Ok I hate to say this but I think I have to switch to genuine leather shoes. This is painful for me because I've been vegetarian for almost 10 years, and I never planned on getting leather. But here is the thing: I have CHRONIC and awful horrible problems with blisters on my heels, toes and other sides of my feet. I've tried SO many pairs of shoes. I'm poor so I buy cheap ones usually (no more than 25 bucks), and I can't buy them that often. But it never fails... no matter what I do, every pair of synthetic, man-made material pair of shoes I buy gives me the worst sores on my feet, and these are flaming, burning, open bloody sores that take a long time to heal and leave scars. I've tried things from different soft pads you can stick to the insides but for some reason they still don't work. I've though maybe my feet are shaped funny. Maybe I have overly sensitive skin. But the common denominator is that all my shoes are man-made, and other people's aren't. A lot of times I have taken off shoes and gone barefoot. Once I went barefoot in a smokey bar and stepped on a lit ciggarette. So most of the time I am restricted to wearing ordinary loafers with socks at all times. Usually old ones that I know are okay. But geez... it's getting frustrating and painful enough to the point where I have to get the leather kind.

So I guess I'm kind of inquiring if you guys think this is reasonable or if you've experienced the same thing, and.. are my feet just shaped badly? Or what else could be causing all these blisters? It sucks, I'm fed up.

:furious:

Hmm...poorly made synthetic shoes surely would make your feet hurt more than leather, as they're not as supple/flexible. However, it might be worth making the investment in a *good* pair of shoes. You can get a pair of New Balance at a discount place like TJ Maxx or Kohl's for maybe $45. I (and several other VBers) think they're pretty comfy. :yes:

I'm poor so I buy cheap ones usually (no more than 25 bucks), and I can't buy them that often

I hate to break it to you, but you pay for what you get. $25 leather shoes will probably give you blisters as well.

Can you afford more expensive shoes? What about 2nd hand shoes from the goodwill or something?

I hate to break it to you, but you pay for what you get. $25 leather shoes will probably give you blisters as well.

Can you afford more expensive shoes? What about 2nd hand shoes from the goodwill or something?


Well purchasing shoes that give blisters has become a risky wasteful investment for me, so my general assumption (probably naive i know), is that I shouldn't spend $45 on shoes if they'll just give me blisters in return. It's almost like blisters are inevitable, and I better pay less if I'm going to get them no matter what.

And the bad thing is... is that I never know, while I'm in the store, if a potential pair will be a blister pair, because I can't walk in them enough in the store for a blister to form. So... it's always a gamble.

My parents are giving me $400 for a graduation present, and I'm already planning on spending about $120 on a bike for commuting purposes at grad school, so that leaves about $280 I could spend on a few pairs. So maybe just this once I could spend some time "investing" in some. But I'm really tempted to try the leather ones to see if it makes a difference... I want to save my skin....is that bad of me?

Oh, and as for 2nd hand... I've tried that but find that none are absolutely perfect because well... that's why they're there in the first place. But it would be better to get leather from a 2nd hand place rather than a retail store.

Yeah, leather or otherwise, you get what you pay for.

I have had no problem comfort wise with non leather dress shoes. I don't prefer to be on my feet for a long time in dress shoes, leather or otherwise. Per previous recommendation, if athletic shoes are appropriate, do see New Balance. To the extent that you need dress shoes, buy the best you can afford, leather or otherwise.

Given that I have pretty normal feet, I have found that I can get suitable non leather dress shoes for perhaps 20% more than leather equivalents would cost, which is a cost I am willing to absorb.

Correction to above post: it's www.zappos.com (and they're great - a vegetarian section, and free return shipping so you can try the shoes around the house first with no risk).

What about wearing sandals? With or without socks, depending on the temperature and where you are. That would give you some relief.

I think the market for vegan shoes really sucks. I can't tell if a pair of shoes are going to work for me unless I try them on.

There is no reason why you should suffer wearing painful man-made shoes. As posted above, maybe trying a good pair of vegan shoes may help. But if leather is the only comfortable choice, you should not feel bad about buying/wearing them. I have bad feet/ankles and I (currently) wear leather shoes. If I found a comfortable vegan shoe that offered the support I need, I would go definitely go vegan.

(I haven't bought any shoes since going veg, so I think I'll check out vegan shoes first, before I go buying any leather. Apparently research for me is in order. I had no idea New Balance was vegan!)

I should probably add that if you are having that much trouble, perhaps a visit to a foot doctor may be in order.

I've had the same problem as you. But I've found that alternating my shoes help, and I have found a pair of faux suede trainers, which are v. comfy.

I don't know where you can buy leather alternative shoes in the U.S. and elsewhere, but in the U.K. places like Cult, Schuh and the website http://www.asos.com have a few pairs of leather alternative shoes, as well as the trainer brand 'Converse' which have a variety of canvas shoes.

peace and love amy-jane xx

I got my new balance at a new balance store. Go to their website to find one. They were more expensive that way, but I got an actual sales clerk who spent 20 minutes having me try on all kinds of shoes and making sure they fit properly. Many of my aches and pains went away with those shoes. Make sure to buy them at the end of the day when your feet tend to be bigger.

Your feet and your joints are worth a proper investment.

Sometimes I feel like the Birk Evangelist, but...

Birkenstocks, dude. It's a wise investment. They'll freaking mail you new soles for your shoes, if they wear out. I have a pair that I've been wearing almost daily for two years now, and they're doing fine. No blisters, totally comfortable, durable. I even wore them on my three week trip around Greece - I climbed mountains, hiked around & up the acropolis, did everything on foot, in fact. And I never felt uncomfortable, nor did my feet really get tired.

zappos does rule! http://www.zappos.com/n/br/bq/866.html

they always take back returns ...free and no hassle.
They even have vegan earth shoes and vegan birks with are supposed to be great for your feet.

I have 100's of pairs of vegan shoes, so I have no problems finding them.
In fact, I think they find me.

I would like to add that I accidentally bought a pair of all-leather shoes... misread the label, it said "man-made" or something but they assumed you knew they were leather and had it really small at the bottom... anyway, I couldn't return them since they were on sale, so I wore them, and I seriously got the worst blisters EVER, on ALL my toes AND the bottoms of my feet. And they were very expensive shoes.

The most comfy shoes I have are a pair of platform foam flipflops. I, too, have horrible problems with blisters. Almost every shoe, even most sneakers, give me huge blisters on the bottoms AND tops of my feet. I don't have a car and walk several miles a day. But I've found some cheap shoes at Payless (not all but SOME) that do not give me blisters and are quite comfy. If you shop around, I'm sure you can find something. My feet used to have gigantic HOLES in them from how bad my blisters rubbed, but I experimented and found stuff. Another brand I discovered at Ross that was nonleather was the brand "Softwalk" I think. Their soles are like the stuff on my bed, eggcrate foam. It's awesome. Anyway, my point is, if I can find shoes that don't give me blisters without getting leather, so can you! Oh god cats are outside pulling down bushes...

I have never had problems with synthetic made shoes imo. I have a few pairs now and TONs of New Balance... mostly mens running sport type sneakers. Ive paid between $19-$34 for all of the new balance, check kohls for their sales, usually tons of womens versions too. I dont care about the price but if i did id just take a little bit longer to look for them but i could still find a descent amount for $30 or less. Good luck though, ive noticed that the leather dont last as long, even to spend a little more on new balance they hold up much longer.

Is it possible to just wear thicker socks or double pairs? just a suggestion, if i wear boots or something that i have and are a little large ill double up on socks and my feet fit snugly then and wont move aroun.