Your Interview: Chris Morriss-Roberts. Podolinguist and senior lecturer at Brighton University

Dr Morriss-Roberts: There is no evidence to suggest that wearing clogs will cause you long-term damage.

The only time to think about changing any particular footwear is when they start to become painful or start causing pain and discomfort to other parts of your body.

I have experienced wearing clogs in the surgical suit for long periods of time and know for me, personally, I start to get backache and start to feel a bit uncomfortable.

The thing to remember is, we are all different, so what might be great for you, might not be great for another person.

So if you have found some shoes that do the job for you, amazing! Count yourself lucky!

Ashles, theargus.co.uk: According to new research at the University of Brighton, those who wear all-white trainers are usually ‘uber’ masculine and can be aggressive. Brightly coloured trainers are often from high cost brands, plain-coloured ones are often budget brands (which people will choose for cost primarily, not colour). How are you controlling for this? And by what method are you objectively measuring 'masculinity' or 'aggression'?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: In my study, I felt that you couldn’t measure the experience of aggression in a precise, exact, neat way.

Experience in this study was directly related to the person who is that is experiencing that form of aggression.

I have therefore reported those experiences as described by the sportsmen in the presented study – this was through their own detailed experiences.

We can only judge an experience of aggression if it is reported by the participants interviewed in a way they understood that experience.

In my study and in my book ‘Jockocracy’, violence was a key component discussed through wearing brightly-coloured shoes.

These examples of violence included, kicking, sliding across the pitch, punching, and some sportsmen experienced broken bones through sporting violence.

Anonymous, email: What is it about people who have a fascination for boots, high heels, or certain toe styles, like open or pointed? Are they projecting, or compensating for something?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: Many women in particular like to wear high heeled shoes and boots because it makes them feel more attractive and more empowered.

It is well known that wearing this type of footwear pushes your bosom out, pushes your bottom out and extends your leg muscles – this in turn makes your whole body feel tauter and more women report feeling attractive.

Some shorter women are compensating for height.

I have spoken to hundreds of women who report that wearing high-heeled shoes makes them feel more confident and happier with their self-image.

Women are known to wear high heels – even though they can be painful and cause deformity – to project this more attractive image of themselves.

Phillip Scott, email: How much can we tell about someone based on their shoes?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: I think we can tell quite a lot about someone by his or her shoes.

Podolinguistics is about reading and interpreting feelings, attitudes, and potentially personality by the choice of footwear.

Research that I have undertaken over the past nine years suggests that most people when asked about shoes, have an opinion on colour, style, height, brand, material and cost, for example.

The important thing to remember here, is that generally in the western world, we all wear shoes everyday and the shoes that we wear are our choice in one way or another.

We choose to put those shoes on our feet, after all the choices we have made to buy those shoes.

With that in mind, these choices come with use and are then represented through the podolinguistic language of the wearer to other people around us.

Look down at your feet now, why did you pick those today?

We might read into people shoes that they are practical, lazy, into a certain brand, a perfectionist, a show-off, egotistical, sweet, charming, maybe really masculine.

The list of shoe types and their associated personalities is vast but one, for instance, might be the girl who takes off her trainers to pop on a pair of great heels before she enters the office – you could describe this girl as practical, efficient, understands that she can’t function in those shoes all day, but once she enters the building she want to be taller, feel smarter, and feel like she has power over the situations.

Phillip Scott, email: Are women more attracted to men with a bigger shoe size?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: This is mainly anecdotal evidence, but if you were to ask most women about men’s foot sizes, I would argue that they would generally state that they would prefer a man with large feet over small.

I would suggest that because there is an expectation for women to have small cute feet – if a man were to have small cute feet women might think he is not masculine enough.

Therefore, I would probably suggest that women would be attracted to men with large or larger feet.

There is also the common myth that foot size is directly proportional to a particular part of the male anatomy.

I think even though this might not be true, extra large feet and the banter amongst women about men and their potential sizes, is a definite attraction to women.

Paul Taylor, email: I love wearing flip flops and would wear them all year round if only the weather would comply. What does that say about me?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: I would suggest that wanting to wear flip flops all year round would suggest that you are easy, breezy and like nature at your toe-tips.

You probably love the sunshine and enjoy the sand between your toes.

Due to the easy nature of putting on flip flops, I would suggest that you like to get up and go in a flash. It might be interesting to add, in some unpublished research of mine, flip flops or sandals appeared to be one of the most flirty shoes to men.

One guy reported that he loved the sound of the flip flops when a woman wore them (a bit like wearing high heels) while another said that he loved the look of women’s feet in sandals, particularly when the nails were painted.

So you could also add that, subconsciously, you are extremely flirtatious.

Anonymous, email: Do single women wear different types of shoes to taken women? If so, what shoes are the most flirty?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: I think age and convenience usually impacts on the type of shoes that women wear, I don’t think it is to do with being single or married.

It should be said that younger women usually have a greater tolerance for accepting the pain that goes with wear high heeled shoes.

As women get older and have children it becomes less convenient to deal with foot pain and chasing around after children, so women usually take to wearing footwear that is comfortable and easy to do lots of jobs in.

However, there are always exceptions to a rule and there are women, Victoria Beckham for instance, who are known for trotting around in their heels no matter what!

It must be said that I have friends who are exactly the same.

So which shoes are the most flirty? In some research which I undertook a few years ago, I found that men were drawn to high-heeled open-toed shoes, which showed a bit of toe cleavage (the bit between your big toe and your second one).

Some men did say, the higher the better.

Chris Barnard, email: Is any shoe worth more than £150?

Dr Morriss-Roberts: I think some shoes are worth £150.

If you pay for good materials, that are hand-manufactured, and are built to last, your feet will reap the benefits.

I purchased a pair of Frye of New York shoes, which were the most expensive shoes I have ever purchased. I am more of a trainer wearer, and these shoes are like a glove to my feet.

If you can ever treat yourself, I would highly recommend it, I am a convert.

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