commuting shoes: the working girl's best friend

The first time I heard of "commuting shoes" was on an episode of What Not to Wear. The makeoveree was defending the sketchy sneakers she wore to work, because she rode the subway, there was no way she could make her commute in the pretty heels Stacy and Clinton were showing off. Happily, Clinton was there to set her straight, and the idea of commuting shoes lurked in my brain through many years of sketchy-sneakers-wearing (I was in college, give me a break!) until the time finally came to put that knowledge to good use.

Source: famousfootwear.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

If you've never heard of commuting shoes before, here's the long and short of it: sometimes you have to walk a lot to get to work. Sometimes you have to drive a long time. And sometimes you don't want to do those things wearing heels. But you are not doomed to wear sensible flats every day of your professional life -- no! You can buy a pair of comfortable, reasonably athletic shoes, and then change into your nice shoes once you get to the office! Do you see how this was a revolutionary idea in my young brain?

My commuting shoe of choice (pictured above) are my Skechers Actives "Addicted" (I have no idea. Shoes, cars, and cellphones have the weirdest names); I bought them for my retail job, because I could stand in them for 4-8 hours at a time without my feet falling off. They're comfortable, provide some arch support, and are nice-looking enough that I don't feel like a total fashion disaster during the ten minutes it takes to get from my car to my desk in the mornings. Actually, I have been known to wear them with trousers; they're a nice pair of black shoes that don't call too much attention to themselves.

Some people keep their work shoes in a desk drawer for easy on/off - just slip them on when you get to work and put them back at night. Personally, I like to have access to all of my shoes at all times (you never know when you'll need them!) so I just pack mine into my work-bag, and off I go. This gives me the added bonus of being able to decide to wear my fancy shoes out to my car, if my feet are still feeling okay and I want to work some stylish professional realness on that catwalk we call a sidewalk.

Do you wear commuting shoes or are you the kind of hardcore fashionista who walks five miles uphill both ways in her heels? (If so, I salute you and stick my feet further into my fuzzy slippers!) What say you, kitschens? (Haven't used that for a while...it's still not cool, is it?)