I've never thought of closed toe, closed heel shoes as transitional” footwear. Fall/winter shoe choices include boots and booties; spring/summer choices include sandals. And I'm not as excited about wearing sandals as I have been in years past; I am preferring greater coverage now. Which makes the number of ballet flats, pumps, and other closed toe flats I have just plain insanity. My feet swell in the heat too and wearing my transitional shoes then is uncomfortable and unattractive. So this spring my mantra was don't neet ballet flats, don't need ballet flats!” And when I saw some perforated loafers in my signature color, I was able to pass-the swelling issue would be the same. It's cold enough for boots, but not long enough to justify too many pairs. Basically-oddly-summer sandals is where my investment should be! However, I do wear transitional footwear and i like ankle boots also.
I do like ariat sandals , but mostly stick to wearing them with skirts and shorts on hot summer days running errands, out to eat,outside, or at home. Because most homes and smaller buisnesses aren't AC in our area and because we spend a lot of time outside in the summer, skirts, dresses, and shorts are very important, and when it is 85 out so are sandals. So, boots are the most important shoes in my life, followed by transitional footwear (oxfords, work clogs, and sneakers), then sandals. I'd love to have one pair of ballet flats and one pair of pumps, and I haven't given up, but I have a horrible time with them tearing up my feet. Because of the climate that I live in - and also because of my lifestyle - I wear transitional footwear year round.
But I am a sandal lover as I run hot and our summers are hot, and although I work in a hospital, I'm in the administrative wing where open toed footwear is acceptable. After that boots/booties, and only in the end sandals. However, my work dress code requires closed toed shoes all the time, no matter how hot it is. As a result, I wear transitional shoes all the time from April through October. I wear sandals outside of the work too, but if i looked at the distribution, I would say that I am in the transitional shoes 75% of the time and sandals 25 %. So event though my real springs are quite short and we get to summer pretty fast (last year it was sleeveless already in May), spring shoes are my essential shoes. Since my she wardrobe needs a lot of replenishing, this spring/summer I plan to get 4-5 pairs of transitional shoes (got two already) and one pair of sandals. Transitional footwear is one of my biggest wardrobe holes — one that I'd like to fill, soon! Let's hear it for proper shoes. If you are a boots lover go here for some great collection of cowboy boots for women.
Texas gets HOT in the summer, but I'm still much more comfortable in ballet flats, loafers, or oxfords. I've worn oxfords and pumps a few times lately, as the weather has turned Spring-like. Moving from boots or booties (as much as I love them!) to shoes really does make me feel a little thrill of that change of season in the air. It works the other way, too, when I go back to boots in the fall. I do tend to break out the transition footwear throughout the year, as weather allows. I really like sandals and wear them when I can, but like you, Angie, I run cold, and it has to be very warm for me to be comfortable in sandals. My current go-to shoes for warmer weather are a pair of sling-back Mary Janes in a burnished light pewter shade. I have never heard of the transitional shoe.
