Today’s Footwear Cramps Her Style

Re the article on ugly shoes (“Stepping Into Something, Um, Ugly,” Dec. 18). I think that the rise in sales of ugly (read comfortable) shoes probably coincided with the advent of the pointed-toe pump. At that time all the round- and bulbous-toed shoes disappeared, with the exception of ugly shoes and athletic shoes.

I have news for the manufacturers of the pump: The human foot does not come to a point, nor do toes somehow dwindle down to thin tips. The human toe is larger at its end than at the joint, and the effort to cram a normal foot into the torture chambers foisted on us creates problems that we will live with for the rest of our lives.

DORIS LARSON

Arroyo Grande