Closed Shoes For Summer - YouLookFab Forum

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Closed Shoes For Summer

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

For many reasons, my feet do not like sandals, which is why I only have one pair. I prefer to wear ballet flats, mary janes, low heeled pumps, flat oxfords, closed toe slingbacks and loafers in the Summer time, regardless of the temperature (because of freezing cold a/c indoors). All sans socks.

Does this make sense to anyone else but me? Polly, Kari, Inge and Julie have hinted that they do the same.

Dressing

50 replies

Latest reply was from Jjsloane

Polly (thunalata)

Veteran

I do wear sandals in the summer when it is warm enough, but closed toes are a comfortable year round option for me. The UK has an unfortunate habit of getting chilly unexpectedly and I am rarely in a situation where I feel closed toes were a mistake.

My feet do like sandals, though, so I enjoy those when I can.

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

Makes great sense for your climate. It's already 93 degrees here and it's just the start of the summer heat. I am in my flip flops at home and open toed sandals out and about. Anything else is too suffocating.

Louise

Veteran

This makes total sense to me. I have 2 pairs of sandals and am steeling myself not to buy anymore because we just don't get consistently warm weather. I'm working on adding different shoe styles in summery colours to constitute my summer shoe wardrobe x

ButterflyLady

(website)

Veteran

I agree with Polly and Louise - I can wear sandals, but our weather is so unpredictable we just can't assume that it will be sandal weather from June to September! I love mary janes - I am very tempted by the pairs that Polly posted (ooh, nice bit of alliteration there!)

Maya

Veteran

It makes sense to me, even though I'm the opposite way.

Closed shoes that must be worn sockless are the most difficult and painful footwear for me, and the hotter it gets, the more painful it gets. My feet swell and somehow the heat makes me more blister-prone (and I'm already very blister prone). My toes tend to feel cramped in closed shoes in a way that doesn't happen with boots or sandals.

Therefore when the weather heats up, sandals work best for me. They allow my feet ventilation and also leave my toes free.

If I were in your climate, who knows. But here it's scraping 90 degrees already, and summer hasn't even started

Scarlet

Veteran

I would like to wear sandals more but since I can only really wear them on the weekend, I am glad that I have you and others here to inspire me with close-toed spring/summer footwear.

suzanne

I'm so sorry for your fussy feet, Angie! I have incredibly bony feet (go figure - the Lord gave me bony feet instead of beautifully bony collarbones). Bony feet dislike sandals or, for that matter, any nice or sexy shoes; they give me huge, unsightly red blisters. I wear semi-orthopedic sandals and flats (do you remember Green Cross?) and they (sort of) work. But... In my dreams I flaunt drop dead gorgeous, high heeled RED sandals.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I have been thinking on this of late due to my ankle injury a few months back. I never had fussy feet. I waitressed for 20 years (up and down stairs in many of my workplaces!) and am used to standing for 10+ hours at a time. Then I sprained my ankle. And couldn't wear regular shoes. Now I am getting blisters and sore feet and all the ailments of you fussy footers! This leads me to believe it's very much like weight training - you have to start small and work your way up. I truly believe if one gradually exposes the body to whatever stressor - whether that's getting in your first mile of running on the way to doing a marathon, or wearing ballet flats with no hosiery for 4 hours - you will eventually adapt. My own formerly unfussy feet becoming tender and persnickety in a matter of 3 months is a great example. I mean, I literally ran a half marathon the day before the injury, with nary a blister! Now I walk less than 2 miles in the course of a day and have 3 blisters. I am going to have to embark on a footwear break-in program around the house it seems if I am to get back to former unfussy levels!

Sparky

Veteran

I totally get this! I wear sandals and closed-toe shoes equally during the warmer months. Closed-toe summer shoes include ballet flats, my Converse and Privo sneaks, and I have no problem wearing my pumps when the occasion calls for it. Sometimes wear peds with the sneakers but otherwise no socks with any of them. My kids, however, are wedded to their Keen sandals from now till either snow falls on the ground come winter or I successfully entice them with new shoes at the start of the next school year.

Maya

Veteran

I have worn painful flats without hosiery for four hours. Sometimes longer. Sometimes shorter. Trust me, it does not help. If anything it makes things worse (for example, I have a painful corn the size of a small tumor on my right little toe right now).

Debora

Veteran

Angie, I think climate has a lot to do with it. I"m in a hot climate and I live in sandals during the summer (it's going to be 96 degrees tomorrow). My feet swelter in closed toe shoes when it gets that hot.

Kari

Veteran

Yes, I pretty much do the same thing. For me, it isn't due to the comfort factor so much as it is that Seattle has very few truly hot days when ballet flats or slingback pumps would not be a practical alternative to sandals. I do enjoy my Clarks Bruleee sandals and Kenneth Cole Cedar City wedges, and I think both of them were good purchases because they are comfortable and versatile when I *can* wear them. (The Brulee sandals made it with me to Las Vegas and were perfect for walking up and down the Strip.) However, given how rarely I need to wear sandals, I think I'll probably wait until next summer season before I contemplate adding another pair.
I'm very glad that many places in Seattle do not crank up the air conditioner overly high in summer. I *hate* A/C - it always feels overly cold to me and often sets off my allergies.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Maya, I believe you. And I wouldn't want to walk in your shoes lol. I think *many* folks could adjust slowly, certainly not all! As for me, I find sandals more comfortable usually because there are less contact spots to rub for the most part. I think living in non rainy climates would impact your open or closed toeness the most, and then heat next. I wear sandals in TAhoe a lot even though it's not hot - it's pretty dry. It goes without saying that FL is sandal haven.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

This is very interesting!

Malina, your reasoning may work in theory - and maybe in practice for very lucky people like you! Unfortunately, no matter *what* I do, my feet grow fussier each year, and in different ways (complicated by the fact that I commute a lot on foot - most people in the US drive cars, which helps their fussy feet). But on the other hand, I have many, many clients with far fussier feet than I do, and I count myself very blessed. I am thrilled that you have a solution in place though

Polly, Louise, Sparky, Scarlet, Kari and Butterflylady, high five!

Maya, your reasoning makes sense because you have a wider foot, bunions and live in a hotter Summer. My feet do not swell during the day - they are more swollen first thing in the morning. Weird

Suzanne, yes! I remember Green Cross! I too have dainty bony feet with long toes = major un-sandal friendly feet.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

When I lived in HK, and Africa - MUCH hotter than here and most of the US, I rarely wore sandals either.

When it comes to footwear, I really should have been a boy. Wearing sturdy flat shoes with socks is most comfy.

Maya

Veteran

That's interesting Angie. I was always told that feet swell over the course of the day, with use, and are their smallest in the morning.

Maybe part of the reason you can wear closed shoes even in HK and Africa is because you run cold? I don't really run hot or cold. I'm just always uncomfortable :p But I definitely find heat less tolerable than cold.

I'd like to be a boy too, even though it sounds like much less fun.

Kari

Veteran

I tend to run cold, too. That could be a good point, Maya. (My boyfriend teases me for wearing flannel pajamas and sleeping under a down comforter through summer.)
However (and I hope this isn't TMI) I am also not among the lucky few who possess totally sweat-free feet, and slight foot sweat inside pumps creates friction and blisters in shoes that are normally very comfortable. It's more comfortable if I wear some form of tights under my pumps because it eliminates or absorbs any sweatiness. I guess it's lucky that I don't live in a very humid climate.

Marley

Veteran

I'm not a lover of sandals - but its because my feet just don't look very good in them - I'm one of those with bony feet and long toes and straps wrapped around bones with these long extensions off of the front are just NOT attractive! In So CAL on the beach it never seems so unbearably hot that I just can't tolerate closed toe shoes, so I usually stick with them all summer long.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Yes Angie, I have an aversion to getting caught in a shower whilst wearing sandals and in Scotland the chances of this happening are very high. I just hate the feeling of your foot slipping inside your sandal and every little bit of dirt on the street sticking to your toes as if magnetised so I opt for closed toe shoes 95% of the time.

Lisa

Veteran

I'm with Maya, my feet swell horribly during the day, the hotter, the bigger they get. If I am going sans socks I have to wear sandals, the more open, the better. For closed toe footwear in summer, I often wear footpeds, as I need something to absorb the sweat. I am a fan of closed toe shoes in summer, and my favorite pair is linen cowboy boots I picked up last year. I get to wear socks and the linen doesn't look too odd on a hot summer day.

Sarah

I don't love wearing sandals, which made me LOVE the Seattle climate while we lived there. Now that it's only the end of May and it's already upper 90s with 99% humidity I'm mostly strolling the house in flip flops and leaving the house in sandals and other slip ons.

Anonymous

I live with hot humid summers but don't always wear sandals. I find them more likely to rub than a closed shoe. Maybe it's the straps. My feet get more caloused when not protected. I've also managed to injure my feet in horrible ways while wearing sandals..dropping a knife point down and slicing a toe, getting a pitchfork embedded in my foot gardening, tripping and twisting ankles wearing flipflops...
Angie, I'm with you most of the time. However, some days are just too hot not to bare the feet as much as possible. When my feet (which usually run cold) are hot, I'm miserable. If I lived in Seattle I'd not need the sandals.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Sandals like my feet, but I don't have that many pairs. Mostly I wear closed-toe shoes, but it's because I live in the Pacific Northwest, like you, so it rarely gets all that hot. If it does, I'm wearing flip flops. (Gasp!) But seriously, I'm a mom, so for the two weeks per year that it's boiling hot, I'm probably also wearing a bikini top and cropped yoga pants. Fashion goes right out the window, and I couldn't care less. I hate being hot, so it's all about comfort. It's not like I have to go into the office or anything.

Now, if I lived in a climate where it was hot all summer, I'd have to rethink things, and get some nicer hot weather clothes and some more sandals. If it gets much past 80 degrees, my feet get all sweaty in closed-toe shoes, which is the worst.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Oh no, Joy! Being stabbed by a pitch folk sounds horrendous. You keep those pretty feet covered as much as possible - or walk bare feet at home

Elisabeth, where exactly do you wear this outfit: flip flops, a bikini top and yoga pants?

Lisa and Maya, I know. My morning foot swells are very odd. After a few hours, they feel normal in my shoes again. And honestly, I can pound the pavements of NYC with the best of them 100 blocks at a time - and my feet don't swell. However, I have never lived in your hot Summers. But I think to myself, I have lived in cities that are hotter or just as hot and have not had that problem.

Laura

(website)

Veteran

Personally, I am all for sandals and showing off my toes during the two months of year we call summer. I *hate* to get a pedi but put up with it for vanity's sake But I do agree that socks and closed-toe shoes are the most blister-proof option.

Aziraphale

Veteran

HAHAHAHA Angie -- yes, reading that back, it does sound bad, doesn't it? I assure you, I only wear the bikini top and flip flops around the yard, in the house, and to the pool/beach/water park with the kids. Seriously, it's Vancouver, it's only hot for a couple of weeks, and everyone's off on summer holiday. If I go to the grocery store, I put on a proper top. But I still wear the flip flops.

If I go out in the evening, or into town during the day, I of course wear much less indecent clothes!

yublocka

(website)

Veteran

In Melbourne we have a decently long sandals-wearing and boots-wearing season. Due to personal preference I own a lot more boots than sandals, so beefing up my sandals collection is actually something I plan to do this summer. Buying soft leather is key!

krishnidoux

Veteran

Angie, I'm the same. It was like this for me in Africa, in Greece, in B.C., in Seattle, in Eastern Canada... I love the look of smart sandals but even those that are supposed to be comfy end up serving as 2-4hr shoes. Even then.

I prefer like you closed toe shoes, ballet flats, flat mary-janes etc. I even wear foot line hose slips.
EDIT: I wear the slips with padded silicone gripped heels: I find that wearing the pad under the ball of the foot instead of under the heels is much more comfortable and that it stays in place better.

As we age the natural fat under and around the feet thins out.

Did you know that there is a procedure in which fat or a filler is injected under the feet to replenish that lost natural cushioning? It seems a bit extreme but maybe I'll be a candidate in a few years from now!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*sigh of relief* @ Elisabeth

Laura, I so don't enjoy a pedi either. But my feet are better for it.

Krishnidoux, I have heard of that procedure. And some women get botox injections in their feet to numb high heel pain.

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