I am the first to say that I love a beautiful shoe. The elegant shape, the well-worked leather, the bright colors and flashy embelishments...I love it all. Yes, I'm a shoe girl. But, I'm also pratical. I don't wear the 5 inch stilletos mentioned above. I wear one or two inch heels or pumps. My feet thank me and my sense of shoe style is not insulted. I'm not rubber heel because I don't like a lot of them (and I'm short so I like the way a slimmer heel elongates my legs). I try not to judge rubberheel, so please don't judge short heel!

Shoes used to be my favorite thing.  They made an outfit just right.  They spoke to and of me more that any other accessory.  I notice and love the choices women make. 

It has been more than ten years that I have been in "special shoes"  From the outside they look like black tie boots.  Very practical and not at all inspired.  Without them, I could not walk.  Look at others with generous compassion because you do not know what another woman's challenges are.  Our generosity with each other will make the world a little bit better each day.

Great point, iowa. I don't wear particularly fashionable shoes, either. It doesn't mean I lack taste, just that I'm doing what I have to do.

I was really glad to see this post because I have always been a bit self concious about not being able to wear heels. I have a disability which in everyday life people can't tell that I have. Because of this diability I can't wear heels. When I don't wear heels I notice I get more stares from other women than from men and it really bothers me that other women would be so quick to judge me. I can't walk in heels (since I am short I have tried it) and quiet frankly I am going to put my condition at risk just to satisfy what "others" may think of me. I am glad that I am not the only one that doesn't wear heels! :)

but just because men don't glance and women do doesn't necessarily mean that the women who do so are doing so to judge. many men just don't notice these things. women, on the other hand, do notice. they either notice and they judge, or they just simply notice. i notice how both men and women dress - it just so happens that i probably also glance at the women's shoes as well just because often, a woman's shoes add to her outfit. it's part of the whole picture. and the whole picture of how someone dresses does say something about them to people who don't know them (that's why firms have business or business casual dress requirements instead of no dress code). we all do it every time we meet someone - it instinctively forms our first impression of someone before we say hello. so i don't think there's anything wrong with glancing at someone's outfit or shoes when they walk in the room. i probably always glance at how someone is dressed the first time i meet them (this includes the shoes), if they're dressed up or down in a remarkable way, i probably take note of it. otherwise, i don't think twice about it once we meet and start talking/working together so even though i always glance, i don't judge and it doesn't have a lasting impression. i can't say that i have ever looked at someone's shoes and decided they were less confident or powerful because they weren't wearing sexy shoes. so while it's unfortunate that some people judge you for your shoes, not everyone is doing so, so please don't take it too much to heart when someone looks at your shoes.

by the way, i know that the post and the above comments are intended to address the greater problem of women judging each other negatively and just do so by assuming that all glances=judgment for the sake of making their point - i get that, and it's an important and good point and well made, but i just wanted to defend those of us glancers (but who are not judgers) out there :)

So here is a confession -- I judge you if you wear flat shoes.  I know that it is terrible to do but I think it is only fair to tell women out there the truth about the nature of women.

Here's the thing.  I get that heels are not comfortable.  I get that they can be hard to pull off, depending on the outfit.  I get that some people have foot problems that prevent them from wearing heels.  I get that some people are too tall to find pants that are long enough for heels.  I get it.  I still judge.

I think that flat shoes are the equivalent of wearing slippers to work.  I think that they make the statement that you care more about being comfortable than being professional.  I think that they say that you are trying to do anything that you can do to make the suit-wearing easier to bear.  I think it exemplifies laziness and a certain "I don't care" attitude about your appearance that I do not value.  Not to mention that wearing flat shoes with pants is too manly and wearing flat shoes with a skirt is just unattractive and makes you look stumpy.

Look... Neck ties, belts, dress shoes, suit jackets -- these things are all uncomfortable.  Putting on makeup, blow drying your hair, shaving your face (men) are all things that are time consuming and potentially bad for you.  Still, we do them.  There are a group of men out there that do not shave their beards for medical reasons (e.g. too many ingrown hairs) or religious reasons.  Still we judge them because they don't conform, even though they have a good reason for such nonconformity.

I think that heels, even small ones if you must fight it, are part of the professional dress code.  I feel terrible about it if you have a medical reason for not wearing them, but there is no appropriate way for me to know that, and so I make assumptions that you have other reasons (e.g. laziness, see above).

It is what it is.

I think your attitude that being professional, for a woman, requires being uncomfortable, or even endangering her health is disturbing.  I just hope that for your own sanity you never end up with bad knees, or allergies that prevent you from putting on that shoe or makeup armor that you believe everyone needs.

As for me, I will continue to wear low shoes, and pants.  And for those few that judge me on that basis, I hope you underestimate me.  Because we certainly will not be on the same side of the table.  When you assume that my failure to wear the armor you consider acceptable means that I am lazy or incompetent, I will have an advantage over you.