Exclusive | A neuroscientist designed high heels that are better for your feet — and your brain

Even when she was a full-time cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Steffie Tomson always had fashion on the brain — but not in the way you might think.

This isn’t a story of a biology nerd who dreams of working at Vogue. Tomson had her mind on her scientific research, but somehow, her shoes always ended up taking up a whole lot of mental space — and she knew she wasn’t alone.

So it actually made a kind of perfect sense that in 2019, she pivoted to creating her own footwear brand with high heels that she says were designed like cushioned sneakers to be comfortable enough to wear without the constant aches and distractions.

Tomson was working on synesthesia, the condition where people associate unrelated senses — like seeing music as colors or believing the letter B is also the color purple.

It was serious business, but when she’d get dressed in the morning, she put a load of energy into her footwear choice because of how it would affect her body, her mood and even her work.

“I found myself walking around these enormous medical campuses wearing heels,” she told The Post.

Every morning, she’d do stiletto math: She could wear these heels only if she parked close to the building, but if she had to go to a far-away meeting that day then she couldn’t also go out to lunch.

How many steps would she be getting in — and at what point would the shoes that look great be too painful to wear?

“I was making choices in my academic career based on avoiding pain in my body caused by heels,” she admitted. “And it wasn’t even just foot pain. It was my ankles, my knees, my hips, my lower back — because by the end of the day, all of that smashing of my foot onto a heel onto tile really radiates all the way through your body.”

Forget blisters — her whole body “was just reeling with discomfort.” And that didn’t just hurt, it was a huge distraction.

“I was not only very attuned to how much time I was spending thinking about this, but also how much time I was spending worrying about, planning for, and avoiding at all costs this discomfort,” she said.

“Finally I just said, this is insane that there’s so much cognitive time going into dealing with this one particular wardrobe issue. 

“So I brought my heels into my lab and I sliced them in half with a band saw to find out what on earth could be inside these shoes that would be so painful.”

She was shocked that they were “basically all plastic and metal.”

And it didn’t matter if the shoes were cheap or expensive — the insides all looked about the same.

So she started playing around with the materials in the department of orthotics and prosthetics at the Texas college where she worked. She thought of athletic shoes with big, thick foam soles.

“I thought, why don’t we do that for heels?” she recalled.

Well, the factory she linked up with told her, because wedge heels made of foam would fall down.

“I said, ‘Respectfully, I don’t think so. I wear foam athletic shoes daily and I don’t fall down,’” she said.

Tomson wore options “like Goldilocks” around her house and eventually found a “perfect” density that worked.

“It has all the shock absorption, but it’s sturdy enough to not bother me when I’m walking and be durable,” she said.

“The foam will compress as you walk, just like an athletic sneaker, which means that the the impact of your body weight on the ground gets dissipated by that foam.”

Without it — like with hard plastic and metal high heels — that shock absorption is done by your joints.

Steffie’s Shoes shipped their first order in May 2021. Four years on, they’ve got a range of styles, from T-strap wedges — their signature, in several colors — to booties and flats and sandals.

In addition to the comfortable foam soles, Steffie’s calibrated the “optimal heel height” for “reducing pressure on the ball of the foot and protecting posture.”

They also designed a better buckle that works like a hook, making them easier to stick in place.

All of these pieces aim to make women more comfortable — and let them focus on other things in their lives.

“Heels are a bigger distraction than we think they are,” Tomson said. “The brain is wired to keep you safe. So when it recognizes pain, it refuses to let you forget it. It says, ‘This is this is happening, and I’m going to keep reminding you until you get rid of the pain.’”

And unfortunately, she adds, most guys don’t get it.

“Inevitably, some dude … says, ‘Well, I don’t understand. Why don’t you just not wear heels?’ And I’m like, look, I can’t fix all of society’s expectations right now. Women want to wear heels sometimes, and sometimes we need to wear heels.”

Tomson’s scientific shoe shopping tips:

1. Ask the important questions. When you’re shopping, don’t just ask, “Will this look good on me?” Also ask, “Will this be ‘quiet’ for me? Will this item fade into the background so I can be cognitively present all day?’
2. Give it a real test. Put on your shoes (or clothes or jewelry, for that matter) and move around — but don’t touch them or adjust them for at least five minutes: “If you’re adjusting or pulling … it’s just not worth it.”
3. Opt for wedges. “Wedges are definitely more more supportive than a heel. I would avoid stilettos at all costs, because they’re just simply a bar of steel and they’re unstable — plus they’re just painful,” she said.
4. Let yourself have wiggle room. “Aim for a wider toe box than you think you need.”
5. Try angle straps. “If you don’t have a strap, your foot goes into the heel, and you’re kind of clenching your toes all day to keep the shoe on as you walk. If you have a strap, it’s just like having laces. It just lets you forget about that,” Tomson explained.