Bunion aching by mid-afternoon? Most work shoes designed for comfort are a wide fit scaled up around the whole shoe, so the heel slips and the toe box still presses. We build ours the other way round: a wider toe box over a standard, secure heel, handmade in Portugal for women on their feet all day.

You know the pair you keep by the door for the walk to the car, because the shoes you stood in all day stopped being bearable by three o'clock?

Most "wider fitting" shoes make that worse: they scale the whole shoe up, so the heel slips while you rush and the toe box still presses on the bunion. At Calla we widen only the toe box and keep the heel a standard width, the design we call the Calla Comfort Method, so your bunion gets room over the big toe joint while your heel stays held.

We make every pair by hand in Portugal and keep the forefoot seam-free and softly lined, so nothing stiff sits across the joint through a long day. We design specifically for bunions (hallux valgus) and wider feet, not for feet in general. Named podiatrists have reviewed the shoes, including one who recommends Calla and wears them to work herself. Whether your day calls for a loafer, a brogue, a low court or a smart trainer, we build the same comfort into the lot.

What makes a Calla work shoe great for women with wide feet or bunions?

The work shoes that let you down tend to fail in the same few ways. We design against each of them, starting at the last.

• A heel that stays on while you move. Most wide-fit shoes make room by scaling the whole shoe up, which leaves the heel loose, so it slips every time you stride or rush for the bus. We widen only the toe box and keep the heel a standard width, the Comfort Method we developed with foot experts and our master shoemakers. That puts the room exactly where your forefoot needs it while the heel stays standard, so the shoe walks with you instead of sliding off the back.
• Smart enough for the office, not the waiting room. Shoes made for bunions have a name for looking medical, and standing through a meeting in something clumpy is its own kind of discomfort. We keep the shapes sharp: soft leather, suede and patent in courts, loafers and brogues. We cut the vamp a little higher at the sides, so the bunion sits tucked behind the upper rather than bulging at the edge. We keep all of that on the inside of the shoe, not on the outside.
• Made to be worn for a ten-hour day, not an hour. The afternoon is when work shoes usually give up: the seam starts to rub and the arch gives way. We keep the forefoot seam-free and softly lined, so there is no internal edge crossing the big toe joint. We build a cushioned, arch-supported footbed into every pair, including the flats that look as though they have none. Women who stand all day tell us so: one customer on her feet ten hours a day says our heels feel like a pair of slippers.
• Checked by podiatrists we can name. Plenty of brands say a podiatrist somewhere approves. We work with named podiatrists and publish what they actually said, including Ron McCulloch, Director of the London Podiatry Centre, on how the right shoe can help slow a bunion getting worse. One podiatrist recommends Calla to her own patients and wears the shoes to work herself. We are straight about the limits too: a bunion cannot be reversed without surgery, but the right shoe plays a real part in managing the pressure day to day.
• Leather chosen to give where your foot needs it. A stiff upper never stops rubbing a bunion, it just hardens around it. We source soft European leather and suede, mostly Portuguese, because it moulds to lumps and bumps over wear instead of holding a rigid shape. We make every pair in the Porto region, by master shoemakers at a small family-run workshop. We build the same comfort into the studded flat and the patent court alike, so the finish you choose is about the look, never the comfort.

Which Calla work shoe fits your working day?

The work range runs from flat loafers and brogues to a low court and an orthotic-friendly trainer. Which one suits you comes down to how much you are on your feet and how formal your day needs to be.

• If you are on a ward, in a classroom or on a shop floor all day, the Ophelia brogue gives you a polished flat with nothing to slip and nothing to perch on. It carries a hidden heel lift and a cushioned, arch-supported footbed, so a shoe that looks completely flat still holds your arch through the afternoon. The toe box runs wide, with a stretch panel over the bunion. Black leather, handmade in Portugal, smart enough to pass for an ordinary work brogue because it is one.
• The Nadia loafer is the one to reach for when you want to look pulled-together without a heel and without fussing over laces. It slips on over a wider forefoot, with a soft stretch lining and a hidden panel that gives right where the bunion sits. A low hidden heel keeps your arch supported from the first meeting to the last. In black leather it reads boardroom, and the comfort underneath is the same one we build into every pair.
• When the day calls for a heel, the Ava court keeps it sensible: a 5cm kitten heel with a vamp cut higher at the sides, so the edge of the shoe never digs into the bunion and the joint stays tucked away in a meeting. We engineer the heel with its pitch in mind, so your weight is not tipped forward onto the big toe joint the way a bare 5cm heel would. A pointed toe that looks sharp, over a forefoot drafted wide where you need it.
• The Estella trainer is built to take a prescribed orthotic: lift out the moulded footbed and drop your own in, with the room kept for it rather than your foot fighting for space. The zip opens it right up, so you are not forcing a tender foot through a tight opening at the start of a shift. The wide forefoot and seam-free lining do the usual bunion work. For a workplace that allows a smart trainer, it is the easiest all-day choice.
• Coming back to work after bunion surgery, the fear is a hard seam landing on the scar. The Charlotte ballet flat is cut with a crossover vamp that stretches to your foot shape, lined seam-free over the forefoot. We position it openly for post-bunionectomy comfort and even large bunions. If you are not sure it will clear a tender joint, send us a photo first and we will tell you before you buy, not after.

Why Choose Calla?

For the no-heel work shoes, the flats collection holds the loafers, brogues and ballerinas.

If you use an orthotic, our trainers range covers the removable-footbed styles. And if your bunion is on the larger side, you can browse by fit in wide toe box or extra-wide toe box.

A few things worth reading before you decide:

• Podiatrist Ron McCulloch on how to stop a bunion getting worse.
• Why 7 in 10 women wear the wrong shoe size, if you are unsure how to measure for a wider fit.
• And if you are standing all day with plantar fasciitis as well, the shoes that help with both.

Your feet put in a full day's work, and the shoes should keep up with them. We make every pair by hand in Portugal, and when a favourite finally wears down, our repair service can give it another life. Stunning design. Zero compromise on comfort.