Mens dress shoes for rain & snow
Been scrolling this forum for a solution but haven't come across much. Given the winter and walking to and from office in snow/rain/salt - curious to see what people do for shoes? Ideally, I would have one shoe for commute & to wear in the office as I have no interest in lugging around two pairs or leaving shoes at the office. Do normal dress shoes get absolutely destroyed? If yes and if the solution is get chelsea boots or other dress boots, how do those differ from normal dress shoes and is the leather weatherproof somehow and do they last a while?
Similarly, in the spring/summer what is the rain proof alternative, if at all necessary?
TIA
I guess the most common is to leave your loafers at the office and do the commute in lace-up boots. However, since you do not want to do this, black chelsea boots with rubber soles are the way to go. The salt will significantly depreciate the look and durability of the leather over time so you should probably avoid the Saint Crispin's - get something cheap but with decent quality.
If you want max weather versatility, probably waxed suede boot or derby in dark brown / black with rubber sole + storm welt. Everything except cooking oils (the enemy of all suedes) can be easily cleaned off with a damp paper towel / does not get absorbed. Apply saphir dubbin (or equivalent) once every couple months to keep it waxy. Allen Edmonds, Cobbler Union, and Crockett & Jones usually have waxed suede F/W models, check for an after-Christmas sale.
But I second poster above - Timbs or something for commute and keep your nice shoes at desk is easiest option most of time.
Yes, dress shoes will get destroyed in any city that experiences real winter and regularly applies salt to the pavement to prevent ice build up. Leaving a pair of shoes (can be casual or business casual depending on the office) at work is the most logical approach, and then wear any sort of black / brown boot into the office. As you are in IBD and not say consulting, you should have a good permanent spot to keep your "in the office" shoes.
With respect to better winter boots, I grabbed a pair of Chelsea boots from Cole Haan (link) and think they get the job done. Only caveat is they are very warm so you might want to switch these out for loafers or whatever work shoes you wear once in the actual office.
Based on the question, I would assume you are moving to a new city for a new job. My recommendation would be to observe what other Associates do and mirror. If most folks are pretty casual and wear boots in the office (not uncommon based on where I have worked) then you could opt for that. Really, it all depends on what you prefer and the dress code. Lastly, as an FYI, you absolutely dont need to bring your shoes into work every day, just leave them there. If you have dinners with clients or what not you can opt to wear your work shoes or keep on the boots. If the weather is bad, no one should bat an eye seeing someone wearing boots to a business casual dinner. If you're wearing a suit coat or a full suit, then just grab your work shoes.
All in all, no one will look twice at what you wear so long as you don't bring in purple Ugg boots or rock your Gamo loafers when there is 6" of snow outside.
If you don't want to switch shoes at the office I'd probably get boots from Thursday Boots. I own a pair of the below and they are nice for the money. They look like dress shoes from the bottom half down (your pants will cover up the lacing part). They have good year welted rubber soles for traction too. While I do like Chelsea boots with leather soles they wouldn't give you much grip. I suppose you could do a Chelsea boot too with a beefier sole.
https://thursdayboots.com/products/mens-president-lace-up-boot-brandy
Curious what you don’t like about leaving shoes at the office? This is what I do. I’ve got my “indoor” shoes under the desk, these are nicer $300+ ones that I only wear for full suit situations.
Rest of the time, I’ve got the daily wearers which are like $50-100 rubber sole loafers from brands like Dockers. When the weather messes them up, I just order the next pair off Amazon.
I hear ya, my thing with not leaving shoes at the office is that on nice days I’d like to wear them to and from the office bc there is no need for boots and changing everyday just seems annoying. Do your daily commute loafers not get ruined in bad weather? Mine have began to lightly crack if they get wet multiple times and even scuff/stain with salt from the winter.
Sure you could just buy a new pair when you need to but that isn’t necessarily ideal either.
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