What’s your summer sandal that goes with everything?

[Anonymous]

These are my go-to summer sandals -- can wear them hiking or with a dress/skirt. Very comfortable.

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/olukai-upena-flat-sandal-women/4239075?color=BLACK+LEATHER&utm_content=9383573633&utm_term=aud-1024039079193:pla-319830557212&utm_channel=low_nd_shopping_standard&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=645528200&adpos=&creative=57187812113&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&acctid=21700000001689570&dskeywordid=92700049882382084&lid=92700049882382084&ds_s_kwgid=58700005465914876&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007631122&dsproductgroupid=319830557212&product_id=93030765&merchid=1243147&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&locationid=9007768&targetid=aud-1024039079193:pla-319830557212&campaignid=645528200&adgroupid=9383573633&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIreG1sLnD_gIVvt3jBx3SKwONEAQYASABEgJSwfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Anonymous]

There is literally no middle ground on this thread. Either mind blowingly hideous granny looking sandals or chic expensive sandals. Thank goodness I still fall on the side of fashion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These aren't really my personal style, but they are a t strap with a little bit of interest, so maybe could replace yours, OP.

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/worth-slingback-sandal-women/7336540?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FBrands%2FJack%20Rogers&color=293

Oh come on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing I'm learning on this thread is that other people have vastly different capacity for wearing very flat, thin-soled shoes than I do. I'm all for cute and can even do a little wedge or heel (little, though -- no more than like an inch and a half or I simply will not get enough wear out of them).

But there are so many flip flops or very flat soled sandals in this thread. They are cute! I would have worn them when I was 22. I am not put off by the prices since everyone has different price points, and I don't judge the Old Navy or Croc versions either.

But I could never make a shoe that flat and low my "go to" for anything. I would maybe take a pair on vacation to a resort where I was mostly walking from my room to the pool or beach or out to dinner on property. But that's it. Shoes like that kill my feet even if I just wear them to walk a few blocks to a restaurant or my kid's school, plus having my feet so close to a city street in the summer is just gross to me. I am in my 40s. I want arch support, some separation from the street/sidewalk, and straps that will be comfortable even in high heat when my feet tend to swell or after an hours stroll around a museum.

This is why people are defaulting to the brands deemed orthopedic or grandma -- Birkenstock, Naot, even (shudder) Keen. What I do is look exclusively at shoes with proper soles and arch support but then try to find the cutest possible version. Will they be the most flattering, dainty sandal in the world? Nope. But they'll be a reasonably cute version of something that will actually function the way I need a shoe to function. There are cute Birks and I like the Naot Kayla someone posted recently. For sportier shoes, Cole Haan or Sorel are decent options (I'd even look at Teva as they have cuter shoes than they used to).

Anyway, finding cute but comfortable sandals that are actual shoes and not just a piece of plastic or cardboard with straps is weirdly hard. Last year I must have tried on or ordered and returned 50 pairs of sandals, from brands like Nisolo, Sofft, Naot, etc. The divide between (1) cute but impractical, or (2) practical but hideous, is pretty hard to navigate. I wound up with a pair of Birkenstock Madrid sandals in a narrow fit and pale pink leather that I think work pretty well. No heel, but they are incredibly comfortable and go with almost everything in my summer wardrobe without being embarrassingly old lady-ish.

Oh come on, you're in your mid 40s. Unless you're very overweight or have some serious orthopedic issues, you're saying you can't possibly wear flat-ish shoes to walk from your car to brunch with friends, or down the street to the bus stop? At 45 with kids, you don't live in downtown DC anymore so you're taking your car most places. And you can't do with anything but an orthopedic shoe? You're either being purposefully argumentative or you've just given up.

Not the PP you're talking to, but you really think everyone 40+ with kids has moved to places with low walkability? That's bonkers.

- 50, in Adams Morgan, and walk everywhere with kids. (Like my friends, relatives, and their kids who all live nearby....and all of our neighbors!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is literally no middle ground on this thread. Either mind blowingly hideous granny looking sandals or chic expensive sandals. Thank goodness I still fall on the side of fashion.

I'm the PP who wears Upenas -- they're neither mind blowingly hideous granny looking sandals nor chic expensive sandals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These aren't really my personal style, but they are a t strap with a little bit of interest, so maybe could replace yours, OP.

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/worth-slingback-sandal-women/7336540?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FBrands%2FJack%20Rogers&color=293

Oh come on!

I posted these. They're not my personal cup of tea, but FYI I saw them recommended by both Stylinbyaylin and cellajaneblog (both of whom each have around 1 million followers and are very stylish in general, IMO,) as "under $100 summer sandal options". And they did look better on a foot in the reel Aylin posted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was also looking for something I could wear for almost any occasion (from pool or vacation to work or nicer dinner) and settled on, of all things, these Crocs (specifically the black/tan combo):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BF89BLM1

Haven't had them for even a season yet, so can't speak to durability or comfort walking for long periods of time, but my feet felt fine after a day at the office.

I mean, this comment (no offense) does kind of capture the absurdity of this q taken to the extreme: What can I wear *in* the pool but also for a night out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no contributions other than to say I could not wait to open a 10 page thread about footwear on DCUM because I knew it would be good. Always entertaining.

+1!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This style from Cole Haan for everyday, running around shoes with shorts, pants, jeans, very casual dresses, in a couple of different "color ways" from several seasons. So comfortable.

https://www.colehaan.com/womens-zerogrand-crisscross-sandal/W24378.html

What do we think of these, DCUM?

[Anonymous]

These work for me. No flashing designer name.

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/sam-edelman-wilson-sandal-women/7301893?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FWomen%2FAll%20Women&color=400

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have these in pink, really cute.

https://www.amazon.com/KEEN-Womens-Sandal-Brindle-Shitake/dp/B01H8G9AF4/ref=sr_1_4?crid=NKD53NH4Y2KQ&keywords=keen%2Bwomens%2Bclose&qid=1682110079&sprefix=keen%2Bwomens%2Bclose%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-4&th=1&psc=1

No. They are not “cute”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wear Nisolo huaraches.

https://nisolo.com/products/womens-huarache-sandal-almond?variant=764365805&tw_source=google&tw_adid=622897608235&tw_campaign=18379269733&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzJrL7Ye8_gIVoPDjBx3I4QJyEAQYASABEgJ_-fD_BwE

I can see these sitting by the front door filthy and stretched out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is it so hard to find decent closed-toe sandals? Sometimes I don't want to get a pedicure, but I want to wear sandals!

What is a closed-toe sandal? Do you mean a mule? This one is decently cute.

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/sam-edelman-lin-mule-women/7180068

https://www.vogue.com/slideshow/closed-toe-sandals#:~:text=The%20phrase%20%E2%80%9Cclosed%2Dtoe%20sandals,remixed%20interpretation%20of%20the%20three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow there are some horribly ugly shoes in this thread

They are mom shoes LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was also looking for something I could wear for almost any occasion (from pool or vacation to work or nicer dinner) and settled on, of all things, these Crocs (specifically the black/tan combo):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BF89BLM1

Haven't had them for even a season yet, so can't speak to durability or comfort walking for long periods of time, but my feet felt fine after a day at the office.

I mean, this comment (no offense) does kind of capture the absurdity of this q taken to the extreme: What can I wear *in* the pool but also for a night out

Not in (although I guess they can be?), just pool-adjacent...question is about a summer sandal so pool/beach-friendly is what I was looking for in finding that shoe!