I work at a library and am on my feet a lot of the time shelving books and running the circulation desk.  My boss is allowing me to wear sneakers.  I have a lot of nice dress shoes but some will even bother my feet sitting down.  I don't go all out.  Just a pair of knit trousers and a knit shirt so sneakers look okay.  My one or two skirts are demin or khaki so this will work too.  This will help a lot with the shoe budget.  I can also walk to my new job so there is no need to change shoes when I get there. 

 Hi ... Your dress code sounds wonderful ... I can not understand why most businesses do not adapt to a more 'comfortable' style - happy employees always make happier customers.

Shoe companies really should do something about making shoes comfortable and nice looking too.  Easy Spirit tried this for awhile but I found their shoes to be more hype than practical and useful. There should also be more nice looking flats available.  All the pretty shoes seem to be in high heels only.  Edey

Edey:

Shoe companies really should do something about making shoes comfortable and nice looking too.

 

I agree with that. Try to find a comfortable pair of shoes to wear to a wedding where you have to stand the entire time! I can't wear heels at all any more, won't even attempt them.

Once upon a time, I worked for a fancy shoe store as a salesperson. One dress shoe company that I liked and considered buying (with my discount, when and if they ever go on sale) is a brand called Sofft. I have high arches and refuse to wear high heels, but if I had to wear them, I would wear Soffts. They are expensive - you're looking at least $80-$100 a new pair.

On a side note, part of my job was fitting people's feet and putting on their shoes for them, so I have seen many different shapes and sizes of women's feet. I have seen feet without toes and broken feet that were poorly reset and feet from women who wore high heels for forty years. I didn't care for high heels before, but I will never wear them continually after seeing what they can do to feet, day after day after year after year.

 

 

 When you think about it, high heels is a little weird... (just my opinion! LOL) 

The best pair of shoes I ever had was Dr. Scholl's. I bought a pair the day before we went on vacation where we were going to have to walk a lot - kind of dumb, I know, but I didn't think about it. I walked for hours almost every day and only after I got home did I wonder why my feet didn't even hurt.  I've bought Dr. Scholl's since then, and while they seem comfortable, none have fit as well as that one pair.

They do make some nice looking shoes, but nothing that's really dressy.

If you can buy shoes a little large, and add a pair or two of innersoles, your feet will be a lot happier.  Fred's now has double-thick innersoles and I use one pair of those, plus one pair of gels, in my work shoes.  

I have fond memories of some beige wedge-heel Naturalizer pumps which never gave me trouble.  The other so-called comfortable heels aren't. 

Good ol' polyester single-knit imitation khaki washes in little water and dries fast, wears well if you don't snag it.  Luckily, librarians never have to be clotheshorses!  Happy for you.

Joyous:

Once upon a time, I worked for a fancy shoe store as a salesperson. One dress shoe company that I liked and considered buying (with my discount, when and if they ever go on sale) is a brand called Sofft. I have high arches and refuse to wear high heels, but if I had to wear them, I would wear Soffts. They are expensive - you're looking at least $80-$100 a new pair.

On a side note, part of my job was fitting people's feet and putting on their shoes for them, so I have seen many different shapes and sizes of women's feet. I have seen feet without toes and broken feet that were poorly reset and feet from women who wore high heels for forty years. I didn't care for high heels before, but I will never wear them continually after seeing what they can do to feet, day after day after year after year.

 

I have flat feet, plantar fasciitius, and heel spurs so buying shoes is very hard for me and I dread doing it.   Occasionally, I do find shoes that feel pretty good but can't buy them because they don't fit my heel.  I need a medium width across the toes and a narrow heel width.  Do you know if there are any shoe brands that make combination width shoes anymore?  When I was a kid combination widths seemed pretty common.

 

 

 

We didn't sell combination widths, sadly, and I don't know any brands off the top of my head that do. What I can tell you is that it's worth it to have your feet measured newly every few years, especially if your body has undergone a major change recently (pregnancy, menopause, weight loss or gain, surgery of any kind . . .) Just as in women's clothing sizes, there are not standard measurements for women's shoe sizes in US sizes (European sizes are most predictable - I don't have experience with Australian sizes) so a "size 7" can be dramatically different from brand to brand and even shoe to shoe. I hate shoe shopping too, and can only imagine the challenge with heel spurs and everything. You can request or buy heel inserts to make a heel "more narrow." Our store even gave them just for the asking. A customer could come in and say, "I bought shoes from you three months ago and now I need heel inserts for them" and we would give them. We had nicer ones for sale. Have you used heel inserts before?

Edey:

Shoe companies really should do something about making shoes comfortable and nice looking too.  Easy Spirit tried this for awhile but I found their shoes to be more hype than practical and useful. There should also be more nice looking flats available.  All the pretty shoes seem to be in high heels only.

I quite agree. Though I'm just shy of five feet tall and thus "should" wear heels all the time, I own only one pair, which is reserved for extra-dressy occasions when I know I won't have to be walking any distance. (So far, I think I've worn them once, at a cousin's wedding. Luckily they only cost $10 at Payless.) During the winter, I wear my boots nearly every day (in fact, it's about time to get them resoled) and during the summer, my Teva sandals. For spring and fall, my everyday shoes are canvas "comfort mocs" from L.L. Bean--a bit dressier than sneakers, but just as comfortable for walking. I have a hard time finding shoes that fit (my feet are a wide size), so when I find a pair I like, I tend to wear them day in, day out until they fall apart.