When the working-from-home lifestyle was at its peak, with the Zoom-top-and-sweatpants look the reigning outfit of the day, our feet were not immune to fashion choices made in the name of comfort. We went barefoot, we slippered, we Croc’d, we Birk’d, and yes, we Ugg’d. And this footwear was not considered frumpy. ⁠ As offices have reopened, many who have pivoted back to so-called hard shoes have found that their feet no longer fit into their pre-pandemic footwear. That’s because nonstop wearing of comfortable shoes or no footwear at all has made some people’s feet bigger, says Manhattan podiatric surgeon Suzanne Levine. “It has widened our feet, causing a loosening of the ligaments,” she says. ⁠ ⁠ With clients slipping into their work shoes again, medical pedicurist Marcela Correa of New York’s Medi Pedi has seen increases in corns among men, athlete’s foot and ingrown nails among women, and plantar warts all around. Brad Schaeffer, a foot and ankle surgeon at New York’s Sole Podiatry, has clocked more patients complaining of heel pain or plantar fasciitis. And Levine’s frequent complaint from patients nowadays is fallen arches. “Those occur from walking with nonsupportive shoes, barefoot or with slippers,” she says.⁠ ⁠ Sedentary lifestyles haven’t helped things either. Read more about it at the link in bio. (🖊️: @fifival, 📷️: Irving Penn, Vogue ©Condé Nast)