Toes and beauty : The types of toes
I decided to take a little time to dedicate a short post to toes, yes toes! For most people they are those 10 cute things at the end of your feet, or 5 for those who lost a leg or somewhere in between if you managed to lose one of them. A missing toe is not appealing to me, If there are 5 or 10 it does not matter as long as they are pretty.
I have always said that Toes are to your Feet like Eyes are to your Face. They can give that cheerful and often playful tone to your feet, they are to a great extent the "presentation card" of your feet. For example, If I had ugly toes I would not even dare to wear sandals, as simple as that. But then again, beauty is on the eye of the beholder. I have seen a good amount of female feet around where the subject perceives her feet/toes as beautiful when they are not -to me at least-
At some other time I will explain better the "Hang Five" index for qualifying feet. Part of that "index" deals with the forefront of the foot with the toes being the centerpiece. Basically each part gets between zero (0) and two (2) points with 2 points being not only the maximum but indicating an absolute beauty. Zero means something like an eyesore or at best something better ignored.
When appreciating the beauty of a foot you can make a distinction between the following types of toes:
That classification has a lot to do with the underlying bone structure and their muscles/tendons.
Here we are focusing on the Proximal, Mediae and Distal Phalanges of the feet. Let's take a look at the least appealing (personal opinion) of the three categories
As we can appreciate here, people unlucky enough to have gotten these types of toes assigned upon birth usually suffer consequences. Sometimes the use of shoes too small for your feet can cause you these deformities during growth when your feet are most sensitive to external influences.
Mallet toes are the best in this category where the proximal and medial phalanges are straight but the toe curves significantly down on the distal phalange which is the part that holds the toenail. That's where we see those feet with seemingly straight toes and then the flat part of the toenails being almost vertical.
Hammer toes are a bit less aesthetic than Mallet toes because here both the Proximal and Medial Phalanges are deformed. The Proximal (closest to the forefoot) is pointing upwards and then the Medial pointing down with finally the Distal Phalange straight.
Claw toes as their name indicate, look like claws and that is truly not appealing at all. It is a combination of hammer toes and mallet toes. The Proximal part is pointing up, the Medial and Distal parts are pointing down thus giving it the appearance of a claw.
I believe people with these kind of toes -luckily not me- usually suffer from other stuff. Due to the position of the proximal and medial phalanges, wearing closed shoes can be a nuisance -who likes closed shoes anyway?- and can thus lead to the formation of a callous atop the toe due to the constant friction with the cover of the shoe.
Hang Five Potential Index: 0
One thing to notice too is (a)symmetry and that you can have even in the best feet as we are not perfect. For example, if you look at the "Exceptionally Beautiful Toes" photo, you may notice there is usually a difference in the fourth (4th) -next to the pinky- and fifth (5th) -small or pinky toe-.
In most cases the 4th has a more pronounced sideway curvature that the same toe on the other foot. I have noticed that not only in my feet but in many (all perhaps). I have no idea whether that is just a genetical trait or if has to do with a dominant foot. If so I would believe the 4th toe is more curled (sideways) on the dominant foot. It is on mine at least.
I have always said that Toes are to your Feet like Eyes are to your Face. They can give that cheerful and often playful tone to your feet, they are to a great extent the "presentation card" of your feet. For example, If I had ugly toes I would not even dare to wear sandals, as simple as that. But then again, beauty is on the eye of the beholder. I have seen a good amount of female feet around where the subject perceives her feet/toes as beautiful when they are not -to me at least-
At some other time I will explain better the "Hang Five" index for qualifying feet. Part of that "index" deals with the forefront of the foot with the toes being the centerpiece. Basically each part gets between zero (0) and two (2) points with 2 points being not only the maximum but indicating an absolute beauty. Zero means something like an eyesore or at best something better ignored.
When appreciating the beauty of a foot you can make a distinction between the following types of toes:
- Straight toes
- Slightly Curved toes
- Claw, Mallet and Hammer toes
That classification has a lot to do with the underlying bone structure and their muscles/tendons.
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| Bones in the foot |
Here we are focusing on the Proximal, Mediae and Distal Phalanges of the feet. Let's take a look at the least appealing (personal opinion) of the three categories
Claw, Mallet and Hammer Toes
As we can appreciate here, people unlucky enough to have gotten these types of toes assigned upon birth usually suffer consequences. Sometimes the use of shoes too small for your feet can cause you these deformities during growth when your feet are most sensitive to external influences.
Mallet toes are the best in this category where the proximal and medial phalanges are straight but the toe curves significantly down on the distal phalange which is the part that holds the toenail. That's where we see those feet with seemingly straight toes and then the flat part of the toenails being almost vertical.
Hammer toes are a bit less aesthetic than Mallet toes because here both the Proximal and Medial Phalanges are deformed. The Proximal (closest to the forefoot) is pointing upwards and then the Medial pointing down with finally the Distal Phalange straight.
Claw toes as their name indicate, look like claws and that is truly not appealing at all. It is a combination of hammer toes and mallet toes. The Proximal part is pointing up, the Medial and Distal parts are pointing down thus giving it the appearance of a claw.
I believe people with these kind of toes -luckily not me- usually suffer from other stuff. Due to the position of the proximal and medial phalanges, wearing closed shoes can be a nuisance -who likes closed shoes anyway?- and can thus lead to the formation of a callous atop the toe due to the constant friction with the cover of the shoe.
Hang Five Potential Index: 0
Slightly Curved Toes
Then we have the next category which is very common in the wild and very nice in my humble opinion. Here the toes have that nice sensual curvature which is only hinted, visible but subtle and the face of the nail is up as it should be.
Sorry I could not get a better looking foot exhibiting curved toes. This one is not only dirty but has a tattoo, both things I truly dislike (ewww!). Yet, you can clearly appreciate the slight curvature of the toes.
Hang Five Potential Index: 1
Straight Toes
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| Exceptionally beautiful toes |
And last but certainly not least we have straight toes the most beautiful (potentially) of all! And I say "potentially" in this phrase and the indexes because the beauty of the toes is not only determined by the toe structure. Yes, you can't nearly stop looking at those beauties! they look great bare and in sandals and can be used for flirting if you know to put your feet to your advantage.
Straight toes are very sensual, perhaps even more than Slightly Curved and they are not as common in the wild and therefore why I associate them with perfection. Straight toes are very elegant as well, if you pair them with nice skin and beautifully shaped toenails -regardless of whether they are painted or not- you get the epitome of perfection when it comes to beautiful toes.
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| Long straight toes |
Straight toes come in a variety of forms, they can be short or they can be long like those red painted toes in the figure above. Straight toes are good for all types of shoeware. Given they are straight, it is easier to measure your shoe size with precision.
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| Sensual Legs and Feet |
And so these feet usually look great in whichever shoe they are in, even barefoot provided they are clean (I dislike dirty feet, can see them, can't have them).
Hang Five Potential Index: 2
Conclusion
The most beautiful feet have straight toes, period but as you can see in my Google Plus profile there are also lots of beautiful feet with slightly curved toes.One thing to notice too is (a)symmetry and that you can have even in the best feet as we are not perfect. For example, if you look at the "Exceptionally Beautiful Toes" photo, you may notice there is usually a difference in the fourth (4th) -next to the pinky- and fifth (5th) -small or pinky toe-.
In most cases the 4th has a more pronounced sideway curvature that the same toe on the other foot. I have noticed that not only in my feet but in many (all perhaps). I have no idea whether that is just a genetical trait or if has to do with a dominant foot. If so I would believe the 4th toe is more curled (sideways) on the dominant foot. It is on mine at least.
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