Best Buy of 2011 - or - How High Heels Saved My Feet

I tend to do a lot of walking on the weekends. Any given Saturday is guaranteed 2-4 hours of swap meet shopping and, on top of that, you never know when Hubs and I are going to take a walking tour of Koreatown, pop into a mall to browse before a $2 movie, or walk a mile or two to avoid random parking fees. With all this foot traffic in my life, I always figured that the pain, fatigue, and cramping in my arches and ankles was a given - after all, I always wore sensible, flat-to-low-heeled boots and sneakers. It doesn't get more comfortable than that, right?
Wrong!

One day in mid-2011, I browsed some online boot sales (as I am wont to do) and fell in love with the design of Dr. Martens' Marcie boot. The feminine twist on the classic combat boot made my heart patter, and reviews claimed that the boots ran narrow - great news for a gal who always found Docs much too wide! But the heel... 3.5 inches? My feet already hurt in flats.

I told myself I shouldn't get them. Be practical.

But I want them!

Take care of your feet.

But I love them!

Think of the pain.

Love hurts!

You already know I bought them. I wore them to the swap meet and on walks on the beach trails. And you know what? My arches ceased to cramp and spasm. My shins did not ache. My super tall, platform wedges were the most comfortable shoes I'd ever owned.

I bought another pair. Then I bought more boots in similar heel heights. I tromped all around town in all of these heels, making all my sensibly-shod friends gasp and wince and omigoshhowcanyouwearthosethings. I felt wonderful. I don't think I'll ever buy a heel under 3" high again.

I'm not posting this story to say, "Haha, heels don't hurt my feet! Naner naner!" I think there could be some science behind this. Maybe other people who are hurt by flat shoes can replicate this success.

It's more than just arch support, though that helps. I put on an old pair of flat boots the other day and marveled at how much work my feet had to do with each stride. My feet are pretty big for my stature - 8.5-9 on a 5'4" frame - and I felt like I was walking around in big, floppy clown shoes - or snow shoes - or flippers. Compared to walking in my heels, my arches had to invert way more to propel me forward, and my ankles had to contract way more to bring my foot around for the next step. Instead of normal, elegant footsteps, I had to lift each foot up in the air and clomp like a Clydesdale in order to keep from scraping my long toes along the pavement. Walking in flats, for me - with my long, feet, long toes, and short legs - was work. I actually tripped twice.

My heels, it seems, solve all those problems. Setting the foot at an incline decreases the amount of shoe that actually makes contact with the ground and reduces the needed amount of ankle action. Granted, I can't see the future; they may come a day when I'm punished for my altered posture with horrible back or hip problems. For now, though, I'm enjoying my new, blissfully pain-free gait.

If you're someone with large or otherwise cumbersome feet, and you sometimes have trouble with pain or... er... y'know, with walking correctly, then a higher heel might be worth a try.

Retail Review: Shoebuy.com & Dr. Martens Marcie Wedge Boots

One of my favorite things? Credit card rewards! I know the hardcore-prudent thing to do would be to take cash back -- but seriously, I have an addiction sickness hobby to fund. :)

I noticed that a round of credit card rewards were set to expire soon, so I decided to use them to acquire these Dr. Martens Marcie boots. A twist on an old favorite, the Marcie combines a classic combat boot upper with a platform wedge heel that makes my stubby legs and flat-sole-averse arches sit up and take notice. Yes, please!

The Shoebuy Experience

• Order Placement Process: Excellent. They offer a bajillion payment options, and there were no freakish hoops or fetish props to jump through to place my order.
• Product Details: Average. The heel height listed ended up being a half inch shorter than the actual height... I suppose they might have arrived at their measurement by subtracting the platform, but it would have been nice to know that (if it were indeed the case); Some of us like to know whether we will end up taller than our boyfriends or sporting highwater jeans if we wear those shoes. Also, no calf/ankle circumference information was included.
• Pricing: Excellent. Whatever sale shoebuy was having at the time priced my boots at a full $30 cheaper than I saw them anywhere else. And they don't charge sales tax. And they offer a 100% price guarantee. I believe the term I'm looking for is booya.
• Shipping/Packaging: Excellent. Free, fast, accurately-tracked shipping in a discreet box covered in tape that reminds you to check for defects and damage before accepting the product.
• Return/Exchange Process: Excellent. Free returns, free return shipping, easy return tracking, and a convenient pre-paid label included in my box. They use an online form for return explanations instead of making you interpret weird "exchange codes" on the back of your packing slip. I took the site's advice for a speedy exchange and simply returned the larger size while placing an new order for the smaller, which did result in a speedily-recieved replacement - the only downside is that the boots were not the exact same price as before. I thought about calling customer service to inquire about a match, but it was small enough a difference that the CC rewards still totally covered the price (difference was about $5).
• Overall: TOTALLY EXCELLENT. I'm very impressed with the price, speed, and service. Very much like I remember ordering from Zappos, but I remember Zappos as always having higher prices - and Zappos didn't carry these particular boots. Shoebuy has officially replaced Amazon as my #1 shoe site due to their price matching and free shipping. :)

The Marcie Wedge Boot Experience

• Fit: based on what the Dr. Martens size chart says, these felt a 1/2 size too big... and they only come in whole sizes, so if you're on the border of two sizes like me, go for the smaller option. I initally ordered the 9 instead of my usual 8.5 and ended up swimming in them.
• Quality: Just what you'd expect from Dr. Martens: sturdy & well-made, so you feel like you can really kick some butt in these boots. :)
• Comfort: WOW. Possibly the most comfortable boots I've had. I've walked for miles in these and had none of the dreaded arch pain or muscle cramps that have plagued me in my GI combat boots. Lovelovelovelovelove!

All in all, this has been one of the best online shopping experiences I've ever had. No hemming and hawing over whether or not to try another size. No agonizing over the price until my desired item has sold out. Nothing but pure shoe bliss. :)

Plus, the cat seems to like 'em. >^..^<