A friend asked me to write about shoes. She did not mean, dear reader, the three pairs of sneakers I currently wear in rotation: marshmallow, potato, duck feet. In other words:
- highly cushioned for strength training class
- grayish suede for a feeble attempt at style when we walk to dinner
- inexpensive white mesh wide toe box with zero drop soles for everything else.
No, she meant Shoes. Let’s enter the fantasy world where our feet serve as statement more than transportation. Here, I’d say many, many of the well-known companies have focused more on marketing and prestige than quality. When they design, my hypothesis is that they do so either for brand maximization,
or in hopes of The Next Big thing that the girlies – self-identified – will wear. Remember these? Valentino Rockstuds, all the rage in the 2010s.
So were I in the market for Shoes, I’d look at brands I’d never heard of.
First stop on the research trail, Net-a-Porter. I own a pair of black fabric Neous pumps for fancy times, along with my Jimmy Choo wedding shoes, but if I were going for something new in the category, I’d be sorely tempted by these – what color, puce? grungy lavender?- satin jewels. Pretty much perfect kitten heels, pointy toes but not weapons-grade. With a navy dress. A red dress. OOOOOOH a gold one. If one lived a fancy life, one might have fun with unexpected color – rebellious decorum.
Herbert Levine, completely new to me. Which is not of course to say avant-garde.
Were I shopping now for businesslike pumps, those which repurpose well for solemn personal events, I might well choose almond-toed brown leather, in place of my navy blue Paul Greens.
Moving on to the follow-you-around-the-internet part of the world? Dear Frances appeals. Instead of sneakers? Very cushy, one imagines.
So, discussion launched, are any of you buying Shoes these days? I confess, I’m on in the hunt for something in soft, soft brown leather or suede. Could be sneakers, could be Oxfords, as long as they are or can expand to be wide enough for my metatarsals, and are held to my feet with laces. I do not care to slip and slide. But girls and boys can dream, can we not?
Speaking of girls and boys, I believe the cool kids source from Ssense, on sale. Could give them a try.
Have a wonderful weekend.
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28 Responses
Ha! If it’s not Birkenstock, Taos or Merrell’s (or many years old Dansko’s I already have) I have zero interest. I’m ok with that too! It took me years to figure out what works best to keep my feet (and me) happy and it’s best to not chance it.
I totally get it. I think what I’d like is some jazz shoes, in brown glove leather, with some shock absorbent soles. Then I might venture out.
I LOVE these that you showed us https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-us/shop/product/le-monde-beryl/shoes/mid-heel/luna-30-leather-pumps/46376663163076480 but they aren’t what you’re looking for except just to gawk and admire, or as you said “the fantasy world where our feet serve as statement more than transportation.” Oh these shoes are beautiful.
But, YES! You ARE looking for jazz shoes! The pair I found with the asymetrical lace up placket are the ones I’d choose for you. Gorgeous soft leather, edgy diagonal lace up, but you don’t want black, so I’m going to take them for myself since my Mother pushed me toward black all my lifetime so I’m stuck there, now with these shoes which I adore. https://en.hatchingroom.com/product/jazz-shoes-black-restock/3919/category/224/display/1/
Thank you for pointing us toward “jazz shoes”!
Love the jazz shoes! Wish they came in brown. Might get them anyway….
I do see some around that are brown…https://www.soeur.uk/products/derbies-orso-marron-cha0960orso26smar88?variant=57911333126518
Flo, those are bellisima!
Thank you for the link. Turns out, I find in further research, that these kinds of shoes are in fact a Thing. They are called glove shoes, and Vogue wrote about them earlier this year. I was not foreseeing trends, I was absorbing the Zeitgeist. Proenza Schuler makes them, and so does Loewe! I want to find something slightly less pricey, but, I sense they are out there. Dance on:)
YES. Look for literal “shoes that professional dancers wear”! Ballroom, jazz, it’s going to 1. be durable-ish and 2. not kill your feet, so at that point choosing can fall back more on aesthetics which is more fun anyway.
(I wore literal ballet flats, in white, at my wedding. Didn’t hear a peep from my feet the entire day, which was the goal! Celebration clothes should, in my opinion, not interrupt celebration…)
That is an excellent way to look at it. Celebration clothes should NOT interrupt celebration, even if that celebration is just the joy of a dinner out with my husband and a walk home in the dark.
Meet the “Everlane Day glove” – https://www.everlane.com/products/womens-leather-day-glove2-cocoa
[I feel so cool. I now know to put “glove” into the search field without specifying Shoe.]
Excellent! Now just to find one with laces that has that gorgeous soft leather.
Ann Mashburn lug sole loafers are my latest jam. But my Manolo Carolynes remain in the closet at ready…
I love Ann Mashburn’s style – her orange silk shift remains one of my fave pieces. And booyah for independent brands. Question – do her shoes feel OK on the foot? (I had to sell my Carolyne slingbacks. They just wouldn’t stay on! Beautiful shoe though.)
I’ve only purchased the suede loafers and they feel great. So good that I now have them three colors. The Ann Mashburn Liberty shirts are also excellent.
Here I am praying my boots and clogs all hold together so I don’t have to replace them anytime soon! On the hunt for my next shoe: a cute-but-supportive black flat, not sporty looking — so if anyone has ideas I’d love to hear them.
Ha! I know. Once we find our special shoes we do not want them to decay. The flat you are looking for, laced or loafer style?
I’m an Ecco Soft 7 convert. Have a stash, including gold, in a half size bigger than my usual. A lot of sneakers are too flat and I have a high arch and these are fine. Lace up. I call them my concession to age but don’t feel that way when I wear them.
Gold, now that’s fun. I used to wear those, and they were super comfortable and very cute. Somehow as I’ve aged they don’t work for me as well, but they are great shoes.
I just discovered the “Comfortiva” brand, which is (I think) a sister-brand to Sofft. Their shoes seem to be in the $100-150 range. Would recommend if you have wide feet! Definitely the widest feel and fit, among the brands I have liked for non-sneakers (Sofft and Dansko). For sneakers, I have been an Altra fan for years, on account of the absolutely enormous toe-box.
Aetrex is another brand in that price range that has a Sofft and Dansko flavor and is also good for wide feet!
Excellent having these recommendations. You too, @SR!
I ordered a new pair of work out shoes online today. Not at all exciting like what you are looking at, but it is what I desperately need at this time. Next purchase?? I also need a new yoga mat. Guess my life doesn’t demand dressy shoes at this moment. And that’s fine with me. :)
I mean, that’s the thing. Almost all of the dress up shoes I bought 10 years ago still work, so why buy new ones? The only ones that are tricky are my Paul Green pumps, as I think they’re now a half size too small. I can’t tell you how excited I was to find the $40 workout shoes I linked to above, AKA my duck feet.
Still have narrow feet after all these years…up from an 8 1/2 AAA to a 9 AA but still manage to fit into the the narrow last of Ferragamos, sobered up a bit now with wedge heels for better support when walking or dancing. Grateful that I never went in for the fashion for crazy high heels or toe-pinching slingbacks, my feet thank me for it now.
Not that I didn’t go in for some of the crazy fashions of the 60s and 70s, the orange flower pant suits, the hair set on huge (think orange juice cans) rollers, glad I got it out of my system then… Youth is a time for a bit of craziness.
Youth is a time for a bit of craziness, and orange pantsuits sound to me like the best sort. Congratulations to your feet for their good behavior:)
You can’t live in sneakers (trainers over here) in a wet climate like the UK or you get foot rot!
I do have a few pairs for dry days. Otherwise I’m wearing black patent lace ups (patent is surprisingly waterproof), green patent Grensons and Penelope Chivers black Chelsea boots.
I would love to be able to wear a heel but that ship has sailed.
Green patent Grensons sound profoundly cool. I often find patent leather too stiff these days, but it’s also true that they can make it comfortable if they allow a crinkle or too.
Every year when it starts raining in California I am surprised.
I agree with Judy that my life no longer requires fancy shoes. Five mile walk or run? Newest pair of Brooks. Going to the gym to lift weights? Second newest pair of Brooks. Running around to do errands? Third newest pair… You get the drift! Also agree with M re: narrow feet! Finding shoes in narrow sizes is so challenging. (Brooks carries a narrower width.) I have a closet of work shoes, most of which I haven’t worn since the pandemic/work from home! (Thankfully, I don’t wear a 13AAAA like my mother did. She had such a difficult time finding work shoes that she’d buy multiple pairs when she found one in stock.)
And, Maureen, here in the wet climate of the pacific northwest, I’m waiting for the rain to pull out the lug soled Chelsea boots! Rock on.
Ha! We live multi-sneaker lives now, do we not? Lug soled Chelsea boots are a classic. And when my daughter lived in Seattle during her residency she lived in her Blundstones, which I believe have followed her to the East Coast.