Shoes for orthotics.

I have done a considerable amount of research into shoes that are good for your feet, with hot tips from my podiatrist.

First of all, if the sole bends where your foot doesn't, that's an unsupportive shoe. Podiatrists like shoes that bend like an L, not like a C.

And if you wear orthotics you need shoes that hold firmly to your food, so for preference things that have laces, but at least a good strap over your foot.

A lot of people do wear orthotics even if they are just from the chemist. This is the results of my research for shoes that have removable inner soles / removable footbeds, and also look like young people's shoes not Grandma shoes, and are made to last. They're all about $200 a pair, which isn't cheap, but I'd rather have good pair I wear every day and last a few years than 5 cheap pairs that I replace regularly. And of course, I "shop the sale"!

Bared. If you shop in Melbourne, this is their current "orthotic friendly" range. Quite bright and trendy. I was considering ordering some online if I couldn't find any Sydney shops where I could try things on.

Naot. These are shoes from Israel. They have a range when you search under "removable foot beds". There's a big shoe shop outside Bondi Junction that sells a lot of these, I found them by accident and they look great but I don't think I've tried them on.

Ziera. This is from New Zealand. These are the orthotic ones. They helpfully show you weather you can wear half or whole foot orthotics. I went here because it's in the city close to work and the lady was great and they had a very good sale. I tried on a lot of pairs and they were all pretty comfortable, and they have half sizes eg 39.5.

I tried to check out Waldlaufer shoes at Peter Sheppherd (also in the CBD) but they didn't have anything my size in store and it was completely fruitless, but the lady was as helpful as she could be, and the shoes look nice enough.

Finally, if you have the luxury of buying shoes based purely on fashion, chunky soles are on the way in. It's not just the black sandals, look at these. Hilare.