by Gabrielle Kuhl

Created on: April 05, 2007   Last Updated: August 07, 2009

As you are stumbling out of bed in the morning and rushing to get ready for work, you may pay little attention to the clothes you are picking out, and even less attention to the shoes that you are putting on your feet. After all, shoes are just an insignificant slab of material used merely to protect your walking stumps, right?

Whether we intend for it or not, the shoes we wear do leave an impression. And in an office, when employees need to take a break from surfing the net, staring at their cubicles, or, god forbid, doing work, they start paying closer attention to the people around them.

We may not admit it, but we do judge our coworkers by what they are wearing, even on their feet. As far as office footwear goes, there are different levels of appropriateness. In order of most to least appropriate, I have listed four categories below:

High-end or designer dress shoes: Very appropriate. These are often worn by a person that many would call the business Professional. You can't go wrong with a nice pair of shiny, black leather shoes. Someone that has scuff and crease free shoes obviously cares about her appearance, and is serious about what she does. In an office, it is always better to be over, rather than under, dressed.

The basic black loafer or black tie flats: Appropriate. These shoes are neither extremely bad, nor extremely good. They are appropriate enough so as not to get noticed, yet nothing that would impress. The person wearing these shoes is generally the type that wants to do her job and go home without setting the world on fire and without causing a commotion.

Over 4 inch high heels or knee high boots: Inappropriate. These are usually worn by the girl that male employees refer to as the office hottie and females refer to as the office slut. This is the girl that looks like she gets ready in the morning still undecided as to whether she will actually go to work or go straight to the bar. Her shoe choice is very intentional, and, while it may get her noticed, it will not necessarily get her taken seriously.

Flip-flops or beach sandals: Very Inappropriate. Flip-flops are becoming more common as "business-casual" employees are becoming more casual than business. Nevertheless, while it's nice to be comfortable, nobody ever climbs the corporate ladder (or any ladder for that matter) in flip flops.

As much as we try to escape our superficial selves or tell ourselves that we do not judge others by their appearance, it is a lie. In the real world, as we spend our time in a confined space with the same people day in and day out, very little truly goes unnoticed. And although footwear appropriateness may be a matter of opinion, everyone has one so it's up to you to decide whose matters.

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