Loliable and Oujiable Shoes for Difficult Feet

After suffering from plantar fasciitis, collapsing arches, and achilles tendonitis in varying degrees for a little over a year, I was forced into buying great shoes with good arch support. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that not all shoes are created equal—especially not shoes meant for Lolita or Ouji fashion. In this time, I’ve found some workarounds and shoes that look great and have great support.

Before I get into this, let me tell you the number one thing I’ve learned: don’t buy cheap shoes. Just don’t. They’ll ruin your feet if you’re young—no, they really will—and torture you if you’re older.

Note: this isn’t medical advice. This is just meant to give you a place to start looking around if you’re having trouble! Everyones’ feet are different.

Let’s begin.

#1: Birkenstock

Laramie Low Leather Black from Birkenstock

It’s been known for a long time that Birkenstock shoes offer superior support and promote foot health, and they’ve been recommended to me by my doctor and my podiatrist. While they’re not known for being the most stylish, there has been some new styles released that can be loliable. On their official website, Iona and Mantova styles could work for a casual Lolita look if you swing it right. Birkenstock caters more to an ouji or aristocrat look: Laramie and Saunders styles would work well in these cases.

There are more styles on Zappos that have the Birkenstock footbed. Specifically, Lismore could also be another casual shoe. I can’t find anymore styles at the moment, but Zappos updates their site quite often.

#2: Rockport

Shayla Cobb Hill from Rockport

If you can stand ordering online, Rockport has some awesome styles. Their support isn’t as great as Birkenstock, but like them, that brand was recommended to me by my doctor when I talked to her about collapsing arches.

There’s one style in particular that I first spied on their website as a gender-neutral ouji/lolita multipurpose shoe. The Cobb Hill Shayla style actually had people in lolita in the reviews when I first found the style (they’ve redone their listing since then). Pretty much every other Cobb Hill variation would be alright as well, but this is my favorite.

#3 Clark’s

Tilmont Ivy Black Leather from Clark’s

Clark’s shoes are a lot like Rockport. I once had a pair, but I had to return them after wearing them the first time due to a fit issue (specific to my feet, not the shoes). They have a variety of mary jane styles in several different heel heights, like the Emslie Lulin and several more masculine styles along the same lines as Tilmont Ivy.

#4 Insoles

Lismore from Birkenstock

If you’re forced to buy cheap shoes, make sure to invest in a pair of good insoles. I have a pair of Birkenstock sport insoles and a pair of Dr. Scholl’s custom insoles (the kind that you can get from the machine in Wal-Mart). The latter was approved by my podiatrist! They won’t help as much as the actual shoes, but they are a lot better than nothing—just make sure that you get them in the correct size, or they might make your problems worse.

If you find any more reputable brands, or have any other shoe advice, please let me know!

lightningsavage

Kal from Lightningsavage Photography specializes in creative portrait photography for J-Fashion enthusiasts and more. He has served as the J-Fashion event photographer for Oni-Con 2016–2020, as well as fashion shows, meetups, and personal shoots. He is also a co-owner of Kuroshiro Kawaii. You can follow him on Instagram at @lightningsavage_photography and @kaldec_

He is currently into visual kei and EGA fashions.