Question for "no shoes" households

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect shoe free cultures are those in which humans are defecating and urinating outside and there is a lot of poverty and hovels.

In ny you can have a $10 million apartment AND dog/human/rat poop outside in one of the wealthiest zip code in the us!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question: if you have a formal dinner/cocktail party where people come in nice high heels and dress shoes that are part of a dressy outfit do you still ask them to remove them? How strict are you with this rule?

I grew up in a house where we all wore shoes all the time and were a very outdoor focused family in a temperate climate, we were in and out all day long, gardening, taking walks, tinkering in a workshop in the backyard, etc. and taking them off every time would have just been a lot of times.
As an adult my husband and I generally don't wear shoes in the house and neither do our kids, out of comfort mostly and maybe a little bit that it helps us keep track of them if they are all by the door.
I don't really care if someone wears shoes in our house because when I'm hosting I mostly care about my guest's comfort and I'll probably clean the floors after an event anyway. But curious what others do. I'm not disgusted by the idea of someone wearing shoes indoors but it seems like a lot of people are.

Do you re-send and re-finish your wood floors after every formal party where people where high hills? I have very hard wood, hichory, purposely installed to withhold dogs in the house (no scratches from the dog) but it was damaged by high hills.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the wonderful word of plantar warts, I guess. Unless you always have a pair of socks handy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect shoe free cultures are those in which humans are defecating and urinating outside and there is a lot of poverty and hovels.

Do you mean DC and NYC?

[Anonymous]

Ladies, if you are asking ... your high heels aren't appropriate or necessary. Wear a different outfit.

[Anonymous]

We wear shoes in our house though it’s mostly sandals and sneakers. We never ask people to take off their shoes though plenty do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're a shoes-off family. When we host we don't make guests take their shoes off. We used to do massive summer parties and no shoes were taken off.
It's funny though, when my DD first had high school friends come over, they must have asked her if they should take their shoes off, and I guess she said yes. So now when they visit, it's a habit, they greet us parents while simultaneously taking their shoes off and leaving them by the front door. I get a kick in seeing 10 pairs of shoes in all these sizes lined up in the foyer.

I do know one family that is middle eastern and are very strict about it. They hosted a corporate dinner, 10 guests, we were asked to take our shoes off. Thank god I had gotten a pedicure that week. One work friend was mortified bc she wasn't prepared and had worn sandals to work and didn't have socks to cover her unpedicured feet. If you're going to do shoes off give adequate notice so guests can be comfortable.

My family is middle eastern and we generally take our shoes off in our house. However we don’t ask guests to take theirs off when they come visit. That would be so rude! And I would be mortified if I went to someone’s house in heels for a formal occasion and they asked me to remove my shoes. Would probably never go back to their house afterwards.

[Anonymous]

No shoes house. I never ask guests to remove their shoes. For a normal visit my friends all takeoff their shoes. For a party, no one does. If women are wearing scrappy or high heels, I assume they're not traipsing around the city in those shoes on a daily basis. How dirty would those shoes be?

[Anonymous]

I love your attitude OP. I don’t like to clean floors constantly so we take our shoes off. I never ask my guests to take their shoes off.

That’s a huge pet peeve of mine (when I have to take shoes off in someone else’s home)

Dang, these ads are annoying!! Anyone else ?

[Anonymous]

Indian American here - so grew up with plenty of formal gatherings (if women draped in silk and gold and gems is formal) with no shoes.

No shoe house now - but my midwestern husband wears his shoes in the house sometimes, it only annoys me because of the grit that gets dragged in on the treads of his shoes.

If we have people over, I don’t care - all hardwood and throw rugs, but 90% of the adults who come over take their shoes off without prompting - 100% of the kids. Most of our friends have no shoe houses and the only common factor is their age (younger GenX-older Millennials). We often bring indoor slippers to wear at house parties!

The only time I’ve been strict about it as an adult was when we had a crawling baby/new walker.

[Anonymous]

We don't wear shoes in the house but I never make guests remove their shoes and put mine on when I have guests. I hate walking barefoot into someone's bathroom - so gross.

[Anonymous]

We don't make people take them off. My preference is that they do, but I won't be grossed out if they don't. Recently, we had a lot of people over and they all took their shoes off. I'm not sure if someone in my family suggested it or not, but I certainly can deal with it either way.

[Anonymous]

Another no shoes house that never requires guests to take off their shoes. Cleaning the floors after a gathering takes so little time.

I went a part once and was asked (unannounced before the party) to remove my shoes at the door. I had on heels and had to remove them. My really nice pants drug on the ground and someone step on them and ripped the hem. That sucked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect shoe free cultures are those in which humans are defecating and urinating outside and there is a lot of poverty and hovels.

Or shoes/boots are often covered in snow/slush/ salt that has been used on the ice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Indian American here - so grew up with plenty of formal gatherings (if women draped in silk and gold and gems is formal) with no shoes.

No shoe house now - but my midwestern husband wears his shoes in the house sometimes, it only annoys me because of the grit that gets dragged in on the treads of his shoes.

If we have people over, I don’t care - all hardwood and throw rugs, but 90% of the adults who come over take their shoes off without prompting - 100% of the kids. Most of our friends have no shoe houses and the only common factor is their age (younger GenX-older Millennials). We often bring indoor slippers to wear at house parties!

The only time I’ve been strict about it as an adult was when we had a crawling baby/new walker.

It’s looks so much better to be barefoot while wearing a long saree or lengha than it is to be barefoot and wearing a little black dress.

When a woman is wearing Indian clothes you can hardly even see a her feet in the first place. Formal western dresses that are short look ridiculous if you are barefoot or wear socks (shudder).

So you’re comparing apples to oranges!