Some go to Italy for their footwear. My wife and I get our shoes from Skelmersdale.
No couple could be Hotter. No gaits could be more envied.
Progeny tends to be ageist. They are full of tough love. And reality checks.
“Dad, you’re not Jamie Redknapp. You’re too old for Sketchers.!”
Our two sons have just bought themselves some new sneakers. One, a pair of Sketchers and the other, some Nike.
I fancied a pair myself but my sons were having none of it. Apparently, “I’m too old too for Nike. I’m too old to Swoosh or Zoom. I am too young to pilot a pair of Air Force 1’s.
And not rich enough for Ermerigildo Zegna Triple-Stitch Second Skins.
“You’re not young anymore, Dad, ” the eldest said in a way that conjured up images of heel spurs, overpronation, metatarsalgia and extra-wide toeboxes. And being confined to slippers.
“ Slip-ins are not for you, Dad. Slip-ons are, “said the other, conjuring up an image of my dignity gradually leaking out of cheap shiny shoes with tassals.
We have reached the age when, for our birthdays and for Christmas, our children treat us to cracked heel balm, cooling foot sprays, toe separators and replacenebr bunon
So what is age-appropriate footwear? For the over- forties, fifties or beyond? But still young at heart.
When do you have to give up wearing colorful ties or socks? Before or after you give up wearing sneakers? When do you give up embracing your individuality? When do you grow out of being urban?
Never!
Whatever the younger generation says.
At my age, every shopping expedition is an exercise in positive ageing. Whether it’s for healthy, feel good food or medicated, feel-good footwear. You get to a certain age when chic doesn’t come into buying shoes.
But orthotic does.
Happiness is a solid heel and cooling foam memory. After you are forty, you go for anatomical and psychological support to a cobbler not a doctor.
The knee replacements, the hip replacements and the footbed replacements. They are all part of life. And middle, late-middle age. Rather like drivers who wave at fellow Volkswagen owners when they pass them on the street, I wave at people with limps. I empathize with life’s hobblers.
As you get older, your deportment changes. You can’t sashay anymore. You develop ankle mobility issues. You don’t wear peep toes any longer because time and rheumatoid arthritis has turned your toes into twisted ginseng roots.
You reach that time of life. That certain age.
When lino becomes uneven terrain.
When you are ashamed of your feet and your children are ashamed of what you wear on them. Bovver boots and basketball boots don’t suit someone with grey hair. We soon reach an age when you get your children to promise you that they won’t bury you in massage sandals or bunion separators. And you pray that you don’t die with your plastic gardening crocs on.
Once, I would have laughed at doctor-designed, orthopaedist-recommended shoes. But I have suddenly become very interested in biomechanical orthotic technology.
I have become far more interested than I have ever been in discreet flexibility and touch-close fastenings. And having hands-free feet. I have started living a no-lace lifestyle.
My wife was the first discover Hotter.
Double-elasticated inserts have transformed her life. Now she doesn’t walk like Frankenstein and the carpet doesn’t feel like a pebble beach.
Last year , the brand created two special edition styles in partnership with the UK’s leading gardening charity, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS- slip-on pumps featuring botanical patterns from the RHS Lindsey Collections. She is never out of them. She also loves her Mabels and navy nubeck Catskill 11 sandals. She is a different woman since she discovered innovative rebound technology. And Flex+ Defy.
Lancashire has just dropped its latest shoes. Hotter has just released is SS25 stuff which includes black leather, Sedwivk11s, Desert Tan Waxed Nubecks, Gortex Thir GTXs, sporty Defender trainers with shock absorbing EVA soles. For men.
And , for women, new dainty, floral-lined Sweeties, cement-leather Daphnes, Ortholite-foam insole Quakes 11s, Selena loafers, mink Havanas, two-touch fastening strap Waves, Daisies, Rosies, slip-on Skylas, sandals and vegan-friendly flats.
Comfortable shoes we can walk and stand around in have progressively been our Achilles’ heel.
You can Botox more than Putin, you can go under the lazar, fill up your face with fillers, peel, slap on the hydrating cremes, stimulate collagen and pay large sums for zero detection work on your bust and teeth but what’s the point in having perfect skin and a lovely smile if you walk in a pitiful , creaky, haggard way and display no noticeable deportment.
You can do something about the crow’s feet. But not your feet.
Hotter transcends age boundaries.
There are societally-imposed age limits for footwear but , at my age, elevated neutrals are preferable to sheer vibrancy. I want shoes that don’t suggest I have lost the grip.
The world is our stage. Everyone’s stage. No matter your age.
National Shoe Day ( March 15), Foot Health Awareness Week ( 17-23 April) and I Love My Feet Day (August 17 ) are for all.
The older you get, the Hotter you get.