Much like Shoesense has realized that her shoe wardrobe doesn’t contain that eternal summer basic, the espadrille, I have realized that mine doesn’t have a good basic brown sandal.

Now, as we all know, this is a complicated decision, as there are thousands of brown sandals out there. So what am I looking for? Several key characteristics:

  • good walking support
  • dressy enough to wear to work (business casual environment), with skirts, etc.
  • interesting design–not just your basic brown leather strap across the toes, strap around the ankle model
  • fairly low heel (2” or under)
  • no thongs

See? Not easy!

So, what have I found so far? Well, Shoes.com has been quite helpful in providing this Stonefly Eden slip-on for $120.

Stonefly Eden sandal

And they have these funky Paul Green Storm ankle-strap sandal for $220 which does the gladiator look without being too over the top.

Paul Green Storm sandal

Of course, there’s the classy Taryn Rose Voy sandal for $310 at Zappos, but I think it’s actually a little more basic style-wise than what I’m after.

Taryn Rose Voy

The jury’s still out on the styling of the Think! Ying sandal (on sale at Zappos for $178), which is cute (and based on the Think! shoes I already have, incredibly comfy) but may be a bit too Western for my taste.

Think! Ying sandal

And winning the price competition is the Cole Haan G Series Layne slip-on (on sale for $100), which I love, but I think is a little too sporty to be quite as versatile as I’m after.

Cole Haan Layne sandal

Decisions, decisions. Isn’t shoe shopping difficult? Aren’t our lives hard?