Tuesday’s TPS Report: Paul Smith’s Pink Suede Mary Janes

47 Comments

1. Ugh. Not helpful.

2. Ugh. Not helpful.

3. can someone please help me on rules of wearing patent shoes at the office? can it be done ever? does it depend on color? obviously, it depends on style – i’m talking about a plain pump in a dark grey, if it helps.

   1. I was taught “patent is for parties”. But things change. Take a look around the office and see if anyone else has gone first.

   2. Patent shoes are now extremely common and quite acceptable for day and even highly conservative office enviroments. Most fashion sources agree that the old rules no longer apply. IMO, a great pair of dark grey patent pumps are fine for daily wear. I have a pair of navy blue patent sling backs that I wear with everything as well a several pairs of black patent shoes that are in heavy rotation. The key to ensuring you don’t look dressed for a party is to stay away from any pant with a sheen, think wool blends. Hope this helps!

      1. definitely, thanks for the input!

      2. I have dark grey patent peep toe pumps that i love and get tons of compliments on at my conservative office

         1. I work in politics which is not as conservative as corporate law but I wear patents all the time — the cole haan/nike ones I have in red, pink, yellow and black — and I also have brown patent shoes.

4. I can’t understand the current penchant for offbeat, colorful shoes with austere, colorless suits and shirts or blouses. If there’s anywhere most of us need some distinctive and flattering accents, it’s nearer the face. Why draw all the attention to our feet?

5. Do you gals really wear a 3 1/2″ heal in the office/courtroom, etc.?

   1. I’d need the assistance of a walker if I wore 3 1/2″ heels to work.

      1. I routinely wear 3.5 inch heels in the office and in court and see many other female attys doing the same.

         1. Same here. This is my preferred height and I see it frequently, although I would ordinarily say (particularly for the courtroom) that they should be in a classic shape and neutral color.

   2. absolutely! am wearing 3.5 heels right now!

6. I love these shoes- so cute!

   Penelope- while that may be true, not everyone has the option of jewelry or scarves. I’m allergic to metal and live in a warm climate, so I opt for a cute shoe to give an outfit some pop instead. I think many women pick one accessory of choice to give an outfit some pop, and for many women, it’s the shoe instead of earrings or necklaces.

7. I wear patent shoes to work all the time. I find it is too hard to find cute, comfortable shoes in regular leather and I don’t like suede because I always get it wet. I agree with Delta Sierra though. If no one at your office is doing it, it’s probably not a great idea.

8. I agree with anon – I’d love to see some suggestions for 2″ heels instead. 3.5″ is just waaay too high to wear all day around the office and to court.

9. I agree. I think a great reason to wear colorful shoes is that it’s a safe way of expressing your personality in an otherwise conservative setting. I think it’s harder to pull off the jewelry and/or scarves closer to the face because if you don’t do it quite right, it might come across as being too bold. I’m more apt to have that pop from the shoe so as to not drastically take away from a professional appearance.

10. I don’t quite understand why loud pieces are said to be “statement” or “personality” pieces. Do people use these terms interchangeably with “loud” or “bold,” or are they really implying that pink shoes say something about their personality (beyond: I will not have a dull wardrobe even though I am a corporate cog)?

11. Penelope, excellent point.

12. Loud pieces are statement pieces. That’s just the language of corporate America. The choice to wear pink shoes does imply that you may not care to abide by the corporate rules of conduct in some as yet undefined way. Unfortunately, it can also mean you might be open to being treated as a woman outside the work context. Which, when you are walking the halls of power, you don’t want to say. In any way. Now, if your personality and reputation is so strong that shoes be damned, wear what you like. I imagine Carol Bartz can wear pink and purple polka dots if she likes. Now. But, for better or worse, clothes signify. Particularly early in your career. So if you want to say something with your apparel, make sure you have the performance and clout to back it up. Otherwise, flying under the radar, sartorially, and making all your mark in work results, is usually a more productive strategy.

13. I can’t imagine anyone in my firm taking a young female associate wearing pink shoes very seriously.

    I wear heels (3″+) every day, and I am all about color when I’m not in court. I have red shoes, plum shoes, green shoes, blue, gray, etc. No pink. To me, a pink shoe just screams “I went to law school because I saw Legally Blonde.”

14. Well said, LPC. To me, these shoes combine too many “don’ts” – pink (little girl color), Mary Jane (little girl style), that ribbon-like trim (childishly youthful and in pastels no less – what WOULD this shoe go with, really?), cut-outs (attention-getting detail to too many iffy features, including toe cleavage). And the suede – not bad in and of itself, but again it is one step removed from the traditional on a pretty out-there shoe. Suede also doesn’t wear well and with this light color every scuff would show. On the other hand I hesitate to think what it might look like in a smooth-finished leather, but the words Pepto Bismol come to mind.

    Nope, didn’t like it. Not a bit.

15. Ach – just read the description by Corporette and looked at the shoe again. “Blast of color on the sole” indeed. That is ACID GREEN, I believe. No, No, No.

16. I’m not sure what to make of LPC’s comment. I have no idea what you mean by “you might be open to being treated as a woman outside the work context.” For me, I wanted to be treated as a woman/human being both at and outside of work. I don’t want anyone to get me confused with a man. I’ll agree that a young woman needs to dress appropriately for her job, and that is something that you need to judge from your environment, and maybe there aren’t many women in executive positions for you to judge what is appropriate, but I certainly don’t think that means she has to stay away from (tasteful) statement pieces. A factor in success at any position is personality.

17. No, ‘statement’ and ‘personality’ pieces are not necessarily interchangeable with ‘bold’ and ‘loud.’ It’s a personality piece b/c it’s not basic or generic–by definition some will love it and others will not, so if you do love it, it fits your personality and reveals a (very) small glimpse of your personality to others. While I’m not crazy about these shoes, I strongly disagree with LPC’s critique. I am a professional woman. I’m not just a professional and I’m not just a woman. So, yeah, I like color and I like a little flare, and I have no desire to behave like a man or have anyone mistake me for one–inside or outside of work. I can successfully be both. I realize that there are those who cannot, but to write off all suggestion of personality or feminity based on one item of clothing without any context, is to paint with far too broad a brush.
    We’re all going to continue working in a man’s world if we don’t allow ourselves to actually be women in that world.

    1. “We’re all going to continue working in a man’s world if we don’t allow ourselves to actually be women in that world.”

       Thank you….very well said!

18. I think these shoes are adorable, though at 5’9″ I generally stay away from very high heels at the office. I could see these at the bottom of some classic gray trousers. They would be fine in my office, which is a bit conservative, but not overly so.

    As for “bold” or “statement” shoes, I think about them the same way I think about other accessories and clothes: I have items that are neutral and traditional, and I have items that are colorful or otherwise interesting. If I wear one thing that is a bit more colorful or interesting, whether it’s a blouse, necklace, or shoes, I tend to keep other items neutral. I wouldn’t want to pass up some beautiful shoes that are colorful just because I want “color” near my face instead.

    I also think that gray patent pumps sound wonderful. I’m personally not a fan of black patent, but that could be my mother’s desire to dress me and my sisters in it when we were kids!

19. I think (I hope) that is an outdated view of the corporate mindset – I really don’t think that pink shoes are a violation of the corporate rules of conduct if your outfit is tasteful. And, I don’t think that it is a problem to be treated like a woman in the office. While I don’t think you should flaunt sexuality at the office, I have over the years met women whom I admired very much and who taught me that it is ok to be fashionable in the office. It is ok to dress like a woman! Wearing boring, overly conservative outfits just helps you to fade into the background and possibly into the trap that women so often have problems with – unfortunately, the workplace is not a meritocracy, and no matter how good your work is, you have to promote yourself. Looking well put-together and stylish is part of that. Clients like polished people working on their affairs. If pink shoes are too much for your office to handle without thinking less of you, then I imagine that your firm isn’t entirely comfortable yet with women. I’ve been happy to see that young women in the entering classes seem to get that, and are more fashionable at work than I would have dared to be when I first started out. I was always very concerned about looking very conservative and it was oppressive.

    This sounds more like a diatribe than intended. Sorry. It is one of my pet peeves. A young man wearing a stylish Thomas Pink shirt/tie combo would never be taken less seriously for it or worry that he was going to be treated like a man rather than a genderless automaton.

    1. Thank you, jcb, for this response. I agree. These shoes are so cute, and would be fabulous with a grey pantsuit!

20. Well put, jcb.

    I do not like these shoes at all, but I think pink shoes can be done well in a corporate environment. It is all about balance.

21. i really don’t care for the trim on these. i think that pushes them into more weekend than work category. without the trim, though, i would think them entirely work appropriate.

22. For context, I am 52 years old. My last several positions have been at the VP level, and I never wore shoes that outspoken. I have some reddish pink Stuart Weitzmans, but even those I never wore to the NYSE. A former client. You know what? I hope my opinion is outdated. I hope you see women walking the corridors of power wearing clothing outside the former boundaries of acceptable, and I hope those women succeed. On the other hand, I’d rather have power than pink shoes, IF I have to choose. Pink shoes, IMO, aren’t worth fighting for. Flexible work when you have little children, worth fighting for?

23. I interpreted LPCs comment (though I am sure she can speak for herself) not to mean that you need to hide the fact that you are a woman, but that you really don’t want to give your colleagues cause to think about that fact overmuch. Same logic by which slips unders sheer dresses and gappy blouse buttons are discussed on this site.

    While I disagree that these particular shoes would have this effect (thinking they are much more little-girly), the ad copy on Zappo’s says “These flirty pumps feature cute cut-out detailing, fun colorful striped piping and an adorable girly silhouette.” Not quite the professional image I’m going for.

24. As a mid-level NYC Big Law associate, I feel much more comfortable wearing pink shoes than asking for flextime for my kids. Anyone else feel the same? Thoughts?

25. KH, I think you made my point better than I did. Being a woman per se isn’t the issue. No one wants to hide that. It’s the girly part that’s tough, because it implies some helplessness, in my aging opinion. I think you can dress conservatively, still womanly, still powerfully. El – I am not a lawyer. When I got pregnant, I just quit working for several years. Was lucky to get back into the workforce during an economic high, so not too much loss of career momentum.

26. I definitely don’t have any problems with dressing like a fashionable, sophisticated woman. The key is “sophisticated.” These shoes are anything but sophisticated. I probably overstated my objection to pink shoes: I don’t think there is anything wrong (in theory) with a classy pair of pink shoes in a more muted tone like a blush.

    Maybe it’s because I’m young and blonde, but I try to avoid a lot of pink at the office – I really don’t want to appear as though I am channeling Elle Woods.

    Most anything else (peep toes, patent, red, etc.) can look fashionable, sophisticated and professional if worn the right way. The cotton candy, bubblegum and hot pink-hued shoes just don’t, in my opinion.

27. These are dangerous but so cute!

28. Love suede shoes, but I live in Seattle. Where it rains. A lot.
    Any tips on keeping suede shoes in shape when it’s wet?

    1. You can weather proof then with products you can buy at a shoe store or Target. But, nothing is perfect. I’m in Portland and when I wear my suede boots to work and it’s raining, I wear galoshes and bring the boots along to change into at work.

29. I agree with EAS. I don’t get the whole round toe mary-jane trend. It looks very alternative and funky in an “I am a rebellious teenager trying to express myself” kind of way. I wouldn’t be caught dead in these even at a party or weekend. Just my personal taste, of course.

30. I think these are cute. I love round toes (I am sooooo tired of looking down and thinking I look like a witch) and the colors are fun. I wouldn’t wear these if I knew I’d be meeting with a conservative male partner, but for a day behind my desk or if I’m working with peers, I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d wear gray trousers and maybe a cream blouse–I think that if you’re all in dark except for bright shoes the shoes just stand out more. A lighter colored top would balance these better, imo.
    And I do wear 3″ heels almost every day. You can find comfortable ones if you look hard enough.

31. I have a few pointy toed shoes, but in general I prefer the round toe because it’s much more comfortable. The Mary Jane is a good style for women who have narrow heels like I do, otherwise I have to get a smaller size to make sure the shoe doesn’t slip off/rub.

32. El — I completely agree.

33. El – I agree, too! Though I am one of the lucky ones on flextime now – and I don’t have kids. I sold it as “work is slow, you won’t be paying me to do work you may not have, and I don’t want to have to worry about my hours”. It went over well. This may be a good time to ask for it! Though I am in Chicago biglaw which has a very different mentality than NY biglaw, from what my friends in NY tell me. All I can say is that I was very unapologetic about it and it has worked out for me.

    btw, can I just say how much I enjoy this blog? It is so refreshing to have civil dialogue with intelligent women, with no “FIRST!1!” or disgusting comments. Either Corporette does an amazing job of moderating or we are one fantastic group of ladies.

    1. here! here!
       and i like to think it’s the latter.

34. Oh God are you serious? One of my college hippie friends had a pair almost identical to this one, that she always wore with her flower tunics.

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