Thank you for your suggestions of places to shop. Although I have shopped at Nordstrom and Zappos before, I was leery about ordering and needing them to send shoes back. Appreciate the clarity on their return options as well as the brands to try!

Zappos has a 365-day return policy; Nordstrom has an open-ended return policy. Very easy. Is there a Dillards near you? I might try there. In person I’d try shoes from Born, Soft, Cole Haan, Naturalizer… you might also try to find Bzees or AllBirds. I’d probably just switch to plain black sneakers right away.

I struggle now with trying to change careers to higher education/office environments as I don’t think my current shoe colors will look good–neon blue, bright purple, turquoise. I have in the past tried New Balance but am not able to wear them long due to several physical conditions with my feet/back. I need a non-narrow arch area but not wide. The thicker sole/physical configuration of Brooks’ Adrenaline shoes are best for me (only up to model years 2019–after that they changed the sole and narrowed it at the arch and I they are not as comfortable for me for all day wear). I have tried Superga and they don’t give me enough flexibility in the soles while Sketchers many iterations are frequently too flexible.

I don’t have a Nordstrom close to me, so do you all have ideas about where to shop in person for good-quality, more office-friendly shoes? Budget is about $200 per pair–less if possible. (I am not at all a fan of white/light colored soles as I do not wear white in my clothing and think such shoes are too casual). I mostly wear flared/wider legged pants (polyester, some khaki/twill, blue jeans) year-round. Rarely do I wear skinny leg; do not wear ankle length/cropped, especially with tennis shoes as I think it makes my already larger/longer foot stand out.

A recent sneaker fail: Superga – I got sucked into buying a pair of these thanks to Kate Middleton. They are heavy and uncomfortable.