Kendall Farr has shod plenty of one-name stars – Uma, Angelina and Halle, to name a few – but she’s not one to push a vertiginous platform on the rest of us.

Still, when it comes to the debate between high heels vs. comfortable shoes, the stylist is violently opposed to the prison matron look.

“Anything you can imagine a corrections officer wearing, you don’t want in your wardrobe,” says Farr, who admits she proudly wears Birkenstocks to 14-hour photo shoots. “There are good options out there. I don’t think women want to give up on high heels unless they have serious orthopedic issues.”

Consultants Jill Hassid and Tashia Rahl givin Georgia Skover, of West Palm Beach, a wardrobe makeove

But women may be doing more and more of that, as the requisite high heels of the pre-Casual Friday era created enough casualties to spur a boom in more sensible shoes.

When Riad Batruny took over West Palm Beach’s Selby Shoes 30 years ago, “every shoe we bought, we bought in a 3- or 4-inch heel. People definitely have worse feet now.”

Roughly 43 million Americans complain of foot problems – painful neuromas, bunions, hammer toes, arthritis and issues related to poor circulation. And the American Podiatric Medical Association estimates that 87 percent of women suffer from foot pain related to the shoes they wear.

Also behind America’s aching feet: problems related to obesity and diabetes. Age also plays a role, as the foot lengthens and widens and loses its natural padding.

And those market-shifting Baby Boomers – who represent roughly 26 of the U.S. population and carry considerable consumer weight – “don’t want to be in a shoe that shows their age,” Batruny says.

“There are all kinds of reasons that drive people to comfort, and a lot of people don’t want to be there,” says John Weingarten, co-owner of The Shoe Spa in Palm Beach Gardens. “But they still want to be fashionable.”

Foam and flaxseed pillows

Enter Kenneth Cole’s new Silver 925 collection, in which each shoe contains two layers of foam, flaxseed pillows in the arch and rubber soles for more flexibility.

Or how about Alfani’s new Step and Flex line? Or Fossil’s new line of footwear, which will feature 2 to 4 millimeters of foam within the foot bed?

Or the latest volley from Cole Haan – Maria Sharapova’s collection of ballet flats, ankle-wrapped stilettos and strappy platform sandals, all with Nike Air technology?

“Even the high-fashion companies have realized that women need to walk,” says Charla Krupp, bestselling author of How Not to Look Old. “Brands like Prada and Chanel now have rubber-soled shoes. We just used to make fun of rubber soles – that was kind of the mark of nurses’ shoes.”

At The Gardens Mall, the tenants that target tenderfoots include The Walking Company, ecco and Naturalizer. But if you’re looking for a shoe you can walk in, don’t automatically discount the mall’s luxury retailers.

“There’s no question that every shoe manufacturer is looking for a way to bring comfort to their shoes in some way,” says mall marketing director Debbie Negri. “Certainly you see it in Cole Haan, but Stuart Weitzman also has comfort technology. Tory Burch has revolutionized the ballerina flat with comfort elements in it. Even Louis Vutton has comfort elements in their ballerina flats. It really does run the gamut.”

At the same time, comfort manufacturers have been upping the fashion ante.

“The comfort brands are not your grandma’s shoes anymore,” says Rachel Funk, a merchandiser at ShoeMall.com, where most of the top-selling brands in Florida fall into the comfort category. “They have become scholars of trend.”

It’s perhaps a necessary step in a soft market. According to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the average consumer in the U.S. bought 67 pieces of clothing and eight pairs of shoes in 2007. In 2008, the last year that figures are available for, those numbers dropped to 64 articles of clothing and seven pairs of shoes.

Shoes with a comfort element

Taryn Rose applies her background in orthopedic surgery to footwear design. This suede pump($475 at Neiman Marcus) has built-in arch support and Poron foam padding.Tsubo means ‘pressure point’ in Japanese, and the Tsubo Nabu pump ($140 at ShoeMall.com) has a contoured foot bed and rubber sole.

Kenneth Cole designed his new Silver 925 collection, including this ankle bootie ($195 at Kenneth Cole stores), to be ‘the most comfortable fashion shoes you’ll ever wear.’ They contain flaxseed pillows in the arches.Stuart Weitzman’s Mocarena ($285) has a flexible rubber sole and lightly padded foot bed.

Born’s Miriam motorcycle-inspired boot ($180 at BornShoes.com) features a special footbed that prevents the buildup of bacteria that cause odor. Cole Haan’s Nancy sandal ($328) features its famed Nike Air technology.

Comfort suits South Florida’s pace

But some retailers are betting on comfort.

Macy’s, for example, has cleared room in its shoe departments for such brands as Merrell and Sofft, says Melissa Goff, Macy’s VP of media relations.

South Florida, in particular, is suited to a padded insole. “Any area that is ‘touristy’ or has European clientele does well with comfort” shoes, says Kim Wilson, a women’s comfort shoe buyer with Dillard’s.

Of the 20 best-selling brands in Florida on ShoeMall.com, which has an in-house “comfort czar,” roughly half are brands associated with comfort. The top five are Naturalizer, Crocs, Easy Spirit, Softspots and New Balance.

Despite the presence of other comfort-oriented tenants, Mephisto opened at The Gardens Mall this past summer because comfortable European-made sandals suit “the kind of lifestyle that we lead here,” Negri says. “It’s a laid-back community, but people are also on the go. … You want to have comfort when you’re traveling.”