LONDON (Reuters Life!) – When it comes to shoes, fashion trumps function and even comfort for many British women, according to a survey by a British medical society.

The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists said this week that more than a third of British women bought shoes they knew did not fit at sales this summer.

A survey found that 80 percent of the 2,000 people it polled suffered from a passion for footwear fashion with problems ranging from bunions and corns to cracked heels and in-growing toe nails.

It also said women were not the only ones squeezing their feet into shoes that don't fit them, with nearly a fifth of men (17 percent) also having bought shoes in the wrong size.

Despite the scale of the nation's foot problems, 40 percent of those that have ever had a foot problem have never sought medical advice, the society said in a statement.