Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1897-11-13
DRESSING THE Ell
VIEWS or A DOcToR AND A cAlRoP-
ODlST ON THE SUBJECT.

The True Ideal of Beauty IN the Human
Foot Health and Comfort Sacrificed to
False Ideals--The shape and Fit of the
Correct Shoe.
1T Is a lamentable fact that the great
bulk Of the foot covering industry Is in the
hands Of persons utterly ignorant not only
of the anatomy Of the foot but absolutely
Indifferent to it, z said learned doctor to
patient the other day. The leaders Of
fashion change the style and shape of the
shoe whenever it pleases their fancy, just
as If the human foot could be made to con-
form TO the changing shapes instead OF the
shapes conforming to the foot
"The foot, being one of the most flexible
portions of the human body and readily
tutored and tortured TO take almost any
shape, temporarily at least, whatever may
be the subsequent anguish, it follows that
you obey the behests of fashion unthink-
ingly, taking it for granted that a foot is
properly and rightly squeezed and crowded
so long as the pain and suffering are not
instantly made insupportable and from
this practice false taste is developed and
a false and absurd ideal of beauty estab-
lished; the natural shape and symmetry
and the due proportion of the foot to the
body are forgotten taste for o certain
deformity, an utterly unnatural foot both
in shape and size, is acquired, and soon
We have become the possessors of lnisshap-
en-, hideously deformed feet.
lone of the most surprising things that
Du Maurier told about Trilby's foot was
that the great toe was web away from the
second toe, and that the latter was the
longer of the two How many of the peo-
pie who wear pointed toed shoes can show
such a conformation of the foot as that?
But people of the present day have lost a
liking for the natural shape of the perfect
foot. They may profess admiration for
the Trilby foot, but in their hearts they
really think the shape, at least in a shoe,
is ugly and secretly prefer their own de-
formed, pointed feet, with the great toe
Tapped over the small toes and all the lat
ter trained into pointed bunch"
But, then, the agony of such feet!"
said chiropodist when consulted. "Ten
corns to a foot is no unusual number for
me to be called upon to treat The admir-
crs and wearers Of razor toed shoes ought
to take glance at the illustrations of the
resulting deformities as described by
famous surgeon chiropodist. He shows
the injuries diseases and ailments to
which the foot is liable. During the so or
more years that he practiced his profession
in this city he had among his patrons and
patients some Of tho most distinguished
men and women in the country, and dur
ing that time he treated some of the worst
cases of deformity that ever came into the
hands of a surgeon. This doctors labors
were not confined to the cure of simple
eorns and bunions. He undertook some
of the worst possible cases of distortions
and painful ailments of the feet. One of
his great and successful operations was
the restoration OF the foot, deformed by the
displacement of the great toe joint. 1t
was long considered incredible that the
natural shape Of the foot thus deformed
could be restored hut by the use of band
ages the bunion was reduced, the joint re-
placed, and the natural movement Of the
toes was restored.
1T is surprising that the majority of
people are willing to sacrifice their health
and comfort to false ideal of beautiful
feet, Eaid one shoe merchant. ut is even
stranger that those who value themselves
on what they regard as their beautiful feet
do not reflect that this beauty is attained
only by the loss of real beauty of face and
grace of movement. A foot crowded into
narrow toed shoe too small for the foot
means lines between the eyes, crows feet,
a worried expression of countenance and
the gait of an invalid or worse-a cripple.
Such people go about tormenting other
people with their plants Of oh, my feetI"
1t is impossible to restore a patients
feet to their normal condition so long as
she wears boots and shoes constructed
with no regard whatever to the anatomy
and physiology of the human foot-that is,
without regard to the natural shape of the
foot and the necessity Of leaving certain
muscles of the foot free to do their natural
work in the business of loco1notion.
According to one DOCTORS views, the cor
rect shoe is the one that fits closely over
the instep and heel, supporting the arch
of the foot and displaying the beauty of its
outline. 1t should be broad over the toes,
providing the necessary room for the mus
Giles Of the foot to freely perform their
work in the act of locomotion. The heel
must be low and the shoe Of good length.
The result is q shoe that is beautiful in
the eyes of those who understand what the
foot should be or what it is by nature.
Such shoe, according to this doctor, is
hideous only to those who set up a false
ideal of beauty
Many deformities of the feet disappear
entirely without other treatment than that
of the proper shoe. The shoe that fits the
foot is the cheapest shoe to buy. 1t wears
the longest, because, fitting the foot, it
never undergoes that transformation
known as closing shape. "-New York
Tribune.