Wedge Sneakers: All the Rage or Outrageous?

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The wedge shoe is made to fit the woman's foot perfectly. This isn't an idle statement made because I think the style is comfortable. The original fashion designer who created the wedge actually went to school to learn the anatomy of the foot in order to build a better shoe.

Salvatore Ferragamo was a great fashion designer of footwear to the celebrities of the 20s and 30s. Just before the advent of World War II he began a quest for the perfect high heel for his clients. Material was being rationed at the time so what he ended doing was using cork instead of wood, leather or rubber for the heel of his shoe. Eventually he created the cork wedge shoe, which is one of the most famous styles of wedge available today.

While the cork heel is extremely popular, there are hundreds of different styles of wedge shoes ranging from formal to even sneakers. While the more everyday shoe still uses the cork heel, most of the more formal styles use a wood or leather covered wood heel. Sneakers generally are made of rubber heels. The wedge sneaker comes in two distinct varieties; the fashionable styles and the active styles.

Fashionable wedge sneakers are used for just shopping and are a basic everyday shoe for casual clothing. They look great with jeans, shorts, tennis dresses and skorts (a type of shorts with a flap over the front making them appear to be a skirt). These styles generally range in heel height. Some are very high, up to 6 inches tall. You can see a version of those by checking out Victoria Beckham pitching the Dodgers game a few years ago. Other styles are just a few inches off the ground. The fashion wedge sneaker comes in a variety of styles, but the most popular is the canvas upper "Keds" style.

Active wedge sneakers can be found in just about every brand name of sneaker manufacturer. From Reebok to Nike, you'll find a generous selection of them, perhaps without being aware that they are a wedge. While many people associate the wedge with a higher heel, it's a common misconception. The wedge can be as low as 1/2 an inch off the ground. What makes it a wedge is that the toe is situated closer to the ground, forming a triangular style heel. This is a very common style of shoe for jogging, walking and other sports because it gives a great deal of cushioning to the heel of the foot, and prevents more damage.

When buying a fashionable style, you can go as high as you'd like. In fact, you can even find platform styles in wedge tennis shoes to really walk in comfort, add a little funk to your foot and have all the balance support of a platform and wedge, meaning the foot is supported under the toe and arch.

Conversely, you'll want to avoid anything higher than an inch for active wedge tennis shoes, because of the risk of injury to the ankle.