I was in London this weekend and had a marvelous time. The weather was absolutely lovely: sunny all weekend with temps around 24-25 °C (75-77 F), so I paid particular attention to what people were wearing on their feet (for lots of city walking in warmer weather).

It was ALL about practical, low-heeled footwear, both for tourists and Londoners! I think I only saw about 10 women wearing high heels, and that was for going out in the evening. Otherwise, not a single heel higher than 1/2-1 inch, and most shoes completely flat, actually.

- The big athletic sneaker ruled! It was everywhere. Nike, New Balance, Puma, Adidas, generic brands… Worn with trousers, shorts, skirts, dresses, all jeans silhouettes. With casual and more dressy outfits. Some bright-coloured styles, but most often neutral colours. So fun to see. And it makes a so much sense. Many people cover a lot of distance every day, and commute by bus or tube (lots of stairs to navigate).

- In second place were flat sandals (mostly strappy styles, some cage sandals) and round-toe ballet flats. Black, brown, white, cream, metallics, some bright colours but not a lot.

- Quite a lot of booties and ankle boots around too, despite the warm weather. And again, mostly dark and neutral colours.

- Some oxfords (as sported by the ladies, lots of blokes were wearing super smart outfits with oxfords), slipper flats and loafers, but not many at all.

- Nary a Birkenstock in sight. That kind of surprised me, because they are everywhere in Belgium. I didn't see more than 20 people sporting them, myself included

- Another surprise: there were plenty of pointy-toe shoes in the stores, but people in the street were not wearing them (yet).

Oh, and something else that really stood out to me: women in their twenties, thirties and forties wearing black nylons (not opaque) with shorter flared skirts or frocks (just above the knee to several inches above the knee) and flats (usually ballet flats, sometimes booties). Definitely a "mini trend" in London.

My feet were extremely happy in my white Birkenstocks, and in the white Propét sneakers that Angie also has (super comfortable and supportive for all day walking, I did add socks to protect the top of my heel).