Your type of dress shoes

[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.

[Kathi]

Fortunately, my lifestyle is pretty casual. My shoes are pretty much minimalist, even when going out. I have a couple of pairs of Mary Jane style shoes that I wear with slacks. It's easy to get by with here because Denver is a pretty casual city. I mostly wear my Lems, Kigos and 5 finger shoes. When traipsing back and forth to the Mt's I do wear my Scarpa hiking boots or Merrell snow boots.

I was diagnosed with chondromalacia and wore, and swore by, orthotics for years. The ball of my left foot was so painful I couldn't walk on that foot. Then I started having SI joint issues. One PT I saw asked me why I wore orthotics as he didn't think I needed them. After my SI joint was diagnosed and corrected the foot and knee pain went away so I weened myself off of the orthotics. I only use ESoles in my bicycle shoes and Superfeet in my ski boots to take up the volume (small foot). I have high arches and think they are stronger now without support. I also have had ACL surgery on my right knee and my PT said the ACL is very strong. Now a shoe with any kind of heel is uncomfortable as I feel like my posture is being thrown off balance. I believe that the orthotics contributed to my SI joint issues. Of course, no one in the medical community will verify that.

[malkin]

If I have to walk, my feet can't look pretty.
If my feet look pretty, I can't walk.

[carlotta]

I rarely need to wear dress shoes (lab footwear usually consists of clogs/birks/merrels/chacos), but I usually just wear Dansko/Sanita clogs if I'm going slacks-dressy. If I'm skirt-/dress- dressy, I've been known to wear nice flip flops or some other kind of flat sandals depending on how formal the occasion is (or the clogs, if it's winter and heavy-tights weather, I think that looks ok). I have a number of pairs of good ~4" heels that I enjoy wearing, but if I'm out with the BF I'll usually go for flats since we're the same height.

[Kernyl]

I broke the ball of my left foot years ago. It never healed well and it can still bother me sometimes, especially if I wear heels. So those are reserved for weddings and special occasions.
I have narrow feel and my left foot is a half size bigger than my right. Several years ago I injured my achilles in my right ankle. This all has made shoe shopping difficult.
I look for flats, but I can't wear a lot of the ballet style because my feet are narrow, they fall right off. Plus, I don't honestly find them that comfortable to walk in for very long. However, I have found Reef flip flops to work for casual summerwear, I'm not sure why.
For winter casual wear I usually wear sneakers or sneaker type. I prefer more minimal running shoes (lower heel toe drop) as my achilles seems to feel better in them. My casual sneakers also tend towards lower heel drops, so when I wear anything even with a slight heel, I really notice it. A lot of dress shoes, even those considered flat, still have a bigger heel than my casual shoes. But I make do...
I have found Clark's to be a good brand for me, they sometimes have narrow shoes, which is great and even their normal width is not too sloppy on me. I also have a pair of Nauturalizer Mary Jane's that work well. Summer dress shoes are actually the hardest thing for me.