
At lunch, wearing my ugly, yet ludicrously expensive, bespoke shoes, I was, yet again, bemoaning the total absence of funky or stylish shoes for those of us with swollen feet, ankle and mobility problems.
Why is there no equivalent of the beautiful Orange Moschinos, poor photo taken by me above, for us? Sure, sure, the height of the platform may be questionable … but you get the gist.
Or even the equivalent of these tasty trainers below – as worn by Alexander Wang in the FT recently in another poor photo by me … yes, even reading the FT, I noticed his feet (er, it was in the How To Spend It supplement!):

You’d think a combination of the two would be ideal – an overlapping black top with the white base and huge eyelets and laces – allowing an adjustable fit and not a hint of the dreaded Velcro in sight. Oh, crap, I think I’m gonna need a shoe designer too … there’s so much that could be done feet-wise …
(PS the friend I was talking to couldn’t believe that even at high-priced-bespoke level, Velcro was suggested as a solution to me! There is NO acknowledgement of the need for a style aesthetic in the existing disability product market. “Why would you care as long as it does the job?” Me, bemused: “Why would I NOT care what my feet, and the rest of me, look like?”)