Fashion

Those trendy plastic shoes are a cesspit of bacteria and fungus

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Those trendy plastic shoes are a cesspit of bacteria and fungus — (Picture: Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Youre not alone if those clear Yeezy boots the Kardashians keep wearing make you feel a bit icky.

The sweat. The window to your toes. The warmth of having your feet wrapped in plastic wrap on a sunny day.

But it turns out that those shoes are a little unsettling for reasons beyond sweat and showing everyone your slightly dodgy little toenail.

Those plastic shoes, worn without socks (as is the trend, apparently) are cesspits of bacteria and fungus, providing an area ripe for a lovely skin infection.

Dr Rock Positano, director of the Non-surgical Foot and Ankle Service at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, told Vogue that a foot inside a shoe without a sock is gross enough, but when youre wearing a plastic shoe with no breathability, it becomes a whole lot nastier.

The foot by itself [without a sock] in a shoe, plastic or not, provides a perfect milieu for bacterial and fungal growth. It is moist, dark, and there is heat, Rock explains. The combination of those three things make a foot inside a shoe a dangerous place.

The heat trapped by a plastic shoe along with the sweat that starts sliding around in there means its the ideal breeding ground for fungus. Say hello to a nasty toenail infection.

Then theres the risk of hot foot – contact dermatitis that can make the skin feel like its on fire – and blisters. Rigid plastic against a sweaty, clammy foot isnt exactly the pinnacle of comfort.