Fashion or Comfort? When Style Trumps All

There is nothing like a good pair of nice shoes on a man. A well-dressed man is absolutely not complete until he has selected the right shoes to complement his outfit. They don?t have to be dressy or eclectic to be attention-getters. They just have to be complimentary enough towards his outfit and his personality in order to stand out.

Men?s shoes styles have come a long ways since I can remember my father dressing for work in the mornings and for church on Sundays. He always wore a smart, sensible pair of comfortable loafers to his hospital job everyday and sturdy work boots to his part-time cleaning job at night. He never had a foot ache, never complained of ?bad feet? and always, always invested sensibly in good shoes. I imagine that?s what helped fuel him to work the same jobs, standing on his feet every day for over 30 years.

My dad?s taste in footwear was not so unusual, just different. But, I am beginning to notice that the same styles that were popular when my dad was younger seem to making their way back into fashion now. Wing-tip dress shoes and loafers are slowly making a comeback into the fashion realms of men?s shoe styles. Today, his choice of retro fashion footwear would hardly get a second look.

Fashion First or Comfort First?

And although fashion has changed slightly, there are still some consistencies in men?s shoe styles that remain constant:

The shoes must be comfortable. Generally speaking, men want their shoes to be comfortable more than they want them to be stylish. Yes, while men?s shoe styles are important, they would rather have a comfortable pair of fair-looking loafers than two very uncomfortable leather dress shoes.

Their shoes must be practical. Unlike women, men don?t need to match their shoes with their outfits. They usually have one or two pairs of nice, smart shoes that they wear to either work or to church. As long as the shoe can ?multi-task?, their need has been met.

The shoes must be stylish. Wait. Did you think because they want comfort and practicality that they don?t want to look good? Absolutely not! Men want to be absolutely stylish too in their choice of footwear.

There must be options. How boring it must be to have the same selection of shoes that everyone has to choose from! Variety is the spice of the shoe life and men want to be able to choose and select their shoes based on what they need and how they want to look.

Men?s Shoe Selections

What are some things that men can do to select the right shoe yet stay fashion-forward?

Get properly sized. There is nothing more ill-fitting than wearing the wrong size shoe. Have a professional shoe retailer size your foot and give you the correct measurements for your foot. Usually, foot discomforts arise from wearing the wrong size and wrong type of shoe for your foot.

Invest. Don?t be afraid to pay for good shoes. Your feet are not the time to bargain shop, but, that doesn?t mean you shouldn?t be on the lookout for sales and deals. Just don?t specifically buy shoes just because of the price. Find what you need, get properly fitted and check the price last. Your feet will thank you, I promise.

Rotate them. When you have two to three of the same pair of shoes in the same style, you have the luxury of rotating. This works especially well in jobs like my father had where he had to wear the same style of shoe to work each day. When you rotate them, each pair of shoes invariably last longer and stretches out the time between re-purchasing. Investing in a fair amount of several pairs initially can help avoid having a shoe crisis later on.

Men?s shoe styles selections are dictated first by comfort, then by practicality and lastly by price. It?s important to look good and equally important for the feet to feel good. A lot of our days are spent standing, walking and moving about therefore it is important to pay especially close attention to what adorns our feet. And with that, men are no different than women ? if they feel good, they don?t look good. It?s all in the shoes.