Party Shoes for the Great Outdoors

N.B. Our friend The Legatrix is back with advice about the summer-time party shoes.

‘Tis the season for outdoor parties, which invariably provokes harrowing shoe angst in me. I love the great outdoors. Really I do. They’re a lovely place to sprawl out with a good book and a Nalgene bottle full of mint juleps. But Mother Nature has a long-burning vendetta against me. Try as I may to be prepared for whatever gravel pits, mudslides, and rivers of lava she may throw in my path, I never seem to be wearing the right shoes.

This became painfully clear at a splendiferous wedding that I attended in the Hungarian countryside last month. Guests were treated to abundant wine, whole roast mammals, flitting cherubs, and gamboling fawns. The bride, ever attentive to her friends’ collective fabulosity, even had wooden walkways lain in the fields so people could walk comfortably from place to place. This worked marvelously until the walkways got wet and turned into a network of Slip n’ Slides.

By now I think you can see where this is going. . . two broken sandals and a solicitous Hungarian peasant boy later, I sorely lamented my choice of footwear.

The difficulty with picking shoes for outdoor events is that your footwear must be practical and adaptable to all sorts of terrain. That means no heels unless you’re out to aerate someone’s lawn. Bigger trouble still is that your footwear often winds up looking eminently functional. So here are a few shoe selections that are practical, adaptable and elegant. . . and even a couple with a little altitude built in.

Swoosie by Kate Spade

Swoosie, by Kate Spade, will keep your feet firmly planted on terra firma with arch support often lacking in strappy little sandals. Plus, they’re adorned with little golden grape clusters.

Oona by Loeffler Randall

And Oona, by Loeffler Randall, would be perfect with those white wide-legged trousers you have. You know, the ones that make your legs look a mile long. Those trousers.

Jean by Stuart Weitzman

Finally, Jean, by Stuart Weitzman, is the perfect combination of polished and relaxed elements. I usually get a little queasy at the sight of cork heels. But these are so pitch perfect that you don’t have to worry about looking like the sort of leather-textured woman who molests cabana boys with coconut oil.

Now go outside and play!