When I was a kid, I used to go to school with a classmate of mine whose mother would drop us off in the mornings or afternoons, depending on which session I was in. For some reason, her mother stuck in my mind because when we got into the car, she would immediately remove her heels shoes and switch to a pair of flats or slippers that she kept in her car for this purpose.
When I got older, I asked her why she did this, and she said it was because she could not drive in heels. In fact, she would sometimes drive bare-footed! When I picked up driving, the first thing I told myself was that I wouldn’t do this. I would train myself to drive in whatever shoes I was wearing at that time. And I have 🙂
The downside of course, is that my heels have the tell-tale wear of a woman driver. The base of the heel rubs off and wears off quite quickly. It is no wonder that Tod’s has something called driving shoes. The sole folds up the back of the heel so when you rest your foot on the mat, you don’t get that wear on the heel of your shoes. I would love to own a pair 😛
I have also noticed sometimes that some people switch their shoes after leaving the office, either to flats or to a more comfortable pair of shoes. Do you do the same thing?
When I go wandering after work, I wear whichever pair of shoes I’m wearing for the day. I try to buy a pair of shoes that I know will be comfortable enough for me to walk in. However, if it happens to be a nice pair of shoes, but one that I couldn’t walk in for long periods of time, I have a spare pair of flats in my car for this very occasion 🙂
In terms of driving, I have read that it is dangerous to drive in heels or very thick platforms because you may not be able to gauge the distance and pressure needed to brake, if necessary and your heels can catch in the carpet. So when I drive in heels, I’m a little vigilant about this and by now, its almost sub-conscious for me to adjust my feet accordingly.
That said, my commute to work and to wherever I want to go is by car so I don’t have the hassle of walking long distances to catch public transportation. If I lived in a city where I would commute by public transport, then I might of course think quite differently 🙂
What do you do? If you drive, do you switch over your shoes in your car? Or can you drive in heels or flats at will? Or do you don’t drive, do you switch your shoes when you leave the office and go walkabout?
Paris B
It’s a bit silly, but I always kick off my shoes when I’m driving – barefoot is the way to go! I chalk it down to me being a bit paranoid of my shoes getting stuck and jamming a pedal. :p
Eeks! Another barefoot driver! LOL 😀 Don’t you find it gets hot? I find it does which is why I can’t drive barefooted and it feels a bit off 😛
Huh, I never really notice, now that I think of it! I guess I’ve gotten used to the heat?
I usually wear easily-removed heels, slippers and sandals though – I reckon if I start wearing boots, this would become pretty inconvenient. xD
I change to a pair of sandals or flats when I drive, as I’ve experienced the heels being caught in the mat/carpet. It’s easier driving an automatic transmission car though as one does not need to use the clutch pedal. As I also use public transportation to work, I also have a pair of heels or comfortable work shoes at the office to change in. I can’t imagine how some can work in their heels on the streets and also balance themselves on the trains. When I first started using public transportation and was walking in a comfortable pair of 2″ heel court shoes, my toes were cramped at the end of the day.
I must agree with you Celine. With an auto transmission, I think its quite easy to drive in either heels or flats. But in a manual transmission car, its much more advisable to wear flats or at the very least, something very comfortable… especially when stuck in a jam 😛 When I used to take the public transport many years ago, I would trek around in 1.5 inch heels. Those days are gone (thankfully) 😛
I always keep a pair of flats in my car because I can never drive in my heels. Since I live so near to the office, I walk everyday – even if it’s snowing. That tells you I do wear different shoes when I’m in the office 😉 In summers, I walk in my flats. In snowy winters, I walk in my Sorel boots and change into heels when I’m at work. If the heels are 2″ or below, I’ve no problems walking in them the entire day but most of my heels are 3″ or over.
If I lived somewhere where I could walk to work, or take the public transport, I would! And I would then wear different shoes to work too so my heels don’t wear out too quickly 🙂
Well, Im a high-heel user, but I never drive in heels, in fact Im driving bare-foot.
Usually, I wear slipper to my car and bring my pretty shoes on shoes-bag. I’ll change my slipper my heels when I’m arrive. I walk and work in heels, but couldnt drive with it; not even with slipper :p
LOL yet another bare footed driver 😀
My mom taught me Rule #1 for driving – you must be able to hop into a car and drive with whatever shoes you have on! This is to cater for emergencies in the event that you have to run (or drive) for your life. Something like when I learnt to play the organ where you have foot pedals, my teacher made us practice with shoes on. Good advice. I never have to change shoes unlike lots of people I know.
Great topic for discussion by the way. Read a lot of interesting comments.
I like your Mom’s rule! I have to agree too and back in the day when I was playing the piano, going for exams was hell because I had to wear shoes, but I’d be practising at home in my bare feet! It always felt wrong – its no wonder I never did very well LOL!
as for me, i drive and i take the bus too.
when i drive i have to drive bare-foot, even if i was wearing some kinda slippers. the reason is because i can feel the pressure i put on the pedals which make me feel more safe & comfortable. i tried driving with shoes/slippers but it seems to just get in the way~ so in the end, i just drove bare-footed.
when i take the bus, i have to wear something comfortable, the reason is because sometimes the bus is sardine-packed and i have to stand through the KL traffic jam and sometimes if i’m lucky i’d get a seat. so when i travel by public transport most times i’m in flats or slippers but at most i have been is on a kitten heeled sandals or wedge heels.
I drive in whatever shoes I have on. I’m usually in slippers or sneakers, so it doesn’t matter much. Tods has driving shoes for ladies, but I think I rather stick to driving in slippers 😛
I wear slippers walking from car to office (quite a distance, and I can always use the exercise) because the office has a no-shoe policy and I had indoor slippers for that. Which was just as well because I was ruining too many pairs of nicer shoes walking back to the car in bad weather (heavy rain, huge puddles…).
I usually carry heels and wear slippers when on public transport and swap when possible.
If I had to do a lot of walking, I would probably stick to flats too. Back in the day when I used to take the public transport (KTM – what was I thinking?!) I ran through heels at an average of a pair every 2 months! I never wised up, well… till now sigh…
I can drive in heels, but I remove my heels when driving, simply because it’s dangerous (for the driving) and damaging (for the shoes, hehehe).
Good call! 🙂 The only time I feel a bit uncomfortable driving in heels is when I have to drive someone else’s car because I may not be as familiar with the controls 🙂
I drive bare-foot! I’ve tried driving with flats and heels and can NEVER do it, dont know why.
Wow seriously, so many of you girls drive barefoot, its amazing! I don’t know how you do it LOL!
I prefer to drive in slippers. Reason being, I have really small feet so shoes is a HUGE problem for me. So my shoes got to last, and I try not to bend them more than necessary. Hence, I switch to preserve my shoes.
That’s a very practical consideration Kim 🙂 You are right – its hard to buy good shoes for very small feet!
I drive bare-foot as well =)
Looks like you’re in good company 🙂
Very interesting topic. Yes, do change to flats / slippers when I drive. I don’t change to another pair of shoes after work, unless I’m going somewhere else. I do keep a couple of spares in my car, in case I need to change for a night out right after work.
I wonder if I’m the only one who doesn’t have shoes in her car 😀 I just don’t – never quite sure why.
I’m not a high-heel person anyway. I just wear high-heels for special occasions. Other than that I prefer wedges. And I have no problems driving with any kind of shoes. But I don’t like driving with shoes that is too thin. It’s like I can feel the hard surface of the pedal and it hurts my feet.
I think I know what you mean about the hard pedal. I sometimes find that awkward too.
I’m actually a strong advocate of not driving in heels, ever. Same goes for wedges and platforms, although yes, you may need to be able to hop into a car and drive with whatever shoes you may be wearing at that moment for emergency situations. But driving with heels can actually damage your heels (It may weaken and snap) and you won’t be able to properly gauge the “bite” of the brake, which can be a real problem in situations where you need to apply the brake immediately (e.g. emergency braking or uphill situations). I’ve got friends and acquaintances who got into accidents especially in those situations because of heels. Oh and it also applies to the clutch if you’re driving manual.
That being said, I’ve experimented with driving in just about anything- barefoot, FitFlops, heels, wedges, boots, slippers, and find that after a while you do get used to the shoes you’re driving with and are better able to gauge the braking point, so yeah 😛 I guess practice makes perfect.
As for me, for comfort’s sake though, if I need to wear heels I’ll drive barefoot or with slippers/FitFlops until my destination and then change to heels 😀 This also applies to if I need to wear safety boots for going offshore. Thankfully, all this is not very often!
Thanks for sharing Stephanie 🙂 I actually find it harder to drive in slippers/flip flops than in heels, mostly because I find there is no “grip” at the heel bit for the former. But I do tend to agree that driving in heels can be dangerous if one isn’t familiar with the car or with driving in heels. Its easy to get the heel caught in the mat/carpet and that would be a disaster.
I guess I’m one of those lucky women who’ve learnt to drive in whatever she’s wearing. High heels, platforms, sandals, slippers, sport shoes – whatever I’ve got on, I drive in. The only time I might actually change what I’ve got on my feet is if the bottom of the sandal’s a little slippery and keeps slipping off the clutch pedal. Other than that, I’m good. I’m usually more concerned with footwear if I know I’ll be doing heavy-duty walking! =)
When I was a young lass of 21 and have just graduated out of uni and landed my first proper job, I used to teeter into the office with high heels. That meant walking to and from my bus stop in heels, getting the said precious heels (bought from Vinci or Charles & Keith or Midas – hey I did say that I just got my first job!) scraped against the uneven foot path or wearing out the rubber heel thingamajik. This went on until I got sick of looking at my now scrappy looking shoes and taking them to the cobbler to get them reheeled every 3 months. Now I’ve wisened up. I invest in Tod’s balerina flats (omg they’re so freakin comfortable and cute!) for the office/home commutes and leave a pair of Lanvin (Yay! Graduated from Vinci/C&K!) heels at the office. I rarely go to the cobbler now and the money I saved going to the cobbler goes towards more Tod’s flats and YSL heels.
Ah lady, you are making me want those Tods flats too!! 😛
I wear flat shoes when driving try when wear heels like not so comfy
I am pretty much a flat shoe person. Its flats everywhere for me and i change into heels when i’m at work. Just don’t handle heels well i guess but i have always admired ladies who can walk about in heels especially with those really super sexy high ones! I can never do those! Lol
I’m one of those who doesn’t change my heels when driving, and usually I don’t wear any heels shorter than 4 inches ;-D Guess I’m just very used to it and honestly I don’t feel much different whether I’m wearing flats or heels when driving.. But I never like driving bare foot.. It feels weird… Maybe it’s just me…
I only drive occasionally, and if I do I’ll drive with flats or slipper. Call me stupid, but I can’t feel the pedal with my high heels. I can’t be barefooted either. I used to driving with barefoot when I need to borrow car from my mum (her reason of driving barefoot is not to dirty the pedal). As now, I’m using my husband’s car. I don’t think is hygienic to be barefooted when he wears shoes and hit the pedal everyday. I can wear high heels and walk a long way, no problem at all. I guess I’m used to it. RM20/pair high heels is good to me, I don’t need super comfortable heels to walk around.