I can’t remember exactly when I stopped wearing shoes indoors. It may have been after I studied abroad in Japan in high school and college; it also may have been a rule in my house growing up.
Whenever it was, I’ve spent the last 20+ years walking around in socks at home and mostly enjoying it. My floors get dirty enough due to the cats (litter, hair, etc), so I’m glad that outdoor matter stuck to shoes doesn’t also get tracked around the home.
The one downside of walking around in socks all day (and sitting at the computer in socks) is that my feet get cold. I’m so used to it after years and years that I didn’t even realize until recently how much the coldness of my feet impacts the overall temperature of my body.
So I recently embarked upon a quest to find light indoor shoes with flexible grip bottoms, warm fuzzy insides, and enough grip that they aren’t flopping off the heel of my foot. Very specific, but I found a few options.
For the last few weeks I’ve been wearing two different pairs of the slipper sock indoor shoes (Dicuird and Cozy One, and I’m really happy with both. The added warmth and comfort is delightful, and the extra padding–slim as it is–under my feet is nice for walking on hardwood floors all day. I’d recommend both, and they’re both less than $15 per pair.
What do you wear on your feet indoors?
Always barefoot no matter what season.
Typically socks, which are promptly removed before getting into bed.
Hi Jamey!
As I live in Japan, we of course always remove shoes in the house, though we never did in Ireland before I moved there. In the summer, bare feet or socks is fine, but in the colder months of the year we wear furry slippers and regular socks to keep the feet warm.
This is actually a worry for us if we return to Ireland to live, as it is now ingrained in us to take off our shoes in the house. Of course for us it would be fine to take off shoes at the door, but it is more difficult to ask guests to do so in a country where it is not part of the culture. We may indeed move back to Ireland at some stage so this could turn out to be an issue. I would be interested in hearing how people deal with this in countries where it is not the custom to remove shoes indoors. I think I would provide a few pairs of comfortable slippers for guests and just ask them but I certainly know some people for whom it would not go down so well. However, there are now some people doing it in Ireland so it might be alright.
All the best,
Pat
That is quite a conundrum, Pat. I like the idea of offering some comfy slippers to people, and I’ve found that saying something like, “Oh, would you mind taking your shoes off in the house” works just fine for most people. 🙂