to expect host to let her party guests know that she has a no shoes policy?

For a party she could have rolled away the rugs, put a cling film type wrap on the floors, added some extra rugs, scheduled a hoovering for the day after, topped up on Vanish for carpets.

We don’t have shoes indoors but parties are a different matter. How to make people feel awkward.

Yup, attacking someone the second they come in the door and implying they're either inherently grimy or the don't have the sense to avoid the dog shit 3 doors down.

I wonder do these posters have a fit of the vapors when someone travels by bus then sits down on their sofa?

treat guests as less important than their floor.

Nail on the head.

It sounds horrific!

Lower middle is shoes off, worrying about their floors and germs

Might have been a posh party but it wasn’t classy!

I find it really rude when people insist on shoes off, I tend to offer anyway but insisting someone take their shoes off is very unwelcoming for so many reasons.

@CamoPenguin It is unhygienic. I lived in Scandinavia - even the children had indoor shoes for school.
I grew up in a house where you left shoes at the door although my parents would allow people in with their shoes. Taking shoes off was a sign of respecting someone's home and not bringing dirt indoors.
Most of my friends where I live have the same rule - no shoes indoors. Very rarely have I been to someone's house and they asked me to bring shoes in. Maybe once in 20 years - I live in the UK, south.

So the blokes were standing around in suits with bare feet? How weird!

It's not about the actual shoes, rather the tendency to wade into a thread and declare what middle class habit you've established in your naice area to raise yourself above the vulgar shoe-wearing inhabitants of the common postcodes down the road.

All very cringe.

Shoes off is a very lower middle class trait.

A higher social class household would not have such a policy and treat guests as less important than their floor.

I agree

Yes, this has happened to me too and I wasn’t happy either.
If I was visiting for a coffee, I’d absolutely take off my shoes, no problem. But if you’re hosting a party, obviously people will get dressed up and I wouldn’t expect to be treated like a child and asked to take my shoes off. If it was my party, I’d presume one of the chores would be vacuuming and mopping floors after lots of visitors before any young children were allowed to crawl on it again.

Honestly, I think if you’re so precious about floors and germs, don’t host big parties.

You dont really need to go into some attacking mode :) I dont know what pcp is sorry. I do assume you are joking.
NR class I think would be shoes on, wanting to appear posh and therefore showing off clothes, and not relaxed (nor comfortable MC indeed).

Very fetching with a little black dress. How to make people feel welcome 🤣

I'm not in Canada

@Blueocean18 exactly. Making people take shoes off was considered "common" and ill mannered when I was growing up unless it was someone from another culture where this is the norm or there was real reason to protect the floor eg kids had been out in mud and host had a brand new cream carpet or something. Same with taking shoes off in someone else's house - very over familiar and weird. This must have been the general stance because when I went on an exchange visit at college part of the pre trip information was about etiquette regarding shoes off in the country we were going to. If taking shoes off was usual they wouldn't have included that? Now I take the view that it's each to their own but it's still something I wouldn't do.

I genuinely didn't realise some people would rather I wear my outdoor shoes in their house! I'll maybe check in future, although I don't know anyone who doesn't prefer guests taking their shoes off. I walk around farms a lot and am conscious that I've been walking through mud and various types of animal muck, not always visible, but I'm aware that even after walking some off, it's still unhgyienic and carries a contamination risk in some cases. I will in no way walk that through my house, which is why I'd take them off elsewhere.

Nouveau middle class then, the established, comfortable middle classes don't announce themselves in such vulgar ways.

Lots of white pcp cars in your area I assume.

Also agree, it can’t have been a posh party

It's the dirt under your shoes not a carpet issue. You would have to take your shoes off at mine or bring your own indoor shoes if you don't want to borrow a pair of clean socks or our indoor shoes (slippers).

This seems so strange to me. I'm in Canada and shoes off is standard.

Absolutely! Fucking common. 😮

• by class divide you mean working class versus middle class, there might be... I live in a middle class area and we always take our shoes off. More hygienic etc.

This topic is always so interesting as it is so divisive.

I genuinely don’t know a shoes off household. I can’t imagine being asked to take shoes off at a formal party, party outfits don’t work in bare feet. I also really don’t like feet, the thought of all those sweaty socks and toes mingling on carpet gives me the shivers (granted this is a me issue 🤣)

Unless someone has hiked over hill and dale to get to my house and were all muddy, we are shoes on. Please keep your shoes on in my house 😄

What was the problem OP? Were your feet dry or hard? I always carry a pair of socks as my feet aren't always mani+pedi fresh.
We don't do shoes in my house and I don't have any friends who do - it's fairly normal for me not to wear shoes in the house and I expect all guests to do the same otherwise goodbye.