Your type of dress shoes

[shootingstar]

I thank my lucky stars that I bought a pair of black leather dress slingback heels 6 yrs. ago, with slightly low and toe pointy yet stable for walking..um... 1 km. or so. Great for the office and weddings. It's a classic style that is comfortable but elegant in a non-wobbly way for me. For me, it's tough to find dress shoes like this under $100.00 without killing my feet after 2 hrs. of solid standing around.

But in looking at dress shoes recently for nice business wear, it depresses me slightly.
I have worn customized orthotics for over 18 yrs. So either I buy, wear shoes that cannot take my orthotics (which I do. 50% of my shoes can't fit orthotics.) or I just buy casual, lower shoes that are wide and deep enough to take my orthotics.

And I never wore 3-4 inch spikes before orthotics. Last time I wore high wedgie like heels was a teen.

Maybe I'm getting old. Or maybe it's just me, so used to cycling..and caring less and less about fashion.

[murielalex]

I have bad feet (left extreme pronation; right ankle on a tilt the other direction due to arthritis) of different sizes. Shoe shopping depresses me. I have two pair of really old dress shoes that I can wear for an hour or two at most, and I break those out maybe one or twice a year. I'm in the same boat as you with orthodics and trying to find cute, professional shoes that work. I'm lucky that I can dress a bit casually at work, but I'm always on the lookout for a good new shoe, but usually leave stores empty handed. I love wearing dresses, but don't anymore due to not even finding sandals that work for me. If any one has suggestions, I'm very interested.

[shootingstar]

Here they are. Heel is comparatively "conservative"/low to many other styles. I seldom wear these dress shoes at work, that when I do, people seem to notice me more. I think it's the gentle flapping of the shoe when I walk around. I do tend to wear other dress shoes that are a more wider, "librarian" low stacked heel. I can't even wear dance /ballerina like pumps. I've been told by podiatrist not wear them because it causes my toes to grip slightly to hold my shoe in place while I walk along...So hence, my feet ache pretty quickly.

[Aggie_Ama]

I prefer to buy very classic styles that I can wear for years and prefer a 2.5-3" heel myself. I also prefer a rounded toe mostly because I wear an 8.5 and feel the pointed toes make my feet look big, I am only 5'2" so I feel like my feet are large for my size. I wish I wore a smaller size. We went to a casual style at work last year so I find it a bit hard to walk in heels now, I hate that because I felt like I was good at it before!

[emily_in_nc]

Or maybe it's just me, so used to cycling..and caring less and less about fashion.

This is totally me. I can't even imagine trying to wear the very high heels that the younger gals wear now. 2" is my max. At my height (5'2"), anything else just looks presumptious and is so flipping uncomfortable...forget it.

And after living in Belize for 1.5 years and barely wearing any shoes at all other than flip-flops (and trail runners for hiking/travel), I can't imagine wearing any heels at all. I have some similar to yours, shootingstar, back at my Mom's, but they have a much lower heel. They are my funeral shoes. Not shoes I ever look forward to wearing! Other than that, I so rarely dress up, flats are fine.

[Koronin]

First I can't wear heels of any kind at all. So anything with any heel is out. Basically I'll either wear my black non slip work shoes (which look dressy enoug) or my pair of Columbia brand walking type tennis shoes. All the other shoes I own are LA Gear tennis (type) shoes. If I absolutely have to be a bit dressier than either of those I have a pair of white cowboy boots. That's it.

[shootingstar]

I cannot wear flat dress nor casual shoes....at all. Except for flip flops to a hot tub.

I cannot wear any dress shoes where my arch shows..meaning zero support.

What's sandals? I haven't worn sandals..in the past 15 years! I'm not kiddin'. I also haven't bothered to buy cycling sandals or hiking sandals. I really must wear shoes with orthotic supports when I go hiking, even gentle hiking.

[Catrin]

I've quite high arches, and the back half/ankle of one foot has been reconstructed. I MUST have good arch support. I haven't needed orthotics (which really didn't work anyway) since I lost my weight but I must have arch support. I've comfortable shoes I can wear with slacks and jeans that are fine, but finding a pair of dress shoes that actually look good with a dress or skirt is quite the challenge.

I do like Clarks and generally have good luck with their shoes, I've several pair of backless sandals (no traditional heel, but they aren't flat) that look fine, but I want a decent pair of closed shoes with a low heel. They have one or two models with SOME arch support that I really like, but it really isn't enough. I will look around at other brands but that may be as good as it gets. The salesman at the Clark's store told me they can build up the arch support for me a bit if I need them to so that was good to hear. I am not in a rush so I want to look around before making up my mind.

[amb]

I have messed up feet myself - 12+ months of plantar fasciitis back in '07. I pretty exclusively only wear "sensible" shoes which is a bummer bc I'm 35 and I'd like to be more fashionable sometimes. My workplace is casual also though so that helps. Dansko is my favorite brand.

Here's my favorite shoe (it's way lighter than a typical dansko): http://www.zappos.com/dansko-abby-bl...130217142017:s

And this is my favorite sandal (I have both brown & black): http://www.thewalkingcompany.com/dan...id-black/12125

I can wear both of these all day (without my orthotics) and be 100% comfortable. When I do have to dress up (wedding or whatever), forget it. I usually have too casual footwear or my feet hurt.

[Crankin]

I wish I could wear very high heels, but I don't. My dress shoes are usually between 1.5 and 2.5 inches. I have a couple of chunkier heel types/wedges that are 3." I don't have any super unusual foot issues, except a bunion on my left foot, which is already half a size larger than my right, and narrow heels. This, coupled with small feet makes buying dress shoes challenging. I am fine if I stick to European brands. I wear a 5.5 in closed heel pumps and it's not hard to find a size 36 in brands like Naot. Fortunately, there is a high end shoe store in my town that has a discount room full of these brands, but you have to keep going back to find what you want. They do have small sizes, though. I don't have issues with casual shoes. Also, I can't wear dress flats or ballet flats. They make me look dumpy, anyway.