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Anything by Freet, Lems or Xero. Other "natural footwear" brands are available.
I like shoes shaped like feet, not forcing my feet to be shaped like shoes.
Usually wear Vans - probably got 10 pairs, but Five Ten Sleuth slip-ons have been my go-to while working from home. Just ordered another pair.
Outdoors - a pair of Keen walking boots. Lightweight and so bloody comfy.
Currently slippers or flip flops.
This.
I've got 5 or 6 pairs of Reef Fannings. Sooo comfy
If I need actual protection for my feet, a pair of Merrell Accentors.
They're really sturdy & grippy, and so comfy I got myself a pair of the boots too for winter riding.
My preference is for classic tennis shoes. I love Adidas Stan Smiths but then a few years ago cool people started agreeing with me abs priced me out. I used to buy them for £20 a pair but they’re £50+ now
I switched to some puma things as a result, smash maybe(?) which are the same thing made by the other brothers company. Dead comfy, last well and look acceptable.
White leather for me, various accent colours generally whichever is on sale.
I've been using the Five Ten Access for a couple of years but just split the sole, been looking for a reasonable priced replacement and found the Five Tennies reduced direct from Adidas in grey:
https://www.adidas.co.uk/five-ten-five-tennie-approach-shoes/EF7513.html
I then googled for a 20% discount code and found one that worked.
Also a few weeks ago I managed to get a 30% discount code to work on the new Freerider Pro's Primeblue
For all day comfort anything from Ecco. I wear the Track25 in either boot of shoe. Maybe not cool enough but have a look. I am an old man so can get away with it.
New Balance 373 for me. Just buy them when they're on offer
All I've worn for the last 20 years is pretty much Converse all-stars. I'll probably get buried in a pair.
Look cool at any age, and work with most outfits.
Second choice is some Gazelles.
They seem to strike the right balance between suede NBs 574s and Vans/Adidas/Five Ten.
Look good with shorts and jeans, comfortable, ventilated, very long lasting. Caned mine for 3 years.
For me it'll be one of my various flavours of Doc Martens if out on the streets.
Walking the pooches is currently done in my Bison wellies.
I've gone full circle. As a kid my mum insisted on only buying me Clarkes, when all the other kids were getting Nike Airs.
It turns out not only are Clarkes very good shoes in general, they are now a status symbol in Jamaica, so I'm finally cool too.
^ I just bought a pair of NOS Clarks dating from about 12 years ago when they still made the ‘Cushion Cell’. My old ones are still going but didn’t wish to be left high and dry when they finally give up the ghost. I like Clarks. Rubber soles and faux-stitching won’t be winning me any style-points, but then again being over 50yrs old and with ‘problem feet’ isn’t so stylish to begin with 😎
Also:
This season I can be mostly found wearing one of these:
👆 should really be @Cougar's shoe of choice
for in the house
or
for the running
Might have to wear proper shoes if I ever work in an office again.
Various retro Nike/Adidas or New Balance trainers.
Currently sporting Nike Air Odyssey in sage green
For decades I wore some form of approach shoe, I've tried loads of different brands, some better than others. None of them have ever been truly waterproof and none have ever been so comfortable I could have said they 'fit me like a glove'
Then towards the end of last year I saw pages on this site where Blundstone 'Blunnies' got mentioned. I bought a pair, what an absolute revelation!
So comfy they 'fit me like a glove', just about waterproof, provide plenty of grip (more than most approach shoes) and with a bit of polish look smart enough for most lock down occasions.
I'm converted!
Barefoot at home or in the garden, brooks for running, salomon xa pros for kicking about outside.
Salomon quests for walking and my snow boots for after swimming.
Terrex trail cross for riding.
Mostly barefoot though thanks to lockdown
Boots. I have my winter boots and my summer boots, though i do wear my summer boots in winter, but not my winter boots in summer.
Winter boots are Brasher Towa GTX, Summer are clarks.
My sis was manager for Clarks so i got them all(the Clarks) at a very nice price and favour goretex lined.
Bekina wellies will be on my feet a minimum of a couple of hours, often all day long, on every single day of the year that I am here on the farm.
I wear nothing but socks on my feet in the house (much to the chagrin of mrs wf). I have some steel toecap dealer boots for going to market or if I have to go to my mates works to help out with some welding work. Otherwise I have a single pair of 5.10 trainers I wear just about everywhere else.
Just picked up a pair of the Five Ten Guide Tennies for 'summer' wear (25% off at the Adidas store via the app and discount code someone PSA'd) or a pair of Birkenstocks for 'domestic' wear. I usually have 3 or 4 pairs of running shoes on the go as well as a couple of pairs of boots (Hoka).
Palladium boots
if you’ve a nose for a bargain... you can pick up unissued french army surplus palladium’s
mine cost a tenner
👆 should really be @Cougar’s shoe of choice
Oddly enough, you'd have been right if you'd pointed in the other direction.
Indoors I wore Birkies exactly like those until they died and I'm now relegated to cheapies. Outdoors I wear whatever Salamon approach shoes I can find on offer whenever I need to replace them.
I wear Tom’s everywhere. Judge me now
Husqvarna Technical 24 mostly, very comfy, supportive, as waterproof as wellies and should protect my feet when I'm day dreaming.
From back door to yard though it's some old Salomon trainers that are getting closer and closer to being sandals.
While this thread is running has the FiveTen shape changed much in the last couple of years? I have the devil's own job of getting shoes with a wide toe box for biking. The older pair of FiveTens I have is spot on as are my Adidas trainers (both are pre Adidas buying FiveTen). I could do with some SPD XC type shoes for the gravel bike but they're all winkle pickers.
Pretty much the only non sailing, non biking shoes I've warn regularly outside of my house boundary in the last year are my Berghaus walking boots. Some factory seconds I bought a decade ago, still waterproof and uppers still in good order but the soles have finally worn through the rubber at the heels. I literally have no idea what to replace them with. I've done loads of walking in them in all weathers. 😭😭😭
Outside of Covid it's usually brown shoes or short boots of some sort for non sporty stuff. I get the shoes at 18 thing. My smart office shoes are DMs and my trainer style preference is skate shoes. I'd happily have another pair of DM boots for casual use but maybe not in black with jeans these days.
Any sources for chainsaw boots at cheap prices ?
I could do with a pair but have just bought another saw so have blew my tree cutting budget for the next few months.
@brads not sure at the moment. Got my current pair about 15 months ago when they had dropped as low as £130, but back up around £200 now like when they first came out. Still worth it, on cost per wear they work out well too, easily 2 years in forestry with a bit of care.
Radmore Tucker and Northern ARB seem to be pretty competitive currently.
If you're an occasional user, there's usually stuff on FB marketplace when stuff hasn't fitted or new people sell up when they realise it's harder than it looks.
Day to day? New Balance 373’s, most comfortable trainers I’ve ever owned!!
Day-to-day footwear? A pair of these:
Portwest FW57 Steelite waterproof safety boots. What I wear for eight and a half hours a day, every day of the week. I’ve been known to wear them in the evening and at weekends, too, depending on weather. They are extremely comfortable, quite light, and the leather is very soft, so the don’t crease across the instep like some boots.
I’m issued with them, but I’d happily buy my own if I had to, they’re so nice to wear.
Outside of work, Meindle Desert Fox combat boots, I’ve got four pairs I picked up off eBay, none cost more than £38, and all but one pair had virtually no wear. Fantastic boots, retail at about £170...
@brads. The Oregon boots at Screwfix are great value and do the job ok.
Binners, and in particular @whatyadoingsucka who id like to have a shufty of what he has coming up for sale, have it right. Day to day footwear has to be trainers. Proper trainers.
Wearing your outward bound shoes day to day is just one step away from Croc wearers. I see “Action Dad” all the time, particularly at school pick ups. Pair of Merrells, straight cut jeans or action Dad favourite, the cargo pant, some kind of outward bound jacket that keeps you from the elements even at the poles even though we are in the heart of Buckinghamshire - sheesh 🙄
I will admit I have a small collection of trainers and shoes for day to day wear and consist of quite a few retro pairs, so will admit I’m also perhaps considered daft...
Winter Docs.
Summer Converse.
Work outside Haix high liability Gortex Army issue. Basically combat wellies
House Czech Army surplus wool socks.
Salomon XA Pros. It's been those for over a decade. I'll buy them when I see a good bargain so usually have a spare pair waiting to go. They even come in a all-black colourway so don't look to conspicuous.
Barefoot around the house and garden/further afield in the warmer months. Five tens on the bike. Merrell trail glove for gym and various pairs of vivo barefoot the rest of the time depending on the situation.
If you like the five ten or old skool Adidas stick with them.
Barefoot around the house and garden/further afield in the warmer months.
How much further afield do you go before you put shoes on? Im in the if I walk out my front door I put shoes on camp... basically do you go tesco barefoot?
https://www.adidas.co.uk/five-ten-climbing-guide-tennie-shoes/BC0884.html?forceSelSize=BC0884_680
Ordering a set of Tennies, i can get 30% off with code for them. Just got to wait for Adidas to re-credit my account for the ones i sent back.
That was a pair of Sleuth by the way, cheap for a reason, feel cheap and flimsy compared to Freeriders/FRPro.
If it's dry, some variant of these:
If it's wet:
Largely these for the past 12 months:
Before that, mostly Clarks shoes for urban train/walk commute & office.
How much further afield do you go before you put shoes on?
In nice weather, basically everywhere barefoot
Theres a bloke near us who walks everywhere barefoot. He's got a massive beard and looks like he's taken a lot of acid over the years. Everyone knows him as 'Disco Dave'
Is this you ? 😀
Err....used to have a massive beard and did take acid in my youth. Not that much though. I just like the feeling of going barefoot. Wearing shoes all the time strikes me as a bit like wearing boxing gloves all the time. Try it, you might like it! 😀
Even to Tescos ? the pub ? shopping centers ?
Don’t go to Tesco or shopping centres. If I did then yeah I would. Nipped in to town before and called in to shops, cafes etc with no shoes. I don’t visit pubs that often due to having young kids. Walks round the local forest, towpaths etc are fine too. Been that way since my mid 20’s and not had any ill effects from it.
Just seems, well a bit bizarre.
Why? Seems fine to me. Wearing giant boots with padding and huge heels and soles seems very bizarre to me. One of the positive points of working from home is not having to wear socks too. Feet are great, keeping them cooped up is the odd thing when you think about it. Footwear is great when necessary. I just don’t think it’s needed all the time
Try it, you might like it! 😀
I used to do it quite a lot when I was young and used to take a lot of acid 😃
Thinking about it, from March through to October last year, all I had on was my Keen sandals. I’m sure that when it warms up a bit more, that will be the case until next October