WOMEN’S FEET IN MENS SHOES
It's 2015, and one would think a woman could walk into any uniform store and buy a pair of womens duty boots. Yet often, due to lack of options in women's lines, lack of stock, or budgetary dictations, women must make due with mens boots.
Women’s and men’s calves, ankles, and feet have differing proportions: both medial and lateral longitudinal arches are different and the great toe and ball of the foot transfer force in different ways. When a woman must wear a mens boot, there are usually some adjustments that need to be made.
ARCH SUPPORT
Behind length of the shoe (shoe size), medial arch fit is one of the most obvious fit issues, and it is not gender specific. Proper arch support prevents foot pronation and supination. Because arch support affects the balance and angle of the foot and ankle, it is important to fix that area of the boot prior to evaluating and adjusting the remaining fit.
Most factory inserts have low arches as highly arched feet are less common than low or flat feet. The only way to adjust arch support is to replace the factory insert with one more appropriate to the foot. These range in cost from $20 for good ol’ Dr. Scholls to $200 for hard plastic custom made inserts. Factory inserts are easy to remove; usually, they are not glued in. Find one that fits your arch and padding needs, trim, if necessary, and slide in place.
TOE BOX
A woman’s foot, when compared to a man’s, is wide in the forefoot and narrow in the heel. When a mens boot fits well across the forefoot, often there will be too much room in the toe space. This isn’t usually a deal breaker, but one must be careful to monitor the force transference (particularly in running shoes). At times, the extra space can lead to problems, particularly when hiking or walking down hill. Unfortunately, toe box space cannot be adjusted—choose accordingly.
VOLUME
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| Bar Lacing for High Volume Feet |
Volume = length x width x height. When fitting shoes, we commonly think of length, perhaps width, but rarely height. However, the volume of the foot, whether high or low, impacts boot fit. Luckily, volume can usually be significantly altered with various lacing techniques. High volume feet (those with a tall foot height and, usually, high arches) benefit from bar or ladder lacing, which allows maximum facing spread. Generally speaking, most women have low volume feet which benefit from diagonal cross lacing (normal lacing) and lacing outside of the tongue loop.
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| Diagonal Lacing with No Tongue Loop for Low Volume Feet |
SECURING THE LACING
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| Surgeon's Knot |
HEEL FIT
Women’s heels are usually narrower and smaller than men’s, so even when a mens boot ‘fits,’ there will often be a lot of heel movement. Movement creates friction; friction creates blisters. Significant horizontal heel movement cannot be adjusted—a different boot must be chosen.
Vertical movement can often be fixed with a heel lock. A heel lock creates tension with a pulley action. To tie, ladder lace the top notches of the boot and then cross and tuck the laces under the opposite lace and tie (consider using another surgeon’s knot in order to maintain the pressure).
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| Heel Lock (1): Ladder Lacing |
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| Heel Lock (2): Tuck Under Ladder |
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| Heel Lock (3): Surgeon's Knot |
CALF FIT
I’m not saying we women have fat legs. However, women have longer calf muscles than men, so even though we may have proportionally smaller muscle mass, the muscle and its tendons extend further down into the boot, especially if you’re short. This can create uncomfortable pressure on the back of the boot collar. Compound that with any slight bit of knee hyperextension and sizeable force can be placed on the calf.
The only way to fix this is to enlarge the boot in that area. That requires either breaking it in or stretching it. Stretching (through heat or freezing) should be a last resort technique because the changes, good or bad, are permanent and may violate warranties or guarantees. If you have problems in this area and choose not to stretch your boots, choose a boot that rides low on the boot collar or has an Achilles notch. For example, 5.11's 6" mens boot is 6" in the front, but only 5.25" in the back.
Breaking in boots is simple: wear them as much as you can, especially around the house where you can take them off if they become painful. Be careful when breaking in boots: any slight discomfort should resolve quickly. If it does not or becomes painful, stop wearing them. Tendonitis can require complete rest in order to heal, and no one wants to lose work time over a pair of boots.
Pressure across the tibia at the front of the boot collar can be adjusted with the same lacing techniques used on the forefoot: ladder lacing for extra width and give, cross lacing for those with narrow legs. Again, using a surgeon’s knot can be useful for maintaining tension.
TRENDS IN BOOTS
If it seems there are fewer options in womens boots these days, you are not far from the truth. According to a local pedorthist, many boot makers are limiting womens lines and changing their boots’ proportions to attempt a more unisex fit and even marketing ‘unisex’ boots. Or they ignore women’s lines all together and simply make the mens boots in smaller sizes.
Bates boots align with male proportions more strongly than other brands. They have larger heels and toe spaces, higher volumes, and smaller calf allowances which make fitting feminine feet more difficult (their womens line overcomes this). Danner, Timberland, and 5.11, while having separate mens and womens lines, have less drastic proportions, opting for a more unisex style. Danners may also fit those with higher lateral longitudinal arches.
CYCLICAL VARIATIONS IN FIT
So you buy your boots and they fit well, but one morning you wake up, and they don’t fit any more. What gives? Hormones. Ligaments contain estrogen receptors, and as estrogen levels rise in the mid part of the menstrual cycle they cause changes in the tissue, even to the point of increasing chance of injury. Some women have more trouble at the end of their cycle when progesterone causes water retention and relaxin causes foot structures to spread. These problems can at times be fixed with thick socks (to fill leftover volume), relacing (to decrease shoe volume), or by wearing inserts worn only during certain times of the cycle. At a minimum, be aware of the effect your cycle has on your feet and cautious to prevent injury.
FINDING HELP
Though options have changed in recent years, there are still many types, styles, and lines to choose from. If you are looking for your first set of boots or your feet have changed shape (for example, due to pregnancy), find a store that has a certified pedorthist on staff. She/he can help find the right boot for you.
