The Hunt: The Best Low Heels for Work

59 Comments

1. I personally love low heel’s, but Dad says that I am to short to wear low heel’s b/c I look dumpy! FOOEY ON DAD! So what if I am not as tall and svelte as Rosa! Men still want to date me. FOOEY!

   Mom tried the chicken out on Dad (and me). Dad did not like it. He said Ptooey as he spit out some GARNISH. He also said it was tasteless! Mom said she followed the recipe but Dad said it was luckyshe did NOT cook that for him 34 year’s ago, or she would STILL be a SPINSTER! Mom was hurt at that and even I said she had other men after her.

   Dad did not like the partnership stuff either. He demanded that I call a meeting with Frank to go over the insureance policie’s and the ethics stuff. He said that mabye he would go to the CLE also, b/c he want’s to find out what he is getteing into with the liabielty issue’s. FOOEY! I do NOT want my dad sitteing in with me, even if he pay’s to get in! Mabye he should go and just tell me what they said. He can give me the CLE certifiecate and I will just say I went!

   I texted Philip and said there could not be a meal yet b/c I have to start with another recipe. He did NOT mind (something tells me he is NOT that excited about me). FOOEY! I will report back on the BEACH next time, but I got in to work late b/c I had a wardrobe mafuinction. FOOEY!

   1. ….what just happened here….

2. I tried on the Valentinos. Gorgeous, but a little narrow and low-cut. Not for my high profile foot.

   Ladies, I need to travel to a meeting in Baltimore, near Johns Hopkins University. My corporate travel system is insisting i fly into IAD rather than BWI. It doesnt seem to be much farther, but will the traffic between Dulles and Baltimore be insane?

   1. Um, in a word, yes! That’s really bizarre that you’d have to fly into IAD bc flights into BWI are usually cheaper to boot.

   2. Fly into BWI, not IAD. Private transportation would cost a fortune, and there is no good public transportation way to get to Baltimore from IAD. (Bus, metro, switch lines, Union Station, train? I’m exhausted just thinking about it.) Renting a car wouldn’t be terrible, and traffic would depend on the time of day, but I’d allow at least two hours from one to the other, much, much more if you hit rush hour on I-66 or either of the Beltways

   3. Yes! It is too far from where you are going! Traffic is horrid and if you get into the wrong lane somewhere you could lose a ton of time by the time you circle back. PLUS the BWI people might know something about where you’re going but the IAD people will have no clue. I used to live there and what your people want you to do is like flying to Philly if you are going to NYC instead of Newark (if going anywhere in the NJ side) or LGA. Aiiii!

   4. Ugh, fly to BWI! IAD is like 90 min away with traffic (or more — it’s taken me three hours before to get from DC to BWI for a flight).

   5. Yikes; the travel system got you. That’s crazyballs and yes, traffic will be horrendous.

   6. You will want to run yourself over if you fly into IAD for a Hopkins meeting….. BWI

3. IAD to downtown Baltimore (assuming JHU’s main campus and not a satellite)? Don’t do it. That would be a 90 minute drive without traffic.

4. Love all the options mentioned here, especially the purple heels! Clarks also has lower heel options though they can be chunky. I also once bought suede shoes from a brand called Softspots, comfortable with a low heel.

   Now for the TJ: Been job hunting for a while now and just last week I saw a position that is *almost* a perfect fit, I have all the requirements except one. However, it’s not a desirable location for me–it’s in the midwest, Madison, WI. For context, I am in the academic field and it can be hard to find something that is closely matched to your qualifications, it is a postdoctoral position. In fact I have been contemplating moving into an alternative career mainly for better pay, and hopefully a decent enough work-life balance. I don’t know if I would get it but funny enough my boss happens to know the person advertising the position, even offered to give him a call. Normally, I would jump at the opportunity but I am deeply terrified of winters in the midwest, currently I live in the New England, near the shoreline where it can be cold but rarely too unbearable. Still, I struggle to get through winters here, think it could be S.A.D. I also don’t have any friends or family there and worry alittle about feeling abit isolated socially. My bf and family think this is a great opportunity to be pursued with earnest but I am hesitant. Has anyone on here pursued something that was great for their career but that they felt could hurt their personal well being or happiness? Is it worth it? I shouldn’t be but I am anxious about this, in my thirties already, I don’t feel like I have too much time left for mistakes.

   1. Some of my greatest periods of personal growth have come from moving to a new place where I didn’t know a soul. A fellowship has a finite length right? So, it’s not as if you are moving for the rest of your life. I haven’t been to Madison, but I imagine that having a large university brings plenty of culture and activities to the town. Go for it.

      1. Ditto. I’ve moved several times for my career, and while there has been a short-term impact on my social life, the friends I’ve made in the various cities and the experiences I’ve had have been invaluable.

      2. Madison is an awesome town. Yes, the winters are cold, but the summers are beautiful. There are lakes! I fled the midwest ages ago but I would consider moving there.

         Go ahead and apply. If you get it, you get to decide whether you want to move there. If you don’t apply, that decision’s already made.

   2. I agree with Mascot. I relocated for my career and it really did hurt my personal well-being, temporarily. I was in my early thirties too. But you know what? I still think I made the right decision. I got the fantastic experience I needed, and experienced so much personal growth in the career realm. I knew the move would be temporary so I made the most of it, and it was fantastic. On the personal front, if your bf and family are committed to using the phone and Skype, you need not feel isolated – you can talk to them every day if you need to. You will be fine.

   3. The cons you’ve mentioned (winters, no friends or family) are important, no doubt. But on the other hand, this is a postdoc, not a permanent position, right? So the thing to consider is whether you think you can stand the winter for 1-2 years or however long it lasts…and whether you think you will make any friends in your new department, university, city in this time. Fwiw, based on the wikipedia info, the winter doesn’t look too bad to me…but then I live much further north. I do understand about SAD, I struggle with it too, but it is something that can be managed if not defeated entirely.

      The other thing to consider is whether this postdoc will be useful to you in your future, whether you will continue in academia, or even if it will be useful to you in terms of experience, connections, etc. if you move to industry or wherever else. If this is a fantastic opportunity for you, especially if it is short-term, I think you should consider it carefully.

      1. +1 on the considering whether the postdoc will be useful in the future. You know how your PhD makes you more specialized and thus makes finding a job that’s a good fit harder? Going on the market with a postdoc under your belt makes that worse. Do you want to go on the faculty job market? Do you want to live in the midwest long term? If the answer to both of these is no, don’t do it – the postdoc won’t actually help you in the long term and might make your job search for a non-academic job harder when you’re done with the postdoc. You’ll have spent even more time in the ivory tower and will have built a network in a place you don’t ultimately want to find a permanent position, neither of which would help you, say, find a job in industry in New England.

         If the postdoc will help you attain your career goals, by all means go for it. People like living in Madison.

         1. While I don’t entirely disagree re specialization vs the job market, I meant “consider the post-doc carefully” as a positive rather than a negative i.e. I think it could be a good opportunity. Yes, if it’s in a very specialized field it may be difficult to move into something else but not impossible.

            The other thing to consider is, what are your alternatives? If it’s between the postdoc and a job or jobs you’ve lined up and/or have a very strong chance of getting…but my sense from your question is that you don’t have any concrete alternate plans, so this could be a useful interim step at the least.

            Good luck with whatever you decide.

   4. I’ve never lived in Madison, but I’ve known multiple people who have moved there and they’ve all absolutely adored it. Keep in mind that people in the midwest are generally very friendly, and Madison is a college town, which means that there will be all kinds of opportunities to meet new people and make friends.

      I would check out the number of days of sunshine in Madison vs. where you currently live. It’s that, more than the cold, that would impact your SAD.

      Basically, I think it sounds like a great opportunity and I think you should go for it. It sounds to me like you’re having fears of living in Lake Woebegone, but Madison isn’t like that at all.

   5. Madison is a fantastic (and underrated) city. The food is great, and there is a lot to do, since it’s a state capital and the university’s there. People are incredibly friendly there, too. Yes, the winters can suck, but I think people are generally good-natured about them, which helps a lot, and the summers are unbelievably gorgeous (and more than make up for the winters).

   6. If you don’t like winters, don’t move to WI, MN, or either of the Dakotas. I grew up in that area and still fear the cold, long, dark winters. I start shuddering when I think about going back for the winter holidays.

      You aren’t alone. When I go on dates and he talks about moving back to the Midwest someday, it’s a deal breaker. I’d move somewhere with a mild winter but not a Midwestern winter. I’ve ended a few budding relationships over it.

   7. SAD is tough (really tough). But if you already live in the Northeast, your sunlight intake probably won’t be worse. Vitamin D in the morning and a full spectrum light, going to bed early and vitamin B instead of caffeine and you’ll make it. Try to live near / on campus — that’ll make a huge difference.

      Anyway, you might as well apply because you might not get it.

   8. I’ll be moving to Madison soon for a TT position, so if you do get the postdoc, look me up! Re the academic work/life balance, it’s really something that you have to decide for yourself how big the pluses of the job are as compared to the minuses of the location. Although I hate that my social circle keeps getting destroyed around every two years (and am very much looking forward to settling down for a bit!), I make friends reasonably quickly and I love getting to live in a wide variety of places. So for me, the itinerant lifestyle of the junior academic is somewhat annoying, but not nearly enough to make me not want to pursue the career. For many of my colleagues who value stability/community/being close to family, that balance is quite different, and they’ve ended up pursing careers outside of academia and are probably much happier for it.

   9. I grew up in Madison and lived there until last year, so I’m happy to give you more advice if you do end up taking the job! I left the state for college and came back for a time after graduation before leaving again for my current job.

      Madison is cold, dark, and sometimes quite snowy in the winter. The day length tends to be a major factor in SAD, but if you live in New England it shouldn’t be too different. I know you can buy a special type of lamp that is supposed to help with this.

      If you live downtown, you probably won’t be driving (parking is difficult because of the isthmus, and the bus is fine for getting around there), so snow won’t be as much as an issue there as it will be if you live further out and have to shovel out a car. If you like to bike, it’s a good city for that in the warmer months. The neighborhood I grew up in was definitely suburban, but about a 15-20 minute drive from downtown and my next door neighbor commuted by bike to the university. The weather is usually beautiful in the summer (last summer was very hot but it’s not the norm), however surprisingly humid. Because of the lakes, many people are very into outdoor activities (swimming, boating, hiking, & c.)

      Madison does have a lot of cultural activities going on because of the university, and many, many people pass through town for a year or two for grad school/postdocs, so you won’t be in an unusual position. It’s a great town for dancing, which is good way to meet friends, if that’s an activity that interests you. The cost of living is quite high for the midwest, second only to Chicago. Housing is not as pricey as it is on the east or west coast, but we never had much of a crash either. The university and state government are the biggest employers in town, which keeps prices from dropping a lot.

      Madison tends to think it’s a much larger and more cosmopolitan city than it really is. There’s not a ton of ethnic diversity among undergrads at the university (some asian students, few african-american or hispanic students) but I think it’s a little more balanced on the graduate level. If you’re politically conservative or particularly religious, it can be very hard to fit in in the town, especially at the university. This (and the weather) are a large part of why I decided to leave, but it may not be an issue for you.

      I think it’s easier to be in a difficult situation if it’s for a good reason and has a definite end-date. I’m currently in a fairly low-level soft money job at my alma mater, and while it’s not where I want to be or what I want to be doing forever, the job is good experience and I’m MUCH happier than I was before so long as I tell myself that it’s only temporary. If you think you’re likely to get stuck in Madison through inertia or other factors and you don’t want to be, I would be wary of taking the job. My mom came to UW in the 80s for a postdoc, hated it, but married my dad (who works for the state) and ended up there for 26 years before she was finally able to move. I’m much less of a go-getter than a lot of the women here and I’ve been burned in the past by putting career ahead of personal concerns, so I’m more willing to sacrifice ambition for relationships than some might be. (This isn’t intended as a criticism, I’m just different!)

      Personally, I hated living in Madison and was thrilled when I could finally escape. It wasn’t good for my mental health and I stayed longer than I should have because I had a hard time finding a job elsewhere. However, I have friends who adore it and would never consider living anywhere else, so you might be just fine. I would apply for the job and make your final decision if you get it.

      1. This is an excellent description of Madison. Winters here in Wisconsin are tough, but the spring, summer and especially fall make up for it. If this is truly a stepping stone position for your career, it may be worth the sacrifice for a few years to set yourself up for the long run.

         Good luck!

   10. I moved for my career, away from friends, family, and most importantly, my boyfriend. It does suck, socially, for awhile. But once you get over the long distance and start making new friends, the experience can really help you grow personally. I would, however, have an “out” plan. Meaning, know what the ultimate long term goal is and when it will likely happen. If it means getting the bf to move out there with you or planning to move back to New England, know that you’re going to do it in 3 years (or however long). Having the goal in mind makes it a lot easier.

       Bottom line: If you think you’ll regret passing up this work experience, accept the job. Because you can always go back.

       1. I think this is the key point here: “Bottom line: If you think you’ll regret passing up this work experience, accept the job. Because you can always go back.”

          My general philosophy is that it doesn’t hurt to try. There are no guarantees you’ll get the position, but there’s no harm in applying. And if you get the position, there’s no harm in trying it out for a while. If it is truly a terrible fit in some way, you can always leave.

   11. I’m late to the party on this one but I’d say Madison is fairly accurately described by Lady Harriett, above. I, however, LOVE Madison and would kill to live there.

       As far as the winters go, we have crazy ones and then we have mild ones (here in the Midwest). I wouldn’t think it would be all that different from where you are now in NE.

   12. I’m not sure where in New England you live…but here in the Boston area, 2 of the past 3 winters have been worse here than they have been for friends of mine that live in MN and Chicago.

       My advice for combating winter blues is to 1. have fabulous snow gear 2. always plan a winter getaway to somewhere warm.

   13. Madison is a great college town, think Amherst-y. I am from Massachusetts, and I’ve been in the midwest for 4 years and the last 4 NE winters have been worse than here….

   14. A postdoctoral is not forever!

       My experience living at Northern latitudes is that if I pay attention to the days lengthening from Dec through June, then it doesn’t matter so much that they’re shorter in the first few months.

       If you’re required to teach in the fall, you’d want to seriously over prepare ahead of time when you have more energy so you don’t have to do much more than fake an attentive smile come November. If you don’t have to teach, then leave town for the darkest days. Go to a conference, go somewhere else for winter break (take your work with you!!!), just get into the light. Basically, balance your workload for when you can best handle the work.

       For the winter days that you are in town, there’s beer. Preferably with colleagues. Seriously, networking can be an important part of a postdoc

       You might also want to look at a map. I don’t think Wi is a higher latitude than NE, so the amount of light/length of days is not less a friend from Minn even claims that it’s more, because of reflection off the snow. She struggles with winters in Ohio, where there are longer days, but less snow.

   15. I moved from New England to Madison. The weather was really no worse than New England, and better a lot of the time. There are tons of awesome new people in Madison. It is a wonderful city.

   16. Aren’t most post-docs just 2-3 years? Would you be willing to move there for just a few years and then move to a place where you’ll be happy afterwards? Doing a post-doc (although the pay is low) gives you a lot of protected time to pursue your own research interests and write papers. You can come out of the post-doc with several first author papers which will put you in a position to be able to chose where you’d want to go next.

5. I have a similar pair of Rockports that I’ve been really happy with. I like that they have both a slim heel and a bit of pointed toe— nothing about them screams “COMFORT SHOE” even though they are.

   I also recommend the Naturalizer Deino as comfortable dress shoe with a low heel. They come in tons of colors and can usually be found on sale somewhere.

6. Do I “need” lavender low-heeled pumps? Yes. Yes, I do.

   And just another shout out for the Payless options. I don’t have the exact ones featured here, but I love, love, love the Comfort Plus pumps that I have (and plan to buy more of).

   1. Enabling here: I got some grey shoes based on recs from this site and am shocked at much I wear them. They’re neutral but not as jarring as black. Lavendar would probably be similar…

      1. I have a lavender cardigan that I wear very often. It’s great with purple, pink, blue, green, black, grey, brown, the list goes on… Now you’re making me think I need a pair of lavender shoes too!

   2. I have tons of Payless shoes. I can’t justify spending $150+ on a pair of shoes, but I sure can justify spending $30-40!

   3. Me too! Kat had a post about it a few months back and I went out to get them. Love it!

7. Bandolino Berry – http://www.zappos.com/bandolino-berry-black-leather?ef_id=UZpvFAAAAc7NsCV5:20130528173214:s&zfcTest=fcl%3A2

   They come in a million colors. I have a nagging ankle injury and have been swearing by these for years. And another shout-out for the Comfort Plus at Payless – When I can handle a higher heel, I wear them and own them in five colors.

8. I love the Valentinos! I can’t justify them but man are they pretty.

9. Just ordered 3 pairs of shoes and $100 worth of makeup at Sephora (to get a free travel BB cream). What is WRONG with me today? I also spent all Memorial Day weekend shopping. Oy! Compulsion!

10. I nominate the Kate Spade Simon for my favorite 2 inch heels. As far as I am concerned they are perfection – low, lady like but not girly, comfy, hint of edge with the snakeskin, utter perfection!

    but I am curious what the concensus is on chunky low heels. I think there is a huge tendency for frump here, but I also love some of the retro styles. For instance: http://www.neimanmarcus.com/p/Tory-Burch-Madison-Burlap-Pump/prod153680058_cat39980735__/?icid=&searchType=EndecaDrivenCat&rte=%252Fcategory.service%253FitemId%253Dcat39980735%2526pageSize%253D120%2526No%253D120%2526refinements%253D4294937826%252C4294937827%252C&eItemId=prod153680058&cmCat=product

    Thoughts??

    1. I love TB shoes, chunk and frump be damned. So I am biased.

       Can you please share any knowledge you have re: Kate Spade shoes sizing? I cannot figure out if I am a 9.5 or 10 :/ Are they true to size? I am 9.5 in TB if that helps…

    2. I love chunky heels and rock them all the time. I topple over too easily on a narrow heel. Frump factor is mitigated by the rest of the outfit.

11. I have a toe issue (capsulitis) that I now have half-sole orthodics for the back half of my feet. As advertised, they’d fit into my shoes and I’d wear them all the time. BUT they are a little too wide for my otherwise-comfortable Tory mid-heel pumps and don’t work well with my Cole Haans (even though there is only a slight lift, it lifts my heel past where the back of the shoe holds on to my narrow heels, so I walk out of my shoes). I have some Taryn Rose’s that are about half a size too big that work and some flats that work. Can anyone recommend shoes that work well with orthodics like these? My feet aren’t so bad that I have to wear them ever day, but I’d like to put them to use so that my feet don’t get any worse.

    1. Maybe try a wide width shoe plus a heel grip? I recently bought the Payless comfort plus pumps mentioned above in a 7.5W + a foam heel grip rather than my normal 8M to get some extra width in the toe box, and it’s worked pretty well so far. The wide width would probably give you enough space to fit the inserts, and then the heel grip would keep you from stepping out of them.

    2. Some Clarks and some Munros have removeable soles which helps!

    3. I have a similar issue but i actually just get dr scholls for my heels. they have som many available now and they work pretty good. they are obviously not orthodics, but they really help and let me wear the very high shoes I like to wear.

12. Speaking of lower-heeled shoes, anyone have suggestions for evening shoes? I was at a wedding this weekend and my feet are not happy after several hours of dancing in high-heeled evening sandals. Anyone have a pair of evening shoes they love?

    1. I’ve had good luck with Nina evening shoes in several different styles. I haven’t gotten any recently so I don’t remember the exact ones. I also have a high strappy pair of Chinese Laundry that are suprisingly comfortable.

       1. +1. Just got a high/stiletto pair of Ninas and they were great for a wedding. Do try them on though – another pair cut across my foot.

    2. How much do you want to spend? There are some really cute shoes on sale if you don’t mind spending a bit more. Or try Caparros (sic?) or Ninas – they can be hit or miss in terms of comfort, but I have had some that were great (and tried others that were not).

13. This is going to sound so grumpalump, but I remember when Joan and David shoes were a lot cheaper and then one season they spiked in price. Meh.

14. I love lower heels like this. I tend to walk a lot so I’m always looking for walkable dress shoes I can wear both at work and to/from. I posted about these before I think, but I got these in brown suede on super markdown at NM a while back and I must say they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned. If they go on sale or someone feels like a big splurge, I highly, highly recommend.
    http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/ProductDetail.jsp?PRODUCTprd_id=845524446552126

    1. Those are lovely!

15. Great roundup, but does anyone have any recs for greenish shoes? I’ve been on the hunt for a pair of medium height, workhorse green pumps, and not finding much. My budget is $100-$175.

    (For flats, I just purchased a weekend pair of green flats – Seychelles Anise, and I love them! A bit long, as most casual Seychelles are, so you might go down a half size, but I’d definitely recommend them.)

    1. These are not greenish, they are super bright green but I almost bought them this weekend and I just have to sing their praises.

       Surprisingly comfy, TTS (I am most frequently a 7 with a few deviations and the 7 fit perfectly), and they look so freaking lux. I really wanted the blue ones but they were sold out, and I almost bought the green ones I liked them so much even though they would probably match nothing in my closet…. Seriously cute! And I feel like in the bright color, the suede would not make them weird for summer. I would certainly wear them.

       http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/ProductDetail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524446575356&R=408259372594&P_name=BLACK+Saks+Fifth+Avenue&N=1553+306590230&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306590230&bmUID=jXJ2cMv

       PS: If you have a Saks outlet near you, they often have 30% off promos that would bring the price of these down some more.

16. I found that same pair of Rockports on sale at Ross for $50 about 2 weeks ago, in black. They’re so comfortable that they’ve become my go-to black pump.

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