Skip to content

If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit

Fallback Image

Here is the definitive list of the ten best quotes and excerpts from this New York Times article about the modern-day equivalent of foot-binding, in which women elect to have various types of surgery on their feet in order to fit into ludicrous shoes:

high heel shoe

Shoe by Christian Louboutin
Photo by foeoc kannilc

1. “On the surface, it looked shallow. But I came to see she needs these shoes to project confidence”

2. “‘I had never met a patient who asked for a hallux valgus correction with osteotomy and screw fixation,’ he said. ‘So I decided to create a name that captures the result of the procedure, without all the Latin. The point of the Cinderella: being able to put a shoe on that didn’t fit comfortably before.’”

3. “(aesthetic toe-shortening—once administered, he said, to a 17-year-old fashion model, so she could wear the shoes her career demanded)”

4. “corrects such conditions as High Heel Foot (a term he coined to describe a deformed foot that’s conformed to the shape of a stiletto)”

5. “He recently introduced the phrase ‘Toebesity,’ which he plans to describe on his site, where flashing text promises: ‘Designer feet for designer shoes.’”

6. “Once a patient came in asking for toe liposuction”

7. “Dr. Zong said he had a patient ask to have a pinkie toe removed to fit into her shoes.”

8. “Dr. Deland is cautious about injections designed to pad the feet.”

9. “Ms. Healey said she can now walk 20 miles in fashionable boots.”

10. “She had elective bunion surgery in 2011 two days after Christmas, ‘while everyone was away in St. Barts’”