What do you wear on your feet with low-fronted shoes?

[JacqueslePeacock]

I have seen lots of nice low-fronted shoes I could wear with trousers to work, but am not sure what I'd wear under them. I usually wear boots and coloured cotton socks in the winter, or sandals and bare feet in summer. Do you wear those sheer pop socks things? I find them a bit grim.

socks or bare feet depending on temp

no pop socks please I'm not the MIL

I just feel bare feet would be a bit minging all day at work in closed-in shoes (i.e. not sandals). And I don't think thick socks would look great under low shoes either... But you're right, pop socks are a bit MIL and just a bit yick really.

What kind of socks do you wear?

bare feet. you can get cotton socks that are the shape of the shoes (i got some from h and m once) but i found they didn't stay in place. unless you have really sweaty feet they should last at least a season before they go smelly. there's always shoe spray to help.

Hmm... maybe I just have really sweaty feet. Those shoe-shaped socks didn't work for me either - glad I'm not the only one.

You can get opaque or patterned knee highs which don't look as terrible as conventional pop socks

www.uktights.com/section/14/knee-highs

As long as you can't tell they're pop socks, I can't see the problem. I often wear them under trousers (I hate wearing shoes with no socks and I don't like those tiny socks, even if made out of tight fabric, as you can often see bits of them)

Right, maybe I will investigate the deaded pop sock or knee high then. Just something about them really puts me off. Don't they roll down and go all baggy round your ankles? Or expose the tops and look awful when you cross your legs?

bare feet. do you mean with shoes like ballet flats? def bare feet.

I can't walk in ballet flats at all (need a heel of some kind) so not those, but other shoes with that kind of low front. The kind of thing you might wear to work with smart trousers. Up to now I've been wearing boots and thick socks (poor circulation!) mostly.

I'm a fan of toe cleavage and have many low-cut shoes, always worn on bare feet. I slip in washable coconut-cotton terry fiber insoles (a bit like these) and wash them frequently. They feel lovely, like walking on warm sand. You may size up 1/2 size to allow for insoles - it's also wise to size up because feet have a tendency swell during warm weather and there is more friction if you wear shoes without socks.

If your workplace is ultraconservative, wear very sheer nude tights. Nude pop socks are ghastly, please don't... And shoe liners are never invisible and look super naff.

And if you are going to go barefoot, do give yourself a good foot bath and pedicure - winter feet are usually a sight, but some soaking in warm salt water, rubbing, nail-cutting, polish and lotion work wonders.

This is my preferred everyday summer insole type. They are cut quite narrow so will fit narrow feet and dressy shoe. I avoid buying shoes lined with fabric (difficult to keep clean) and synthetics (very sweaty, don't conform to your feet). Leather lined are the best.

Wipe your feet over with surgical spirit before putting the shoes on was the advice given by my chiropodist (I keep some to hand in a spray bottle) stops all nasty whiffs just be prepared to moisturise feet well before you go to bed at night as it can be drying.

I'm going to stand up for the pop sock here. Originally got some for work (bare feet = smelly nelly work shoes) and realised that they actually aren't that bad, they don't look noticable. They then gradually encroached into my casual wear under skinnies with ballet pumps and boat shoes.

Don't fuck about with the ankle length ones, they slip down and make you look like Nora Batty. Marksies knee highs in natural tan, 5 pairs for £2.50.

(I'm only 24 by the way. It may not seem like it after the Clarks thread and then this, though!)

In Japan they wear lacy and frilly trainer liners (only they're clearly not meant for trainers- that's just the UK equivalent.)

It looks lovely and can make plain shoes look really pretty.

I did stock up on them before I came back to the UK but it's not quite caught on here yet and I feel a bit of a berk...... frilly ankle socks have caught on though!

I am with Craic. Nothing wrong with knee highs, or nude tights generally. They do the job.

I did recently get some M&S ones that fell down though. Will have to find a new standby I think.

Or if you want to feel like a total minx all day with no-one else knowing why, nude hold-ups!

I can't stand the frilly trainer liners, sorry. They're popular in China too and I always think they look a bit mad. Definitely wouldn't suit me at work, anyway. I'm not certain about applying surgical spirit to my feet either, but I'm impressed that people go to these lengths! I may just have to go with nude knee highs, although I do worry about Nora Battyism. The washable insoles are a bit of a revelation too - had no idea they existed