Fill the shoe void in my life
July 14, 2014 5:08 PM Subscribe
Criteria: comfortable, versatile, water resistant women's shoes for the summer.
I'm in need of a shoe that will complement my business casual (heavy on the casual) workplace attire. Most of the year I wear boots, but it is far too hot right now for any of the pairs that I own. I do own several pairs of flats and sandals and can get away with wearing sneakers at work infrequently, to give you an idea of what I'm currently working with. These are the things I'm looking for:
-Comfortable. I walk a lot, and most of the shoes I wear regularly right now pinch and rub and generally cause my feet a lot of distress after a long walk. A shoe that is high on comfort/support with a heel no more than 1/2" is ideal.
-Water resistant. One of my big problems is that the only closed toed shoes I have that don't become a soggy mess once it starts raining are my sneakers and my rain boots, which are super clunky and not worth wearing unless it's pouring. They don't need to be waterproof, but I'd like to be able to walk around in light rain without my shoes turning to mush.
-Versatile. My personal style is a little all over the place so I need a neutral-ish shoe that would pair with most things in my wardrobe. I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, many of which could be categorized as vintage-y, and a lot of pinks/red/purples and blue/turquoise.
-Style. This is where I have no clue what I'm looking for; I am the world's most indecisive shoe buyer with an extremely poorly defined sense of what I want and I spend a lot of time looking at shoes before I find one that appeals to me. I tend to wear plain cowboy-style boots when its cooler out and ballet flats when it's warmer. I don't really care for clunky shoes (especially thick rubber soles) or shoes that read more masculine than feminine.
I would like to keep the price around $50 but would be willing to pay more for something that will last, as yet another issue I have with shoes is completely wearing them out by the end of the season. I'm up for specific shoe/brand recommendations as well as NYC specific store locations.
I'm in need of a shoe that will complement my business casual (heavy on the casual) workplace attire. Most of the year I wear boots, but it is far too hot right now for any of the pairs that I own. I do own several pairs of flats and sandals and can get away with wearing sneakers at work infrequently, to give you an idea of what I'm currently working with. These are the things I'm looking for:
-Comfortable. I walk a lot, and most of the shoes I wear regularly right now pinch and rub and generally cause my feet a lot of distress after a long walk. A shoe that is high on comfort/support with a heel no more than 1/2" is ideal.
-Water resistant. One of my big problems is that the only closed toed shoes I have that don't become a soggy mess once it starts raining are my sneakers and my rain boots, which are super clunky and not worth wearing unless it's pouring. They don't need to be waterproof, but I'd like to be able to walk around in light rain without my shoes turning to mush.
-Versatile. My personal style is a little all over the place so I need a neutral-ish shoe that would pair with most things in my wardrobe. I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, many of which could be categorized as vintage-y, and a lot of pinks/red/purples and blue/turquoise.
-Style. This is where I have no clue what I'm looking for; I am the world's most indecisive shoe buyer with an extremely poorly defined sense of what I want and I spend a lot of time looking at shoes before I find one that appeals to me. I tend to wear plain cowboy-style boots when its cooler out and ballet flats when it's warmer. I don't really care for clunky shoes (especially thick rubber soles) or shoes that read more masculine than feminine.
I would like to keep the price around $50 but would be willing to pay more for something that will last, as yet another issue I have with shoes is completely wearing them out by the end of the season. I'm up for specific shoe/brand recommendations as well as NYC specific store locations.
When I lived in NYC I liked keeping an extra pair of shoes at work all the time in case anything needed to dry out. Because it seems like if you're not wearing rain boots, even if the shoes are waterproof (say patent leather) water can still sneak in the top. You could try wearing waterproof boat shoes, maybe.
Try looking at DSW or one of the Shoegasm stores.
posted by three_red_balloons at 6:00 PM on July 14, 2014
Try looking at DSW or one of the Shoegasm stores.
posted by three_red_balloons at 6:00 PM on July 14, 2014
Keens? I wear them to work. They have some that are less sandal-y.
posted by emkelley at 7:15 PM on July 14, 2014
posted by emkelley at 7:15 PM on July 14, 2014
Seconding Keens. There are some Mary Janes you can view on Zappos that walk the line of "work appropriate" and "casual" that would work with skirts/dresses.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:39 PM on July 14, 2014
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:39 PM on July 14, 2014
Boat shoes are comfortable, classic, and work well with vintage. They take a lot of water to soak.
Saucony Bullets are comfortable, meet your price, and mostly nylon so they'll do OK in light rain.
posted by akgerber at 8:16 PM on July 14, 2014
Saucony Bullets are comfortable, meet your price, and mostly nylon so they'll do OK in light rain.
posted by akgerber at 8:16 PM on July 14, 2014
Crocs also make really cute leopard print flats that I could literally run a 5K in, they're that comfortable. The print kind of hides the fact that they're Crocs.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:13 PM on July 14, 2014
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:13 PM on July 14, 2014
Response by poster: I should note that I'm really not looking for another pair of sneakers, I don't like the way they look with dresses and I already have a pair that I like for when I wear jeans/leggings. I'm also looking for closed toed shoes; I do sometimes wear sandals in the rain to avoid the soggy ballet flat issues but then I wind up with damp dirty feet instead. The Keens mary janes came closest to hitting the mark so if anyone has more recommendations along that line it would be super helpful!
posted by fox problems at 5:29 AM on July 15, 2014
posted by fox problems at 5:29 AM on July 15, 2014
Fly london is my goto brand for walking - not sure if these are the thick rubber soles you don't like?
posted by mgrrl at 4:33 PM on July 16, 2014
posted by mgrrl at 4:33 PM on July 16, 2014
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posted by jeffamaphone at 5:26 PM on July 14, 2014