Pump, heel, or flats – which is best for professional women?
The majority of professional women who come to us for image consultations are naturally interested in wearing shoes that will help them succeed on the job. But nine out of ten of these women are wearing the wrong shoes.
The first thing to keep in mind is that looking in fashion magazines, online, or in stores won’t help you find the best shoes. It’ll only expose you to paid advertisements from shoe manufacturers and designers, none of whom cares in the least about your success on the job. All they care about is moving merchandise and making women feel they need something new and trendy.
The truth is that trendy is ineffective. Just think about it for a moment and you’ll clearly realize that certain styles are NOT going to be effective at work. Very high heels, for instance. The only way to find out what works is to test the footwear, and this is precisely what Manhattan Makeovers has been doing for three decades.
One of the first things we discovered is that the pump is the most effective footwear for the professional–lawyers, doctors, bankers, accountants, and other white-collar jobs. It may sound boring, but the pump in a dark color conveys a subliminal message about your competence, integrity, and honesty. Our fieldwork and comparison tests are unequivocal on this point: your shoes communicate messages to your colleagues, clients, and customers.
The pump needs to have heels that are no more than two or two-and-a-half inches. They cannot be flats. Flats are ineffective at work. Your shoes also cannot be heels. They, too, are ineffective. Save them for the weekend or for dates.
Shoe and pump color for professional women
Probably the biggest mistake women make with their image is trying to match their shoe color to their outfits. Field tests demonstrate repeatedly that it is exponentially more effective to wear shoes that are at least two tones darker than your outfit. For the purpose of avoiding confusion: you don’t want to match the shoes, you want them to be darker.
What do I mean by “at least” two tones darker? This means that the shoes can be significantly darker and they’ll still be effective. For instance, you can wear a white suit and a black pump. You’ll be very effective with this combination.
Do your own shoe test
One final word of advice. I realize that you want to look fashionable. But if you want to be effective resist the temptation. The traditional pump will serve you well. You might want to do what our clients do and keep a reaction diary. See how colleagues, clients, and customers react when you wear dark pumps as opposed to how you’re treated in heels that match your outfits.
Our clients sell more, experience less friction in court, and report better all-around responses with colleagues and associates.