I- GARMENT MATERIALS
For a pair of good quality, favor noble & natural materials such as leather or cotton. These let your foot breathe without suffocating it. Conversely, "plastic" which will make the foot sweat faster and therefore promote the appearance of bacteria and foot skin disease.
Obviously we recommend leather or cotton insoles.
II- FLEXIBILITY
BEWARE of received ideas, a shoe whose sole folds in half does not mean that it is a good fit!! Like we said, we are all different! So no more taking a shoe and folding it in half!The ideal is to have a fairly flexible sole at the front of the foot to allow a good roll-off in the toes & a rather rigid sole at the level of the heels to cushion the steps and avoid sagging.
Similarly, we advise you, for closed shoes, to choose those that will have a buttress at the heel. That is to say a reinforcement that will allow your foot to be better maintained.
PLEASE NOTE that open sandals-type shoes will give you a feeling of less support since there is less material.
III- HOW TO CHOOSE THEM?
At the right size but also at the right width.
Obviously you have to choose a pair to your size, to know if it's yours you have to be able to slide your index finger at the heel. If this is not possible or if on the contrary there is too much space then the shoe is too small or too big.
In addition, to find out if the footwear is wide enough, remove the insole (if it is removable) and put your foot on it. If your foot overflows a lot then this shoe is too small for your foot. Otherwise everything is fine !
For open shoes, choose them "Edge to edge", that is to say that your foot is at the same level as the sole of the shoe, that it does not protrude and that it is not too far back .
LITTLE HELP: If your feet tend to swell at the end of the day, we advise you to try them rather at midday so that they are "in between" and therefore suitable afterwards.
In conclusion , favor quality over quantity, pay attention to the characteristics of your feet and not just the aesthetics of the shoe. Then follow our advice and you should be fine!