What shoes to wear?
 

I am packing for a trip to NYC.
Here are the shoes women are wearing in Paris:
www.findingnoon.com

Are the same looks, ballerines, low boots and kitty kat heels in there, too? Also, the Paris sidewalks are murder on my heels. I am packing now, so any guidance will be appreciated. Merci!

comfortable walking shoes

Anything goes in NYC. But comfort is the priority, for me anyway.

All shoes should be comfortble. If you wear ugly shoes - your feet will look ugly. No doubt a bigger concern for you than for others. (Just like the French we CAN tell tourists from their clothes - if not their accents - and don't really care. But we do retain the right to laugh.)

Every shoe in the link would be appropriate in NY if you are a shoe/fashion person (even some of the brands are the same -- Tory Burch ballerinas, for ex., which are ubiquitous in San Francisco at least). And I think some of them are fabulous. But I wouldn't wear any of them as a tourist in NY! Comfortable but not ugly is my shoe mantra.

I wear platforms...stylish and comfortable. I have plantar fasciitis and flats are the worst for that! I also am 5'2" so no flats for me, ever. I wore Jimmy Choo platforms all over NYC last weekend.

Hi Phread - welcome to NYC!

It's been a wet, cold spring here too, well at least after the 80-degree temps in March! Finally supposed to be warming up today into the weekend...

I'd have to say the shoe styles in NYC are pretty much the same as you photographed in Paris, though I haven't seen those "kilim" styles yet. Any kind of boot at any time of year, too - I didn't see knee-high boots in your pics, but they're still in here.

As for sidewalks being murder on your heels, don't expect any different here. Less cobblestones, more potholes... If you think you'll be doing a lot of walking (museums, tourist sights), wear what you would be comfortable in for a long period of time - IMO, just like Paris!

* I have always been super-conscious of what I put on my feet in Paris. When I lived there as a student, the very first thing I bought were a pair of cheap-but-fashionable shoes so I wouldn't look like the <i>Américaine</i> - and then suffered terrible blisters and pinching for weeks LOL. There used to be such a difference in style! But IMO that difference has narrowed to the point of almost nonexistence. Voilà globalization!

What are you doing in New York City? If it's sightseeing, then I would wear comfortable walking shoes. Save the fashion statement for evening when you're going to a restaurant in a taxi.

Geesh - you women. My dad was a Podiatrist and you were his best customers - always trying to stuff your tootsies into tight, ill-fitting but very attractive shoes.

Wear what is comfortable - best for walking - and don't worry about it. At night - you can wear something more stylish out to dinner, etc.

Thanks all. I had six pairs out, think I've narrowed it down to 4. I purchased a gorgeous pair of relatively flat shoes last week and when I put them on to prep for the trip, they tore my feet apart!!!

I never travel with new shoes.

Personally, I think they boots in the second to last pic would be best for tromping around NYC all day. Then switch into something more chic for night (but still comfortable).

You will walk your feet off in NYC. You don't want your poor puppies barking (feet hurting) and burning while you are out- that is the WORST. Second worst is when they feel like that after you get back to the hotel.

Take some foot soak or get some at a Duane Reed drug store (they are all over Manhattan) and also some menthol/aloe foot rub. These are the ones I ALWAYS take to NYC w/me:

Johnson's Foot Soap (this is a fantastic mineral foot soak available from Amazon.com or other places online- soak for 10 min. and your sore feet will be back to normal, unless you have really damaged them w/blisters, etc)

Miracle of Aloe (the co.) makes a product called "Miracle Rub" that contains lots of aloe and menthol. OMG, when your feet hurt from walking so much this stuff really does the trick. soak in the Johnson's foot soap and then apply the miracle rub. Available online.

Those are my best secrets for dealing w/NYC walking and footwear.

Wear comfortable shoes.
New York City is a great city for walking.
See this week's "Modern Family."

HTTY

<<<See this week's "Modern Family.">>>

I just thought the same thing :-)

If you wear socks - and I realize many of you won't - change them during the day. That also helps keep the feet fresher.

And yes, soaking those barking dogs at night can help - as well as getting the load off with a cool one or two. :)

Geesh - I hardly ever watch the TV Soaps - and not Modern Family for sure.

Uno Mas - as Suze says: Never travel with new shoes!!! Try them on ahead of time and break them in - even if it's on your home carpet. Nothing like getting blisters, etc from a new pair of shoes and then saying to yourself: How could I have been such a dummy? ? ?

Nothing ruins a vacation faster than trying to walk on sore paws.

Forgot to add: Unless you are young and fit as can be (uber thin) - wear shoes with good support. I see these young gals in ballet slippers or stiletto heels and wonder how long it will be until they have some problems with their feet/lower extremities, but they just skip on along. :) (And yes, do look cute in them!!!)

Boots are NOT the best thing to wear all day. the weather is getting warmer and your poor feet will be burning in boots - never mind how overheated the rest of you will be. Wear comfy flat or low wedge heels - whatever is comfy for walking several miles. (On the weekend I have several pairs of pretty skechers mary janes that I wear - can walk in forever with not a twinge.) Just be aware that pavements can be uneven and that many streets have gratings (providing air to subway) so you need to be really careful of anything with any sort of narrow heel.

Tomsd,
Modern Family is not a soap. It is a sit com and is a riot.

Comfortable, fashionable walking shoes. They are not mutually exclusive. I go for comfort, otherwise I can't enjoy my vacation. Life is too short to wear uncomfortable shoes!

OK. It's a low brow comedy. :)

To be fair - I really don't like any of the "sit coms"/soaps/evening programs on TV.

The last one I thought had decent humor was Frasier - and that was years ago.

Cute shoes. I'm not a New Yorker. But down south we wouldn't wear stockings/tights after Easter.

Pack some moleskin just in case. I'd never used it until I got blisters in NYC and it completely saved the day!

Alegrias:
http://www.alegriashoeshop.com/

tomsd, you're losing a fan here. :-(


Watch Modern Family before you try to classify it.

To the OP - wear what's comfortable for you. I hate flats for walking around a city too. I bought Mephistos to wear arouund Paris and it was like walking on a cloud. LOVE cork soles. Different people find different shoes comfortable. LOVED the shoe theme in Modern Family last week!

"They feel like peeellows" LOL

No need to pack moleskin - there's a Duane Reade (drugstore) on every corner!

Tan or camel leather together with black leather are the shoes that seem to be worn all over New York City this spring in every imaginable configuration: flats, heels, sandals, platforms, pumps, peep-toes, slip-ons, tie-ons and buckle-ons.

Whatever shoes you wear in Paris will be perfect for NYC. I've seen every shoe or a variant that was shown in the photos of Paris shoes on the streets around NYC.

I like wearing something with a little heel, wedge, or platform. Flat heels or no heels are rough on my lower back by the end of the day. I like a little lift. I save my high heels for evening if I know I'll be cabbing it and sitting down through dinner or the theatre.

Moleskin was one of my Dad's secret remedies years ago. Great stuff when needed.

As for getting it at Drug Stores, etc. - personally - I always like to be prepared with a mini-first aid kit, etc when traveling.

And My Bad Starrs: Will try to abstain from further comments on TV "darlings" - but none of the programs for the "big ratings" interest moi. :)

Now if they brought back reruns of St. Bilko - sign me up. :)

BTW - if you want to help your back, etc, get Orthotics. My wife even had a slimmed down pair made that fit those fashionable/dress heels. :)

I'm back. 4 pairs of shoes was definitely NOT enough! First of all, one pair was exclusively for running and a second pair for dressing up, which left only two for walking around in all day, every day. Should have stuck with 6 pair as originally planned.

However, that is only because I live with a Frenchman who was not swept away by the NYer habit of wearing running shoes throughout the day, nor sandals with improbable outfits. Its not easy being a frog....

well you survived....congrats

LOL. Need six pair? Maybe - but since I don't jog much anymore - I only need to take 3 pairs of shoes: Two walking/training types that I alternate daily (with a sock change in the afternoon) - and one black "formal" semi-dress - training shoe.

And hey - buy a Kir pour le Frenchman. :)

This thread made me chuckle a bit as I've been debating myself over what shoes to bring on my upcoming trip to DC/NYC.

Bringing shoes that are both good looking and comfortable is not really in the cards for me on this vacation. I dropped a large, heavy frying pan on the top of my foot a couple months ago and suffered a few bone bruises (luckily nothing was fractured). However, the bone bruises have made it impossible to wear most of my shoes - I had to buy new ones that I could wear while my foot heals.

The only ones I'm able to tolerate for long walking stretches are comfortable, but pretty ugly. My 16 yr old daughter says those shoes look like "grandma shoes". My footwear on this trip will definitely not win me any fashion points.

chepar; Just enjoy yourself and don't worry about what anything might think/stare at. :)

It wold take a whole lot for anyone to stare at your feet in NYC. A city that paid little attention to Rollerina - if anyone remembers him - who skated all over NYC in a pink tutu - and was ignored - except by tourists.

As long as your feet are covered in the rain (bare feet will get filthy) wear what ever you want.

I was in Manhattan all day today, and because of this thread I paid attention to people's feet! I was wearing running shoes, despite hating to wear them as daily wear. Glad I did though, as we walked from Grand Central to Rock Ctr to Union Square to the High Line and down to the World Trade Center. In all that space and time, I don't think I saw two women wearing heels. All the tourists were wearing running/walking shoes and the locals were wearing flats.

Gotta go calculate how many miles we walked!

LOL - and it's amazing how "foot fetishes" develop, eh? Mine comes from having a Podiatrist for a father. What's your excuses? :)

Nytraveler's post reminded me of my favorite NYC shoe story. It was winter (but no snow) and I was getting on the subway, heading back to my apartment after some shopping. As I stepped on, one of my shoes slipped off - and fell in the crack between the door and the platform onto the tracks. What to do? Split seconds to decide. Get off and ask some nice MTA worker to fish my shoe out after the train passed? Of course not! Plus, I was in a hurry, so I got on - wearing one shoe. Nobody noticed. Nobody. I took the other shoe off, so I at least matched, and proceeded to my stop, and then walked the 5 or so blocks to my apartment - in my socks, in the winter. And again, nobody noticed. One of the many reasons I love New Yorkers!

I don't think I've ever packed more than 2 pairs of shoes, no matter how long the trip: a 2nd pair of daytime walking shoes (in addition to the ones I travel in) to switch things up and/or in case of a deluge; and a dressy pair, also comfortable, for evenings.