Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also issued on microfiche.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional effectiveness of a selection of women's walking shoes with particular attention being directed towards an assessment of specific shoe modifications which were included in a prototype model to theoretically reduce the undesirable characteristics associated with flexible shoes. Nine female subjects performed three trials for each of five shoe conditions. The prototype model decreased the encountered pressures and pressure integrals in the region of the second metatarsal-phalangeal joint. The use of the prototype shoe did not appear to unduly affect the gait of the subject.

Submitted by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-22T11:57:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DENISE BARBONE.pdf: 2851904 bytes, checksum: ffd17da3beb0a96a15ea2dbc5b8b3d8e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-22T11:57:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DENISE BARBONE.pdf: 2851904 bytes, checksum: ffd17da3beb0a96a15ea2dbc5b8b3d8e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Cristina Ropero (ana@espm.br) on 2017-11-22T13:00:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DENISE BARBONE.pdf: 2851904 bytes, checksum: ffd17da3beb0a96a15ea2dbc5b8b3d8e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-22T13:00:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DENISE BARBONE.pdf: 2851904 bytes, checksum: ffd17da3beb0a96a15ea2dbc5b8b3d8e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-22 / This research aimed to understand the use of women's shoes, especially at work and in leisure situations, and relate them to the professions of their consumers. For this, a qualitative study was carried out with 30 middle- and upper-class women working in five professional areas, with the aid of an electronic journal. The central premise of this study is a possible association between the areas of professional activity of these women with the style of shoes used on different occasions. Thus, there should be a predisposition for women to adapt footwear styles and heel sizes (modern, classic, fashion, high, and low) to the type of job performed. The results indicated that even professionals in the same area, such as education professionals, adopt different styles of footwear, expressing the individuality of each consumer. In professions, whose work place requires specific dress codes and greater practicality when walking, such as for lawyers, classic shoes prevailed? Freelance professionals such as stylists and designers, considered their individual styles as a major factor in their choices, with a more fashionate style for an English teacher or modern for a designer professional, and the heels were either very high or no present at all. The results show that there is no apparent correlation between profession and the style of footwear used. However, the use of high heels was decisive at work place in all professions . An in-depth study should be conducted in order to test how the propositions raised by this survey could allow the results to be applied by women's shoes manufacturers and retailers. / O objetivo deste trabalho foi compreender o uso de calçados femininos, especialmente nas ocasiões de trabalho e lazer, e relacionar com as profissões desempenhadas pelas consumidoras. Para isso, foi realizado um estudo qualitativo e iconográfico por meio de um diário de uso eletrônico, com 30 mulheres de classe AB que atuam em cinco áreas profissionais. A premissa central deste estudo consiste na possível relação entre a área de atuação profissional da mulher com o estilo de sapato usado em diferentes ocasiões. Nesse sentido, haveria uma predisposição das mulheres em adaptar o estilo do calçado e tamanho de salto (moderno, clássico, fashion, salto alto e baixo) ao tipo de profissão desempenhada. Os resultados indicam que mesmo profissionais da mesma área, como da área da educação, adotam estilos diferentes de calçados, expressando a individualidade de cada consumidora. Profissões que exigem ambientes com dress code e maior praticidade ao caminhar, como advogadas, os calçados clássicos prevaleceram. Profissões autônomas, como educadoras e designers, os estilos individuais foram considerados como principais em suas escolhas, sendo fashion no estilo para professora de inglês; ou moderno para a profissional de designer, e os saltos são os muito altos ou sem salto nenhum. Os resultados evidenciaram que não há relação aparente entre a profissão adotada e o estilo de calçado utilizado. Entretanto o uso do salto alto é determinante na ocasião de trabalho em todas as profissões. Um estudo mais aprofundado deve ser conduzido a fim de testar as proposições levantadas nesta pesquisa e permitir resultados aplicados para os fabricantes e varejistas de calçados femininos.