On footwear (210/365)

[white_hart]

The hardest thing about going back to working in the office after 15 months of working remotely is having to wear shoes all day. I much prefer wearing slippers or just going barefoot or in socks, but the state of my office floor means that even without considerations of professionalism, barefoot really isn't an option at work.

I'm also finding that walking 1.8 miles each way on pavements is very different from going for morning walks in the countryside and my feet are definitely feeling the strain. This is probably partly because I'm not wearing my proper walking shoes, because I've been trying to manage without bringing spare shoes to work to change into or getting back into keeping shoes in the office (I still have a lot of shoes in the office, but none of them I shoes I would actually wear any more, and I've lost the distinction between "work" and "non-work" clothes enough that none of the shoes I do want to wear are ones I want to leave in the office and not have access to if I want them), and my walking shoes are definitely too hefty to wear all day.

I'm seriously wondering whether I should just get some work slippers. As long as they weren't fluffy, would people even notice?

Comments

[cmcmck]

Something like moccasins maybe?

[clanwilliam]

See if you could get a pair of Skechers memory foam soled shoes in plain black? Mine were useless outside for any sort of walking distance in a city, but are living a happy second life as neatly fitting house slippers.

[alithea]

I sincerely doubt anyone will notice. I wore slippers in the office when we had awful weather and I'd walked into work in snow boots which I did not want to wear all day and literally *one* person noticed, and those were fake fur booties so arguably 'fluffy'. And that was one person out of an entire floor of open plan office, so maybe 30 people?

[mountainkiss]

I do not know if this is generalisable but I am quite clear that when I get back to the office, I am going to keep a pair of Ugg boots there and I will live in them for ten months of the year. My clients can choose between Ugg boots and stockinged feet.

[caulkhead]

I decided months ago that I was going to buy slippers for the office. Suppose I'd better get round to it now I'm going back in mid August!

[lilysea]

I'm seriously wondering whether I should just get some work slippers. As long as they weren't fluffy, would people even notice?

I bought these super comfy but professional looking wool slip ons that might interest you?

They come in a range of colours

https://www.allbirds.com/products/womens-wool-loungers

[mrs_redboots]

Definitely go for it. As long as they don't look like slippers (i.e. not fluffy or tartan) nobody is going to notice - or care, I expect, if they did. It is only sense not to wear the same shoes indoors as out of doors and your feet need a break. I wore black ballet flats at the office for years!

[musesfool]

I used to keep a pair of Isotoner ballerina slippers in my desk at work for exactly this purpose. No one ever noticed they weren't street-ready shoes.

[anna_wing]

Simple pumps from one of the orthopaedic shoe companies or the ones that do comfortable styles like Clarks in the UK? Oxford-style walking shoes are good too, in my experience, and don't need to be changed in the office. I discovered recently the joy of buying shoes from specialist ballroom dance shops and having them re-soled. The training or teaching models are often very like Oxfords, and extremely comfortable.