Living, as I do now, in the lovely and more walkable Berkeley, I need some more comfortable shoes. Granted, I still drive a lot. Berkeley is certainly not a 100% walkable city, and it's no San Francisco or New York. But I am walking more than I used to, and maybe my feet have changed or something, but all the cute-but-cheap shoes I used to wear are suddenly not comfortable at all. Like I said, it's not like I'm walking everywhere (if I was, I would probably just wear tennis shoes every day); but I do walk around the studio a lot, and I take walks at lunch sometimes...and besides, if a pair of shoes is hurting my feet after the walk from the parking lot to my desk, maybe it's time for some new big girl shoes. Le Sigh. Gone are the days of Payless and Target as my primary shoe stores...
Today I am wearing shoes that look like this, but they are from American Eagle (these were just from a random Google Image search) - and they used to be comfortable, I swear. They were like $7, and a friend bought them for me, and it is now almost 2 years later and the top cuts into the top of my feet, and the back digs into my heel, and they even feel a little too short. Did my feet grow?
I know it's time to clean out the closet. I have a couple of pairs of shoes that I think are about to meet the Goodwill Bag. A few are maybe even going to meet the Trash Bag (they're that bad, but for some reason I still wear them). I have this problem where each shoe has a purpose (those are my blue suede ballet flats! those are my pink converse! I can't possibly get rid of them!), so I can't get rid of them. This sometimes helps me, since I won't buy a pair of brown mary janes if I already have something brown and mary janeish, but usually, it just means I have a lot of shoes. I need to go through the shoes and get rid of any that are not comfortable enough to walk around in, no matter how cute they are or what purpose I believe they serve (but theeese ones are special!).
The most comfortable ballet flats I ever had were from Banana Republic, and cost almost $50 on sale. And those got ruined in New York last year. I am still trying to replace those.
So now I am on the hunt. You city dwellers out there...what are your favorite comfortable but cute shoes? I like flats, bright colors, fun textures...and comfort. Comfort, please. I don't want to spend $100 on a pair of little ballet flats, but maybe that's what it takes these days. I like shoes like this, and the brand (Life Stride) makes me think they will be comfortable. But they are a little too similar to shoes I already own. Remember these shoes? They are no longer available. Sad. Should've just bought them when I had the chance.
I've heard that brands like Naturalizer are good...do you have any suggestions?
