Distortion of the Toes and Joint—Various Causes—Want of Harmony
between Shape of Foot and Shape of Shoe—Grown-in Nails—Influence
of Stockings, Narrow-Toed Soles, High Heels, and Changing of
Shoes—Faults of Lasts.
The doctrine concerning the shape and position of the toes is
considered to be made sufficiently clear by what has been already
advanced. As the best illustration of it, we copy from Dr. Meyer’s
book a cut of the natural, healthy foot of a child (Fig. 8), in which
the line of the great toe, continued backward, passes under the
middle of the heel. By the side of this is placed a shoe-sole of the
common form (Fig. 9), and which plainly does not harmonize with the
shape of the foot. From the ball forward instead of being straight
on the inside line, it slants off obliquely toward the middle of the
toe, making as great an inclination or curve on that side as on the
outside. As the toes of the foot cannot force the upper of a boot
over the sole to any great extent, the form of the sole determines
the shape in which the toes shall lie when they are inside the boot.
The line _c d_, in the diagram, shows where the great toe ought to
be; but, far from being there, it is turned aside into the line _c
e_, a position entirely unnatural. We will here quote again from the
book, taking the liberty to italicize:
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
“It is quite clear that the foot must get into the shoe; and if the
shoe differs in shape from the foot, it is no less plain that the
foot, being the more pliable, must necessarily adapt itself to the
shape of the shoe. If, then, fashion prescribes an _arbitrary_ form
of shoe, she goes far beyond her province, and in reality arrogates
to herself the right of determining the shape of the foot.
“But the foot is a part of the body, and must not be changed
by fashion; for our body is a gift, and its several parts are
beautifully adapted to the purposes for which they were intended.
“If, therefore, we in any way change its normal form, _not only do we
not improve, but we actually disfigure it_.
“We do not, indeed at first sight, perceive the arrogant absurdity
of which fashion is guilty in going so far as to determine the shape
of our feet, because we are not alive to the fact that the case is
_peculiar_ to the feet. We only see it influencing the shape of
the shoe, and come to the conclusion that it may regulate this, as
well as the cut of the coat. To this prevalent opinion we yield,
regardless of the influence on the shape of the shoe, and thereby
on the foot. As well, indeed, might fashion one day come to the
conclusion that _fingers_ are inelegant, and decree that henceforth
the hand be squeezed into a conical leather bag; as well, indeed,
might she in one of her freaks, forbid the display of our arms, and
bind them firmly to our bodies, like those of children in swaddling
clothes.
“The shoe ought to _protect_ the foot, but it has no right to
_distort its shape_.”
Seeing, therefore, that the common form of boots and shoes, as now
made, is not the true one, and that it arbitrarily forces the great
toe into a false position, it follows that all the bad effects
resulting from this false position are to be attributed directly to
the incorrect form of the last and shoe. The first of these is a
crowding together of all the toes, in which some are obliged to find
their places _under_, and some _above_, the more ambitious of them
sometimes pushing their nails through the upper leather, the rubbing
and chafing they meet making them sore, while the more humble are
glad to curl themselves down in any way that will give them a place
of comfort. When the crowding is not so great as to force them out of
place there is still a constant pressure against each other that is
liable to create corns between them.
Another effect is the _growing in_, or to _one side_, of the nails.
The boot-upper presses the flesh against the nail of the great toe
on one side, while there is a similar pressure from the smaller toes
on the opposite side, and between both, the nail is almost compelled
to grow into the flesh, if it grows at all. If the great toe gets
the advantage, then the one next to it is likely to suffer in the
same way, and all of them are liable to the same trouble. When the
nail grows so far that its edge turns downward, the pressure against
the sole, in walking or standing, is a more aggravated discomfort.
Dr. Meyer says that “by degrees it [the toe] gets into a state of
chronic inflammation, and may eventually become ulcerated, producing
what is popularly known as ‘proud flesh.’ The ailment not only
interferes with the use of the foot, but too often requires, for
its relief, medical, and even operative interference.” A surgical
operation of this kind, which consists in removing the nail entirely,
we are assured, by those who have seen it, is an intensely painful
thing to witness, and cannot be less so to be borne. The following
description of the nature of the trouble, and of the mode of
treatment, is copied from Dr. R. T. Trall, for the benefit of those
who may wish to treat it for themselves.
“_Onyxis._—This distressing affliction consists in an incurvation of
the toe-nail from a bruise or the pressure of a tight shoe, producing
inflammation and ulceration, and followed eventually by fungous
growths, or proud flesh, which is exceedingly tender and painful. The
cure is slow but certain. The foot must be frequently soaked in warm
water, until the soreness is so far abated that it can be handled
without pain; then, with a probe, press pledgets of lint as firmly as
can be borne under the most detached point of the nail, pressing them
also between the nail and projecting portions of the flesh, as far as
possible. Cover these with the wet compress, and apply a moderately
tight bandage over the whole, frequently wetting the whole with warm,
tepid, or cold water, as either temperature is most agreeable. The
lints are to be pressed farther and farther under the nail, from time
to time, and the foot should be soaked and dressed once or twice
daily. When portions of the nail become free they may be cut off, and
mild caustics may be employed to remove fungous or indurated growths,
which do not yield to the other measures of treatment.”
A _slim_-toed shoe—one that is _thin_, and scant in the
upper—whatever be its width or shape, has a bad influence upon the
nails, not only by inciting them to grow in, but by turning them
down at the ends, and keeping them constantly irritated and sore,
a condition which effectually prevents the toes from being of any
use. The seller of such an article will sometimes try to persuade
the wearer that it is a “good fit” when snug at the forward part,
however loose elsewhere; and many persons are quite willing to be
persuaded in this way. But if they are wise they will not attempt to
wear anything that is not perfectly easy to the toes, for these may
be allowed all necessary room, and still, if the fit is “just right,”
there will be no wrinkling, nor any other bad appearance.
The next and most important of the difficulties springing from this
source is the enlargement of the great-toe joint. We continue to
quote from Meyer:
“Not less important are the evils arising at the root of the great
toe from the same cause. It has already been stated that the pressure
of the upper leather pushes the point of the great toe against the
smaller toes. The joint at the metatarsal bone thus becomes _bent
aside_, so that it forms a protuberance on the inner side of the
foot. If the point of the toe is now pressed against the ground in
walking, this protuberance must be made still greater, and so pressed
more forcibly against the upper leather. At the same time, moreover,
the great transverse wrinkle in the upper leather—the result of the
bending of the toes—presses directly on the same point, and the
protuberance at the root of the toe is thus constantly subjected
to a twofold and very injurious pressure. In these circumstances
it is by no means wonderful that this joint becomes subject to a
continual inflammation, which by extending to the bones must, in this
situation, produce permanent and painful swellings, which become, in
their turn, and even from slight causes, the source of inflammations
and new growths of bone.
“In this manner arise those unseemly and painful swellings at the
root of the great toe, which, either from mistaking their true
nature, or from wilful deception, are called ‘chilblains,’ or ‘gout,’
just as one or the other term appears the most interesting. In
many cases, moreover, this kind of inflammation of the bones, and
their investing membrane, may lead to the formation of matter, _and
eventually to the disease known as ‘caries,’ or ulceration of the
bone_.”
_Narrow-toed_ shoes furnish another influence strongly operating
to produce large joints. The great toe is drawn farther than
usual toward the others, and its joint thrown out in the opposite
direction. All the toes are more crowded, until some of them are
forced out of place while corns and grown-in nails are developed or
made worse. Width at the ball alone will not prevent these effects.
French and English styles are in this respect often pernicious. The
whole tendency of narrow toes is toward deformity; and those who
cannot because they happen to be the style, refuse to wear them,
should make up their minds to accept the consequences with a good
grace.
Another great cause of the prominence and swelling of the joint—which
our author alludes to, but gives it hardly any of its real
importance—is the backward pressure of the toe by shoes that are
too _short_. This, in addition to causing sore nails, crowds the
toes still more closely together, and pushes the joint still farther
inward, away from its proper place. To illustrate.
[Illustration:
FIG. 10. FIG. 11.
_a_, PHALANGES, OR BONES OF THE TOE; _b_, METATARSAL BONE; _c_,
JOINT.]
Supposing these to represent the bones of the great toe and its
metatarsal bone—which, in their normal position, are on the same
line—we can see that if the toe bones _a_ are bent toward the other
toes first, and then pushed backward, it necessarily forces out the
joint in the only direction in which it _can_ bend, which is inward.
The greater and more constant the pressure against the end of the
toe by the short boot or shoe, the larger the joint, and the more
it will project from the inside of the foot; the more liable also
to soreness, swelling, corns, bunions, inflammation, and settled
disease, and the more awkward, ill-shaped, and uncomfortable, not
only to walk with but to look upon.
_High heels_ also do their share toward bringing on this deformity.
They cause the foot to pitch downward on the toes, sometimes pushing
it a size farther forward into the boot than it would go if the heel
was only moderately high, thus creating the necessity for a _longer_
boot. _The crowding of the toes is increased; and as they meet with
resistance or a backward pressure from both sides and the end of the
shoe_, at the same time that there is a _forward pressure from the
heel_ by the weight of the body, _of course the angle formed at the
joint must be pushed out more acute, the foot_ making room for itself
by stretching and treading over the upper at the sides.
There is a peculiarity about the _Plumer_ last recommending it in
this particular. The heel, on the bottom, is quite convex, which
allows the heel of the foot to settle down into that of the boot more
than usual, and thus what appears to be a high heel, outside, feels,
on the foot, to be no higher than one made upon ordinary lasts an
eighth of an inch lower. There is hence so much less pressure upon
the ends of the toes.
A false habit, tending in the same direction, is that of _changing_
the shoes of children to make them wear evenly or prevent their
treading over to one side at the heel. It is a practice productive
of far more harm than good—a saving of shoe-leather at the foot’s
expense. _After one foot has shaped a shoe to itself, to put the
other into it forcing the great toe into the curve made by the
little toe and outside of the foot, must do much toward bending
the toe permanently out of place._ It should never be allowed or
proposed. Give children _right and left_ shoes, and guard against
their wearing on one side by good firm counters. It is their right,
when obtainable, and anything less is injustice.
While the foot is growing, it easily adapts itself to its
surroundings; and by wearing short boots and shoes it may be
encouraged to grow into a bad shape in a few years. Most old people
have joints deformed in this way. We have also seen them on the
feet of young and beautiful women, where they seemed most sadly out
of place. Young feet are often forced to grow into uncomely shape
through the good intentions of parents, whose falsely-taught instinct
of beauty induces them to put as small a shoe on the child’s foot as
it will bear, fearing that if left to itself it will grow too long,
or too wide, to be elegant in form. The motive of this action is most
commendable, but its wisdom extremely doubtful and weak. Beauty,
taste, elegance, are to be sought for everywhere and always. We have
not the least sympathy with any attempt to depreciate them. But they
are not to be sought by counteracting nature. On the contrary, nature
is most trustworthy. If not interfered with, she will make the foot
grow in due proportion to the size of the whole body; and every part
will be developed in the right proportion to itself.
“Children of a larger growth” continue to carry out the same false
idea by wearing as short and narrow a boot as they can squeeze their
foot into with any degree of comfort. While the object is to obtain a
handsome foot, _all such cramping inevitably defeats its purpose. The
effect which it invariably has and must have, is to make the joints
project, and add from one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch to the
foot’s width_, leaving out of account the torture accompanying the
process. Nobody will claim that large joints and extra width at this
point make a good-looking foot, but they are the sure results, in
greater or less degree according to the severity of the pinching, and
the length of the time it is continued.
It is well to ascertain if _stockings_ do not have some effect in
giving a bad shape to this part of the foot, although made of such
yielding materials that they may at first thought, appear harmless.
Mr. James Dowie, in a work published in England some years since,
speaking of the toes being cramped, crowded, bent, and piled over
each other, attributes part of this result to the stocking, and
recommends the wearing of one having _toes_ on it—similar to the
fingers on a glove. There is no reason to doubt that this conclusion
is correct, for while a stocking that is loose may be drawn into
almost any shape to suit the toes, one which is _tight, short, and
narrow-toed, must, and does, draw the toes together and keep them
so_, however favourable may be the form of the boot outside. It is a
fact, too, that stockings are narrow and pointed at the toe; almost
universally. The suggestion of putting _toes_ to them is a good
one. But if this is thought to be taking too much pains with such an
article—though it is evidently impossible to take too much pains in
dressing any part of the body so as to protect it from being injured
in any manner—it is perfectly easy to make the stocking _wider_ at
this part, leaving it _nearly square, or with only a slight roundness
at the end_. This would be a very decided improvement, and cannot be
urged too strongly.[2]
Like the defects of the shoe, those of the stocking must be felt more
seriously by children. They are ignorant of the matter, and would be
careless and inattentive even if they were not. But if parents will
half do their duty by them, there is no reason why they should not
grow up with well-formed feet, thankful for the care which has saved
them from distortion and blessed them with pedal comeliness.
There is here, also, a question of the comparative taste and elegance
of wide and narrow soles, which needs a little discussion. It is
the practice with many persons to wear as narrow a boot or shoe as
they can, thinking we suppose, that if they have not a narrow foot,
they _ought to have_, and that by putting it into a narrow boot they
prevent it from spreading. As such a boot is and will be _narrow at
the toe, the effect is just the opposite of that intended_ as in the
case of _short_ ones. _The toes are drawn together, and the ball
pushed out wider than before._ Then besides this tendency to _make_
it wider, the foot _looks_ wider in a shoe that is too narrow for
it, because it treads the upper over, _and the narrow toe makes it
appear all the wider by contrast_. A _foot_ that is narrow may wear
a narrow-soled shoe with propriety; for a _wide_ one to attempt to
do so is foolish. We have seen a lady’s boot trodden over so far
that a hole had been worn through the upper on each side of the sole
by its contact with the ground. The wearer doubtless thought it was
necessary for her to wear a narrow sole to prevent her foot from
spreading, and keep it in an elegant shape. She did not know that she
was taking the most direct way to defeat her object, and that her
true policy would have been to wear the widest-soled shoe she could
get. This case was extreme, but it is quite common to see the upper
worn through on _one_ side from the same cause. The right kind of
shoe for a wide foot is one so wide on the sole that the upper will
project over it on the sides but slightly, and _with as great a width
of the toe, in proportion to the ball, as there would be in a narrow
one. Such a shoe will make the foot appear narrower, by contrast,
than it really is_, and the greater the width of the toe, the more
this effect is produced. Besides, the shoe or boot _keeps its proper
shape_ much better and longer when not too narrow or too short. If
the _foot_ be _short_ proportionately, as well as wide, the covering
should be of good _length_—at least a full size to spare at the toe,
after being worn a few days and fitted, or broken in. These doctrines
may not be readily accepted, but let any one who doubts give them
a trial, and we are willing to be judged by the opinion formed
afterward.
There are those who appear to urge the idea that broad soles are
eminently proper always, and for everybody, which doctrine we do
not endorse; but we mean to say that persons who have wide feet
naturally, or who have made them wide at the joints in the ways here
pointed out, ought to wear wide soles. It is also quite certain that
if people wore soles of the correct shape from childhood there would
be a far less number than now of those feet, that require this extra
width of sole, for nine-tenths of them _are forced into a width which
they would not have by nature_, and, when once deformed, no pains
taken in fitting them can make them look _well_, or like those which
keep their proper shape.
A _narrow_ foot must not be confounded with a _slim_ one. Feet that
are slim—that measure less than an average in circumference—are
often found _wider_ than most of those of the same length which are
of medium size or fulness. These are feet that _spread_, and may
generally be found on individuals of spare or muscular temperament.
Such persons ought to wear boots made on wide lasts, with wide toes,
though at the same time sufficiently slim to fit. As such lasts
cannot easily be found ready-made, those having feet of this shape
ought to possess a pair made expressly for themselves.
There is an opposite style of feet, those which are long and narrow,
while they may be also _full_, or thick, vertically. These are
usually found on persons who are tall, yet round, and fleshy in
physique. They can wear boots made on lasts that are comparatively
narrow, such as may be found at any shoe-shop. It is not intended
to argue in favour of any _unnecessary_ width in either case, but
simply to urge the necessity, not only for comfort, _but especially
for elegance also_, of having sufficient width to accommodate the
foot easily, and preserve the natural shape of both the foot and its
covering.
Bad fashions of _lasts_ have had much to do in producing a deformed
condition of the feet, as well as the false ideas and tastes of the
people. Shoemakers, and more especially last-makers, who should have
studied the nature of the foot, and given the people, who looked
to them for a correctly-shaped last and shoe, something truly and
naturally adapted to its purpose, have failed in this part of their
duty. The latter have made lasts of all varieties of shape except the
true one, while the maker of the shoe has made a bad matter worse
with his high and short heels.
Formerly the great majority of ladies’ shoes and gaiters were
made upon lasts that were _straight_, and the same is true even
yet. Almost the whole of the cheaper kinds of work got up in the
manufactories is of this style. Slippers are hardly ever seen
made upon other than straight lasts. The whole custom is a wrong
one, for this reason; the middle of the toe of shoes made upon
straight lasts is nearer to the outside than it is in those made on
rights-and-lefts. Hence they draw the great toe farther toward the
outside of the foot than do those of the latter kind, _and have a
greater effect in producing all the evils that go with deformed toes
and joints_. No woman ought to be asked to wear them, nor should she
allow herself to do so if those of another form can be obtained.
Girls whose feet are growing cannot have them forced into straight
shoes, especially if tight, without perpetrating a kind of tyranny
very similar in character to that of the Chinese. Right-and-left
boots and shoes are the natural right of all men, women, and
children. Men and boys have, in this respect, the advantage over
their sisters, as their foot apparel is almost wholly of the better
shape. There is no reason why women and girls should not have the
benefit of the improvement in form, though it is only a slight one,
and they are counselled to take it whenever they can. In fact,
there is no excuse for straight shoes, except that they can be made
a little more cheaply—that is, there is a little less expense for
the lasts used. They do not wear more evenly than the others—on the
contrary, they are quite as liable, if not more so, to tread over
at the heel. They never fit the foot so well in the hollow, at the
instep, or on the side. There is no _necessity_ for their existence,
for there is no form of foot-covering but might be made on crooked
lasts with equal facility. Ladies’ slippers are believed to be
the only article that is _always_ made straight, and for these,
right-and-left lasts, properly adapted to the purpose, might be used
without the least difficulty. Considering these facts, and that there
is but a slight advantage to the manufacturer, and to him only, in
their production, and that the children and poorer class of women,
who wear them—the most helpless classes in the community—are almost
compelled to deform their feet in doing so, it becomes a disgrace to
the shoemaking profession that straight shoes are not abolished.
Many right-and-left lasts are made _so nearly straight_ that the
difference in form, and the benefit arising from it, amount to but
very little. This must be remedied by the people learning what is to
be desired, and making a demand for it. It is sometimes argued that
the straighter the last is, the less liable is the foot to tread the
boot over to one side; but this we hold to be a fallacy, and that
the liability to tread over, is determined by the shape of that part
of the last between the heel and instep. The form of the _toe or
forward part_ has nothing to do with the matter. It is generally,
however, an advantage to the foot, though not to the boot, if it
succeeds in treading the latter over to the _outside_. It thus gives
the boot a more distinctly right-and-left shape, and can hence more
easily preserve its own. When it goes over _inside_, there is a good
prospect of a big joint being soon produced.
The last-makers have given us toes of many styles, from the turn-up
toes an inch longer than necessary, to the stub-toes half an inch
shorter than the foot; and from the round toe narrowed to a point, to
the square one nearly or quite as wide as the ball. All that needs to
be said of them is, that the wider they are, except the extreme just
noted, the better for the foot, at least while the present lasts
are in use, and generally the handsomer also; that the long toe is
unnecessary, and therefore unhandsome; while the short or stub toe
is decidedly awkward and clumsy-looking, besides being injurious to
the foot, and utterly unworthy of toleration by any person of sense
or taste. The true and most tasteful shape will be found near the
half-way point between the two extremes in each direction. Whether
round or square is of no material consequence.
* * * * *
Here, then, we have found several causes for the deformities of the
forward part of the foot—the crooked great toe, the cramped and
distorted smaller ones, the corns between, the grown-in nails, the
big joint, and the increased width. The cause first operating to
produce them is the wrong shape of the shoe at the inside, which
gives the oblique position to the great toe. Narrowness and shortness
are stronger influences acting in the same direction, aided still
further by extreme height of heels, by changing, by narrow-toed
stockings, etc. And it is especially worthy of being noticed that the
short and narrow toes, and the high heels often adopted to improve
the foot’s appearance, do thus inevitably defeat that purpose.
The attention of those who regard their own foot-comfort is earnestly
directed to the points and reasoning presented in this chapter. Just
as earnestly it is desired that those whose principal aim in dressing
the foot is its beauty, elegance, and perfection of form, should give
a thorough consideration to what has been said. Both classes will
easily see that, in order to gain the object sought, there must be a
reform in the shape and style of the foot’s covering. The nature of
that improvement is already partially shown—that is, as far as the
toes are concerned—and will be shown fully in what is to follow.
The cuts below, showing some of the worst deformities of the forward
part of the foot, and adding the force of illustration to what has
been said, are an appropriate conclusion to this chapter. It will do
no harm to contrast them with Fig. 8 and Fig. 3, previously given.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.]
FOOTNOTES:
[2] We have lately seen stockings for sale that were nearly
square-toed, and these should obtain the preference in buying.