One of my pet peeves is hot feet, and I live in a warmer climate. Just thinking about the discomfort of having hot, sweaty feet in shoes and socks makes my skin crawl. So that plus the fact I have feet of iron makes me Team Sandals:)

From a safety perspective, it makes DH nuts that I wear Crocs sandals in the barn, and I know he's right, but I can't bring myself to wear socks and boots in the summer. For all other occasions, I'm nearly always in sandals with the occasional pair of pumps or flats with bare feet.

I love sandals. Born and raised in Southern California, I love sandals. I love having my toes free. I like a baggy pair of jeans and a pair of flip flops. Not stylish I know but sentimental.

Another So Cal girl here! The culture here is bare toes, all the time!

Well, Mary. I might just bare my toes next weekend - Southern California style

My summers are way hotter and I wear sandals from about November til April.

I would wear ballet flats on cooler days and in November and April if I could find ones but I have given up on them. If I wear shoes, I tend to prefer to wear them with socks, with a few exceptions, so making them too hot an option.

I had to do a lot of searching to find my last summer sandals, but once found, am happy to wear them for ages

Angie, do you have any extra wiggle room in your closed shoes? I wonder if that's it. I have none at all and I can't size up without a poor fit. But it means if my feet even swell a tiny bit, my shoes will be too tight.

I purchase my shoes so that I have extra wiggle room, Maya. And the leather MUST be soft. So in the morning, my shoes always feel at their tightest - but no too tight, because the soft leather helps that side of things.

It's and art and science dressing my commuting feet.

Angie, I am so jealous of you and everyone else who can wear closed toe shoes without socks! This year, I pretty much went straight from boots to sandals. The heat and more unpleasantly the humidity here in the Northeast US means that my feet sweat and stick in closed toe shoes after just a few minutes of walking. Even the softest leather shoes tend to rub the tops of my toes if I don't have socks.

I am currently searching for some cute higher-vamp oxfords that I can wear with secret socks, though. As a bonus, they'll stay on my feet much better than ballet flats will anyway.

I just got these at REI. Reviews are mixed, but sometimes the nylon ones don't work so well.
http://www.rei.com/product/781.....cks-womens

I think I am somewhere in between. My favorite shoes this summer are three pairs of peep-toe shoes.

I'm neutral -- we don't have to pick a team, right? I have few sandals, more closed-toe shoes and boots: olive t-strap wedges, Chaco athletic sandals, 3 pairs of flip flops, and if you include peep-toe slingback dress heels, that's 6 total. I want to buy 1 more pair of sandals (another thread) b/c I do think I would get at least a few months use out of them. I also can wear closed-toe shoes in the summer without socks or hose, but not if it's really hot b/c then my feet will swell and blister (and stink, sorry, but true). I do like wearing shoes without hose when the weather calls for it.

Socks make the biggest difference for me. The weather has to be quite warm for me to give up socks/tights on my feet. Once I do, I don't find that open or closed toes make much difference for me, comfort or warmth-wise.

I'm also happiest with socks and close-toed shoes! I can't be comfortable with cold feet

I'm in So Cal but I don't feel too hot in closed-toe shoes, granted it's not humid here. Going back many years when I would occasionally try sandals, I never found any that were comfortable so I don't miss them at all.

Annagybe, I have those too. You will find they stick better to the feet because being thicker, it leaves less room between your feet and the shoe for them to move around and slip out.

However, they tend to get hot, and precisely because they leave less room inside the shoe, they could make the shoe tighter (sometimes, with some shoes, and depending on the weather).

All nylon ones are not equal. I have found that:

The low cut ones tend to slip out of the feet inside the shoe easier than others.

Some of them contain cotton which helps greatly towards the slipping-out problem. Too much cotton is not good though.

A silicone grip also helps greatly.

Here are some by C. K. that have worked for me.

http://www.essentialapparel.co.....D=popshops

More $$$ but cheaper in the long run, pun intended.

Khrisindoux I'm glad you recommended the calvin klein ones I've been umming and arring about ordering these because they are expensive and was worried in case they didn't work x

I second those CK liners with silicon grips although I wear them mostly for airports and warmth. Maya, you don't wear leather, do you? I suspect that is a big part of closed shoes not being comfortable in hot weather for you. Mine need to be leather or fabric to breathe and also have wiggle room. My favorite pair of flats for hot weather are leather and perforated with little cutouts or fabric. It also helps to have a textured surface under the foot for more air accessibility and to discourage slippage of the foot inside the shoe.

Yay another recommendation thanks Joy I'm off to order some. I have some from M&S with grips in the back but they've stopped selling them. I wear them most days in the spring summer unless wearing sandals so I need to stock up x

Except for 5 years, I have lived most of my life in hot weather. Despite all that, my favourite footwear that I wish I could wear everyday for the rest of my life are flat boots

I actually do wear leather shoes, Joy.

This absolutely makes sense to me, then again, I'm one of the "sandals, almost never" people. For all the reasons that have already been mentioned actually.

Our climate doesn't give me much opportunity to wear them. And even on hot days I don't find them all that comfortable + my feet get cold very quickly, so I can only wear them as long as the sun is out. In the evenings, when it starts to get chillier, I need to change into closed-toed shoes anyway.
And oh Julie! I know exactly what you mean about the showers, I cannot stand that either!!-)

If it were only about comfort I'd be wearing thin cotton ankle socks and skechers shapeups in summer but not a fashionable look. My feet sweat alot so when they rub it's not nice. I prefer sandals with large straps and always wear footglide to keep blisters away. I wear closed toes when my pedi is a disaster but have to put powder in the shoe and end up leaving little puffs of smoke in my wake.