Have you noticed shoe styles to vary a lot across the country? (middle-class, beach)

[markovian process]

Have you noticed some differences between your area and other states, cities or places in the country in footwear style?

Obviously, the weather influences what you will wear but what kinds of differences in footwear: shoes, boots, sandals etc. do you notice?

[jennifat]

I've noticed that Pacific Northwesterners overwhelmingly wear hiking sandals in the warmer months. Absolutely hideous look.

[hipcat]

I noticed that Vans are mainly a Californian thing. I stuck out like a sore thumb with my vans on in Seattle, Austin, Portland, and NYC

[lammius]

I have noticed that in Virginia/DC, flip flops are deemed acceptable for almost all occasions.

[jdaelectro]

No

[ReppingDFW]

Many people in DFW wear those boating shoes with shorts. It looks pretty dumb if you ask me, but it seems to be a pretty big trend.

[ABQConvict]

I think shoe choice has a lot more to do with a combination of economic class combined with sub-culture than geography.

For example, a middle-class hipster in Brooklyn is likely to sport similar shoes (and other elements of clothing) to a middle-class hipster in Barcelona. A privileged upper class kid who wants to emulate hip-hop style in Los Angeles is likely to wear the same shoes as his counterpart in Berlin.

There are some shoe fashions that are in relatively greater or lesser evidence geographically speaking however. You are going to see a lot more espadrilles in Florida and perhaps Spain than in Toronto or Oslo. Likewise your socks and sandals folks are largely restricted to the PNW and Germany. And lets not forget white sneakers which only exist on tennis players and American men over 60 years of age.

[nslander]

Originally Posted by hipcat

I noticed that Vans are mainly a Californian thing. I stuck out like a sore thumb with my vans on in Seattle, Austin, Portland, and NYC

Yeah. I learned this the hard way when I first visited Boston as a kid. They're just white deck shoes, you flipping chowds.

Conversely, you're likely to be met with equal indifference in Long Beach if you were to wear Prada or a pair of Kleenex boxes.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by jennifat

I've noticed that Pacific Northwesterners overwhelmingly wear hiking sandals in the warmer months. Absolutely hideous look.

I am a NW native and never noticed that. Sandals is a California thing.

In the NW, geography is the big player in footwear choice. Outlying areas you find more boot wearers.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by hipcat

I noticed that Vans are mainly a Californian thing. I stuck out like a sore thumb with my vans on in Seattle, Austin, Portland, and NYC

Vans were big in the 80's in Seattle and Portland. That fad faded fast.