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
marcus says
I so love seeing women driving in heels – particularly if they drive fast in stick shift cars – it is SO sexy!!!! : )
Sarah Baker says
I always drives in high heels, especially the highest one. I was involved in an accident not because of driving in high heels. Its because my brakes failed
Mark says
My wife always take off her right shoe off to drive our vw passat. I find it very attractive when she drives in her pantyhose foot after having worn her shoes all day.
Kathleen says
I actually googled this very thing and came upon this blog. I had noticed that my heels were getting damaged at the bottom and it took me 30 years of driving to figure out that this is probably why. I just ordered a beautiful new pair of Naturalizer heels and I certainly don’t want to damage them. I think I will start wearing “driving shoes.” I like the idea of just keeping a pair of flats in the car-maybe a pair of neutral sandals that would go with anything. Thanks for your insight.