Is it appropriate to wear walking shoes to and from work, and change when you get there?

This August I'm going to begin working in a Cognitive Psychology research lab as a Directed Independent Student. I'm supposed to treat it like the "real thing", as if I am in fact a Cognitive Psychologist doing research for the university, not just an undergrad, so among other things, I need to dress professionally.

I walk to and from the university every day from my house. I'm blind, so driving isn't an option. Would it be appropriate for me to wear walking shoes during my commute and change into more "business-casual" shoes once I get to the offices? Someone told me this is common is bigger cities where more people are pedestrians. Is that true?

2010-06-29T10:20:19Z

Blind people use computers with text-to-speech software that converts on-screen elements to synthesized speech and lets us use the keyboard to navigate instead of a mouse. It's quite common. Google "Freedom Scientific JAWS" for an example.

Anonymous2010-06-29T11:02:34Z

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It's fine! Women do it all the time. I wore athletic shoes when I commuted to the San Francisco financial district from Oakland CA. I wasn't going to do a 30 train ride and 20 minute walk in heels. It is considered a bit of a fashion don't, but I didn't really give a **** if I ended up on the last page of glamour magazine with the bar covering my eyes as a "don't". But I would never walk into the office wearing my running shoes. And our unwritten banking dress code was much more conservative than it'll be at a psychology lab at a university. What I'd do was just stop outside, sit down and slip on my dress shoes., then I'd put my running shoes in my bag. While they're telling you to treat this as the "real thing", you're still at a university, and you're supposed to dress business casual for a university, not business casual for Manhattan. How do the professors dress? if you're blind and can't judge that for yourself, ask a classmate. Professors are notorious for being a bit frumpy, at best. Dockers pants and a Hawaiian shirt would be business casual for the male professors I know. Not a one would wear a tie! And the women would always wear slacks and a blouse. I work in a university town now and I don't know any women, even in administration who wear heels at work, unless maybe they're 4'11". No business suits or heels; They wear dressier flats. Leather walking shoes could be dressy enough for business casual at a university. Think nice loafers. Again, find out what the women professors are wearing in the lab. You want to dress to the level that your superiors are, not more than they are. You know, undergrads go around in cut off shorts, flip-flops and have way too much cleavage showing. I'm sure they want you to avoid that, but nice loafers might be just fine. They were business casual when I was in Financial services. Good luck.

Anonymous2016-04-17T13:02:23Z

I am not putting shoes on my daughter until she is ready to walk. My friend has a baby three weeks younger than my daughter and she has had shoes on her feet since she was like 3 months. I don't understand the point of shoving little chunky baby feet into shoes when they can't even stand up!

?2010-06-29T10:19:23Z

Yes women do it all the time. Get cute walking shoes though. Try some cute ballet flats...that way they fit in a tote better too. Stay away from the athletic shoes!

<32010-06-29T10:08:35Z

if your blind i don't see why not. then again if your blind, im not sure how your writing this? anyways lol, i don't see anything wrong with it, as long as you change to more appropriate foot wear :) hoped i helped <3