I want these shoes, but should I buy them?
March 27, 2013 9:03 AM Subscribe
these flat shoes make my heart flutter. But are they "business professional" in the pink?
I've blown out two pairs of flat shoes this winter. (a three year old pair of naturalizers and a much newer pair of hush puppies)
I work temp office jobs these days. My work clothes tend toward grey/black/white with a little color thrown in. These shoes would be that little bit one day a week. I do have a pair of black pumps that are good enough and a pair of brown shoes that will last a while longer. My 'signature' shoe used to be a pair of red Mary Janes, but they died too.
$30 is about the price of these shoes in my size, but I can't afford them if they'll be viewed poorly.
I've blown out two pairs of flat shoes this winter. (a three year old pair of naturalizers and a much newer pair of hush puppies)
I work temp office jobs these days. My work clothes tend toward grey/black/white with a little color thrown in. These shoes would be that little bit one day a week. I do have a pair of black pumps that are good enough and a pair of brown shoes that will last a while longer. My 'signature' shoe used to be a pair of red Mary Janes, but they died too.
$30 is about the price of these shoes in my size, but I can't afford them if they'll be viewed poorly.
They're business casual to casual, sadly for your question. However, they are adorable!
posted by xingcat at 9:05 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by xingcat at 9:05 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I disagree. These would not be out of place in my office.
posted by downing street memo at 9:05 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by downing street memo at 9:05 AM on March 27, 2013
I think it's less the color and more the fact that they're just fabric (and look that way) that make them not business professional.
Usually you want something in leather for office wear, unless you wear vegan shoes, in which case they make vegan shoes to look office appropriate and not fabric-y.
posted by sweetkid at 9:07 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Usually you want something in leather for office wear, unless you wear vegan shoes, in which case they make vegan shoes to look office appropriate and not fabric-y.
posted by sweetkid at 9:07 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Those don't look business professional to me in any color. (I'm a man, if that matters, but I have a sense of professional dress codes as well.)
posted by OmieWise at 9:08 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by OmieWise at 9:08 AM on March 27, 2013
They'd be fine at an office that does "business casual." So if you know the dress code of where you're temping, maybe. But if you need to do "business professional," definitely not. (Sorry, they really are adorable.)
posted by DoubleLune at 9:10 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by DoubleLune at 9:10 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
These wouldn't be out of place in any office I've worked in but those offices were solidly in the business casual. I probably wouldn't wear those in a strictly professional environment.
posted by magnetsphere at 9:12 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by magnetsphere at 9:12 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Those are okay to wear in offices that skew on the casual side of business casual. If it's the kind of place where you can wear nice jeans, you could get away with them. If the dress code leans more toward nylons and dry-clean-only stuff, no way.
posted by Metroid Baby at 9:14 AM on March 27, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Metroid Baby at 9:14 AM on March 27, 2013 [6 favorites]
Only on Fridays, but Fridays are jeans days.
posted by headnsouth at 9:15 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by headnsouth at 9:15 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
It depends on your office and your job.
If your office requires you to wear a suit, or if you are client-facing, these shoes are not really business professional.
If your office requires you to wear smartish clothes, and if you are not typically client facing, so generally wear a skirt or a pair of slacks and a shirt or blouse then these are probably ok. They can be business casual.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:15 AM on March 27, 2013
If your office requires you to wear a suit, or if you are client-facing, these shoes are not really business professional.
If your office requires you to wear smartish clothes, and if you are not typically client facing, so generally wear a skirt or a pair of slacks and a shirt or blouse then these are probably ok. They can be business casual.
posted by MuffinMan at 9:15 AM on March 27, 2013
If it's ok to wear nice jeans everyday in your office then yes. Otherwise no these aren't business casual, but probably ok if you have casual Fridays.
posted by whoaali at 9:15 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by whoaali at 9:15 AM on March 27, 2013
Really depends on your workplace - they're NOT business professional, but on the other hand, not everyone who works in such an environment HAS to toe the line 100% (I work at a large law firm and wear Chuck Taylors constantly).
posted by julthumbscrew at 9:19 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by julthumbscrew at 9:19 AM on March 27, 2013
I would put your money towards a longer-lasting pair of ballet flats in real leather (unless that's an issue) in a solid color-- still cute, but more professional. Those would be fine where I work but they're solidly business casual.
posted by jetlagaddict at 9:28 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by jetlagaddict at 9:28 AM on March 27, 2013
Not business professional. However, I agree that they could be office-appropriate, depending on your office.
I work at an NPO that leases space from a university (in Chicago) It is extremely rare that anyone other than staff is in the office and somewhat rare that staff even see each other many days. No-one would think it inappropriate if someone wore these shoes to the office, but no-one would call them "business professional" and I'd say more than half would not even consider them "business casual".
posted by crush-onastick at 9:30 AM on March 27, 2013
I work at an NPO that leases space from a university (in Chicago) It is extremely rare that anyone other than staff is in the office and somewhat rare that staff even see each other many days. No-one would think it inappropriate if someone wore these shoes to the office, but no-one would call them "business professional" and I'd say more than half would not even consider them "business casual".
posted by crush-onastick at 9:30 AM on March 27, 2013
These wouldn't necessarily look out of place in my business casual workplace, but I would not wear this in a professional atmosphere. If you're in a business casual type of office, I think it really depends on the rest of your outfit as well. These flats are cute but if you don't look well put together in the other things you're wearing, you could end up looking really sloppy. I'd go with a well fitted monochromatic look in terms of clothing.
posted by ohmy at 9:31 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by ohmy at 9:31 AM on March 27, 2013
They are leaning pretty casual. Not just the fabric (which looks to be shantung, so it least it's not canvas), but especially the print and the rubber sole.
posted by payoto at 9:45 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by payoto at 9:45 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think you could wear pink flats to a business professional job, but not those ones. The shape, color and material all read as very juvenile. Something like this or this would be better.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:52 AM on March 27, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:52 AM on March 27, 2013 [6 favorites]
You're working temp jobs. If it were me, I'd just go ahead and wear them until someone notices/comments that they're inappropriate.
I mean, what's gonna happen here? You get told "those shoes are inappropriate, don't wear them again," so you don't. (And then you just try them again at your next job a few weeks later.) Big deal. And then you'll have them to wear outside of work whenever you want.
I currently work in an extremely casual office, but prior to this I worked for a lawyer in a business casual-sort-of office, where he was oddly particular about some things. I had a denim skirt I wore literally at least twice a week, and it wasn't until I had worked there for about 6 months that he actually noticed and said, "hey, that's denim, don't wear that again." (So I waited about a month then started wearing it again and he didn't notice.) My point is, there's a decent chance they may technically be inappropriate, but no one's gonna notice or care.
posted by phunniemee at 9:55 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I mean, what's gonna happen here? You get told "those shoes are inappropriate, don't wear them again," so you don't. (And then you just try them again at your next job a few weeks later.) Big deal. And then you'll have them to wear outside of work whenever you want.
I currently work in an extremely casual office, but prior to this I worked for a lawyer in a business casual-sort-of office, where he was oddly particular about some things. I had a denim skirt I wore literally at least twice a week, and it wasn't until I had worked there for about 6 months that he actually noticed and said, "hey, that's denim, don't wear that again." (So I waited about a month then started wearing it again and he didn't notice.) My point is, there's a decent chance they may technically be inappropriate, but no one's gonna notice or care.
posted by phunniemee at 9:55 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't call them any kind of "professional," but they'd be fine in any business casual office I've worked in, especially if you made sure the rest of your outfit was more on the business-y side.
Also, this probably depends a lot on, well, a lot of factors, but I've always observed that there's slightly more leeway for temps, clothes-wise, than permanent employees. It would be safer, though, to go for leather flats in a solid color.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 9:57 AM on March 27, 2013
Also, this probably depends a lot on, well, a lot of factors, but I've always observed that there's slightly more leeway for temps, clothes-wise, than permanent employees. It would be safer, though, to go for leather flats in a solid color.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 9:57 AM on March 27, 2013
They are "business casual".
A "business professional" shoe has a closed toe, a low heel (1-2.5 inches), and is in a neutral or dark colour: beige, brown, black; or white or burgundy if you really want to push the boat out.
A "business professional" shoe is a definite non-fun-having shoe. Sorry.
posted by tel3path at 10:23 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
A "business professional" shoe has a closed toe, a low heel (1-2.5 inches), and is in a neutral or dark colour: beige, brown, black; or white or burgundy if you really want to push the boat out.
A "business professional" shoe is a definite non-fun-having shoe. Sorry.
posted by tel3path at 10:23 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Not only do they fall below business professional, I don't think they'd be appropriate in my business casual office.
But they are cute!
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:16 AM on March 27, 2013
But they are cute!
posted by Admiral Haddock at 11:16 AM on March 27, 2013
No. And I say that as someone wearing shocking pink patent flats to the office today.
posted by evoque at 11:36 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by evoque at 11:36 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I have weird sized feet and a strangled budget. And I waaaaaant pretty things. But the vast majority of shoes just don't fit.
So, I can wait a few weeks and maybe get a solid but fun color shoe for about the same price that these were.
(for the record, part time, resort area, and let's say I currently work in a place with approximately the level of formality of a veterinarian. But that could change tomorrow, because Temping.)
I got a screaming deal on a pair of white naturalizer Pola shoes (open toe) that I can wear on days when I'm alone on the facility. While those shoes aren't even business casual, they are fine for those days. Though they really suck for walking more than a half block.
Aaaaand I noticed before I left most recently that the person I report directly to was wearing open toed heels. I give up.
posted by tulip-socks at 1:45 PM on March 27, 2013
So, I can wait a few weeks and maybe get a solid but fun color shoe for about the same price that these were.
(for the record, part time, resort area, and let's say I currently work in a place with approximately the level of formality of a veterinarian. But that could change tomorrow, because Temping.)
I got a screaming deal on a pair of white naturalizer Pola shoes (open toe) that I can wear on days when I'm alone on the facility. While those shoes aren't even business casual, they are fine for those days. Though they really suck for walking more than a half block.
Aaaaand I noticed before I left most recently that the person I report directly to was wearing open toed heels. I give up.
posted by tulip-socks at 1:45 PM on March 27, 2013
These are my favorite flats ever. Very comfy, SO cheap. They are manmade but totally look patent leather. I have them in red, black, and an old color that I think they called Navy, but they look slate-colored. I bought the pewter and they were too close to black to justify having both colors. I check back all the time for new colors. I'm not sure what your sizing issue is, but if those might work for you, check them out! They go up to 12 and up to 10 in wide, it looks like.
posted by peep at 11:02 AM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by peep at 11:02 AM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cranberry_nut at 9:04 AM on March 27, 2013 [10 favorites]