Shoes come in different lengths and widths, but they don't come in different arch profiles. That's something I often talked about with clients while fitting shoes at Swags.
Two people can wear exactly the same shoe in exactly the same size and still experience it very differently. Their feet aren't shaped the same, and the standard sockliner inside that shoe can't be individually shaped for both of them.
Insole display at Swags Jeffersonville.
That's where an insole can make a remarkable difference. Options from brands like PowerStep and Currex give us different shapes, contours, volumes, and levels of support to work with. By pairing the right insole with the right shoe, we can make that shoe work better for the individual wearing it.
But just like shoes, there isn't one “best” insole. More support isn't necessarily better, and the right choice depends on both the person and the shoe. An insole changes how your foot sits inside the shoe, so we want to evaluate the entire combination together.
That's another reason working with a trained Fit Specialist matters. We can listen to what you're feeling, compare different options, and see how each one changes the fit and feel of the shoes on your feet.
The goal is to recognize when the right insole can make a good shoe work even better for you.
Joe Knows is an occasional column covering all things footwear fitting from Swags Chief Information Officer, Joe Clarkson.