The Vine: December 18, 2009
Hi Sars!
I recently returned from a trip to Europe, and I have a photo of a gorgeous alley in Amsterdam. I couch-surfed while in the Netherlands, and my host told me a famous writer/philosopher had once roomed in an apartment along this particular alley, but I can’t remember a) the name of the alley or b) the name of the famous individual.
So my question is the following: do you or any of the readers know of a website or service that could help me out with this (i.e. where could I send in or post the photo and then have readers or website moderators or something identify the place)?
Thanks for your time!
Really wish I had scratched the names down on a napkin or something, sigh
Dear Names,
I don’t know of a specific resource — besides, of course, the international/well-traveled readership, so let’s see if they can help you.
Hi Sars,
I have recently been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis (I think I spelled that right), which basically means my feet hurt all the time. I’m going to PT to get some help, but my physical therapist has told me, repeatedly, that I need shoes with better arch support. Or arch support at all.
I basically live in ballet flats. I was hoping you or the Vine readers would be able to point me in the direction of some ballet flats that have good arch support and are actually cute, not bulky, and that maybe, hopefully!, aren’t super-expensive. I’m not having much luck finding both cute AND inexpensive.
Oh, and I have seen that Fit Flops are supposed to be great, but I live in NYC and refuse to wear flip-flops due to not wanting gross feet all the time.
Katie
Dear Katie,
The thing is that a ballet flat is derived from a ballet shoe proper, and if memory serves, Capezios and their ilk have no arch support whatsoever.It’s kind of like expecting a size 7 not to pinch if your foot is really a size 8 — you can keep wearing the size 7s if you really want to, but they’re going to pinch.
The readers may have suggestions for ballet flats, or a similarly cute style of shoe like maryjanes, that do give you some better arch support, but because it’s pretty much the opposite of what ballet flats do, the best option for you is to investigate other styles, and start weaning yourself off ballet flats, at least a little bit.
If I can find this, it will seriously make my mother the happiest woman on earth. She is a woman of simple pleasures, and one of them is…her pop-up hair brush.
It has a simple plastic handle/base. The bristles are (this is key) wide-set, and stiff (somewhat similar to this brush, but with all the bristles sticking straight up). It’s key because, like myself, my mother has curly, volume-y hair and narrow-set bristles generally separate too many of the curls and give a total fluff-head look. I digress a little bit, but mostly to point out that something like this wouldn’t be right.
The other difference I’ve found between this brush and all the “pop-up” brushes I’ve found online is that this brush doesn’t fold. The bristles are inside the base. You press a little knob to pop the bristles out to brush. When you’re done, you turn the knob to retract them, so you just have a neat little plastic flat thing in your bag, ready for hair-brushing. My mom just loves it.
The problem is that the bristles are starting to break off. This is a cause of distress and concern for her, as she realizes eventually it will be bristle-less. She got it years ago, someplace, can’t remember where, can’t find it again. She went so far as to try to track down the original manufacturer via the patent number on the brush, but that just led to the name of a company in South Korea and no way to contact them.
I could give more info about color, handle shape, etc. but the truth is this company and the original brush are more than likely gone. Anything that fits the general category of pop-up hairbrush with wide stiff bristles would probably do the trick, if I could just find it (extensive Googling has failed thus far). Seriously, if my mother opened another one of these on Christmas morning she would be so happy. Anyone have an idea?
This would definitely beat a tea-of-the-month club membership
Dear Tea,
See if you find anything here.Failing that, maybe a site like Flight 001 (which specializes in clever travel stuff) or J-List (nobody beats the Japanese at fitting necessities into teeny packages).
Or maybe the readers have a specific suggestion.Readers?
Tags: Ask The Readers health and beauty popcult retail
Lands End has some pretty cute ballet flats right now that have extra squishy insides and I find to be comfy. (Also: not expensive.)
For Names: askmetafilter.com is really good at this sort of thing, but you have to be a member, and it’s $5 to join. No guarantees of course, but they have members from all over the world, so odds are someone familiar with Amsterdam would see the picture and recognize it.
Katie: Look into orthotics. Your podiatrist can make you custom orthotics that provide exactly the support your feet need (these may be covered by insurance), or you can buy less expensive (though not what I’d call cheap) orthotics from a specialty shoe store like FootSmart or Foot Solutions.
I have dead flat feet (they make rude noises when I walk on tile) and I’ve used both OTC and custom orthotics; my mom had plantar fasciitis and has her own custom orthotics. Both of us have much happier feet, and both of us get hip pain now when we go without our orthotics (such as when wearing sandals in the summer), so I do believe they’re realigning us in a positive way.
Of course, then you have to find shoes that will accommodate your orthotics. There are plenty out there with removable “sock liners” or whatever. Don’t be afraid to buy a size up if you have to.
@Katie – is there an insert that would work with ballet flats?
Katie, I agree about the orthotics.
Names, I assume you have no way to contact your couch-surfing host to astk them? Try flickr – join an ‘Amsterdam’ group and post a message asking in there.
@Katie: Try buying ballet flats 1/2 size larger and wearing them with arch-support insoles. Buy a pair of Dr. Scholl’s inserts at the drug store and take them with you to try on shoes, to make sure everything fits. I have the same problem (PF, plus massively high arches), so I actually wear custom-made arch supports. One warning: the inserts will raise your heel up and make your shoes fit differently. Personally, I find that shoes that tie work much better for me than slip-ons, because my heels sit higher in the shoe and I end up with blisters. For me, though, wearing shoes that tie and using lots of band-aids & moleskin is worth not having the constant ache of sore arches. Good luck!
Katie –
I agree with Hirayuki – orthotics are what you need. I had plantar fasciitis and the only thing that worked were the custom orthotics I got from my podiatrist/brother, although I did use the Spenco non-custom ones for a while, and they were about $30. The thing is, ballet flats just don’t provide the support and structure that your feet need, or the space for orthotics. You may have to choose between pain and fashion. I chose no pain and gaze wistfully at beautiful, tiny shoes. But I can walk again.
Look for Geox flats. They are supportive and comfortable. Not cheap, but not prohibitive either. Cole Haan makes great, comfortable flats as well, but they are a bit more expensive.
Names…if you’d recognize the place, this will help: http://tinyurl.com/Amsterdam-Virtual-Tour Each page shows its location & cross street (or canal) It’s a great way to get lost!
For Names, I would suggest adding the photo to a few Amsterdam-related Flickr groups and asking for ID help in the description; Flickr users are quite handy with that sort of thing. A picture uploaded to Twitter via Twitpic with a similar question could yield something as well; Twitter has a particularly helpful hive mind as well.
What Hirayuki said. You can slip them in and out of cute shoes to your heart’s content, especially if you remove the manufacturer’s liner.
Second on the inserts or orthotics. Dr. Scholls makes a relatively inexpensive arch support that you can slip under the current foot bed in your shoes. That is helpful too.
Katie,
I second the orthotics suggestion. They’re pricey, but if you have insurance they’re usually covered, and they last for years.
A word of caution about putting them into ballet flats though – orthotics can be a little bulky and might not fit in perfectly. You might want to mention to the podiatrist that this is your shoe style of choice and he may be able to give you a sleeker model.
My other suggestion is to invest in a good pair of running shoes and wear those when you can. Running shoes will definitely fit an orthotic; just pop out the insole and replace it with the orthotic.
@Tea – I totally had one of those brushes once upon a time, they were RAD. This is not really the same thing at all, but would the bristles on this be wide-set enough? Apparently Sephora makes one too. Maybe there’s a travel specialty store? Weirdly, most of the google hits I’m getting refer to patent applications, or to a round Conair brush with retractable bristles that’s *clearly* not going to help you.
I just bought a pair of these Dr. Scholl’s flats precisely because they are cute AND have arch support. It’s seriously amazing, not least b/c I wouldn’t normally associate Dr. Scholl’s with “cute,” heh.
http://www.drschollsshoes.com/Shopping/Results.aspx?Ntk=SearchInterface&Ntx=mode+matchallany&Nty=1&N=0&Ntt=Habit&originalsearchterm=null
Katie: I’ve had plantar fasciitis TWICE 10 years ago. Fortunately I haven’t had it since. How you ask?
First, knowledge, exercises and other tips (icing and taping) from the website http://www.heelspurs.com.
Second, I used shoe inserts available at athletic shoe stores, Superfeet and Spenco. My favorite was an infomercial/internet product, BarefootScience, because they have progressively firmer inserts which strengthen the plantar fascia. All three have simple dotcom websites, [name].com.
I also used a device designed by a kinesiologist to strengthen my feet. There’s one exercise that uses only the baby toe! website: http://www.foottrainer.com.
@Names- You can always try the Amsterdam Archives. The have a good website and should be able to help you out.
@ Katie – if orthotics are too expensive, you could try Naturalizer. My arches fell when I wore non-arch-supporting shoes on a vacation where I walked a lot every day, and was in total pain. I found a pair of very cute mary-jane style sneakers at Naturalizer, and they fixed me right up. (Not exactly these, but close.) They might work for you too.
Tea–I’m grasping at straws, but I remember a brush like that marketed in the late ’80s/early ’90s that was touted as easy to clean (since the bristles retracted)…but I can’t remember the brand name. I want to say Epibrush? By the people who made Epilady? Googling that didn’t yield the results I was thinking of, but maybe I will jog some people’s memories?
@Katie – I have fallen arches so I try to stick with sneakers, as I find that orthotics and other insoles don’t really fit comfortably into small shoes like ballet flats. However, I was able to find a product called Foot Petals that has small arch supports that will stick to the bottom of the shoe. That way you can get some support without the aforementioned fit issues.
Tea –
I have one in my purse but it does not have a handle. I believe I picked it up at CVS pharmacy!! The bristles fold in and there is a mirror on the other side. I just looked at the brand is Conair! Hope you find one.
@ Names, now that I think about it. Have you tried doing a Google image search, using the city and key words? We did a trip to Morocco in Sept, and saw about twenty bazillion “bab” (gates). I couldn’t keep track of them all, so just did a Google image search, “bab, Rabat”, until I found the one I had photographed. Maybe an “all else fails” solution.
Names — I live in Amsterdam and I’d be happy to take a look at the photo. Also, if you have a rough idea where it is in the city (e.g. east or west of Centraal Station, near Dam Square, etc.), that would help. Drop me an e-mail: aj6377249 at gmail dot com.
I was going to suggest the same Sephora pop-up hairbrush that someone mentioned in an earlier comment. I have one and I love it.
@Katie
Hushpuppies makes some cute flats that have removable insoles, so if you do get orthotics (which you should) you can replace them.
Katie, I’ll second orthotics, but I’ve also had really good luck with Earth Shoes for my myriad of joint/musculo-skelatal, and alignment issues. They’re not the cheapest, but they have good sales at a couple of sites (i.e. http://tinyurl.com/yh7ccyx ) and lots of cute ballet/maryjane styles as well as sneakers. The reverse heel incline takes some getting used to, but it really does help posture and helps stretch you out a lot better. And they have tons of vegan shoe options if that’s your thing.
Have you tried Privo? They’re made by Clarks and are awesome. I’m wearing the “Paddie” in burgundy nubuck/patent right now and they are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. Well worth the $85, which for me was an astounding amount to spend on a pair of shoes. http://privo.zappos.com
Katie–I too was going to suggest Dr. Scholl’s SHOES. They are actually making really cute ballet flats these days, and while they don’t have as much arch support as my Dansko clogs, they do actually have some. I have a bright sky blue pair that I adore. Search on Shoebuy.com or zappos by brand. I got mine at Ross for $6, but that kind of deal is always a shot in the dark :)
Tea: http://tinyurl.com/yzqs86r On ebay they have a few of the folding brushes by Conair that look like they might fit the bill. I did a Google shopping search with “Conair brush travel folding” as the key words and a few popped up, all under $3.
PS Speaking of Danskos, they’re not making ballet flats but they do have some super cute Mary Jane styles these days that might work for your style. And talk about support–this is what nurses and teachers and other professionals who have to be on their feet 24/7 wear. They’re expensive, but if you take care of them, they last for-EVER. They’re also all kinds of Podiatrist-Certified so I bet they’d really be good for you. http://dankso.com/
DANKSO!!! Totally cured me of the plantar. And my back and knees are MUCH better than they were (I didn’t even know they were sad until I got the Danksos).
They are not cheap. They are not pretty. They make you fall down on cobblestone. But you will never have a better shoe for your biomechanics.
Katie, I agree with Sars. Ballet flats probably aren’t going to work for you, even with an orthotic. But I highly suggest you try Superfeet in other shoe styles! I sell footwear and often recommend Superfeet to customers that suffer from PF. But if you decide to try them, make sure that you talk to a salesperson that has been trained on fitting Superfeet. They’re not your typical grab-n-go type thing like Dr. Scholl’s, and you can end up in worse pain if you buy a pair that doesn’t fit the shape of your foot/arch.
Katie – Superfeet makes an insert that is specially designed for dress shoes so that it’s smaller and has a lower profile than most orthotics. They also make one for heels (!) if you need foot support for those dressy occasions. Your physical therapist would be able to tell you if Superfeet offer the kind of support you need.
Another PF sufferer here–yep, orthotic inserts are the way to go! I still limp when I get up in the morning but inserts make the day bearable. I can’t wear ballet flats for that reason, though. But there’s lots of companies that make insert freindly ones, according to this Vine, so knock yourself out!
Also, PF does NOT “just go away”, if you tell yourself that in a moment of weakness. You NEED the orthotics and exercises, trust me.
Names, a totally random guess–Spinoza?
Katie, Invest in the arch supports. I have the same problems and it’s easier to pop the supports in and out of shoes than trying to find comfortable shoes. And if you’re not afraid of meds, make anti-inflammatories your friend. In my case, losing weight also helped. A lot.
Names, you may already have the resources you need, but failing that, a quick trip to the library to check out a few travel guides might be just the thing. Lonely Planet guides are my favorite, but most would mention sites of interest even if they haven’t been turned into tourist traps.
I had a nasty bit of PF last year, and I gotta say, I got it cleared up in just a couple of days by doing really simple calf stretches. If you do a google search of that term, you’ll see them. When I first read about them I was skeptical that a stretch or two would help, but the effect was immediate and profound. Since they’re simple and quick, I could do them while idly waiting at the coffee counter, while brushing my teeth, etc.
Which is not to say that arch support isn’t a good idea — it totally is. But a few daily targeted exercises will also do a world of good.
Katie–
When I had PF, I lived in wedges (it was summer, though) during the day and running shoes at home. Something about the incline and support of a wedge really helped.
@Katie!!!
Ok, I had the exact same problem! I loved these ballet slipper wanna be type things in college. and a few years later, I would step down from sitting on a bench, and I thought the top of my feet had broken, the pain was so bad (built up over the years…) Here are all the treatments I did:
– New Shoes: from Zappos.com I got New Balance, very expensive, but they work. I can wear for 3-4 years w/o them breaking down on me.
– Foot surgeon: He gave me
— steroid shots: Would make my foot numb, didn’t cure the pain for much longer than the numbness lasted. (I had one shot per foot every 2 months for almost 9 months)
— orthotic inserts for my shoes. They cost, but I think they helped… need to replace every 2 years, but due to further treatments, I never needed to replace them.
– Physical Therapy – We did 3 visits a week for 9 months (not the same timeline as the foot surgeon), it made the pain somewhat tolearable.
— I was issued plastic boot velcro S&M devices that I hated, and that didn’t really work for me. It was supposed to stretch the muscles/etc, only pissed ’em off, more
– Went to a regular physician who also does acupuncture. I was ready to try anything, even a shaman shaking a stick over my feet saying “shooka shooka shooka” if someone told me it would work…
— Acupuncture. It worked. I went once a week for 4-5 treatments, and now my pain scale (of 1-10, worst being when I thought my foot was breaking when I would step on it a 10, my pain is a 2, some days, and a 1 most any other time…)
Good Luck!!! Try Acupuncure!!!!
Katie –
http://www.footsmart.com is a great resource for shoes. They sell a bunch of the brands people have listed above and other useful items.
I have orthtics made by my physical therapist. They are about 6 years old. I wore them for about a year or two and went to the gym a lot and then just stopped wearing them because the pain went away. When I stopped going to the gym very gradually the pain came back and I checked with a PT that I could still use the same orthotics and the answer was yes, so it was a good investment. I did wear them with a pair of ballet flats. Less comfortable, no pain, and cute all rolled into one. Your PT should also give you some stretches to do. These work wonders.
I still don’t wear the orthtics all the time, just when I start to feel the pain come back. What I do now though is I never go barefoot at home anymore. I wear shoes with really great arch support around the house, especially if I haven’t worn the orthotics (or gone to the gym) during the day. The shoes with the really great arch support? Birkenstocks. Ugly as all hell but they don’t leave the house.
Katie – I too had PF and my Dr. made a little arch support thing for me and told me to get a special kind of insoles for my shoes. I wore the arch support and insoles and almost exclusively tennis shoes for about 6 months and then was able to go back to just about any shoe but kept the insoles for my work out shoes and it has not come back. So you may need to sacrifice for a short amount of time but it is worth it – be good to your feet!!!
Tea – I also got the conair round pop up travel size brush at bed bath and beyond – impulse buy near the register. I too have curly hair and really like it. You may want to check with places like CVS and BBB for their travel size options.
Sorry, this is just goofy, though true – I’ve been reading Carolyn Hax’s Holiday Hootenanny of Horrors and it’s just the mood.
I had plantar fasciitis in 1993. The only thing I really did shoe-wise was to switch to shoes that redistributed my weight off my heels – namely, pumps with 3″ heels. It was ridiculous – no arch support, and my toes and the pads of my feet hurt, but I was working snooty retail and couldn’t wear casual shoes, and the toe pain was less than the heel pain would have been in flats. After a month or so of that, no more PF. Soon after, no more heels – and PF has never come back, despite 16 years of cheap flats from Target and high arches and weight gain.
I would never recommend that as a legitimate treatment, of course, and my gratefulness to the Tribe of High-Heeled Footwear was erased when I grotesquely dislocated and broke my ankle (and fibula!) trying on my best friend’s 9″ platform stiletto Lucite stripper shoes. As who hasn’t?
(Of course, I could just as easily have broken my ankle in the identical pair she bought for me for my birthday months before, but hers were chartreuse and mine are pink, so…yeah, stupidest major injury ever. Also, no, neither of us is a stripper.)
@Names: as a great shot-in-the-dark-but-hey-it’s-free approach, try putting it up on Flickr, tag the photo with the address of the alley, and put your question in the description of the photo.
More times than I can count I’ve put up photos of, say, a cute costume I saw at ComicCon, and a random viewer will post a comment with the person’s name, or some link to their website on how they made the costume…huge community over there, you might get some hits.
Names – was the writer/philosopher Spinoza?
I hate to sound like a broken record, but the best cure for the plantar fasciaitis is orthotics. Expensive, yes, unless your insurance covers them. But you can put them in a wide variety of other shoes, so you’re not stuck with just one pair of orthopedic shoes.
I second the Naturalizer recommendation. Although I wasn’t able to really wear true flats until I had really cured my PT, which takes several weeks/months and diligence. If you spend any time walking around barefoot or in unsupported shoes, your PT will continue to stick around. Seriously — I wore inserts in my slippers around the house for 6 months and never (never!) walked around in bare or stocking feet and stuck with supported shoes or shoes with inserts and now have been PT free for 8 years. But you have to treat your feet well and you have to be consistent in order to really make this go away.
The only other advice I would give is to not wear cheap shoes right now — buy a couple of pairs of good shoes and stick with them, at least until you give your fascia a chance to heal.
@Katie: See if you have one of these store in your area:
http://www.goodfeet.com/company-home.html
Thanks for all the suggestions so far! The one Sars linked to was closest to the correct bristle spacing (god I sound like such a nut) but of course was sadly not retractable. The Conair and Sephora ones might be OK, but are still not the widely spaced/stiff bristle I was looking to replicate. So I’m certainly still taking more suggestions!!
@ Katie – orthotics still require your feet to be lifted up so you don’t put stress on your shoes. I do not have to have them, but my husband has them and has to wear them with shoes. Flat shoes are out, so every shoe he buys has to have arch support and be slightly bigger than his natural shoe size to accomodate the orthotics (and he’s a guy, so it’s not like he can just get away with wearing high heels LOL).
I have high arches, and I found that for those of us who do, we need to steer clear of ballet flats and lace up oxfords, for very obvious reasons. Most of the shoes I own are mary janes in modest 1 to 1 1/2 inch heels, with the odd pair of hiking and gym shoes with built in arch support (they’re more expensive that way, but otherwise I’d probably no longer be exercising and/or hiking, so it was worth to spend the extra money).
Bottom line is, vertiginous heels are a no-no for everyday purposes, but adding a modest bit of heel to your overall shoe selections will do wonders insofar as giving those feet a break.
“so that you don’t put stress on your feet”. Do’h.
Tea:
Not retractable, but travel-size and possible the right kind of bristles? http://tinyurl.com/yeu9l9u
Also, if you google image those round folding ones like those mentioned above, some of them seem to have much more widely spaced bristles than others…(mainly ones on UK web sites, actually.)