Silly shoes and strappy tops

My feet are my life; so I take care of them, especially where shoes are concerned. While I'm no fashionista, I do have kitten heels (for fancy dos) and sandals for appropriate occasions - although my number of trail shoes and running shoes dominates.

I call them silly shoes because they really are not made for walking. At shopping malls you'll spot women teetering, slopping feet and walking funny. It isn't because they can't walk properly - though I guarantee habitual wearing of silly shoes has ingrained bad habits - it is because the shoes they wear a) don't fit properly and b) upset their biomechanics.

This is something I've thought of countless times, but was reminded of this weekend when I watched a woman slopping along in sandals on a paved path. She was accompanied by a number of men and other women in more appropriate footwear. The difference in walking style was marked.

A few months ago I decided to try a pair of those stupid "Mary Janes" - you know those ballet-shoe type of casual shoes. I've run 100km (a few times) without one blister but within 30-minutes I had a blister on the back of my heel from these stupid shoes. They offer no support and I would be better off walking barefoot, where at least my feet muscles are free to work as they're meant to. While they look good with jeans, they're definitely not even worth wearing to walk around a mall. At least, I wouldn't go walking around in them. Many do.

Sandals, kitten heels and other shoes in this category are... silly. They're suitable for getting out of your car, walking into the restaurant and sitting down. They look pretty but they're impractical.

The next female fashion "sin" is strappy tops. Like silly shoes, they're pretty and look nice in a tea garden. What I do find shocking are the number of women who go out walking in strappy tops. Many entrants of the Nature Trail (6km walk) at my SPUR event on 2 March at Pelindaba were wearing strappy tops. I stopped a few and suggested that they put on a t-shirt so that their shoulders would be protected. It was over 30°C, the sun was beaming down and they replied, "We've put on sunblock". I also saw this recently in the Drakensberg on day trails, where fair-skinned Europeans (and locals) were wearing strappy tops.

Girls, girls, girls... sunblock is not a substitute for protective clothing. This is AFRICA and the sun shines strong. Even if you put on SPF30 sunblock you will get roasted. As for those not wearing hats... I saw a good number of pink necks and shoulders. Aged, wrinkly, turkey skin, here we come!

Suitable attire - shoes and clothing - is common sense. Silly shoes are not suitable for walking and strappy tops are not suitable outdoors under the blazing African sun. For some reason, these two things really push my irritated button (like children in the front seat of cars without seatbelts), so I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not the one getting roasted or blisters.