You may or may not be wearing something on your feet right now. Whether you’re wearing nothing, just socks, slippers, or even shoes, your feet will need something.

Going barefoot is only acceptable in a few situations: In bed, in your own house, in the shower, at the pool, or at the beach. Going barefoot anywhere else is pretty much a crime. No one wants to look at your feet in public, especially if you’re someone who doesn’t wash them (Which is disgusting. Please wash your feet). In non-water situations, wearing socks is probably the best thing to do if you’re not wearing shoes of some sort. They at least give your feet enough protection so you don’t feel absolutely disgusting. 

Slippers (which also include flip-flops and slides) are best when worn indoors or in situations where you need to go barefoot right away such as the beach or the pool. They, unfortunately, don’t give you enough protection around your feet to use as everyday footwear but at least they have enough uses for them to be used in other situations. Seeing people wear them as everyday footwear is questionable because of this. I usually just stick to wearing socks indoors but if I absolutely need to, I’ll wear slippers. When it comes to wearing flip-flops, I’ll only wear them at the pool or beach because those are situations where I need to be barefoot in seconds. Flip-flops are also useful in the shower so you don’t get any weird foot infections. 

(brando / Flickr)

To me, shoes fall into multiple categories. These categories include:

• Runners
• Low tops
• High tops
• Dress shoes

Runners are seen as everyday shoes. When you’re a little kid, you often don’t get many opportunities to change footwear (except changing from rainboots to runners). There were many instances where you had to run right away which can make wearing any other kind of footwear extremely uncomfortable. Nowadays, you are one of three people. Either you wear runners everywhere you go, you only wear them while exercising, or you wear them whenever you feel like it. I fall under the last category where I’ll wear them whenever I feel like it. I always wear them while exercising but when it comes to going to school or anything else, it depends on what my outfit calls for. These are 100% inappropriate to wear in formal situations. Whenever I see someone wear them at a formal event such as a wedding or funeral, I just think to myself how disrespectful they are to the dress code. The only valid excuse that exists is that they’re the only shoes that you own.

(Chiara Coetzee)

Low tops are generally seen as skater shoes. I usually only like these ones if they’re thick enough. Ones that are thinner, such as low-top Chuck Taylors, are what I would describe as feeling cheap because I feel like they don’t have enough ankle support. These sneakers are the type you would buy to feel not informal, but still casual. My main pair of low tops that I wear on a semi-regular basis is a pair of Adidas Continentals. They don’t feel super flimsy

(Christian Ungureanu / Flickr)

High-top sneakers are probably my favourite casual piece of footwear. Something about them feels complete and goes with pretty anything I would be wearing every day. High tops tell the world that you’re a sneaker enthusiast. One of the only problems with any kind of high-top footwear is how long they can take to put on and take off. If you’re in a major rush, you’ll probably struggle to put them on. You usually have to remove the laces from the first few holes to accommodate this. After you get them on, you feel a lot better. When it comes to lacing up high-top Chuck Taylors, I like to lace them where the laces go around my ankles. They give the pair of shoes a lot more grip around the ankles that just don’t exist. 

(Kai Gradert / Flickr)

Dress shoes are the type of thing that you only wear at a corporate office, at a wedding, or at a funeral. They’re probably your least favourite because of how formal they are. You can only get them in black and grown which makes sense because of their formality. They’re usually made out of leather for formality reasons. If you’re someone to wear a belt, it is crucial that you match your belt with your shoes, otherwise your outfit will scream “I did not prepare myself for a formal environment.”

(Steve Johnson / Flickr)

Boots are usually informal but can be formal if you get the right pair. When it comes to heavy snow, your only option is to wear snow boots. No other kind of footwear will help your feet survive. Years ago, rain boots would be your only option to survive heavy rain. However, now that waterproof sneakers have evolved since then, the need for these isn’t as much as it used to be. In other situations, you can get away with ankle or casual boots. Boots make me feel dressed up without actually dressing up. A pair of chelsea boots can actually go with any outfit and should be in almost everyone’s wardrobe because of their timeless look. For a long time, I would wear chelsea boots almost every day. It was only in the last few years that I

switched to boots with laces or zippers. Lace-up boots tend to have a problem where they can be a challenge to put on in a hurry. One time, it took me almost ten minutes just to put on a pair of lace-up boots. I didn’t wear that pair that much because of it so I continued wearing my chelsea boots before getting a pair of ankle boots with zippers. They’re pretty snug compared to chelsea boots because there was less elasticity. These days, I rock a pair of motorcycle boots (despite not owning or even being able to ride a motorcycle). That pair of boots have both laces and zippers. The laces work as they should, making the boots tighter. The zippers are useful because that means you can take less time putting them on.

(dogrando / Flickr)

Footwear is something that you’ll always have to wear. What you choose can say a lot about you.