What shoes should I bring?

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Scary Monster

I'm a female engineer, and there's a fairly standard level of attire in engineering lectures of jeans, trainer type things and a hoodie. I have no clue about arts lectures but as I spend a reasonable amount of time in the department I wear what I wear most of my life (Jeans and hoodie) as do most others.

Come on... all us engineers dress the same! It is slightly amusing wandering round the engineering department and noticing how everyone dresses in jeans, scruffy (normally quite dull) t-shirt and either a hoody, a sweatshirt or a dark jacket.

Perhaps I am above average for guys in taking 5 pairs of shoes...
1. Trainers (I wear these all the time I am not wearing the others)
2. Smart shoes (Formals / balls only)
3. Climbing shoes
4. Walking boots
5. Steel toe trainers (for doing set-building type stuff in the theatre)

Reply 21

Coldplaydoh

I dont have many shoes :-s I have like less than 5 pairs...

I'm so square :frown:

(lol)

Reply 22

Vivien_K

In Winter I lived day to day in my Ugg boots or Black boots with a heel, in summer tended to wear wedges, glads and heeled sandals. Also had 6 pairs of shoes to wear to formals/clubs/dinners/balls (some nicer than others lol), 2 pairs of ballet flats, slippers, a pair of smart heels for matric, trainers, and walking boots (which I wore for digging).

Dunno about other arts subjects but to our lectures nearly everyone wore jeans, hoodies and trainers.

Reply 23

swird

Thanks immensely to all for the replies! They've really helped!

A Stranger in Moscow

WTF is a sneaker?

American term for trainers, sorry. :angelblush:

I'll be doing law, so I guess I'd better pack my not-so-scruffy jeans as a sort of in between the two apparent extremes of totally sloppy mathsci students and entirely made up arts students :p:

Reply 24

Jigglypuff

2x Converse
2x heels (a few more in May Week to go with different dresses)
Trainers
Football boots
Flip-flops (handy after coming out of the shower)

Basically I live in Converse during the day, and wear heels to go out in. I go to lectures in a hoodie and jeans and don't feel out of place (though some do make more of an effort)

Reply 25

blueoyene

im bringing every pair of shoes i have. im one of those "just in case" people.. so theres a huge possibility i wont wear about half of them - but nobody's going to get in the way of me bringing all my shoes!

4 flats
2 heels
1 pair sneakers
2 flip flops
2 pair of shoes which i hardly wear but might come in handy

then im planning on buying boots and another pair of heels before i go.
and im still contemplating bringing my moonboots. but then i think i might look like a bit of a douche if i ever wore them.

Reply 26

groovy_moose

I practically live in flip-flops, but other than that shoes i have with me and use on a semi-regular basis are:
1 x trainers/walking shoes,
1 x flat black shoes,
1 x heels.

In the winter i have:
slippers,
walking boots (though these are a little superfulous because i keep forgetting to join somekind of society to go walk in interesting places)
Black normal boots,
and steelies (for theatre stuff).

...and i'm not even into shoes, so i really don't think your list is ott, OP.

Reply 27

*Joanna*

Seriously OP, only 7 pairs of shoes?! I'm aware I m ay be an extreme case here, but each term I took over 20. If you can fit them in the car then take them. If you get to your room and there's abosolutely nowhere to put them, your parents can take them home again. Guaranteed that if you don't take a pair, you'll get halfway through term and think 'Oh that pair at home would go perfectly with this outfit.'

As for clothes, there are some people that dress up for lectures, but the vast majority in mine didn't. But then we were scientists and I think most had the mentality that 9am is early enough without getting up an hour earlier to dress up every day.

Reply 28

minimo

I feel I have to make a list. Last year I had:
1 x running shoes
4 x sandals (gold casual wedges, black casual wedges, purple strappy pair (for a may ball), high heeled gold pair)
3 x kitten heel (pink, burgandy and teal peep toes)
2 x medium heels (black patent and tan)
1 x black flats
3 x stilettos (brown, black peep toes, teal)
1 x ankle black boots
1 x brown higher boots

every time I get depressed in Cambridge, I buy shoes. I have every intention to add to my collection this year.

Reply 29

psyche87

Last year I had 1 pair of running shoes, 1 pair of converse sneakers, 2 pairs of nice flats, and 2 pairs of flip-flops. :smile:

But then, I'm not a shoe person, and I'm also an international student with very limited luggage space...

And I also wandered around in t-shirts and jeans for the whole year, with the exception of formals...

Reply 30

roxy potter

For the moment I am bring

1. Uggs
2. Deck shoes/boat shoes/whatever you call them
3. Trainers for running in
4. Riding boots :P
5. Black strappy sandal/heels
6. Silver strappy sandal/heels
7. Flip flops
8. I plan on buying a pair of black boots(more formal than uggs)
9. Shoes that can be worn with suit for interviews(I'm doing a postgrad)

That's for now, I'm sure I'll add more as term wears on....

So about Ryanair baggage limits....I'm dead!

Reply 31

sakura_candy

roxy potter

5. Black strappy sandal/heels
6. Silver strappy sandal/heels

Oh? aren't these too cold (brrrrrr!) for UK?

I have a few open toe/strappy sandals heels, If they aren't worth bringing I'll leave them home...

On the other hand, what about the kind of sports sandals that look a bit like this:

I'm probably bringing:
1. Smart covered shoes which also look nice enough for everyday use
2. Sneaker/pumps which seem to resist water
3. Sneakers?
4. Slippers for use in the shower
5. ....

>_< I have no idea what people wear on their feet in winter!

Reply 32

Helenia

sakura_candy

Oh? aren't these too cold (brrrrrr!) for UK?

I have a few open toe/strappy sandals heels, If they aren't worth bringing I'll leave them home...

No, plenty of people wear strappy shoes for going out at night etc. Yes, it's a bit cold when you're walking around but generally you're only walking short distances and then going inside again, so it's not too bad. The cobbles are the real problem with heels!

Mostly trainers, really. Or smart shoes if you're into that (I have to wear smart shoes for work). If you're short on space, your list there will probably be fine; you can always buy shoes relatively cheaply once you're here.

Reply 33

MC REN

sakura_candy

On the other hand, what about the kind of sports sandals that look a bit like this:

erm what would you ever wear them for? I definitely wouldn't take them anyway

Reply 34

roxy potter

sakura_candy

Oh? aren't these too cold (brrrrrr!) for UK?

Well i I can wear them in Ireland in December I can wear them in Cambridge! I usually just wear them when I'm going out at night!

Reply 35

Neutral_Tones

Love the thread! :biggrin:

I think too many would be my answer. I think I'll probably take as many as possible (obv excluding summer-related things) for the first term and see how it goes from then on.

Reply 36

Supergrunch

Hmm, I have two pairs of shoes - trainers, and some black formal ones. To lectures (and everywhere else) I wear frayed jeans and a random t-shirt. I've yet to notice what other people wear.

Reply 37

brimstone

Wow, this reminds me how much I still have to buy before I go up there.

And it might help if you referred to 'sneakers' with the English term :yep:

Reply 38

tarka

lots of shoes! This term I'll take:
3 x pumps
4/5 x stilettos - for going out/formals/black tie dos (boat club dinner etc.)
3 x boots
2 x trainers
1 x running trainers
1 x slippers
1 x wellies (for when the river gets too high and you don't want to get wet feet when getting into the boat)

re: what to wear to lectures, most people wear jeans and a casual top or shirt. It's laid back, but people rarely look scruffy.

Reply 39

sakura_candy

MC REN

erm what would you ever wear them for? I definitely wouldn't take them anyway

No idea? I wear them here everyday, cool and comfortable and I don't mind them getting wet in case of rain.

well, i guess "cool" shouldn't be a problem in Cambridge, "warm" is what I need to care about. good point.