Sneaker Chic: Slip-On Sneakers, Slip-On Happiness

I've been eying the slip-on sneaker for some time. And recently, it's become a family affair.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed that my mom and I have gotten a little pin happy with the chic sneaker pins.  After learning how to use Pinterest in January, my mother has become a master pinner, and now she can run Pinterest circles around me. (Seriously. You should follow her. She has 3,600 pins -- and counting! -- and they're all fabulous.) Last week, we started a shared board called "Happy Feet" and we have been pinning madly (or dare I say happily?) to it ever since.

Even my dad has gotten in on the sneaker action. Without any prompting, he sent me a link to an article from PureWow about slip-on sneakers and their benefits as commuting shoes.

In fact, slip-on sneakers offer a number of pretty great benefits. They look awesome. They feel awesome. And they don't have to be tied. Win, win, and win.

Many of you know that I've been mildly frustrated by having to wear the same extra loud, doctor-recommended orange sneakers and a cane to literally every event I've attended since being released into the post-surgery wild. I am three months into what I am told is a six month recovery, and at a certain point last week, I decided I simply couldn't take the orange sneakers anymore. I needed something quieter for work. Something that didn't scream, IAMWEARINGSNEAKERSWITHTHISSUIT. Something that didn't have laces (I am oh so tired of tying my shoes). But something that my doctor would approve of.

Enter the black-on-black Vans slip-on sneaker.

Slip ons are available at all sorts of price points, from designer to non-designer, from Valentino to Vince to Vans. I'm sure Valentino makes a winning slip-on sneaker, but I'm not about to spend hundreds of dollars on a sneaker. I happen to believe that Vans are classic for a reason (and they are also very wallet friendly), and so I recently zoned in on those as the potential candidate for my first non-orange sneaker footwear option. Reviews stating things like "handcrafted by God himself" had me sold.

Last weekend, I hobbled my way over to Bloomingdales (where judgment of my cane/sneaker look occurred and I was rudely ignored by, like, 15 associates who all universally refused to make eye contact with me:  big mistake, huge! Clearly these people don't understand the buying power of a female who hasn't been able to purchase shoes for a year!). I moved on to Urban Outfitters, where I felt much more comfortable (you've got to love a no judgment, self-serve environment at times) and found what I was looking for: the black-on-black Vans classic slip-on sneaker, $45.00. In all black, they look almost like a loafer (they look super cute with cropped pants and jeans) and can blend into office wear so that it is not so readily apparent that I am wearing a sneaker with a suit (unfortunately, I'm not Ellen, so pulling the look off takes a bit of finesse for me).

I tried the shoes on and... whoa. As it turns out, skaters know a thing or two about foot comfort (no wonder they seem so laid back!). I mean, seriously, I think the shoes actually were handcrafted by God himself. They run wide in the toe box, which is just the loveliest thing ever for a gal like moi, and they're super padded both on the bottom and in the seam that goes around your foot/ankle.  I walked around for a while in the store, trying to contain the amount of joy that was surging through me as I realized with each step that these shoes actually might work, these shoes could be my ticket to relative normalcy.

Needless to say, I bought my first pair of post-surgery shoes. After getting doctor approval, I wore them to work and felt decidedly zippier -- a pep to my step, if you will -- even while carrying a cane.

A few days later, I returned to Urban Outfitters and picked up a pair of black and white checkerboard slip-ons. You know, for the weekends. Luckily, these shoes come in like a gazillion colors and are probably the cheapest pair of shoes I've bought since elementary school, so I feel pretty excited about the prospect of purchasing multiples of this shoe.  

Get them, your feet will thank you. And feet deserve your love.

Where To Buy
Urban Outfitters, Van's Classic Slip-On Men's Sneaker, $45
Vans, Solid Colors Slip-On, $45
(They come in lots of other colors too!! This is just the tip of the iceberg!)

How To Style
I've included some of my favorite slip-on sneaker looks below. For work, I'll wear the black-on-black with my usual suits and such, and for play I'll have a little more fun with some of the other colors (like the checkerboard) with cuffed boyfriend jeans or skinny ankle jeans. What are your faves?

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Suit-Street.com

Madewell with Vans checkerboard slip-on

Blog and the City

The Fashion Guitar

Vans sneakers (unknown source)

Steve Maden

La Cool & Chic Blog

Vans SS 14 Lookbook

Stella Want Stodie Blog

Burberry

Happy keeping your feet happy!
KK