It’s not exactly this but have you considered barefoot shoes? They have a super-thin sole so they naturally take some height off you, compared to “normal” shoes. I wear them for completely different reasons (as a cis man who has found these to help with feet pain and posture after being a kid with flat feet), but I thought you’d appreciate the tip.
Groundies make them with “normal” looking soles, but it’s all an optical illusion - they have a strip around them so the sole looks “thick”, “normal” and “fashionable”. Essentially a less exaggerated version of that drawing:
Caveat: they’re more niche and therefore expensive. Also not everyone enjoys the idea of walking without cushioning and feeling the texture of the ground.
I had Converse shoes in the 90s and that was already very painful if you stepped on a little rock on the ground. I can’t imagine going even thinner than that for outdoor shoes. And at least the one in the picture look more like indoor shoes / slippers too.
My wife and I both switched to barefoot shoes (we were mostly shoes from Xero but I also like Vivobarefoot) and I can say that being able to feel the ground you walk on is kind of the point. Obviously you don’t want to feel the sharp edges of rocks or hurt your feet on broken glass or something, but the outsoles are tough enough to smooth out the really sharp edges while still allowing your foot to move and feel the features you are walking in. It takes getting used to (it’s recommended to take at least a month or so of slowly increasing the proportion of time you wear them) but I have never had shoes that are as comfortable as my barefoot shoes. Did multiple days of 10+ km on tours around Italy in the summer and my feet never hurt (only were tired, like the rest of me).
I would pay so much for these
It’s not exactly this but have you considered barefoot shoes? They have a super-thin sole so they naturally take some height off you, compared to “normal” shoes. I wear them for completely different reasons (as a cis man who has found these to help with feet pain and posture after being a kid with flat feet), but I thought you’d appreciate the tip.
Groundies make them with “normal” looking soles, but it’s all an optical illusion - they have a strip around them so the sole looks “thick”, “normal” and “fashionable”. Essentially a less exaggerated version of that drawing:
Caveat: they’re more niche and therefore expensive. Also not everyone enjoys the idea of walking without cushioning and feeling the texture of the ground.
I had Converse shoes in the 90s and that was already very painful if you stepped on a little rock on the ground. I can’t imagine going even thinner than that for outdoor shoes. And at least the one in the picture look more like indoor shoes / slippers too.
My wife and I both switched to barefoot shoes (we were mostly shoes from Xero but I also like Vivobarefoot) and I can say that being able to feel the ground you walk on is kind of the point. Obviously you don’t want to feel the sharp edges of rocks or hurt your feet on broken glass or something, but the outsoles are tough enough to smooth out the really sharp edges while still allowing your foot to move and feel the features you are walking in. It takes getting used to (it’s recommended to take at least a month or so of slowly increasing the proportion of time you wear them) but I have never had shoes that are as comfortable as my barefoot shoes. Did multiple days of 10+ km on tours around Italy in the summer and my feet never hurt (only were tired, like the rest of me).