Author Topic: The soft shoe shuffle - let’s get the shoes on or off!  (Read 453 times)

Offline Poesie

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The soft shoe shuffle - let’s get the shoes on or off!
« on: May 24, 2018, 04:34:23 am »
So is it customary where you live to remove outdoor shoes before going inside, to keep them on, or does it depend on individual household preferences?

And if you take them off when you visit at a friend’s place, do you get special slippers or go barefoot/in stockinged feet?

How do you deal with households with different practices?

Here in Australia, I’ve visited both types of household. Personally prefer guests to leave shoes at the door of my house but won’t hassle anyone about it unless their shoes are muddy. Taking off shoes/sandals means you get whatever is on underneath  - socks or bare feet, depending on what I’m wearing. No one has ever supplied me with special inside shoes.

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Offline MariaE

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Dane here - depends entirely on time of year. In summer few people really care, and it's about 50-50 about whether or not you'll be asked to remove your shoes or not. In winter (with snow and mud) people'll take off their outside shoes and (depending on formality of the event) either put on shoes they've brought from home* or be offered slippers or cozy socks from the host.

I've never experienced it as being a big deal here. Possibly because winters here are so wet that nobody would consider not removing their shoes when they enter a place of residence  :D

(* These don't have to be dedicated indoor shoes, but just shoes that aren't currently wet and leaving dirty prints :P )

Offline AliciaLynette

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There's no hard and fast rule as far as I know here in the UK, it tends to be personal preference.

In our house, I tend to go barefoot/stocking feet indoors, but I grew up on a farm so taking footwear off at the door was automatic, and we just didn't generally bother to put 'indoor' shoes on! The only exception is when I'm wearing new shoes, and I'll wear them around the house to break them in/identify issues which mean they need to be returned.

Child usually follows my example, and OH sometimes takes them off and sometimes doesn't. The only time I get 'fussy' about the matter is the 'shoes do not go on furniture' issue, but that's more to prevent damage to the furniture (and because it's only OH who does that, and sometimes it just exacerbates any annoyance with him that I'm feeling!).

Offline Free Range Hippy Chick

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I think in the UK there's a degree of local custom, too. I grew up in Northern Ireland which was decidedly shoes on in town (farms and country and mud is different, as AliciaLynette says). Now I'm in the north west of England which is shoes off.
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Offline Thrabalen

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I've lived in the NE (Philly area) and SE (North Florida) United States, and I've never seen it done here. That's not to say it isn't done, but either it isn't common on the east coast, or it's very rare.

Offline Felicia

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The common experience for me is shoes on.  I wear slippers at home but just as often wear my regular shoes too. I’m only a barefoot person in summer.

Offline Pandorica

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I take my shoes off immediately after coming into my house, because I hate wearing shoes.   In my area, though, it's not really a thing, although if their shoes were extra muddy or whatever, I'm pretty sure people would take them off rather than track grossness through someone's house.

Offline gorplady

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So is it customary where you live to remove outdoor shoes before going inside, to keep them on, or does it depend on individual household preferences?

And if you take them off when you visit at a friend’s place, do you get special slippers or go barefoot/in stockinged feet?

How do you deal with households with different practices?

Here in Australia, I’ve visited both types of household. Personally prefer guests to leave shoes at the door of my house but won’t hassle anyone about it unless their shoes are muddy. Taking off shoes/sandals means you get whatever is on underneath  - socks or bare feet, depending on what I’m wearing. No one has ever supplied me with special inside shoes.

HA HA HA! Well, this is familiar EH territory... be good, kids!

Offline Airelenaren

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In my region of Germany (which is a very urban/industrial area), it seems to depend mostly on whether or not the floors have carpet on them.
Most people prefer that you take your shoes off before walking on their carpet (and in most cases, that means you just walk on your socks).
I don't know how most of those homes handle a visitor who doesn't wear socks, though.

In all homes I know that have no carpet, visitors are allowed to leave their shoes on.

Offline Amara

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Wow, a shoes thread so early! I wonder how this one will turn out.  :D

I grew up in a household where it was shoes left on. It was southern California so no snow but at the time--the 1950s and 1960s--no one thought twice about it. Then in my mid-twenties I moved to Hawaii. And everyone takes off their shoes there. (Once a surprise bridal shower was almost ruined because everyone piled their shoes outside the kitchen door without a second thought.) So I didn't just get used to it; I loved it. Shoes lasted much, much longer and the filth from the streets and sidewalks stayed outside.

My home is a very strict shoes-off household. I make no exceptions so if someone has to keep shoes on for medical reasons we stay outdoors or meet elsewhere. I try to accommodate others, to be considerate, but there is no way I want the spit, dog poop, oil and much more coming inside. For that reason I have purchased those disposable shoe covers if someone really doesn't want to remove their shoes. At work, I have a large private office and since I wear slip on wedge shoes almost all the time I simply take them off in the office and slid my feet back into them if I have to go out. My boss doesn't care so it's all good.

I have been going barefoot most of my life and I like it. I think that may be why, even though I am overweight, I have no trouble with my feet. (Not sure, of course, just a theory.) If I am cold, I put on socks. But no way, no how are outdoor shoes coming in. If I am visiting, I follow my hosts' rules. I'm easy. Or strict. I guess it depends where I am.  ;D
« Last Edit: May 24, 2018, 12:19:44 pm by Amara »

Offline Kiwi Cupcake

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Shoes off. If a visitor or someone is expected, we wear flip flops or socks at the most.

I remember watching tv shows like The Brady Bunch as a kid and everybody wore shoes in the house and thought that was so classy. I tried it and was uncomfortable having my feet encased all day. And I don't want to imagine the dirt and germs tracked all over. Bare feet or slippers is the way to go!

Offline STiG

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Since it is a household with a lot of pets and mostly hardwood floors, as well as people who can't easily go barefoot or sockfoot living there, my house is shoes on as long as your shoes aren't mucky.  I switch to a pair of indoor shoes, myself and I take a pair of indoor shoes with me when I go to other homes.  I've yet to have someone say anything.

If people want to take their shoes off, have at it.  But just realize that there are a lot of pets and other people wearing their shoes and I'm not sure I can tell you the last time I swept the floor.  I'd have to do it hourly if I wanted to keep up on the tumbleweeds and that just ain't gonna happen.

Offline Jem

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I am a shoe fanatic, and I believe shoes/boots make the outfit, so especially in social situations I prefer shoes on. I hate taking off my shoes and having my pants be too long, or the “pop” of my outfit disembodied from me and simply making the doorstep look fabulous!

But if I am at a “shoes off” place it is what it is. Different people have different reasoning for “on” or “off.” It’s sort of like the toilet paper roll over or under - I can decide what I want in my house, but I’m not going to change the rolls in places I visit.

Offline MariaE

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But if I am at a “shoes off” place it is what it is. Different people have different reasoning for “on” or “off.” It’s sort of like the toilet paper roll over or under - I can decide what I want in my house, but I’m not going to change the rolls in places I visit.

What a great analogy! I totally agree.

guest190

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Shoes off where I am from. We have snow for at least half the year, then in spring and fall there's a lot of rain. I need to keep shoes on though, so I take a pair of "indoor only" shoes with me. If I forget them in winter, then I do go without, but my feet really protest! In non-mucky weather if I forget, I ask my host if I can wear my shoes and they are usually gracious about it. Actually, I think most of my friends no longer have carpeting so it's not so much a problem. I have nice friends! At my own house, it's shoes off and if there's only a couple of people, I do have extra slippers if they want.