I placed a huge ASOS order last week, including a lot of shoes. This is one that didn't work, mostly because the front band is too big and my foot slides forward. Toes on the ground!

But the profile is typical of how all shoes fit on me. My foot only touches at the heel and ball. Even on flat shoes, or a level floor, my outstep barely touches the ground. Is this called a high arch? Or a long arch? The curve of the sole clearly doesn't match my foot at all. There is a lot of weight on my foot in these photos- it's not for effect.

The best-fitting shoes I have in this respect are a couple of 1939s/40s vintage pumps with a highly contoured footbed. What also works are nearly flat shoes with cushioning/squishable soles. (True rope sole espadrilles, Cole Hana ZeroGrand sneakers.)

This isn't a problem as such, although it's a big reason why I've never worn 4" heels. The separation between sole and foot just gets bigger, even showing above the side of a closed pump. It's also why I vastly prefer flexible soles. Wedges (except for the very low espadrilles) are not good.

I'm mostly curious to know how to describe this. It seems to bar me from a lot of shoes, but there are plenty that are really quite comfortable regardless. The gray suede booties, for instance. The heels are over 3", but the sole shape seems to support my heel more instead of being a ski slope like these sandals.

My mother has high arches; her outstep does not touch the ground when she's standing. Her ankles also want to roll out, and she wears down the outer edges of her heels. The wear pattern on my heels is slightly to the outside, but not significantly. So I never thought I had very high arches.

Thoughts?

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