comfortable, walkable sandals that aren't ugly and aren't Birkenstocks

bonus: none cost as much as a mortgage payment in 1999.

Hello new subscribers! Thanks so much for being here! Before we begin, and ICYMI, I’m currently running an Extended Scenes subscription sale — now through August 1st, receive 20 percent off; that’s less than a silly matcha for this also-silly newsletter.

There comes a time in most every woman’s life when it’s suddenly fun to think and talk about topics that once would’ve made you cringe in boring horror. These topics include, but are not limited to, quilts and the mechanics of quilting, birds and where to find birds, the best fish oil/fiber/creatine, and also comfortable shoes that don’t look like hospital-administered clodhoppers.

I don’t know how it happens — one day you’re a woman dancing pain-free in heeled Aldo mules and eating cigarettes for breakfast and the next you’re wearing soft (ish) pants and thinking about arch support and pottery. I’m not even mad at it. I like this new me. I just need to find her some shoes.

Comfortable, non-ugly summer footwear has become a bit of an obsession (this is at least the third time I’ve written about it). I demand to be able to walk FAR in whatever I’m wearing whenever I feel like it without sacrificing style (and without spending $500 on a pair of elite-artisanal sandals with a faintly French name). Apparently, according to the four thousand online reviews and Reddit threads I’ve absorbed like the middle-aged ADHD human version of Claude, this mission is possible.

Herewith, some sturdy, good-looking summer shoes that I haven’t seen on everyone everywhere all at once and that are mostly all under $100 (and all under $200!). Act quick-ish if you like them; many are on sale and sizes are going fast.

Let’s start with this substantial leather fisherman sandal from Fit Flop, which is an extremely close dupe for the famous (and famously pricey) Labucqs everyone keeps telling me about (which are, incidentally, also on sale, making them a tad more tempting than usual!). The black Fit Flop version is $180, but if you’re into silver, they’re a mere $89. Also, at Fit Flop, these perfect leather flip-flops and an incredibly versatile/affordable pair of woven slides in many color combos I like!

Last year, I lived in my Aerosoles fisherman sandals (they held up through approximately 100,000 Italian steps!). This year, I’m really feeling the brand’s Grecian slingbacks and also, if your bunion (I’m sorry) can handle it, these just-right, not-too-high 70s wedges ($45!), which are practically screaming for white jeans or a billowy dress. Each has both a stealthy rubber sole and Aerosoles’ cushiony-foam padding built in. Speaking of the 70s, I did not know Dansko, of all things, had non-clog game like this?

When I worked in fashion magazines, I frequently wore heels to the office, and my favorite, most erotically comfortable pair was (secretly) from Kenneth Cole’s embarrassingly-named line, Gentle Souls. I revisit this line often, and while many of the styles are a bit too chiropractor-in-DesMoine /not for me, there’s something about this gold pair that I keep imagining with black linen barrel pants at an art opening I will not go to in a small European city I have not visited. I like the extreme flatness of them, and know from experience they’ll feel like walking on pillowy air. They also come in black and many other shades!

I’ve frequently been told how much I will love Camper sandals and how you can walk 400 miles in them, and now I’m mad because there are, in fact, many, many good options, like this low-block heel, but also most of the sale styles are sold out in my size.

It’s honestly somewhat unnatural how much I hated Rothys until I bought those red fishermens earlier this year. Now, this extra-soft + sturdy T-strap with the sculptural buckle is tempting me more than it maybe has a right to or should!

Finally, these Crocs are the slinkiest footwear I’ve ever seen made from rubber, and they’ll only set you back $50 bones.