Guys… We are looking!

It’s well-documented how obsessed with shoes many women are. But do men pay attention to what they put on their feet?

Probably not enough. Men’s footwear brand Allen Edmonds recently did a survey of 1,000 American men and women, and they found that women judge men’s shoes twice as much as men judge women’s. 64 percent of women judge a man’s fashion sense based on his shoes; 52 percent of women say they judge a man’s personality by his shoes; 36 percent say they use shoes to determine a man’s financial position; and 54 percent say men’s shoes reflect a guy’s attention to detail (or lack thereof).

Simply put: Guys, we’re judging you. So what can a man do to make sure he’s got his footwear game locked down? We’ve got five simple tips for men to improve their shoe situation.

1. Cover those toes. Even if you’ve taken the plunge into pedicure land (and kudos to you if you have), toes are usually not the most attractive part of a man’s body. Skip sandals when you could be wearing boat shoes, sneakers, loafers… basically, anything other than sandals.

Tom White in Donald Pliner
Gavino in Blue by Donald J Pliner

2. Never wear shiny black leather dress shoes with jeans. We know the nightclub dress code said no sneakers. But that doesn’t mean you need to take the shoes your mother got you for your first suit and put them on with your favorite dark jeans. There are shoes that aren’t fancy dress shoes or sneakers.

Dwayne Johnson in Magnanni
Cristian in Grey by Magnanni

3. Suede desert boots look good on EVERYONE. When you’re looking for something nicer than trainers but less formal than black leather brogues, desert boots are your best friends. If they’re good enough for Prince Harry…

David Beckham in John Varvatos
Hipster Chukka in Sandstone by John Varvatos

Women place much less importance on a guy’s shoes if he is able to attract her in other ways. For example: If a guy is confident, charismatic and interesting to talk to, a woman isn’t going to reject him because his shoes aren’t an expensive brand. On the other hand, if a guy is nervous and puts on a fake persona (e.g. acts like a much nicer guy than he is, therefore suppressing his natural charisma and authentic personality) and isn’t interesting to talk to, a woman will start to look for reasons why she doesn’t like him. Interestingly enough, he could be wearing the best, most expensive shoes and the woman still wouldn’t like him. Why? Simple: She isn’t feeling attracted to his personality and therefore looks at the rest of him in a negative light.