Workwear Wednesday - Shoes

As promised, I'm starting a series of workwear posts in preparation for my big transition to the clinical years of med school. Today I'm sharing the shoes on my shopping list - ones that are good quality, while still being reasonable for a student with limited income. While some of the shoes are pretty typical of what you'd see suggested for corporate footwear, I have several additional things that I have to keep in mind. 

The first consideration I made is comfort level. As much as I love a good 4-inch stiletto (they do wonders for those of us on the shorter side), I'll be on my feet literally ALL day. I'll be walking back and forth between patient's rooms for extremely long shifts. Anything higher than 2-inches just won't be comfortable after 8 hours on my feet. Some would advise against any heel for comfort's sake, but I just can't imagine giving heels up completely. I've also seen enough doctors wearing them to know that not everyone wears Danskos every day. Speaking of Danskos, those are another shoe that's more unique to healthcare. During my surgical rotations, I'll be wearing scrubs most days and I'll need something other than dress shoes. Some of the surgeries and procedures (hello labor and delivery) will be pretty messy and I won't want to worry about getting my sneakers covered in some type of bodily fluid. Danskos are perfect for this and super comfortable too. I think most people would agree with me here - Danskos are a must have for third year and beyond. 

Finally, all of the shoes on here are much higher quality than those Forever 21/H&M/Charlotte Russe heels that while inexpensive, don't win any awards for comfort. That being said, all of them are also under $100. To me, even $50 seems high for shoes, but the reality is you get what you pay for. 

Finally, while there are tons of other shoes that I could shop for, I have a limited budget. The basic categories I'm shopping for are black flats, brown flats, nude flats, a bolder flat (absolutely love these red ones by Ivanka Trump), a pretty loafer, Danskos, black heels, brown heels, nude heels, and again a more unique heel. I already have some of these as I'm sure lots of people do, so it's really not as much of an investment as it looks. Plus, with these colors, you've pretty much always got a shoe that'll work with your outfit! 

I've linked the shoes pictured above as well as some other ones that caught my eye. For my first shoe purchase, I ordered a pair of Cole Haan Juliana pumps in nude (or "sandstone" for the exact color). I love the low heel and the fact that they collaborated with Nike for increased comfort. I'll do a review soon and let you know what I think!