Given the amount of work time that we spend in our heels, it’s little wonder that comfort is a factor that many designers and manufacturers claim that they have high in their considerations (not shoe-maestro Christian Louboutin though – unlike Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo the man is heartless and does not care a fig about comfort).
But not all these other claims of turbo-comfort can be true since, for many women, the quest for truly comfortable heels is a lifelong journey.
Surveys in fact show that the #1 factor that women look for in a pair of work pumps is comfort.
I’ve put this page together to help with the latest information about finding comfortable work pumps and even making the less comfortable ones more bearable.
You can just read on for all the oil or use these quick links to jump to the place you want:
- Guide to the most comfortable work pumps of 2018
- Comfortable high heel brands for work
- What to look for in a comfortable work pump
- How to make work pumps more comfortable
If you’d like to leave me feedback about what you think is important in a work pump, please do that here.
Guide to the most comfortable work pumps
Because painless work pumps are hard to find, I’ve produced a comprehensive guide to the most comfortable work pumps of 2018. My guide draws on my many years of experience running a shoe blog, interviews and the zillions of user reviews and ratings on the internet.
All of these have been carefully analysed to focus on the things that matter most when choosing a work pump: comfort and style. Also important are factors like durability (so your work pumps don’t fall to pieces), versatility (so you can wear them with anything) and price (duh).
I’ve taken all these things into account in my guide. It’s constantly updated and takes into account user feedback as well as the latest ratings and reviews.
You can access my guide to the most comfortable work pumps of 2021 here.
Comfortable high heel brands for work
The work pump niche is highly competitive with almost all designers producing one or multiple pairs of office-appropriate footwear. But some are constantly striving to produce comfort without sacrificing style more than the others.
While opinions about brands and comfort can be highly subjective, some brands are usually rated highly for comfort much more than others. Usually this is because of the materials they use, the padding in the heels or simply that the shoes focus on engineering for a comfortable ride.
Here’s a short list of the shoe brands that are consistently recommended by consumers as producing comfortable heels for the office:
- Nine West: the lightly padded footbed at the bottom of all Nine West’s pumps is a favorite for wearers looking for a pain-free working day.
- Michael by Michael Kors: the Flex range have a super flexible sole that bends and supports your foot – see the Flex kitten pump for a heel that wearers find super comfortable.
- Cole Haan: Cole Haan may no longer use Nike air technology in their pumps, but their flexible heels and soft leathers are a big hit. That’s why we’ve ranked them as our top 3 inch work pump.
- Naturalizer: A new entrant to the comfort game, Naturalizer uses something called N5 Contour technology. This is pretty much a 5 point plan for making really comfortable heels. You can check it out here.
- Kate Spade: The streets of New York are not designed for comfort but Kate Spade has engineered heels that many women claim take much of the pain away. Kate Spade’s Karolina genuinely is a classic work pump. It’s been protecting fashion-forward feet for over a decade.
- LK Bennett: LK Bennett has a great reputation for being a designer label that’s big on fashion *and* comfort. Little wonder that they’re the first choice shoe brand for Kate Middleton. We rated LK Bennett’s Fern pump our #1 designer work pump, with comfort being a big consideration.
Please give me feedback if you agree or disagree with my list or have a brand which you think should be added.
What to look for in a comfortable work pump
With the exponential increase of online shopping, more and more women are buying their work pumps online without trying them on first. So how can you be sure that your new purchase will give the comfort that you desire?
First of all, I suggest looking at other users reviews. Many retailers specifically rate for comfort and, while these ratings are subjective, the combined effect of multiple reviews can give a great indication.
Choosing from my guide or work pump brands which are known for comfort are pretty smart things to do too!
Apart form this, here are some other tips you can follow to when choosing work heels which will hopefully provide a gloriously pain free day.
Materials
Not all women are ethically happy to wear leather on their feet, but leather shoes are generally considered more comfortable than heels with synthetic (or “PU”) uppers. This is because leather is softer, it moulds to fit the foot and it breathes much better too.
When buying leather shoes, it is important to remember that you may get what you pay for: not all leather is created equal. It’s definitely worth investing in heels that use premium quality leather which has been properly treated, not just the cheapest and thinest off cuts.
Heel thickness
Not all heels are created equal. Even amongst truely “stiletto” heels, some heels will taper to a needle point at the bottom whereas others will be wider or thicker.
Heel thickness affects both balance and comfort, important factors in choosing a shoe. As a tip, you can often see the heel thickness on retail sites which show pictures of the soles of the shoes that they’re selling.
Heel height
There are some totally amazing women out there who claim that their 4 and 5 inch pumps are more comfortable than 2 or 3 inch heels.
This is excellent for them, but they are in the minority: for the rest of us, the higher the shoe the less comfortable it is.
Experts generally counsel against going higher than a 4 inch shoe on a daily basis.
If you’d like more information about heel heights, I’ve put together a short guide to them here.
How to make work pumps more comfortable
With so many great, comfortable work pumps on the market, I am a little reluctant to spend too much time focussing on tips for making uncomfortable heels more bearable.
However, the masses have spoken and there are two products which are recommended by hundreds of women.
Foot Petals are ball of foot cushions which keep the foot from sliding forward in heels. They’re rated by over 400 people on Amazon.com.
Foot Petals – cushions for the balls of your feet
The second product I should highlight has been reviewed by over 1,000 women, making it one of the most popular products in its range on Amazon. It is called the Pedag padded leather heel grips.
These heel grips stop heels which are too large from falling off (this is particularly useful if your heels have stretched with wear).
Pedag heel grips (padded leather)
More information
I hope this page was helpful in putting the comfort back into your work pumps. If you’d like to leave me feedback, I’d love to hear from you.
Image credits
Top: “150505_002” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by cajsa.lilliehook
Middle: “One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by cajsa.lilliehook
Bottom: “In the world of safe hues, like black, r” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by cajsa.lilliehook