Favourite Footwear At Never Grey

Let’s talk options for footwear if you wear an orthotic, brace or AFO. It’s hard to find options if you’re looking for something stylish. There’s plenty of brands I’ve seen that make me feel as old as I did with my NHS walking stick and frame. But there are options for people if they use an orthotic but still want personality. Here’s my suggestions that are 100% never grey.

Designed from insights from parents, kids and the disability community, Nike EasyOn’s allow you to step into your shoe without kneeling or bending down. These didn’t work for me as I can’t push down into the shoe, but my husband adopted these. Perfect for him as he has issues with discs in his spine so he now benefits from the snapping in shoes.

For me, the FlyEase range is perfect, they zip around the back meaning I can put my orthotic in much mor easily by slipping it in and then zipping around. Plus laceless tying means I can do things much quicker and more independently with the use of only one arm. Reebok did launch a range, but I am unable to find any more about this. I’m unaware if they offer this range in the UK or if they’ve stopped manufacturing this range. Does anyone know?

BILLY Footwear has zips that go along the side of the shoes and around the toe, allowing the upper of each shoe to open and fold over completely. They ship to the UK and have a large product range. They sell trainers, boots and even slippers, all that fully open with the zip, so slide an orthotic in. The only thing I’ve personally found is the cost to ship to the UK is more than the shoe if I go through their site, but they are listed on a number of UK sites such as sensorysmart.co.uk, https://specialkids.company/ and Amazon. 

Another brand that I’d recommend is Friendly Shoes. I’ve got quite a few of their trainers. They have similar zip, lace free openings that open the shoe out to get your foot in easier and they have wide and extra wide fittings, ideal for orthotics so I only have to buy one size up here, plus they are super lightweight. You can tell they were designed by an occupational therapist. They are VAT exempt and offer shoes for men, women and children. 

Finally, I need to mention Schuh. As I alluded to earlier, you often have to buy larger sizes to fit your orthotic and that means walking round with a clown shoe that slides about on the other foot. Schuh allows you to buy just one shoe rather than a pair at half the price, so you can get one size 5 and one size 7. Absolute game changer for many people. Not only can we need different sizes, sometimes we literally need just one shoe for one foot. Why should someone who is an amputee have to buy a pair when they only need one? Now, by buying a single shoe, it costs less and reduces unnecessary waste.

Adaptive footwear is making huge strides, yes pun was intended, and it’s great to see. I look forward to see what other brands follow suit. What’s your favourite adaptive footwear brand?