Women's Leather Sandals Guide

Every sandal design of the last five thousand years is a variation on a leather sole held to the foot by leather straps — and the modern leather sandal keeps the two advantages no synthetic has matched: a footbed that molds to your exact footprint, and straps that soften and fit themselves to your foot instead of rubbing it. This guide covers the styles, footbeds and the famous leather-sandal break-in.

A good leather sandal is a summer's companion for years — the oldest-fashioned footwear in this entire guide, and the one whose quality is easiest to judge in the hand.

Styles

The flat slide and thong (flip-flop) sandal are the minimal forms, dressed up enormously by good leather and hardware. The strappy flat and the gladiator — straps climbing the ankle and calf — are the dressier flats. Heeled leather sandals run from block-heeled city sandals to stiletto evening styles, where the straps do all the holding and their placement is the whole fit. Platform and wedge sandals put height under the whole foot, and fisherman and huarache styles close the toes in woven leather — the huarache's woven upper stretches to the individual foot like no other shoe.

Judge straps by their edges and attachments: folded or rolled edges where a strap crosses skin, straps anchored into the midsole rather than glued to its surface, and buckles that actually adjust rather than decorate.

Footbeds and the Break-In

The leather sandal's heart is its footbed. A leather-topped footbed darkens with wear into a map of your foot — that darkening is molding, not dirt, and it is why a broken-in pair fits its owner and no one else. Contoured cork-latex footbeds (the comfort-sandal form) add arch shape under the leather; padded leather insoles suit dress sandals; a plain leather sole with a rubber heel cap is the classic flat.

Break-in is real and short: new quality sandals feel stiff for the first few outings, straps may rub at predictable points, and the footbed needs an hour or two of total wear to start its molding. Wear them around the house first; after that, leather sandals are the shoes least likely in your closet to hurt you, because they have quite literally taken your shape.

Care

Sandals live hard: sun, sweat, pavement dust and the occasional puddle. Brush them off after wear, let them dry away from direct heat (a wet leather sandal dried on a radiator warps), and condition the straps occasionally — sparingly on footbeds, which should stay dry and grippy. Keep a leather protector on pale sandals, which show water spots honestly, and re-sole or re-heel before wear reaches the midsole. The pair that results will outlast several summers of cheaper sandals.

Two limits deserve honesty. Leather sandals and water are acquaintances, not friends: a splash is fine and a soaking is survivable if dried slowly, but leather sandals are not beach or pool shoes — salt water stiffens hide, sand abrades it, and the classic leather sandal belongs on dry land. And for long walking days, choose the contoured-footbed styles with a strap that holds the heel: the most minimal flat slides are city-and-cafe shoes, and ten miles in them will teach the difference between a sandal as jewelry and a sandal as footwear. The family covers both jobs; the trick is buying the pair for the job you actually have.

Photos From Our Original Guide