To tell someone they shouldn't wear brown shoes in the evening is so old fashioned. If you are going out to a pub or a casual cafe for supper, there is nothing wrong with wearing a pair of suede bucks or cordovan loafers with khaki slacks and a polo shirt.

Not all Fodorites are collecting Social Security checks, sweetie darling.

Even for three to five months in Europe I normally take two pairs of shoes total. One is a pair of Eccos -- I can't believe I don't see them on Bardo's link. They are black and a sort of cross between their casual and dress models -- actually called "cross". They are super comfortable for walking, but dressy enough for dress. Then I also carry a similar pair of brown or tan, slightly more casual shoes, usually Ecco, but I have a pair of Bjorn's that I'm really crazy about. I will say that the summer we spent a lot of time in Greece and Turkey I did also take a pair of Ecco sandals. I did plan on wearing shorts a lot (and did) and also knew I'd sometimes be going to the beach or the water in swim trunks. I'm not going to wear regular shoes with that!

Robjame, are these similar to the style of Rockports that you bring?

http://tinyurl.com/27gmlk

jen - I think your question was fine. Some haven't had their coffee yet.

The Rockports I wear are:

http://tinyurl.com/32pxm4

Cycle through the colors to "tumbled black" or "tumbled brown". If he doesn't wear brown... don't buy them. I agree with marg, that brown at night do fine.
I agree with ira about switching pairs every day and I really like having 2 pairs of the same kind of shoe that fit exactly the same, and are equally as comfortable. Otherwise I always gravitate back to the pair that I prefer slightly more than the other.

If he hasn't worn shoes like this they are sooo comfortable especially compared to dress shoes. In any case make sure they are worn for a couple of weeks before you go and I swear by those gel insoles that you can buy at any shoe store.
The sandals won't take upo any room so throw them in and don't even count them.
I am fussy about foot comfort as nothing spoils a day more than blisters.

I personally would take:
- sandals (men in Europe do wear shorts; especially in the mountains, little less in the cities, but still not uncommon!)
- athletic or hiking shoes (men in Europe do wear athletic or hiking shoes; both in and out the cities)
- a somewhat dressier shoe for the city

For the dressier shoe; a type of shoe you see a lot in Europe at the moment, are shoes like these: http://www.uncrate.com/men/style/sho...ers-002935.php

They are comfartable yet still dressy enough to go to a restaurant with them. They look great with shorts/khakis/jeans and even a suit-type-pant.

Robjame - Thanks, we both really like those.

jenblase---my husband has Rockport cap toe oxfords that have a steet sole and are dressy enough for dinner most anywhere, but comfortable enough that he has walked all over Paris and Venice in them.

http://tinyurl.com/2e3eh6

He takes those, plus hiking boots for hiking, and sandals for wearing in our apartment in the evening (after hiking). Three pair.

I take 4.

While it is important to pack light, it is also important to have the right shoes for all your different activities that you plan---and that are your reason for going to Europe in the first place.

Otherwise you are "defeeting" the purpose of the trip.

Last summer we had the shoe issue as well - how to pack only 1 suitcase each and still take the shoes you need for all the activities? We wanted to travel with only a roller each and a daypack as well because we were going to be on trains and didn't want to have to hassle with a lot of stuff. I got all my stuff into my roller, but my husband's shoes were taking up too much space and he couldn't get everything into his.

He wanted to take tennis shoes, a pair of nicer black shoes, and sandals (which, BTW - worked great for everything we did).

We ended up taking an extra duffle bag because we couldn't quite get by with just the 2 rollerboards. We were able to strap the duffle to the top of one of the rollers when we moved around so we didn't actually have to "carry" an extra bag - it just went along for the ride with one of the rollers. It worked out well.

I'm going to weigh in for whatever it's worth. I have not read all the responses, but I did see something in a followup from jenblase. She said her husband-to-be doesn't (generally) wear black shoes. Neither do I. When I travel, I take a reasonably nice pair of brown shoes and a pair of shoes in which I can walk/hike/surf/parasail/deep-seafish, etc. My wife and I have been to many a fine restaurant in most major cities in Europe and elsewhere where I wore my brown shoes. I always managed to fit into the crowd.

I'm only going to weigh in because I've been to Joel Robuchon's Atelier (in Paris), and there is nothing wrong at all with wearing decent-looking Eccos, etc to that restaurant. That's not some fancy, dressy restaurant, it's pretty casual because it only has a bar to begin with (ladies sitting at bars are not exactly formal). I don't know about the other restaurant.

There are some of those tie walking shoes that look better than others, so you just need a little taste. I used to date a guy who wore these expensive Merrell walking shoes out to dinner in a quasi-nice place and they were black -- however, they were really ugly because they went out of their way to give them light-colored stitching around the bottom and they had light beige laces (against black, mind you). They were really disgusting-looking, I thought he was out of his mind to wear those in public or to even buy them when there were so many other good choices. I can't imagine why Merrell designed such an ugly shoe. He had terrible taste in clothes, though.

So don't buy anything like that and wear them out to a restaurant. I think the brown vs. black thing is a matter of which goes best with what you are wearing otherwise. Usually black is most versatile, but brown would be better with dark greens or browns.

Christina, why would you go out with a guy wearing those shoes?

Now, wouldn't these shoes look cute in Europe. Talk about making a fashion statement. http://tinyurl.com/yt6695

LOL Budman - those are great!! Do you think those would be appropriate in Joel Robuchon??

Please don't buy a sports shoe/trainer and think that just because it is designer (and Hugo Boss is a very dubious "designer" label as really it's little more than one step up from the shiny suit brigade) you can wear it to smart places. There are so many people in London trying to get into nightclubs wearing their Prada Sport black trainers who think that just because they're Prada, they're smart enough. It's a bit like someone who is hopeless at tennis buying the latest racquet and expecting to play like a pro.

Buy your husband a proper pair of shoes, these are all leather, and are of loafer type style. Look at Dior Homme, YSL Rive Gauche, Jil Sander, etc. No ugly shoes please!

Jen..the black Ecco's are much better. Just my own taste.

In last Sunday's New York Times Men's style section there was a short piece on new "fashionsquot;

Sandals with socks
Lace up dress shoes with shorts

I can't find the link....the first looked awful to me and the second just looked silly...

The ugliest shoes ever made are those flesh-colored pleather ones with the off-white gum soles..the kind we used to see on Eastern European tourists in Europe years ago...

The sandals with socks look is the sort of thing that goes down a runway and that's where it ends. No one in a real life situation will look good with sandals and socks, and if they do look good then they'd look better if they ditched the socks, and sandals for my part. Some novice fashion journalist has picked up on this and decided to spark controversy and hope to see someone that's taken their advice and have a laugh at their expense.

As for Eccos, they're ok for arthritic ninety year olds.

I have some Eccos that are pretty nice, they have a wide variety of styles, I thought, I don't understand the comment about only being for 90 year olds.

As for why I went out with that guy -- well, when I met him, it was a very casual situation and jeans and trainers were appropriate attire, so I didn't know how he dressed when trying to be a grownup. I found out that he didn't own a proper pair of shoes and had these nerdy engineer habits of having cellphones draped all over his body just in any situation, and he wore those ugly black shoes with beige stitching along with a pair of polyester navy blue pants that were about two inches too long, even. I shudder to remember it. This was for a play and moderately nice restaurant. Oh, and on top of that he wore one of those straps behind his glasses to keep them on like people do who are either playing basketball or getting elderly and forgetful. He wore that throughout the dinner in the restaurant, also.

ugh, well, I don't go out with him anymore, I like guys who have some artistic vision, and I think that is part of it, actually, although people think it is superficial, I think it does reflect some aesthetics and taste, actually. I'm not at all picky about expensive or designer clothes, and don't even really go to top restaurants, but I do have my boundaries. Like I don't like a guy who lives in a really ugly place, either, with orange crates for bookshelves, etc., at the age of 45.

Perhaps you should find out about the shoe inspection rules in some restaurants. Customers must present their feet for inspection and if they are not wearing the proper shoes, the manager will refuse service.

In fact, some restaurants have special mirrors to reflect the shoes so that the inspection process is easier.

Some of these places have gotten very fussy about proper footgear in an effort to maintain high dress code standards and preserve the upscale image they are so desperately trying not only to achieve, but to maintain.

So under those conditions, perhaps 6 or 7 pairs of shoes would be in order.
Better still, wait until you are over there and then buy a pair of shoes suitable for the local city. Standards do vary, therefore there is no taking the risk that something brought from home might not pass inspection. Just wait until you are there and solicit local advice on what type of shoe constitutes the best fashion statement and buy accordingly.

Once back in the States, there are so few shoe standards that no one will pay any attention to what he wears. I live in a college town and I see everything from $400 Bruno Magli fancy dans to dirty flip flops with a broken strap.

Besides if he wears shoes made in Europe, he will not look as much like a tourist.

If you're trying to NOT look like an American, then I'd strongly suggest wearing the sandals with dark socks. Everyone will assume you are a German, not an American tourist.

I have one pair of Hi-Tec suede leather walking shoes. They are brown and at a pinch can pass as 'proper' shoes for restaurants (no on has complained yet!) They are very light and waterproof / breathable and great for trekking. This is all i take, though in summer months i add sandals (need a new pair....)