Today’s reader mail comes from reader E…
My feet get sweaty while wearing pumps all day. Am I supposed to be wearing some type of hosiery-sock with them? How do others deal with the sweaty feet issue? Is it even appropriate to have the bare tops of my feet showing while I’m in pumps?
And in that same vein, what are your thoughts on “toe cleavage?” Some of my pumps are cut so low that I’m flashing toe cleavage at work. Can you recommend pumps that are cut higher?
We’re curious what the readers have to say about this one. (Pictured above: Toe Cleavage, originally uploaded to Flickr by cuteheels.) For our $.02: We find it difficult to walk in pumps while wearing trouser socks or tights — on those days we tend to wear Mary Janes, T-straps, or at least something with a higher vamp. And we’ve seen plenty of women on the streets of New York wearing pumps and bare feet. There do exist various kinds of socks — toe covers or other — but in our experience they tend to be very difficult to wear with pumps because the cloth from the “sock” is always showing. (A guiding principle, though: for the love of God, please do not take your shoes off if you’re sitting in a meeting. In your own office, fine, but no one wants to see bare feet beneath a conference room table. Actually, no one wants to see bestocking’d feet, either.) But then, our feet don’t get that sweaty — apparently, camel leather shoe inserts are your best bet to helping control that issue. (If anyone can recommend a brand of such inserts, we’re sure our reader would appreciate it — we can’t seem to find one.) We would also advise giving your shoes a day “off” between wearings, to let them air out and so forth.
In terms of toe cleavage — this has historically been a controversial issue, and maybe one that’s ripe for a poll. But that said, personally, we don’t mind it. Here’s our reasoning: there are a variety of reasons why other types of shoes are considered not acceptable for the office. The peep toe requires a perfect pedicure (and hopefully the wearer doesn’t have unattractive toe problems, such as hammertoes or things). The tall boot (which, according to our poll a few weeks ago, 1 out of 5 women would still say is “absolutely, always inappropriate” for the office) veers a little too close to the “dominatrix/stripper” vibe. And yes, there’s the name — cleavage — but, let’s face it: a view of your toes isn’t similar to a view of your breasts. (Also, we’re a little biased because a friend of ours had a great kitten-heeled pair of Louboutins that showed toe cleavage, and we loved. those. shoes.)
Readers, what are your thoughts?
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Listen girls! its all lovely to a guy, who cares about toe cleavage or bare legs, guys love all of it!
I don’t think toe cleavage is much of a big deal. And no one really thinks about it anyway. Closed toe shoes are required; therefore, you see most of the women wear pumps, Mary Jane’s, and other heels. Stockings/hose are rarely worn. It’s best to wear all leather footwear and stay away from any manmade materials that come in contact with the skin. I see it all the time from the ones that wear manmade materials, always have sweaty feet issues. Sometimes their feet start to slip around while walking do to the moisture. The rub begins! And those our the ones that tend to have their shoes off in the office or half way off. Foot odor is also and issue at times.
Speak for yourselves guys.
The whole barefoot, toe cleavage, pump thing is just sloppy. If you want to go barefoot wear sandals or any open toed heel. If you wear pump make sure they fit properly and cover up that toe cleavage.
Well for starters, toe cleavage exists because shoe designers made their products so said cleavage could be shown, second, women everywhere are buying pumps with low cut vamp by the dozens because is inn in fashion terms, and thir, it IS REALLY SEXY to see women wear such pumps bare.
All you have to see is photos of those galas and parties, and you can see all those women wearing their shoes without any hoisery at all
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