The Flats Report

Someofmyfavorites

Under$150

Everlane’s Day Gloves are “the fine wine of footwear,” says content strategistMaria Del Russo. “They get better each year, molding seamlessly to my feet the more I wear them.” She mostly puts them on to run errands, and she’s had them for over five years. “They’re as comfortable as a slipper and don’t pinch or rub or give me insane blisters,” she adds. They were also the only shoes she wore while vacationing in Portugal last year, carrying her up the steps of theSanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte(which has a stairway that climbs 381 feet).

“Before finding these, flats were never an everyday shoe for me,” says marketing consultantLizzie Noonan. “They’re generally too uncomfortable and too precious to stomp around in.” So Camper’s Casi Myra flats are especially impressive considering they’ve handled “walking around the mean streets of New York” without destroying her feet in the process. “I wear my shoes hard,” she adds. “I’m a native New Yorker, and I’ve got that full-throttle gait to prove it — many friends have groaned about my default speed. These flats were made for walking.” And while her first pair of Casi Myras needed a bit of breaking in (and might’ve caused a blister), her second pair was “comfortable from day one.” (Just a few weeks ago, she got her third.) At this point, Noonan says, “Maybe my feet are permanently molded to them rather than the other way around.”

Oset Babür-Winter, founder of Prix Fixe, originally bought Schutz’s Arissa to have a backup pair of flats for her wedding reception. She ultimately didn’t change into them that night but ended up wearing them on her honeymoon through Sonoma and Napa, and they survived the different terrains of California wine country. Years later, she has dragged them around New York City, from wedding-dress shopping with her best friend in midtown to a very muddy dog walk through Central Park. WriterAnne Whitingagrees that they’re “shoes that can do it all and go the distance.” (These were even recommended to her by a “friend who is obsessed with foot health, who has had multiple bunion surgeries and is, like, best pals with her podiatrist.”) Because they’re “immersive barefoot-bohemian-evoking,” they “don’t feel like your feet are doing any work,” Whiting says. Just beware that they do stretch out about a half size over time, according to Babür-Winter.

For social-media strategistUtibe Mbagwu, the best thing aboutAncient Greek Sandals’ Irosis how “situationally flexible” they are. Since the summer of 2024, Mbagwu has “taken them to the streets of Abuja, carried them to Playa Manzanillo in Puerto Viejo, and even wore them on a work trip to the United Arab Emirates.” They were among the only “sandals” she took on a ten-day trip in Costa Rica for her partner’s birthday. “I could wear them out all day, rinse them out in the ocean, and get all the day’s dust and sand off,” she says. She quickly replaced her pair when it was lost to the ocean. “I wish I sized up with my first pair, but my new pair has been a lot easier to break in since I’ve done so,” she says. You might also consider adding a pair of inserts since they “have little to no arch support on their own.” Maybe best for “shorter outings,” as she says.

Gabriela Peralta, social-media manager at the Guggenheim, just packed her Kenneth Cole Zetas for a trip to Puerto Rico — without breaking them in first. Not only could she comfortably walk in them through the cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan, but they carried her “effortlessly from dinner straight to dancing.”

Under$300

CopywriterBre Harrisonused to be anti–ballet flats. They can feel “a little too shoeless and barefooted to me if they don’t have even the lowest heel,” she says. “But interesting textures like calf hair or suede can make up for the lack of height.” That’s what convinced her to try Alohas’ Sway flats. (Unfortunately, Harrison’scalf-hairversion has sold out, but a leather version is available on Alohas’ preorder model, with estimated shipping times for different sizes.) And while her Sways are pretty new, they were ready to wear out of the shoe box. “A lot of the time, flats tend to rub against your toes in an uncomfortable way when you walk around in them, but I don’t have that problem with these,” she says.

“I am not really a flats person, but these always make me feel like a hot Pilates bitch, even though I am not,” saysWall Street Journalart editorAlexandra Citrin-Safadi. And they’restretchy: “The super-flexible rubber soles bend so much that they don’t feel clompy at all,” saysMonica Khemsurov, co-founder ofSight Unseenand founder ofPetra. When Khemsurov attended the Salone del Mobile in Milan this April, she wore them about 80 percent of the time while walking an average of 18,000 steps a day. She also biked home in them after a full day of seeing exhibitions, “following a Google Maps route only to find it was taking me directly through the square of the Duomo.”

Loeffler Randall’s Leonie became writerAbena Anim-Somuah’s “staple flat” last year. “I wore them so much that the cobbler yelled at me when I took them in to get resoled,” she says. (To be fair, it was after a torrential downpour, when she got a hole in one of the soles. “That led to the immediate emergency repair,” she adds.)Victoria Filippini, a content creator and writer of the newsletterTaking Notes, is warming up to the Leonies as well: “Now that the weather is nice,” she’s been able to wear them for extended periods for the first time. “I definitely can feel the lumps and bumps in the sidewalk through the soles, so I do plan to put a protective rubber sole on them for a little bit of extra separation from the ground.” But on a day she had them on from about 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., “there wasn’t a blister or rub to be found.” (You might consider sizing up: She’s normally a size 7 but got a size 7.5 as her feet can swell in the heat.)

Alex Mill previously stocked onlyPorselliflats on its website; the first pair of Alex Mill–brandedPrince Street Ballet Flatslaunched back in March. (Like Porselli — founded in Milan in 1919 — Alex Mill has them made in Italy.)The Weird Real’sAlisha Bansalhas been wearing them multiple times a week since the brand gifted her a pair and has positive things to report: “These are much more padded and comfortable than other flats I own, and you don’t feel like you’re digging into the ground,” she says. On a past Saturday, she was able to walk 15,000 steps in them — blissfully blister free. The shoes are available inblue,red,hibiscus,sunflower,navy,brown, andsilver(which is a neutral for Bansal).

“While I definitely didn’t need another pair of ballet flats, when I saw these, I knew I needed them. You know?” says Elizabeth Cardinal Tamkin, a personal stylist and the writer of the newsletterThe Corner Booth. It helps that they remind her of Chanel flats under new creative directorMatthieu Blazy— with their “slightly glossy navy leather with cream piping.” She adds, “But the hype around them feels a bit overwhelming. This more understated E. Porselli pair felt cooler … and, of course, significantly less expensive.” Though she’s had them for only a month, she’s hoping they stay in good condition. “Fingers crossed I don’t subject these to anything too bad,” she says. But she’s been able to walk from Nomad to the West Village in them with no complaints.

Over$300

The Phoebes from Margaux are “hands down the most comfortable flats” Reid has. In fact, they’re her favorite walking shoes. “They have a cushy sole that’s more supportive than it looks, and themary-jane-style strap makes them feel secure,” she says. Impressively, the leather has “barely scuffed after wearing them probably over a hundred times.” And she’s taken them all over the place (they won’t take up a lot of space in acarry-on). “I wore them all over Vienna for our honeymoon and have packed them as my only pair of shoes for a weekend in the Berkshires,” she adds.

While the product copy says the Pascale has a “micro-wedge,” it’s “built into the back of the flat in a way that tapers into the rest of the sole without jutting out like a heel,” according to our updates coordinatorNajwa Jamal. And “the elasticized ruching unfurls so that the flat molds perfectly to your foot, for a fit that’s not tight and feels more like a sock,” Jamal explains. Beyond keeping her feet “pain free,” every time she has worn them has been “breezy”: “They add an easy elegance to whatever they’re paired with.”

“I didn’t know I needed to feel like a Jordan almond until I slipped into this pair,” saysMacKinley Jade Lutes-Adlhoch, writer of the newsletterYeehawt. “The shoe transforms my foot into a precious chocolate-covered wedding favor, elegantly swaddled in cocoa suede.” Plus “they’re finished with a darling bow on top. Just as any good tiny organza gift bag of nuts should be.” (They were gifted to her by Loeffler Randall.) She also shouted-out the toe, which “dances the line between pointed and round.” And as someone who comes from the southwestern desert, she’s “always partial to suede in earthy colors.” The material has yet to see a “disaster scenario,” but she says it hasn’t “stained in a way that some other suedes do.”

Content creatorClaudia Williams’s Freda Salvador Jadas have essentially molded to her feet over the past year. “Every time I slip my foot in, it’s like,Ah, I’m home,” she says. They never rub, but “as someone who is in her 30s and has a bad knee,” she does wish for just a tad more arch support. “The sole is getting a little worn in since I wear them so often, so I see a date with the shoe cobbler on the horizon,” she adds. Our senior writerDominique Parisohas also been testing them. “I don’t have too many 10,000-step days under my belt yet,” she says. “But I wore them fresh out of the box to a convention, where I was on my feet all day long and they were supercomfortable.”

WriterUma Bateslucked out when a friend’s Elodies didn’t fit. And now spring has finally brought the perfect weather for her to start wearing them regularly. “Every sunny place I’ve been, I’ve brought them along,” she says. They especially came in handy when she went on a girls’ trip to New Orleans. “I threw them in my bag before I went out because my heels were high one night,” she says. “At midnight, we walked over to Cafe Du Monde and I was thanking my lucky stars I had them.”

Tanya Bush, a writer, baker, andCake Zineco-editor, had on Repetto Cendrillons for the entirety of her nuptials; the weekend involved “dancing, rain, lots of walking, and dim sum.” But the farthest she has actually walked in them is to Brighton Beach. “I can’t exactly recommend it, but they made it in one piece and my feet didn’t bleed,” she says.

ArtistMelly Wirtescustomized a pair of Mansur Gavriel Dream Ballerinas with her initials back in 2018 and has “been living in them ever since.” Wirtes appreciates the high quality of the leather. “They’re a very supple Italian lambskin leather,” she says. “It’s as if your favorite lived-in, heirloom handbag magically became a fits-perfectly-without-breaking-in pair of shoes.” That said, she doesn’t recommend these flats for anyone who wants “such prosaic things as ‘arch support’ or ‘all-day comfort.’” (“Read sarcasm on the wordprosaic,” she advises. “If you’re someone who is tempted by the promise of Rothy’s, these flats are not for you.”) ButSaloonfounderJulia Harrisonhas “run in these, walked the length of Manhattan in these, clubbed in these, worked and walked and lived my life both outdoors and in.” They make her feel as though she’s not wearing a shoe at all. “I’ve previously described them as accomplishing enough foot coverage that they look like a proper shoe and not something an illustrated bear would wear to a dance recital,” Harrison adds.

Alana Pockros, a critic and associate editor atThe Nation,packed these square-toed Mansur Gavriels as her only footwear (other than Hoka sneakers) for a trip between Christmas and New Year’s when she traveled from “the suburbs of New York, where it was snowing, to Southern California, where it was sunny.” Plus “you can throw them in a bag and they won’t get deformed while tucked under your laptop,” she says. “They are as easy to put on as Birkenstocks.” (But you do have to mind the bow, because “they can get untied like shoelaces,” she adds.)

The original Suzanne Rae Opera Pump was a special request for a client’s wedding — thankfully, the brand started making them for the rest of its customers. I don’t know how many Suzanne Rae shoes I have anymore, but they may be my most-worn. They’re the flats I wear when I can’t decide what flats to wear. And the grosgrain bow dresses them up. They’re based on the18th-century pumpsaristocrats like Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy would’ve worn formally. You could also get thefancy patent version, whichour senior writer Lauren Ro comparestoChanel’s moccasins.

Right around the time Edith Young, an artist who writes the newsletterPowers of Observation,finally ground her “original Mansur Gavrielballet flatsdown to a fine dust,” she saw her mother inthese. And Young couldn’t resist getting a pair — “with her co-sign,” of course. “They pass my ultimate test for shoes, which is that I don’t give them a second thought when I’m wearing them,” she says. Their “buttery softness” helps too. Even in the “seemingly impractical cyclorama white,” they “can survive a flounce around a farm,” she adds.

Fanny Singer, founder of Permanent Collection and co-author ofThe Green Spoonnewsletter, wears a pair of Martiniano Gloves at least three times a week. She remembers her friend Simone Bodmer-Turner was wearing them around ten years ago, and “the silhouette was so elegant and unfussy — that’s what first tipped me over the edge to commit and buy a pair.” Singer wore her first pair “so much they turned a fully different shade of yellow.” And she’s since bought more colors — white, black, red, and lime green — “all of which I’ve worn enough to bring the CPW (cost per wear) down to mere pennies.” Thanks to her impassioned spiel, “I have forced many (now very grateful) friends to purchase them.” The most action a pair of her Gloves saw was at an annual Venice Biennale when she was covering the exhibition forTheWall Street Journal,and “while they weren’t the most comfortable shoes in which to perform an unofficial half-marathon, they did hold up,” she says. “They take zero time to break in.”