The shoes that are actually bad for your feet will shock you

Stilettos are not the 'sole' offender

Those seemingly virtuous flats that you tuck into your handbag to wear as you trot between the tube and your desk may actually be even worse than the vertiginous stilettos you slip on solely for sitting in and striding into important meetings.

Yes, it turns out that the flattest shoes around are just as bad as stilettos and some of this season’s most sought-after styles may be doing our feet some serious harm, according to The Huffington Post. Get ready to meet the shoes on the naughty list which shocked us most...

These are the three worst shoes for your feet:

Ballet Flats Where stilettos put pressure on the balls of our feet, flats add extra pressure to our heel, too. And without any arch support or shock absorption, people with flatter feet can run the risk of getting stress fractures and developing neuromas (growths of nerve tissue between the toes). The main culprits are those handy bendable ballet flats that fold in half and slide neatly into our handbags as they offer the least support.

Flip Flops Yes, those pool slides you lived in all summer can cause a condition that makes our toes curl just hearing its name: hammertoes, i.e.toes that are bent permanently downwards. Most generic flip-flops lack arch support thereby forcing the toes to bend and grip them in place.

Mules Gucci fans, we’re sorry to break it to you but those cosy-looking fur-filled slip-ons are slightly deceiving. They may look like a slipper-esque, solid shoe, but the lack of ankle support makes them almost as bad as slides. Heeled versions are apparently even greater offenders: as well as the additional weight on the ball of your foot, your toes are back in hammertoe territory as there’s nothing securing the feet at the heel, leaving us open to sprains and bunions. ‘You can’t walk anywhere fast in mules,’ podiatrist Margaret Dabbs advised us during her lesson in how to successfully walk in heels. Margaret warned us off flatforms, too: ‘Flatforms are the worst offenders. The inflexibility of the sole means you could go over on your ankle and the stomping movement is terrible for knees too.’

While stilettos certainly aren't saintly, we'll definitely be brushing up on Marget’s tips and reconsidering Christopher Kane's SS17 Crocs revival...