# Do Chuck Taylors make you flat footed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122 "2007-01-30T16:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/21 "2007-01-31T15:27:05Z")
I already have weird feet. Sort of flat, & they pronate or supinate (I forget which) excessively. So I was raised in hideous oxfords with arch supports & wedges in the heels. Except for the summer, when I wore no shoes. No pavement walking, as the road outside the house was paved in oyster shells. Ouch! My basic everyday shoes are sandals from SAS, with all the support I need. Informally, I wear thongs–with tiny built in arch supports. (From Target.) Shoes that are too flat definitely cause pains running up the back of my legs to the small of my back. They always have. But Dr Scholl’s arch supports work quite nicely when I want to wear boots–or my Chuck Taylors. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/22 "2007-01-31T15:54:41Z")
I never thought I would wear Converse. As a kid they weren’t allowed - they were what the poor kids wore, according to my mom. Add to that, I was a lucky Buster Brown kid due to foot problems. Now, as the mom to a 13 year old Hot Topic wearing gothywannabe who loves all things Converse, I’m kinda coming around. She has a few pairs of Converse knockoffs that I wear - much to her dismay. For the most part I hate shoes. I’m barefoot as much as possible. I cannot stand the tennis shoes with the supports, cushioning, blahblah - but then again I am not a runner. I can walk forever in Converse (and their knockoffs) and haven’t had sore feet yet. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/23 "2007-01-31T16:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=groman] Well, allow me to disagree but a woman wearing Converse outside of a 1980’s soviet track-and-field meet looks simply silly. To me Converse looks like the kind of shoe you would be forced to wear, not choose to wear. Of course, tastes vary greatly, and I understand why somebody might like Converse, what I don’t understand is why there is such a huge number of people who like Converse. Am I simply biased because they make me think of keds in the soviet union and for some reason that stupid white rubber nose-tip is forever linked in my mind with political oppression? [/QUOTE] This is so funny to me…I wear them all the time, and I think they look great with jeans…better than any other kind of sneakers! And regarding the OP…I have high arches, and have never had a problem due to wearing Chucks, or any other kinds of shoes. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/24 "2007-01-31T16:47:46Z")
I read this thread with interest, for the different names for the shoes in question. In the UK, _Connies_ are a fashion statement, the shoe of choice for certain groups of teenagers. My daughter included (and David Tennant as Dr Who wears them with a pinstripe suit). After our recent trip to NZ and conversations with her cousins, she now refers to them as her _Chucks_. :rolleyes: And she still will not do the laces up. Si ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/25 "2007-01-31T18:09:08Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] OH! And there are some converse that ARE being designed by well respected designers now. Those will go for WAY more. I just find it cashing in on the current swell of interest in the old design. [/QUOTE] I love Converse. I don’t like the Chuck Taylors for the reasons given in this thread, but their old [Weapon line](http://www.pickyourshoes.com/images/shoes/weapon_low_wht_blk_yel_6.jpg) One Star, and the like (low top basketball shoes) are great. I’m not picky about fashion, but I love my shoes. The only two brands I buy now are Converse and Adidas, because their graphical elements look so clean and well-composed to my eye. I mean, how much more elegant can you get than a chevron and a star or three stripes? Beautfiul design, good comfort, nice selection of colors. I love Cons. ---
**Author:** ![CommunistDaughter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CommunistDaughter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CommunistDaughter)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/26 "2010-07-11T19:57:36Z")
I put inserts in mine. Love them so much, I took an old pair that had a ripped out eyelet and cut them into flats. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/27 "2010-07-11T20:16:31Z")
> [@CommunistDaughter](#): > > I put inserts in mine. Love them so much, I took an old pair that had a ripped out eyelet and cut them into flats. The hippness . . .it burns! it burns! I love how Chucks cycle every ten years or so. It’s like every generation “discovers” them. Jellies do the same thing among the 6-10 crowd. THOSE are some silly shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/28 "2010-07-12T03:09:26Z")
I stopped buying Converse when Nike bought the company, as Nike are pure evil and one of my most hated corporations. Anyone claiming Socialist principles should be aware of the pure evil that is Nike. Also anyone with taste. Nowadays, I’ll just buy cheap knockoffs, since if I’m going to buy sweatshop runners, I want to pay sweatshop prices, not boutique prices. Anyhoo, I play sport (cricket) in my Converse knockoffs, in the warmer months of the year I walk many km in them, averaging several of km a day. I have never had any foot problems. I’ve been doing this since I was a child, and I turned 45 last month. So, really, I don’t find the “wait till you’re older and your feet crumble because you didn’t wear hideously ugly and expensive footwear” argument very convincing. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/29 "2010-07-12T03:28:03Z")
Interesting. I have flat feet. I was born with them. My dad had flat feet, too. My daughter (19) also has flat feet. I can walk all day without problem. No problems with arches to worry about for me. Unfortunately, when I was a kid, I never learned how to skate because all skates then had these huge arches in them, and I think it’s far worse to try to mold a flat foot around a shoe that has a huge arch than vice versa. It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I found out that they actually now made flat-foot skates. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/30 "2010-07-12T11:40:00Z")
I wore Chucks in the 70’s because that was pretty much all we had to play basketball in. I never want to wear them again. Those that want to wear them are welcome to. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122/31 "2010-07-12T11:55:20Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > You know what’s fun here? You didn’t even know that I’m a Socialist and half-Russian! _‘golf swing’ sound effect of the Great Gonzo making a sudden entrance_ 😃 Привет, милочка, как у _тебя_ дела?! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-chuck-taylors-make-you-flat-footed/390122.md?page=1)