Memory foam shoes: a journey

[cimorene]

A number of years ago I borrowed a pair of memory foam -soled shoes belonging to my sister and they were so comfortable that I immediately bought a pair. I wore them at work when I was at the Red Cross thrift store and they were SO much more comfortable than the sneakers I'd worn there previously that it was unreal. However, wearing them for more than a couple of hours at a time would invariably result in my socks being absolutely soaked with sweat, which was disgusting.

So I googled this issue and a year ago ended up replacing them with some "Air-Cooled Memory Foam" Skechers sneakers, which solved the problem neatly. (Skechers has multiple styles with memory foam soles, but they're not all the air-cooled kind.) They're incredibly lightweight and so comfortable that when I tried to swap in my pair of Asics gel trail shoes one day last winter (because they have a firmer structure and more insole support - they're really for walking outside, as it says on the tin, on trails) I suffered hours of unaccustomed foot pain that night! I raved about the Air-Cooled Memory Foam sneakers so much that my pal Lilah bought a pair too, and then she, too, became addicted to them, never wanting to wear any other shoes for walking.

Now I need some new 3-season sneakers, and I'm struggling because I don't really want to buy any that don't have memory foam too. It's not as easy to find memory foam in canvas sneakers - like Vans, for example - as in athletic shoes though. Vans has their own patented memory foam variant called "comfycush", but 1. very few styles have it, and none of the ones I want really and 2. I haven't tried it before (what if it's a lot worse??).

It's not the same as buying shoes for work; when I'm making this sort of shoe purchase I usually don't want to buy anything I don't absolutely love, like my late and much-lamented worn-to-pieces cat Vans, and before that, skull-butterfly Vans. (Wax used to have some Marvel comics Vans, also worn to pieces, and now has some tiger Vans from last summer, so hers are definitely awesome enough).



Vans doesn't have any designs I'm in love with right now though, and none of the ones I like a normal-ish amount come in comfycush. Roxy and Blowfish have styles with memory foam insoles too I think, and possibly some other brands - and now I'm having to do actual research, ugh. I hope I don't end up having to buy some plain solid-colored ones again.

Comments

[phosfate]

You may be able to find the old Vans styles you loved on ebay, but I don't know if the secondary market cost is competitive versus trying to find a new style you like.

[cimorene]

That's a good idea, but I'm a bit afraid to discover how much they would cost! I wouldn't be willing to pay a premium for them and then I'd just be sad. But on the plus (?) side, they wouldn't be as comfortable anyway. Boy, my younger self would never have believed how important that would become to me. I think as a child my feet just simply didn't really hurt when I wore uncomfortable shoes... it barely registered. Now I'm trying to put memory foam in everything.

[phosfate]

Shoe technology has improved immensely in my lifetime. The first time I put on a pair of Reeboks it was like stepping into butter. Sadly, they don't make their shoes that way now. I love Vans but they're hard for me to size correctly because I'm right on the line between largest boy and smallest man.

[cimorene]

Yeah, I wear the 8.5 W size (EU 39) in their slip-ons but 9 W (EU 40) in Vans with laces. Their smallest men's size is EU 40.5. But really the toes are a little narrow for my foot shape, although they are still fairly comfortable in terms of the footbed and so on.

[cimorene]

Actually the hightops I wear in winter are EU 40 with a half-length memory foam liner in them, which makes them nearly as comfortable as the Skechers (thicker foam, more arch support) for most stuff, but the difference becomes too noticeable after like 4 hours of standing and walking.

[phosfate]

D'oh! It never even occurred to me that slip-ons and lace-ups could require different sizes. That explains a few things.

[cimorene]

Well, maybe not for everyone! But I have a pair of 40 slip-ons and my feet just slide around in them really irritatingly, while Wax's 39 slip-ons are more comfortable (by being tighter so they don't slide around, but this means slip-ons have less room to wiggle your toes of course). Whereas I had a pair of 39 and 40 Authentics at the same time (because the cat ones came out when my last pair weren't worn out, but they only had 39 at the store, and I wanted them so badly I bought them anyway), and the 40s are definitely the right size there although the 39s were still wearable enough that I wore them to pieces.