A footbed having at least one of a thickness adjustment panel and a lateral adjustment fin, each configured to be moved between a first configuration and a second configuration, the first and second configurations providing different fits of a shoe into which the footbed is inserted.

The present invention provides an improved orthotic device adapted to be inserted into a high-heeled or raised-heel shoe and to receive a human foot thereon. The orthotic device may be operable to adhere to the sole of the shoe and may comprise a proximal contoured slope operable to prevent migration and increase acceptance of body weight at the heel of the wearer's foot and may comprise a distal contoured slope operable to support the arch of the wearer's foot, preventing the foot from sliding forward and focusing excessive painful pressure at the user's toes. The orthotic device may also have dual layers of adhesive material separated by a peel-away backing, and an inferior surface concavity with a channel allowing solvent to be used to dissolve the adhesive if the orthotic device needs to be repositioned or changed to a new shoe.

A one-piece, triangular shoe insert for use in pointed-toe shoes where the toe box extends beyond the tips of the toes. The insert is small enough to fit into a toe box of a pointed toe shoe and not cram the toes. The insert is large enough so that the insert remains in place within a pointed toe box due to friction. The insert is made of a dense but resilient material, so that it also remains in place within a toe box due to expansion of the material against the surface of the interior, curved underside of the toe box. The insert may remain in a shoe for the life of a shoe, or it may be removed by wedging one's index finger or a blunt object such as a flat-edge screwdriver underneath the insert and pulling it out. Upon removal from a shoe, the resilient material from which the one-piece insert is made springs back to its original shape, and the one-piece insert may be reused.

Shoes and/or shoe elements facilitate natural foot motion and/or reduce forces tending to fight natural foot motion. In at least some such structures, a wearer's heel is secured to the hindfoot region of a shoe (e.g., by a strap system) in a manner that permits heel/forefoot rotation and that allows the lower leg to remain straight. In other structures, a shoe can include a heel supporting component that is separate from a midsole component, and this heel supporting component can move toward the lateral side and/or medial side of the shoe along an interface between the heel supporting component and the midsole component. Other suitable shoe and shoe component structures also are described.

A pair of shoes that includes a left foot shoe and a right foot shoe. Each of the shoes include an upper shoe portion and a sole coupled to the upper shoe portion. The sole provides an athletic positioning of a left big toe area of the left shoe at a lower position than a left heel area of the left shoe and at a lower position than an outer small toe area of the left shoe and wherein, from an inner edge to an outer edge of the left shoe, the left heel area has substantially no slope.

An active suspension orthotic support system is disclosed. The suspension orthotic support system comprises at least one variable resistance beam extending from a heel section to a mid-arch section of the footwear, wherein rotation of the variable resistance beam from a first position to a second position causes a resistance provided by the variable resistance beam to vary between a minimum resistance to a maximum resistance.

This application discloses shoe inserts which are configured such that a user may expose one or more adhesive layers while the cushioning shoe insert is maintained at an optimal location within a shoe, thereby securing the cushioning shoe inserts precisely at the optimal location. Moreover, this application discloses shoe inserts which are designed to distribute necessary support forces, e.g. through a foot chock, thereby mitigating or eliminating uncomfortable levels of localized pressure.

Disclosed embodiments relate to a footwear system. The footwear system includes a shoe, a first insole, and a second insole. The first insole is a fitting insole having a first volume. It is positioned within the shoe during a fitting of a potential wearer of the shoe. The fitting insole is removed after the fitting is completed. The second insole has a volume substantially similar to the first volume. The second insole adapted for positioning within the shoe if the first insole demonstrates an appropriate fit. The second insole is self-customizable and further adapted to conform to the imprint of the sole of the potential wearer.

A footwear kit, comprising: left and right items of footwear; left and right forefoot inserts receivable in the left and right footwear items, respectively, so as to tighten the fit thereof to a wearer; a fitting guide directing that, should the wearer have an orthotic for either or each foot, a said forefoot insert be arranged such that it underlies the orthotic in the footwear item for that foot if the fit of that footwear item with only the orthotic therein is loose.

A footwear kit, comprising: left and right items of footwear; left and right forefoot inserts receivable in the left and right footwear items, respectively, so as to tighten the fit thereof to a wearer; a fitting guide directing that, should the wearer have an orthotic for either or each foot, a said forefoot insert be arranged such that it underlies the orthotic in the footwear item for that foot if the fit of that footwear item with only the orthotic therein is loose.