What if You Only Need One Shoe

Your feet carry you thousands of miles in your lifetime so it is critical that you take good care of them. These problems could be innate but more often the problem with feet are caused by wear and tear or usual neglect. The footwear you sport spells a huge difference in the overall well-being of your feet. Wearing the wrong size of shoes can cause neuromas, corns, calluses, blisters, hammertoes, back and leg pain, bleeding or numbness.That is why we, at Kenneth Cole shoes endeavor to bring assist people who are handicapped and are looking for affordable mismatched shoes.

When you have two feet that are of the same foot size then it is easier to look for a good pair to suit your fashion sense and style. However, there are millions of people around the world that need a pair of shoes in different sizes and there are also many handicapped and injured people who need just one shoe. In the United States alone almost 10% of the population wears - or should wear - a different sized shoe on each foot.

Who are these people who need two different sized shoes to make a pair or who only need one shoe? People with feet that are two different sizes, those with clubfeet, polio survivors, the handicapped or injured, amputees, lymphedema sufferers, and diabetics.

So what is a person who has two different sized feet or who only has one foot do when it comes to buying shoes?

The previous solution to this difficulty was proved pricey and rather inconvenient. Most often people with feet of different sizes purchase one pair each of the same shoe in two differing sizes leaving a closet full of unused and mismatched shoe pair. People who only need to wear one shoe because of an injury or disability paid for two shoes when they only needed one. Some people spend hours visiting thrift and second hand stores looking for two identical shoes in two different sizes.

There are two non-profit organizations, the National Odd Shoe Exchange and the One Shoe Crew, that provide shoes for amputees and people with mismatched feet. These organizations can only help so many people because it is impossible for those organizations to find a matching pair of shoes in each of an individual's shoe sizes given the many brands, styles, and colors of shoes available.

The Internet has opened up a whole new world for people who have mismatched feet or who only need one shoe. General auction sites like ebay allow users to list one shoe out of a pair but given the lack of knowledge about finding odd shoe sizes or single shoes means that many of these auctions end without buyers. One website, Mixmatch footwear.com, sells pairs of shoes that are two different sizes but the selection of shoes is limited.

The newest solution for people with mismatched feet are online shoe stores that allow shoppers to sell single shoes or mismatched footwear and to further look for other single shoes for sale that may fit their sizes. Instead of buying two pairs of shoes, a user can buy a single shoe or a pair of mismatched shoes from another user of the site, and a pair of the same brand, style, and color in the size of the buyer's opposite foot from a retailer. Once the shoes arrive from the retailer, the buyer can then post the shoes not within their sizes for sale on the site. This kind of website grants a merchant and consumers an equal chance at finding the perfect pair of shoes or one shoe with a size and style they fancy.

As more people discover and begin to use these sites, there should be pairs of shoes available to accommodate virtually all combinations of mismatched feet so that users will not have to resort to buying a pair of matching shoes from a retailer. Several users with unused mismatched and single shoes ask only that those who can wear the shoes in fact pay shipping dues~A good number of users with unused mismatched and single shoes ask only that those who can wear the shoes in fact pay the charges for shipping them}~{Several users with unused mismatched and single shoes ask only that those who can wear the shoes in fact pay shipping dues}~A good number of users with unused mismatched and single shoes ask only that those who can wear the shoes in fact pay the charges for shipping them}.

Auction, commercial and non-profit sites are adding inventory all the time to make it easier to assist the handicapped and people with mismatched feet to purchase stylish, comfortable shoes. Thanks to the Internet, now buyin gone shoe or two different sized shoes in a pair will become a more pleasant experience. You can read information on Kenneth Cole and other designers at his blog: Kenneth Cole Shoes dot org.