Kitchen and Cooking Footwear/Shoes

[thebaker]

you can try

http://www.shoesforcrews.com/acb/index.cfm?&DID=10

i have a pair that look like sneakers and they work very well.

-a

I love shoes for crews..

I have got a closet filled with all the other shoes i have tried (and payed alot for)

With shoes for crews you dont like what you got you can exchange them in 60 days No questions asked ( i have done it a few times)

I have been told they dont last very long but I use mine only in the kitchen (never outside) and I think they last a good amount of time based on what i have payed..

[essvee]

Red Wing makes very comfortable and sturdy lowcut kitchen shoes. Buy two pair and rotate them so they can dry out. Keep em polished and clean and they will last you for years and years. I've had mine for seven.

[NeroW]

Wait . . . *why* can't you get clogs?

[sherribabee]

Wait . . . *why* can't you get clogs?

*shrug* I dunno. I asked about them, and was told that students simply are not allowed to wear them.

I didn't harp on the issue, as I had so many other things I wanted to ask. I feel like calling up and asking, as it would be nice to know why clogs aren't acceptable.

[NeroW]

Wait . . . *why* can't you get clogs?

*shrug* I dunno. I asked about them, and was told that students simply are not allowed to wear them.

I didn't harp on the issue, as I had so many other things I wanted to ask. I feel like calling up and asking, as it would be nice to know why clogs aren't acceptable.

Ask them!

It seems rather like that scene in Austin Powers when Dr. Evil says: "OK. Now I'm going to give some arbitrary orders. You . . . go stand over there," etc.

[sherribabee]

Wait . . . *why* can't you get clogs?

*shrug* I dunno. I asked about them, and was told that students simply are not allowed to wear them.

I didn't harp on the issue, as I had so many other things I wanted to ask. I feel like calling up and asking, as it would be nice to know why clogs aren't acceptable.

Ask them!

It seems rather like that scene in Austin Powers when Dr. Evil says: "OK. Now I'm going to give some arbitrary orders. You . . . go stand over there," etc.

*snicker*

[ExtraMSG]

Any footwear recommendations for standing in the kitchen hour after hour?

[phlawless]

I'm a fan of the Birkenstock rubber clog. I get about 3 years out of a pair, they have a great insole, and they are durable as hell.

[bigwino]

I swear by Dansko clogs. Right now my favorites are the ones with the backs (hmmm... are they still clogs if they have backs?) Dansko website

My wife is a recent convert, too. She is on her feet all day chasing two little boys (a 2 y/o and 4 y/o) around the house. She wears Danskos every day now after finding nothing else nearly as comfortable. Her feet and knees no longer ache at the end of the day.

[winesonoma]

Dansko clogs. All I've worn for last 3 years. Get the ones with the sport sole, a little softer on the feet

[srhcb]

Strictly barefoot for me, although I'll admit my toes have had a couple close calls!

[slkinsey]

How are the Dansko's on width? I have super-wide feet (7 1/2 EEEEE or 8 EEEE).

[Jason Perlow]

Nasty, nasty hobbitses!

[fifi]

I had a pair of Haflinger clogs with cork soles and hemp tops that I wore down to a nubbin. They were the only things I could wear for long kitchen stints that kept me from getting a sore lower back. I attributed that (correctly or not) to the fact that there was really no heel and so my heels were postioned lower than in other shoes when standing. And, of course, the cork soles provided ample cushion from the tile floor. (God I loved those things.) That is the only thing that makes me wonder about the Danskos. They all seem to have a heel. Maybe I will just have to give them a try.

[mnebergall]

How are the Dansko's on width? I have super-wide feet (7 1/2 EEEEE or 8 EEEE).

I can see you don't need to rent skis.

[Katherine]

How are the Dansko's on width?  I have super-wide feet (7 1/2 EEEEE or 8 EEEE).

I have wide feet, too, and I've never found a pair of clogs that was remotely shaped like my feet.

Strictly barefoot for me, although I'll admit my toes have had a couple close calls!

Me, too. Some people's feet were not meant to wear shoes. You just learn to jump back really quickly after dropping something.

[ExtraMSG]

I've looked at the Birkenstocks and Danskos. (They're everywhere out here in Portland.) They're expensive, so I haven't bought a pair just to try them out. I had a pair of Birkenstocks when I was younger, though, and wore them until the cork looked like it was eroding -- several years. I can't remember them that well, though. My worry with these is that they don't seem like the insides would be very soft or cushiony. Does it not matter?

[hjshorter]

Bought my first pair of Dansko's six years ago, while pregnant with my daughter. I now have several different styles and wear almost no other brand of shoe. Superbly comfortable. Birkenstocks aren't cushioned enough for me - great for every day but not if I have to do a lot of standing or walking.

Don't know about the men's sizes, but I wear a women's 7 1/2 D, and Dansko's fit right out of the box.

[helenjp]

My back hasn't been the same since I fell down a whole flight of stairs (memo: don't read while walking down stairs...) nearly 30 years ago. Barefoot is my vote too, and a wooden floor is easier on you than concrete, of course

I don't like clogs, because the shaped foot part is designed for back-forward motion, not the side-side motion that is common when working at a kitchen counter...but they are still the best for long periods of standing, if you have to wear shoes, and don't feel like hiking boots with 2 pairs of woolly socks.

When you stand with both feet flat on the floor, your lower back sways out...but when you lean forward, your lower back will naturally round...a combination that means PAIN. You might find a chunky foot rest helpful, as having one raised just a little helps to unkink your back.

Yoga is good for stretching your back, but be very careful that you are stretching evenly -- very easy to favor the painful side and make things worse. If your back pain is not acute, belly dancing is great for loosening up hips and shoulders after long periods standing in the kitchen or sitting at a computer. (I think belly dance lessons should be tax deductible for translators!).

Or just give in, and use a bar-stool?

For me, the only solution is to move to another country. Apparently, you should be able to touch the bottom of your sink with your fingertips. My counter-top was designed for a 150cm Japanese housewife, and it is excruciating -- I have to crouch to work at it, while also leaning backward to avoid the low-hung overhead cupboards. Solution...stack my chopping boards to raise the worksurface...take the chopping board to the coffee table and work kneeling down...tell the kids to do the dishes...play plenty of music and keep moving while I work.

[Cusina]

My problem with clogs is the opposite, my feet are really narrow and they just slide off when I back up.

I just got a pair of these and LOVE them.

Wolky link

[ExtraMSG]

Hmm. At home we take our shoes off, so 90% of the time I have nothing on my feet. Part of the reason I'm asking the question (since I'm not a professional) is because I'm starting to get sore from standing barefoot in the kitchen. I realized recently that's what was causing it and have gone to a pair of Hawaiian style flip flops. It's helped, but I think I should get something better. I'm heavy, about 225 lbs, so that may have something to do with it. I think I need the cushion and support. I also have one foot that's a little flat.

Plus, barefoot in the kitchen means sticky toes.

I spend about 4 hours a day in the kitchen making a meal or two for myself, a meal for my wife, and lunches for my wife (I work from home, she works in an office). Barefoot on the linoleum was starting to really get me.

[Jim Dixon]

docsconz testified about calzuros a while back, and I wear mine more than anything else when I have to stand...I found the euro sizes to be smaller than my birkenstock benchmark (birks are 43, but my calzuros are 44-45). You can toss them in the dishwasher (or autoclave) when they get dirty.

Jim

[beans]

Another vote for Danskos. I was a frequent purchaser of those "walker" athletic shoes for work (14 hour shifts six-seven days a week during peak season) and they wore out quickly. It was my back that told me when it was time to purchase a new pair. I purchased some Danskos and I wear them as often as I can during and outside of work. They are great.

[balmagowry]

Add my voice to the Dansko chorus. Strictly barefoot at home, or if it's REALLY cold something in the fuzzy slipper line (it has to be pretty sub-arctic, though). But out in the world, Danskos. My feet are wide - not horrendously so, but enough so that a lot of "normal" shoes won't cut it; Danskos come in wide and extra-wide sizes, so no problem there. I don't have the kind of hours-on-my-pins-in-the-kitchen history that some here do, but in 35 years of ballet my feet have taken a lot of pretty serious wear and tear - there are days when Danskos are literally the only thing I can stand to put on them for schlepping from point A to point B. (Well... or Ugs, of course. But you can't wear those in the kitchen!)

Oh, and another thing. In the past 5 years I've logged a lot of hours hanging around hospitals. At some point I started paying attention to the feet I saw there - feet belonging to nurses, doctors, residents, orderlies, aides, you name it. Guess what 90% of them wore. Yup. Danskos. And if you happened to bring the subject up in conversation you'd unleash a flood of rhapsody that would make the present pangyric pale by comparison. And those are people who really put in long hours on their feet. I figure, if it's good enough for a 36-hour ER shift, it's damn well good enough for me.

Edited March 15, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[winesonoma]

If they made steel toe Dansko's I would not have to change at work.