Ionic

eBay UK had a 5p listing day last Thursday and listings increased 50% in the size 8 department over night. I assume a similar effect elsewhere. This means they'll end Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and next Sunday. There could be an oversupply and more sellers than buyers so a few bargains around. Things will be as capricious as ever with some brands attracting disproportionate interest - but should be stuff for the bottom-feeders.

hi TB2,

Next did these boots in 42 and 43 some time back, with these 42s at the tail end of an eBay auction today:

\/eBay Next boots auction\/

The 43s are very big on me and I've used them quite a bit in mid-winter with thick socks. Rather surprisingly I got a big reaction once from someone waiting in a crowd at a bus stop. It was between the pulse of traffic across the 4 lane wide one way system and I heard '.......HIGH HEELS" probably preceeded by {He's wearing...}. After a few seconds I tried to turn round non-chalantly but couldn't see where it came from but it must have been called out very loudly.

Odd really because the <3" heels would have been half masked by the trousers; I suppose they splay slightly, flashing the heel, and the boots are pretty weighty (nice solid soles) so perhaps I was rather clumping as they're a size large. Also at bus stops people have nothing to do but watch the passers by and they had a low viewing angle across the wide street despite the distance. I now tend to walk right through that particular row of bus stops now.

Actually, it was me who wrote the expanded definition for the word "heel" to include the fact that they were sometimes worn by men.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel_%28shoe%29

I'm not getting joy out of that link, not sure if it is server or what just a "404 error connecting to site".

ed:

I've registered the reply below and still no joy; I expect it's only a local quirk. I'm off for a couple of days and will check it out again later when it comes back.

I think 'hart88' called them 'jack lasts'. there's some big bits on the ground leaning against the machine too. all in jest really!!

Guys,

Seeing at Next crops up quite a bit in this thread, and I can't remember if this has been said anywhere else, however, it certainly won't hurt to mention it again. Next are now going upto size UK9(EU43). I take a size 43.5-44 shoe, so as they have a nice free try at home service with free carriage, I though I might order these [...edited...]

Next also have a next-day delivery service, gotta say this is impressive. So they arrived lunchtime today. I was a little apprehensive that they would be too tight and I would have to send them back. To my delight, they both fit beautifully without tightnesss. [...] Joy, I have found a source of shoes that fit and are not from a fettish source.

The first pair are ankle length boots with side zip. Plain leather without any detail. A nice rounded toebox and worn with correct length trousers, ie just breaking as they touch the shoe, look as if they are perfectly normal gents shoes sticking out of the trousers. The length in the toebox is generous, so my toes don't come near the front at all. You want a 3.5" heel that is comfortable, look no further. Bonus is they are Italian made.

Turning to the Trouser Boot. The heel is much further forward that the Next photo suggests, however, they are still nice to walk in. Again nice soft leather, but this time they are from Vietnam. The heeltip is plastic, so quite stealthy on hard surfaces. The toebox is current fashion, long and pointed, and has a centre seam detail. Again, there is plenty of room in there for my size 43.5 feet. but the "winkle-picker" style for men has yet to come around to be common. However, they will be nice for the next heel-meet in London. I expect that Next will be on the route somewhere whenever the London heelmeet gets arranged.

So there you go. Two super buys. ~ TB2

hi Thighboots,

yes, I'd noticed Next did 42s and 43s from eBay auctions. someone mentioned the online store recently too, but it is a teeny bit frustrating. There are lots of options with 7.5, 8 and 8.5cm heels but very little beyond that. Also while there are many long knee boots there is only a limited offering of ankle boots which are both cheaper and less risky with calf room - you found the best of them. A good selection are also offered in wide fittings too (though not your two buys). On sizing - of course there is variation with each style - I reckon their 41 is a 7.5, the 42 a reasonably generous 8 and the 43 a generous 9 too; do you find it goes like that too?

Your first pair are winners, the gently tapered heel is one of the best shapes for discretion - a little less heel flash and they mirror cowboy and cuban heels.

The second 'trouser boot' is a touch more adventurous and you mention the underslung heel shape; it does a couple of things, it make the shoes look smaller with your larger sz9s and the underslung heel is easier to walk in than a straight down pencil heel - just sketch the geometry on some paper and you'll soon see why. However that is not always the point if you want the feel of as much heel as possible!!

I do wonder how the gals don't ruin their stilettos every other time they go out - you can't have your nose down to spot every footpath crack and cobble stone!

I did some "Lunchtime window shopping" in the West End last week which was mainly to check the new season's offering than do any buying prior to a more mundane mission to John Lewis. Only Dolcis had much left on the Sale racks thought the size8s were as good as cleaned out. I did go in Next but it was a small dept. and didn't linger long - I was scanning for wedges. I wonder whether they have a full complement of size8s and 9s actually in stock in the shops. I think the store near Marble Arch is a bigger one.

I've thought about this knotty issue a lot and I think it is rather a complicated problem and very much down to the great variability of foot shapes. I've had a load of attempts at getting pointy pixie boots like this - say 3.5 to 4 inch heels - most of which were a complete failure. All were too small and to narrow - just not enough 'volume' in the toe box. I've seen plenty of eBay sales where the gals have said they need to go up a size in this sort of boot except there's no next size for me (with rare exceptions). They are almost always very narrow fitting and the only reason I can think of for this is that they definitely look better when narrow. Now there is a limited trade off between width and foot length with pointy styles but this can't be pushed to far. Micha says he is rather narrow which is probably why he has found more success. With wider toes one pushes more into the V with the same length and tend to need a bigger size. There are some other factors, whether you have a foot shape with a long big toe or else long middle toes - the later are going to be more successful in pointy toe boxes especially if a bit wider. Whether your toes are long from the joint with a shorter foot or short toes and a longer foot up to the toe joints is also going matter. Micha mentioned problems with round toes style; certainly with full half-moon very round toes this is a real problem if you have your big toes as the longest ones. I find these a big problem because my toe line slopes back and my little toes are miles shorter than the rest, so if the big toe is comfortable in a very round toe then there's a huge empty void in the toe box. I tend to find the squared off toe easiest to find a good fit (sorry Micha). Someone else to blame, of course, is Sir Isaac Newton and the laws of physics... ...1st law of motion = 'for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction'. the forces of your body weight have got to be stopped somewhere. as a result I tend to like the feel of a firm close fitting vamp of a pair of boots rather than jamming of toes into a court shoe. another way of reducing those forces is to lose a bit of weight too!! I'm sure a 55kg woman gets less pain than someone heavier.

if your shoe and boot collection is completely out of control and you need to handle volume repairs to them all, then you might find this handy!!!

:drinking:

or for going into business with...

link to Shoe Repair machine on eBay

........

yer not gonna believe this but.... I just won a pair of lace up boots with mid-heels off ebay, same brand as the other rattler and... ...yes... ...same right boot/shoe too... ...another rattler and worse too!!! well this time I wasn't gonna be beaten and I got both rattlers out together, fetched the putty knife and broad chisel and sorted them out. the putty knife was good for an initial probe and feel for the pegs and pins and create a first crack then the heavier chisel opened the cap/lift off from the breast side. I angled the bevel of the chisel so all the pressure was on the cap and so no hint of damage could possibly be done to the heel. the offending foreigners soon popped out, a bit of plastic swarf in the old shoe and something bigger which bounced off somewhere in the new one. no damage done to the pegs so the lifts snapped back on, and if they move later a drop of glue will deal with that. this closes the story for me, hopefully without recurrence! hope this helps anyone else who gets this nuisance.

I've found a product which I think will act as an alternative to hart's Flash Black. It's called Shoe GOO and should be available in the USA and Japan; a UK eBay trader is selling it too.

It comes in a rubberised black version and a clear one. more info at:

http://www.shoegoo.co.jp/lineup.html

I've just begun experimenting but it is supposed to be usable as an adhesive, for gap filling and I think just building up a tough rubbery layer.

I'll report back on performance anon.

... >snip< If a policeman in my hometown Frankfurt should have the crazy idea to arrest me because of my heels he would get definitely a lot of annoyance

and I think a lot of annoyance from the policeman's boss too for wasting his scarce time and not chasing the real bad guys!!

I have a skirt question. What is the conversion from a women's size to a men's waist, for example: a 36" mens size is a women's size ??

can I reinforce this question. quite a few board members have discussed using low rise (hipster) women's jeans - I assume because of the waist/hip problem. I've never braved the aisles not knowing where to start really. I assume this is a similar issue to the waist/hip shape in skirts too.

<snip>...I have solved the pain problem with a pair of insoles ready for NEXT TIME.

A little gutted that the soles and the heels took a bit of a bashing though. I would of expected a bit more durability as the quality of the boots is so high. Shame! ...<snip>

hi Lucky, well done. was that in town or the country - how far did you go? I try to have a regular 'exercise walk' and sometimes I go out late after midnight sometimes earlier or more conservatively shod in the day. Mid evening is quite a good time because people are around but not too many and you're less conspicious than a single person out very late. Twilight is also good because human eyesight is re-adjusting from day to night vision and is less attuned to picking out detail.

You picked quite a challenging pair indeed for you first outing, not surprising it pained at bit! Keep experimenting with the insoles, you might try some half insoles too (or those scholl gels) - it all depends on the fit of each shoe/boot. Most lightweight insoles are best in flat shoes and can't take the pounding in heels.

It's worth finding yourself some block heeled boots too, it shouldn't be hard to find 3.5" to 4" ones and the tips will take a bit more hammering and rather easier to pass off under long legs during the day. you can learn to replace the tips yourself later too.

_

as for 'hills in the UK', tuckedinto., there are flat bits, hilly bits and a few mountainous bits which are lightly populated. large parts of the country are just rolling hills of varying shape from gentle to a bit steeper.

it might be only a small patch of the planet here but there are examples from nearly a billion years of geology here with the youngest in the SE and oldest in the NW. Northern Scotland in fact a piece of north america that crossed over before the Atlantic stretched out to its current width - it's a few hundred million years older than the bit of Southern Scotland it's stuck to, itself quite old.

anyway, it's flat for nearly half a mile around me (the valley floor of one of the city's lost rivers) and then rises up gently in all directions getting steeper in a couple of directions.

interesting point as I've only tested the gentle rises in 3" heels or less - I've not tested the steeper roads in anything higher - don't know if I can get that far in them yet!!

Jim,

I really don't notice the dirfference in walking except for the leather seems to provide a little extra shock absorbtion.

The hard rubber wear strip is an interesting solution. I have never seen that one before. <snip>

in the 'mods' forum, hart88 mentioned a product called 'Flash Black' for doing things like this and there may have been discussion about this pointy toe wear problem.

finding that stuff in the UK has defeated me, although instead I have just found something not too disimilar called 'Shoo Goo' which comes in clear as well as rubberised black. it should be available in USA and Japan. I'm still experimenting and will report back on it in due course.

after a new pair of your pointy soles has roughed up a bit but, before any significant wear, this product could be used as a preventative by coating on two or three thin layers. this can then take the wear and be re-applied from time to time. you could also try a 'Blakeys' metal tip if you like the metal noise or even do both - coat the metal tip with Goo to quieten it. There's a dozen or so different shapes and sizes for both toes and heels from Blakey's.

I dunno. I think they would look rather stunning on a snow bunny in a James Bond flick.

But that's about as far as my interest would take me...

yes, I think they're quite cute too but definitely for the gals not the guys. it's partly because they look like they are a bit higher than the 4" quoted on the ebay listing, nearer 4.5" perhaps. the size is a us7 just under average so that might be deceiving slightly - I've certainly seen j-lo types that measure in at 4.25".

I think this thread is the chunky and lower heeled refuge from the stilleto guys, Jeff, Shafted et.al. .... well I went out on a mission today with shoe horn in pocket; I donned my Peacocks tidy wedge loafers because it was chucking with rain and they're plastic so just wipe clean. first stop was the Clarks factory outlet {armed with my trusty shoehorn}, through security made me bag my wet brolly before proceeding. the half rack of size 8s was pretty disappointing as usual and a young afro-carribean girl was trying on 8s. I tried on a pair of tapered chisel toe wedge loafers with a wimpy heel probably under 2" but they were to long though not very wide. Just as Heel-D observed, I do think Clarks sizes run quite large as I got some boots in 7.5 some time back and that surprised me then. But they had even fewer in 7.5 than 8 and the 7s were probably getting a bit small. frankly 'discounted' to 20GBPs is hardly a tempation with my bottom fishing of better stuff on eBay so I moved on. passed on by Peacocks this time as I pretty much mined them out already - anyway the mission aim was the charity (thrift) shop with some high loafers and lace up booties in 8s I'd spotted on Saturday when it was a bit busy. the loafers are those square toe chunky rubber heels from Barratts - a full 4.25" with a 1" platform - you know the 'schoolgirl' type. well they were nice and wide, even leather too, and a bargain at 2.75GBP; the brown lace up flat boots were rather worn, pointed in style and turned out rather too narrow a fit with that pointy toe box so best left. some round toe calf boots labeled 8 suffered big toe strike against the end so non-starters before considering how horrid they were otherwise... well the loafers have had an immediate outing on my evening walk. it wasn't late so demanded the longest trousers which survived the gaze of several groups of young 'ethnic' males on the perambulations. seem a success and better than a plastic pair a bit similar that are just a bit too close fitting.

Sorry guys;

After reading my message to Kennard, I tought it may have been rude to poste a message in a language that nobody could understand. I've just told him about my experiences buying large numbers heels in Brazil, and <snip>

don't worry, on Saturday I was browsing in a local charity(thrift) shop and picked up a small teach-yourself Portuguese book for a dolllar and a few pennies - to go on my languages bookshelf rather than use now. i have a few words of Spanish so I can see Portuguese is just different enough to be frustratingly understood by me only in tiny fragments.

but I did spot some uk8 chunky rubber heeled loafers which I returned to try on today.

I agree the shoes that Yulia Timoshenko are very nice and she's very attractive. However, the style of her dress and hair look like early 20th century.

I rather thought she was making a determined and confident stride - just a little to much for the narowish dress which is just straining a little. Actually the hair-style looks rather ancient Roman - could have been the wife of the Emperor!

But the shoes are wonderful...

I just found a hilarious blog on shoes too.

it's a diary through the last six months of 2004 of a chap recording which of her 400 pairs of shoes his wife wears each day. lots of pix of top designer heels

http://www.bloggerme.co.uk/the_uk_web_log_forum/1_more_of_my_wifes_shoes/

here's a clip or two:

[1] Peoples reaction to Manolo's : The nod. A simple blink of acknowledgement or dip of the head from those in the know. Can be interpreted as "how did you afford those you bitch ! " or "does your husband know you bought those with his credit card"

=

[2] Designed by Marc Jacobs who is accredited with with a timely ability to design what the fashion pack want to wear even before they know what they want, he has become one of the world's hottest and hippest designers.

[... ...]

According to my wife, who works for a Paris luxury group, these shoes which have been hoarded for over two years are now ready fo be worn. Why because gaudy and fluro eighties green is back. Funny I must have missed that the first time round.

(These shoes carry 10 shoe bonus points for having the name of the model written on the soles)

and more in the same vein/

no Victorian thread yet and didn't want to deviate the medieval topic that far so we'll start afresh with a new one:

here is the relevant clipped out section on footwear on an interesting web page from Victorian London - Publications - Etiquette and Advice Manuals - The Lady's Dressing Room, by Baroness Staffe, trans. Lady Colin Campbell, 1893

THE FOOT.

Conditions of Beauty.

WHEN a foot is well made, the boots and shoes wear well, and the walk is generally harmonious and graceful.

But the most charming foot may be disfigured by a boot that is too short or too [-215-] narrow. And an ugly foot will become still worse if the owner tries to diminish its proportions by compressing them.

We must keep the foot Nature has bestowed upon us; we shall only subject ourselves to useless tortures by trying to wear boots and shoes that were not made for it, and, far from remedying its defects, we shall only add others that it has not got.

The foot in ancient sculpture is perfectly beautiful, because it had never been subject to constraint in the sandal or slipper without heels. In our era it is only in the East, especially in Japan, that the human foot can be seen in all its beauty and grace. In the Empire of the Rising Sun the extremities have never known any bonds. The covering of the feet was there made for the comfort of the foot, and followed its outlines exactly. But now the European costume is being adopted in the country of the Mikado, and we are about to impose upon [-216-]them our abominable modern boots and shoes, which deform the feet, because they are not suited either to the structure of the feet or to the- movements they make in walking.

The very pointed boots and shoes have given birth to a great deal of suffering, and to many infirmities which have spoiled the foot and the walk.

Here are some counsels of healthy coquetry; but will they be listened to?

You must not try to make your foot smaller; you will only thicken it. Besides, a very small foot is not well made. The foot should be in just and harmonious proportion to the body. A rather long foot is the most elegant, as it appears narrow. It is absurd to compress a wide foot; you only make it more ugly, subject it to excruciating pain, and lose the ease and grace of your walk.

It is said that English and German women have such large feet because they [-217-] drink a great deal of beer. The Americans, who have also adopted that drink, are beginning to lose the beauty of their feet. In wine countries-France, Spain, Italy, etc.-where the women are indeed very temperate, their feet are very delicate and refined.

How to choose Boots and Shoes.

If the foot is narrow and a little too long, the boot or shoe should be short in the toe, and laced or buttoned down the front. An ornament on the top . of the shoe diminishes the length of the foot in appearance.

A short fat foot demands a long boot, buttoned or laced at the side.

A very flat foot requires rather high heels. If, on the contrary, your foot has that high arched instep which is seen in greatest perfection among the Arabs, and is considered a mark of blue blood by the Spaniards, it is not necessary to exaggerate [-218-] the curve by high heels, which shortens disadvantageously the foot that has no need of shortening, and throws it out of its necessary equilibrium.

The Molière shoe, which makes the ankle appear thick, and cuts in two the arch of which we have just been speaking, should be abandoned in the name of aestheticism. The low-cut shoe is, on the contrary, very graceful and becoming.

The Wellington boot is altogether unacceptable. The brodequin and kid boot should reach higher than the ankle. No other boot is fit for winter wear, as the ankles must be protected from the cold. A black boot is the only really pretty one; but if made of stuff, it will add to the size of the foot much more than in leather or kid.

A white shoe should only be worn on a faultless foot. And, indeed, it is best to wear shoes a shade darker than the dress. A white shoe enlargens and widens the foot.

[-219-] An open shoe may be worn in various colours which are forbidden in a boot. All the same, it is well to choose a colour that matches the dress, but is a little darker. Black shoes and black stockings diminish both the length and breadth of the foot.

Women with thick ankles should wear stockings with embroidery high up on the sides in the length, not across the width: it will make the ankles appear smaller. When strong boots are worn with a light and elegant toilette, it is a sign of the very worst taste. If you cannot have nice boots and shoes, you should wear quiet and simple dresses.

Trying on Boots and Shoes.

I advise all those to whom it is possible to have their boots and shoes made for them. But if you do buy them ready-made, try them on in the evening. The feet are then spread out to their full size, and are at their highest degree of sensitiveness. The [-220-] activity and exercise they have bad during the day will have given them their fullest dimensions. The muscles will be tender from use, and the flow of blood in the arteries will be increased. The weight of the body affects the circulation in the feet to such a degree that people who are obliged to stand for a long time find that their feet enlarge very much. It is to the weight of the body when standing for a length of time that varicose veins are due, and people whose fibres are easily relaxed are specially subject to them. In good health the feet recover their normal size when one has been in bed for a few minutes, because they have then no longer to bear the weight of the body.

Try on your boots and shoes in the evening, there fore, when your feet are tired, and with comparatively thick stockings on. You will then find that you have plenty of room in your boots when your feet are fresh and you have put on very fine stockings.

[-221-] Never take long walks with quite new boots on. Wear them in the house first for a few days, and then when you go out for a short time.

If you take these precautions, you will procure as much comfort for your feet in new boots as in old ones; and boots, shoes, and slippers will all wear much longer.

A well-cut pair of shoes may be known by the following sign :-When the shoes are placed beside each other, they should only touch each other at the toes and heels. The soles should follow the line of the foot, so that it can rest its whole width on it comfortably.

How to take care of the Feet.

The feet should be washed every day, and by rubbing with pumice-stone, all thickening of the skin on the heel, sole, and toes should be made to disappear. I have said the feet should be washed every day: this must not be taken to mean the foot-bath.

[-222-] The daily repetition of a foot-bath does not suit everybody. A foot-bath in which you keep your feet for ten or fifteen minutes is frequently injurious; above all, if it is taken very hot, or even warm. It has the bad effect of making the feet too tender, besides having a deplorable effect on the brain and sight if you are weak or delicate.

After washing your feet, and while they are still wet, rub the sole with dry salt, and then wipe them vigorously. This will strengthen them, and preserve them from the cold.

Warm your feet by walking. Foot- warmers of all kinds are bad both for beauty and health. They make you likely to have varicose veins in the legs. When you travel in very cold weather, wear over your shoes long stockings in the train or carriage, to prevent chilblains on your feet. Snow-boots are even better, but they are more difficult to carry about when you take them off on leaving the carriage. Light sabots are [-223-] indispensable in the country for going into the garden in damp weather. Goloshes and india-rubbers are equally good for keeping the feet dry. All these-socks, snow-boots, sabots, etc.-must, of course, be taken off the moment you go into the house.

A bath of lime-tree flowers is very soothing to tired feet.

If the feet are tired from long standing, a bath of salt and water is excellent for them. Put a handful of common salt in four quarts of water, as hot as can be borne without pain. Place your feet into this, and with your hand splash the water over your legs up to the knees. As soon as the water cools, rub hard with a rough towel. (This treatment, applied morning and evening, will cure neuralgia in the feet.)

It is also advisable, when the feet are swollen from a long walk or much standing, to bathe them in water in which charcoal has been boiled. The water should be strained through a cloth before putting the [-224-] feet into it. Swelling and fatigue will both disappear rapidly. Alcoholic friction is also very good.

If the feet perspire, here is a good way of getting rid of this inconvenience:- Wash with boric acid in the water, and then powder the feet with dust of lycopodium. You may also try the following:- Salicylic acid three parts, talc seven, starch nine. These three substances should be well pounded and mixed, and the feet should be well powdered with the mixture. In some cases it will suffice to sprinkle the inside sole of the shoe with boric acid. In all cases I advise medical consultation before using any remedy. I believe my recipes to be inoffensive, but I know that it is sometimes dangerous to stop this perspiration. One thing may be done without fear of any kind - namely, to change the shoes and stockings two or three times a day.

[-225-] In-growing Nails.

This is a very painful infirmity. If the nails of the great toes - and, indeed, all the nails - are cut quite square and not almond shape, you will not have to undergo suffering of this kind. However, once the evil is there, the question is how to cure it. Make a soft paste of mutton suet, Marseilles soap, and powdered white sugar, in equal parts. Apply this till the flesh recedes from the nail.

Or wet the whole foot, and after drying it well, apply a solution of gutta-percha and chloroform on the part affected. This operation should be repeated several times on the first day-say, about four times. The following day the number of applications may be diminished.

Here is the formula for the solution:-

Chloroform ... 80 parts

Gutta-percha ... 10 parts

[-226-] Another remedy is as follows :-Loosen the flesh round the nail, and cut the latter; paint the suffering part with a small paintbrush dipped in perchloride of iron. The flesh is thus made hard and less sensitive. This is an infallible remedy.

Corns.

What an infliction! Happily, they are not without a remedy, whatever the cause by which they are produced.

A shoe that is too wide is almost as destructive as one that is too narrow. If the foot is not properly supported by the shoe, it rubs continually against the leather in moving, and this friction predisposes to corns, almost as certainly as compression of the foot.

If a corn has only recently grown, you can get rid of it by rubbing it with pumice-stone.

At first, while the corn is still somewhat tender, it can be got the better of by [-227-] applying wool dipped in castor-oil or leaves of red geranium steeped in oil.

A poultice of the crumb of bread which has been steeped in vinegar for thirty minutes will cure a new corn in one night.

Good results are also to be obtained by dissolving a false pearl in vinegar; the creamy substance thus obtained is applied to the corn (pace Cleopatra!). A soft rag should be steeped in the cream, and carefully wrapped round the corn for the night.

Orpine, a patent remedy, is applied on hard corns, which it softens, and thus facilitates their extraction. A raw onion bruised has the same virtue, as well as ivy-leaves steeped in vinegar. The leaf further serves to protect the surface of the corn. A little plaster-of-Paris damped (in paste) will answer the same purpose; so will a little circle (pierced in the centre) of agaric or touchwood (from the oak or touchwood-tree) put over the corn, which will thus be kept from the pressure of the shoe. But here [-228-] are more scientific prescriptions for ointments which will destroy hard corns. They are more or less like each other, but the slight variations among them may just make them suitable for divers kinds of corns:-

(1) Salicylic acid ... 1 drachm.

Atronine ... 1½ grains

Flexible collodion ... 1 ounce

(2) Salicylic acid ... 5 drachms

Extract of cannabis indica ... ½ drachm

Collodion ... 4 ounces

(3) Salicylic acid ·.. ... 15 grains.

Extract of cannabis indica ... 8 grains

Alcohol at 90º ... ... 15 minims.

Ether at 62º - ... ... 40 minims

Elastic collodion ... ... 80 minims

(Prescription of P. Vigier.)

Whichever of these three prescriptions you choose, mix the divers ingredients, and keep them in a well-corked bottle. The remedy should be applied by means of a camel's-hair brush dipped in the mixture, and should be passed over the corn at least [-229-] twice. The applications should be made daily during not less than a fortnight. At the end of this time (during which you will be reduced to washing your feet with a damp sponge, which must not touch even the toes on which the corns are) the little tumours will be easily removed with your fingers after keeping the foot in warm water for an hour.

Bunions, which particularly affect the big and little toes, and sometimes the instep (in which case high heels should be at once renounced), can be cured in several ways:-

(1) If it is inflamed, cover it with a poultice and wear easy slippers. Then anoint the suffering part with an ointment composed of 7 parts of iodine mixed with 30 of lard.

(2) Cover the bunion with a piece of oiled silk over a layer of axunge.

(3) Take a piece of wash-leather, and make a hole in it large enough for the [-230-] bunion, put it on the bad place, and cover it with oiled silk. Over this silk rub the bunion twice a day with the ointment of iodine and axunge.

(4) A piece of diachylon plaster has a very good effect. You can also cut the corn and cauterise it with sulphate of copper, which is sold in sticks, like nitrate of silver.

Cramp in the Foot.

The cramp is a most disagreeable infirmity.

If the toes are not perfectly free in the boot or shoe, the constraint gives rise to the most horrible cramp.

The cramp which so many people are subject to at night is prevented by raising the pillow. You place under the feet at the head end of the bed a block about the thickness of two bricks. Relief is immediate, certain, and lasting.

It is said - and I know it by painful [-231-] experience - that prescriptions of which arsenic forms even the smallest part cause terrible cramp in the calf of the leg.

Some useful Precautions.

When you come in with your leather boots wet, take them off at once, and have them filled with very dry hay. This absorbs the damp rapidly, stretches and fills out the boots, and so prevents them from stiffening and losing their shape. Above all, avoid putting them near the fire. The next day the hay is taken out, and may he dried for another occasion or thrown away. By stuffing the boots with paper you will obtain exactly the same result.

Paraffin softens boots that have stiffened from a wetting, and restores all their suppleness. Strong shooting-boots can be softened by exposure to broom-smoke, and by rubbing with olive-oil and lard. They will thus be much more comfortable, last twice [-232-] as long, and will protect the feet better from the cold and damp.

If you want to make the soles of your boots more durable and impervious to water, warm them slightly, cover them with a coat of varnish, and dry it. Warm them again, varnish, and dry; repeat a third time under the same conditions.

A mixture of cream and ink is excellent for keeping kid boots in good order.

A harness varnish may also be used for the same purpose. Take a very little on the end of a rag, and rub the boot well all over. Polish it with a bit of cloth. In countries where oranges are cheap, they are used for blacking the boots. The orange is cut in two, the juicy side rubbed on a black saucepan, and then on the boot. It is then brushed with a soft brush, and a brilliant polish obtained.

To prevent boots from creaking or cracking, the soles should be well saturated with linseed, oil. Place the boots on a dish [-233-] full of oil; the sole will absorb the oil, which will also make it impervious to snow or water.

How to put on Laced or Buttoned Boots.

The feet of stockings should be longer than the feet they cover. They should be well pulled out at the toe, so that the heel can get into its place properly. (They will wear all the better for this precaution.) The bit that is beyond the toes in length should be turned back on them, to stretch the stocking, and all will arrange itself admirably as soon as you walk a little. (When evening comes, the foot of the stocking is no more too long.)

Very few persons know how to lace their boots and shoes; at least, they do not lace them the right way. Generally, people pull the lace as hard as they can, without noticing that they are making their foot very uncomfortable. You should place your [-234-] heel well down in the shoe, then move your toes about in a satisfactory manner. After these preliminaries, put your heel on a chair opposite to the one you are sitting on, and then lace your boot. On the instep, lace the boot as tightly as possible, but tighten it gently and by degrees, so as to keep the foot well in the boot, in which your toes are quite at their ease. At the ankle, lace your boot so as to give every possible ease and comfort to that part of the foot.

Proceed in the same way with buttoned boots; do not button the two buttons near the toes first. Button from the instep up to the ankle, to begin with, and before buttoning up the ankle itself, come back and do the first two buttons; then finish by imprisoning, but as loosely as is possible, the lower part of the leg, the over- compression of which is so very bad for the health.

source: http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/ladys-2-2.htm

for those that want corsets and stockings!!

it's certainly a lot more than just age, Dawn, one sees plenty of younger people slouching or lurching from one step to the next. my confidence in heels is only developing slowly and when it gets shaky with people around I start to shrink rather than hold up a straight posture. this 'head-up confidence' thing is being explored in a couple of other threads at the moment.

you're quite brave, heel-d, to wear a 'mary-jane' strap on a shoe, and with a slingback too. gone are the days when Clarks made all their shoes in their own Somerset factory where the sizes were consistent on their old lasts. now they source from cheap production, the size consistency is lost and much missed. they have a 'factory outlet' near me but the place is irredeemably dull where a 1.5" heel counts as extreme! nevertheless, people queue up at the till with basketfulls of shoes - I think they take them back to family in remote and desparate parts of the world.

a surprising number of people walk really badly whatever they have on their feet and when they, the women that is, put on heels it is likely to get worse rather than better. I've also noticed that heavier people have a modified gate which becomes a more accentuated waddle the more overweight they are - it must be a centre of gravity thing. they tend to only wear modest heels if at all and don't often walk really well in them.

Box

well, you'll have to set up a business supplying the South American market then!! there's clearly a gap in the market over there...

"....ends up in the air." ??? not just the story I feel!!! :rofl: