitten heels in the office which they slip into once they arrive, but when they are out and about in the city for breakfast, or travelling to and from work in trains and in trams, they pair their gorgeous outfits with sneakers. Isn’t that a huge fashion faux pas?!!!
But I learned to appreciate the laidback Melbourne culture and soon, I too was treating my feet to comfortable shoes. I bought from Nike and Nine West but not a lot. On weekends, I would scour their warehouses for good deals.
Over the years, I have learned a few things about buying shoes. Mistakes I have made:-
Sliding slings
I bought a pair of slingbacks from MNG for a wedding dinner, but when I got out of the car, discovered that the sling kept sliding down my heel! I had to hobble into the ballroom while trying to look natural. And after the dinner, I couldn’t dance on the dance floor. Thankfully, my dinner companions were wonderful. We took a lot of photos. 
I have tried to fix them by sticking foam strips onto the strap, it didn’t work. I have tried to latch it on so tightly that it couldn’t possibly slide but it cut into my skin. Ouch!
Later, a friend gave me another pair of slingbacks as a gift and I had the same problem. If you are buying a pair of slingbacks, thoroughly test them out in the shop first.
Dirtifying foam
Never ever buy shoes or sandals that uses light-colored foam insoles. I bought a pair of adorable foam slippers. After the first wear, the shape of my feet were imprinted as a grey-brown stain on the foam. It looks so revolting, I couldn’t bear to let my feet touch that stain again. it was only ever worn once, sigh…
Peeping at the wrong place
If you are going to be waltzing about in your office, this pair of super low peep-toes will look great as long as you have painted your toenails.
But not if you are going to be walking down the grimey streets of Kuala Lumpur.
Notice how the front of the shoes are so low that your exposed toes are almost touching the ground? Street dirt gets on them and even into the underside of your toenails.
I found that out when I got home and kicked off the shoes. I found a crescent-shaped stain on my toes! Horrifying! It took a night of vigorous scrubbing with my nailbrush to clean off the dirt but the crescent mark is also partly by the sun’s tan. It took only a few hours for the sun to tan a crescent-shape onto my toes but almost a month for my skin color to match again, lol!
Triangulizing the toes
I know there are a lots of girls who can wear pointed-toes without grimacing all the time. I have seen you and I can only gawk. Are your toes triangular and not round(ish) like mine?
With the heel at the back, that means almost your entire body weight will be squeezing into the narrow front. For me, that will be carrying 45kg on the very tiny tip of all toes!
I have “only” ever bought two pairs of pointed toes. The first pair is tall like the one pictured here. It completely numbed my brain. My entire face was red from wearing them and when some one complimented my glowing complexion, grrr!
The second pair I bought is about an inch high. It still hurts but less. I can carry out a decent conversation while in them as long as I can snap my teeth and grit at every end of sentence. I wore them till they wore themselves out. 
Skin out, flesh exposed
One shoe-shopping mistake I have made countless times is buying a pair where the upper is not made of a soft material. It could be made of plastic, synthetic leather or even genuine leather that haven’t been processed enough to be supple. The hard material cuts through the skin and exposes pink flesh. Then, as you walk, the shoe rubs itself against the raw wound. Then, a fly sticks itself onto the open wound.
Joking about the last part, heheh.
So there you go, a few shoe-shopping mistakes I have made.
I am definitely a lot more cautious now when it comes to buying heels. I basically live on one pair - my well-padded Hush Puppies heels. The spunkier ones, I put on for special occassions and to places where I know I will be with a gentleman whose arm I can lean on in case there is a need to hobble.
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10 Comments
I think pointed heels are ok, but the width must be wide enough, coupled with a larger base area of the heel, makes the feet more comfortable
Kudos for the article !
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Precious Replied:
November 8th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Hey I love your coffee gravatar!
So you are one of those who can wear pointed heels? *envy*
May be I just haven’t tried one with a large enough base area before.
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Oh I hate open toes type and pencil thin heels (wear already the feet might feel a bit of discomfort.)
I guess the trick is not to wear too high the heels, and that one should be able to stand up comfortably without the feeling wobbly. and the arch of the shoe should fit the foot, not the other way round.
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Precious Replied:
November 8th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I don’t prefer open toes because it allows my feet to get dusty, but I find them quite comfortable, lol.
What if the heel is high but the front sole is high too i.e. like platforms? My mum is a huge advocate of lightweight platform, she finds them so comfortable.
You are so right about the wobbly part. As for the arch, I have never found a pair where the arch fits perfectly, other than Crocs sandals. Have you?
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Oooh … I especially dislike pointy shoes … how does anyone be able to wear them comfortably is a mystery to me.
Its an instrument of torture!
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Precious Replied:
November 8th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Exactly! Golden Lotuses of the modern age. What era do the shoemakers think we live in? And women buy them even without any gun being pointed to their head.
Mind-boggling.
But then again, Nicole have had a pair that isn’t so bad. *shrugs*
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Hillary, this post is great. I like wearing high heels, which can make me look taller and slimmer. But I love slippers actually, which pamper my feet.
The FENDI, Marc Jacobs and Versace are so gorgeous. Do u own them? When can I see you wearing them?
Btw, the new profile photo is gorgeous too. *^_^*
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Precious Replied:
November 8th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Hi Jenny, none of the shoes in these photos are mine. I wish!
Can’t wait to see you again.
By the way, I have just installed something which will allow blog commenters to edit their own comments. Try it out when next comment.
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I never did understand the appeal of those pointy toed shoes. Give me a pair of Birkenstocks any day!
I just bought a pair of pumps that are really, really comfortable. The brand is not a known one, but it has soft, leather insoles. Worth the RM169 I forked out.
BTW, nice article - great tips!
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Precious Replied:
November 9th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Liz!
Birkenstocks? I hate them. One of my toe is always on the ridge and it’s painful to with that. But I know the Birks have a huge following.
Know what that means? Everyone’s feet is very different.
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yes totally agree. i wish we can tailor make our shoes like our dresses. the front of my feet is so wide anything tiny and pretty hurts very badly
thankfully hubby agrees that i should torture myself. anytime i find myself in a comfy pair of nice heels, i almost want to buy one in every colour to stock up hahaha
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Precious Replied:
November 9th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I think your hubby prefers you in sneakers. Look at all the running that you guys do! It’s great that you can enjoy a hobby together.
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oops found a typo in my comment. i meant hubby agrees i shouldn’t* torture myself. i still can’t bear to wear sneakers with normal clothes though. eric is picking it up again. guess age got something to do with it :p
hubby said working out together is a 3 in 1, cheap, fun and healthy!!! hahahha
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Precious Replied:
November 9th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Sneakers with normal clothes? I can’t either. But if I am whisked back to Melbourne, I *might* be able.
Big MIGHT. Yet to be tested, lol!
How many kilometers are you running now? Are you doing marathons? You can organize a run to raise funds for charity.
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haha only melb? spore also can wat. we’re only running 10km. too lazy to do more la. gym-ming a lot more now than running. just completed our last 10km run for the year last month then got lazy..keke. u doing any sports?
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Precious Replied:
November 9th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I bicycle along the beach when I am in Singapore, and am trying to correct my tilted pelvis. Tell Eric that my posture is not as perfect as he thinks.
Sneakers in Singapore? Just the thought of all the stares I will get fills me with dread.
Hey, wanna go trekking? It’s also 3-in-1, I am thinking of going to the Sungai Chiling waterfalls. It’s not too far away. Ask Eric to come along.
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Hi, its been a long time since I have seen you after you left children church. Gosh…I love your article…especially the Fendi red heels… I seriously thought you own it. I was almost salivating when I was gawking at the shoe.
I am the type, even pain also still wear heels…ai sui…hahahaha
I absolutely love peep toes and pointed-toes. So, I make sure I only wear them when I know I am going to be in it about 3-4 hrs max. Any longer that’s when the pain starts. Also when I am wearing pointed-toes, I make sure I cut my toe nails short…lesser pain…
I am not a fan of sling-backs too. Because I have got cracked heels, so not a pretty sight. LOL
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Precious Replied:
November 14th, 2008 at 3:18 am
Hi Pastor Jennifer, fancy seeing you here!
You know what, I was reading an article that when women become pastors or pastor’s wife, they feel this pressure to dress the part. Like wear Mary Janes and embroidered cardigans…
I’m glad you don’t feel that way. Hahaha!
And cracked heels, sigh…
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Precious, I can wear pointy shoes because I have pointy feet. No, seriously, I do; my big toe is not the longest toe on my foot. The toe next to it is. I have found that often, with pointy shoes or boots, I can go DOWN a size (!) from my regular shoes. The flip side? I tried on a pair of really cute round-toed shoes, and almost fell over in pain when I took a step. Ditto any square-toed shoes. The best I can manage is a tapered toe, because that pesky long toe needs the longer space. And I can’t bring myself to wear sneakers with nice clothes; I’ll wear my boots, every time. Maybe a pair of ballet flats, if they’re appropriate. I don’t do very high heels, though, because I’ve had too many broken toes from other activities to wear them comfortably, and I WILL NOT WEAR SHOES THAT HURT MY FEET. Oh, sometimes I’ll buy a pair that I thought was comfortable when I tried them on, and they aren’t comfortable for long-term wear; then they go live with someone else. Life is too short to spend it wearing clothes that hurt - and there are too many pretty, flattering alternatives.
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Precious Replied:
November 21st, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Wow, now I am really curious to see a picture of your feet. So depending on the trend that season, you could look really cool in pointed shoes. Don’t you wish we have interchangeable feet that we can snap on to wear the different shoes? Haha, just kidding!
By the way, you don’t have a blog do you? I’d love to see yours.
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