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The First Appearance of Women-Specific Running Shoes

Movin' Shoes 9 November, 2011

Karl Harter, the owner of Movin’ Shoes, has been in the running business since the 70’s and has seen and experienced many changes in the industry. One of our employees (and early customers of Movin’ Shoes), Pat, asked Karl when women-specific shoes appeared in the market. Enjoy Karl’s thoughts on the subject!

As best as I can recall, the first women’s running shoes were probably the Nike Lady Waffle Trainer in it’s signature color, yellow with a blue swoosh, and the Nike Lady Cortez, which had a leather upper and was white with a blue swoosh, both were introduced in 1978. Nike was also the first company to make a track spike in women’s sizes.

Other brands followed Nike’s lead but the real innovation came in the early 80’s. The first models of womens running shoes were built on a mens shoe last and scaled down in size (shoe lasts are very expensive to make, costs for a last can be $250,000 so it’s more economical to scale down a mens last than create a whole new womens last) and the ratios of sizing, i.e. the ratio of heel width to forefoot width, length of arch, etc, remained the same, so essentially womens shoes were mens shoes only in smaller sizes. The most common complaint was heel slippage because the ratio of heel to forefoot is different in women than in men and even though the shoe was a womens sz 8, the heel was often too wide.

In the mid 1980’s Nike developed a womens last for it’s Womens shoes. I don’t remember the first model to carry this innovation but it greatly improved fit and comfort and everyone else in the industry followed Nike’s lead. In general women have a narrower heel to forefoot ratio (they may be an A width in the heel but a B width in the forefoot) and the new womens sizing accommodated for this, it also incorporated other variations in the shape and size of the foot. In the old days most female runners ran in mens shoes; the size difference was approximately 1 1/2 sizes, so if a woman came in and said she was a size 9 in a womans shoe we sold here a mens 71/2. Today we almost never sell a woman a mens shoes because of the vast improvement in womens models and the expansion in sizing.

Nowadays Asics is at the front of pack, they’ve refined the science to include bunion windows (biomorphic fit) and because of anatomical differences they actually cushion the womens shoes differently than the mens, so the cushion in a womens Gel Nimbus is not exactly the same as in a mens model. They are also trying to accommodate for the fact that a woman’s foot changes during her menstrual cycle and this affects her stride and her strike pattern, they also believe the pronation pattern in women is different than in men and that women in general pronate later in their gait, so the emphasis on slowing the rate of pronation should be shifted toward the mid or forefoot, hence the Gel 3000 series.

Nike has always been the leader in running footwear, they’ve dumped more money into R&D than any other company, they were making minimalist shoes 25 years ago, way ahead of the curve, they’re a huge global company with over $20 billion a year in sales, they do whatever they want (remember the Shox, where did that go?), they’ve had big hits and some misses, however, when it comes to innovation, whether it’s technical in terms of materials or technical in terms of concept – like hey, let’s make a womens running shoe that might actually fit a woman’s foot – from an historical perspective, Nike is almost always the first place to look.

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Snow on the ground got you down? Today would be a Snow on the ground got you down? Today would be a great day to stop in the shop and stock up on cold weather gear. Small Business Saturday Sales have been extended through today. We’re here til 4!
Small Business Saturday Deals Extended!!!! Stop i Small Business Saturday Deals Extended!!!!

Stop in tomorrow 11am-4pm

Small Business Saturday Sale Details: 

Buy any 3 full price in stock items and get a 4th free. *Some exclusions apply. Cannot be combined with other discounts. Valid only on purchases made 11/26/23.  See in store for details. 

Also be sure to shop our freshly stocked clearance apparel racks with items marked up to 50% off *all clearance purchases are final sale.
Small Business Saturday is one of our favorite day Small Business Saturday is one of our favorite days of the year. 

Come stop in for the deals or the vibes or a 👋🏻 and to share your turkey trot tale 🦃 🏃🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️💨👟🏅. 

We will be here ‘til 5!!!!
Small Business Saturday Sale!!! I’m sure you’ Small Business Saturday Sale!!!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that an actual person does a happy dance when you purchase from a small business and it’s true…So we thought we’d share some photos of our crew, the happy dancing, shoe slingers who make Movin’ what it is and just rock. We hope you’ll stop in tomorrow. You don’t get to celebrate 50 years Movin’ without you…our buddies. Come take advantage of these deals. 

Small Business Saturday Sale Details: 

Buy any 3 full price in stock items and get a 4th free. *Some exclusions apply. Cannot be combined with other discounts. Valid only on purchases made 11/25/23.  See in store for details. 

Also be sure to shop our freshly stocked clearance apparel racks with items marked up to 50% off *all clearance purchases are final sale.
Black Friday Deals Inside! Stop in today (open ti Black Friday Deals Inside!

Stop in today (open til 6).

We’ve got hats
We’ve got shoes
Gels & Gu(s)
Jackets & socks
Cool stuff & cute tops
For the runner, mover, the hiker, biker, the walker, or groover on your shopping list.
Our littlest of the Movin’ Crew and resident Tur Our littlest of the Movin’ Crew and resident Turkey JoJo wanted to share the news of our Movin’ Shoes Black Friday Deal:

Buy any 3 full price in stock items and get a 4th free. *Some exclusions apply. Cannot be combined with other discounts. Valid only on purchases made 11/24/23.  See in store for details. 

Also be sure to shop our freshly stocked clearance apparel racks with items marked up to 40% off *all clearance purchases are final sale.
Happy Turkey Day Eve! Friendly reminder we are op Happy Turkey Day Eve!

Friendly reminder we are open til 8 tonight slinging shoes and nutrition, socks & gloves…whatever your turkey trot needs may be.

We will be closed tomorrow Thanksgiving so the crew can, run, trot, stroll, snuggle puppies, debate the merits of jellied cranberries, watch parades, and enjoy the mashed potatoes with their favs. 

Wishing you all an excellent day tomorrow. We are forever thankful for you. 

Don’t forget to shop us this weekend (a little turkey told me that deals will be announced tonight so check back on our socials) 

Peace, Love, & Pumpkin Pie!
✌️ 💙🥧

Movin Crew 😎
Ciele hats just arrived and we think they’d make Ciele hats just arrived and we think they’d make a great holiday gift for you or some cool runner you 💙.
Double post today because this evenings shoe sling Double post today because this evenings shoe slingers really did Halloween right! Swipe for the original Spy Kids Inspo. 
Thumbs Up Crew 
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👟💙🎃
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  • SHOP
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  • ABOUT
    • OUR HISTORY
    • MEET OUR TEAM
      • CURRENT STAFF
      • ALUMNI
    • NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP
  • RUN WITH US
    • RUNNING CLUB
      • MSRC CALENDAR
    • TRAILS & ROUTES
  • EVENTS
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    • SUBMIT AN EVENT
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