Why does the former Meghan Markle wear oversized shoes?

Whenever the Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, comes out in public, the observers of the royal style are obsessed with all the details she's wearing, from her gorgeous dresses and bags to her growing collection of oh so British fascinators.

But the old Meghan Markle has a quirk that has only appeared recently: she often wears heels too big for her.

The most dramatic example could be the brown strappy heels that she wore in November during a photoshoot celebrating her engagement with Prince Harry.

And the black pumps that she wore at her first official event with the Queen this month definitely looked a bit roomy around the heel.

Why does the duchess do that? She probably will not share her style secrets anytime soon – members of the royal family almost never do, of course – but some experts speculate that she is getting high to protect her feet.

"I guess what she's doing, is trying to avoid any sort of breakdown or blisters," said Dr. Suzanne Levine, a podiatrist at the New York Beauty Institute. , at TODAY Style.

Members of the royal family are often required to stand for long periods at official events, so Meghan could be concerned about swelling or inflammation.

"I'm sure there are some protocols where you can not sit whatever happens, and (she wants) to avoid not only blisters, but actually skin breakdowns," he says. swelling, bursitis, "said Levine.

Another possibility is that one of Meghan's feet is slightly larger than the other.

"She may also have a size discrimination between the two feet, that they are not both of the same size, so she is going to bigger," said Levine.

Levine understands Meghan's strategy of riding a size to protect her feet, and says it's definitely better than the alternative of wearing too small shoes that pinch.

"As a podiatrist, I would agree with her that this would be the way to go, as opposed to wearing shoes that fit her and maybe feeling a bit too tight in some areas," she said. she said.

Still, wearing oversized shoes is not something that Levine generally recommends.

"I think it sounds a bit more royal, so to speak," she told TODAY's. "The majority of my patients would probably get shoes that would fit a little better."

Dr. Emily Splichal, podiatrist and specialist in human movements in New York, agrees. In fact, she says that wearing bigger shoes to prevent blisters can cause more damage.

"The bulbs come from friction, so if your shoe is bigger than it should be, you will move more into the shoe, which creates friction," she said. entrusted to TODAY Style. "So, I would probably say that you could potentially get more blisters from wearing shoes that are too big."

As to Meghan's possible concerns about inflammation? The feet can certainly swell when people stay up for long periods of time, but usually not enough to require wearing substantially larger shoes, said Splichal.

"When the foot swells to stand up, especially for very long hours, it will not inflate the full size of a shoe," she told TODAY Style.

If you are worried about swelling, she recommends climbing a half-size, at most.