taking shoes off

I do think that for a special occasion, such as a dinner party as in the OP, most people make an effort with their appearance.

The dress that looked gorgeous in the mirror at home with appropriate shoes might not look so good in stockinged feet!

Prior warning would allow guests to adjust their attire accordingly and/or take alternative footwear - I think you can get mules with a small heel, can't you?

why would you want all the dirt from the pavement on your carpets ? dogs wee on the path !

As a family, we take our shoes off and put on slippers. I don't ask visitors to do this but I appreciate it if they do. I notice that young mums who come to pick up their children tend to take their shoes off unasked as do their children. With the fashion for light carpets, it seems to me that taking off shoes is becoming the norm.

It's a shame that the odd poster becomes very judgemental by using words and phrases such as 'bad mannered' 'ridiculous' 'over fussy' while the majority are happy to simply state their own preference, for or against or somewhere in between..

It's not a matter to get heated about. I think mumofmadboys summed it up well.

I wouldn't make guests take their shoes off, although sometimes they offer if we go upstairs, our living room is on the first floor. Generally they keep them on when they come in on the ground floor which is either wooden or tiled in the kitchen. When our sons were younger and had their numerous friends round they invariably left their shoes in the hall when going upstairs, but there were occasions when I wish they hadn't. Smelly teenage boys' trainers not a great aroma

No! How ridiculous! I assume my guests have made an effort, which I take as a compliment and then to insist that they are off their shoes. Soooo embarrassing.

I rarely go shoeless, as I need insoles and without them they become very painful. Neither do I own a pair of slippers as I've yet to find a pair that will give enough support. If I'm visiting someone who I know prefers the removal of shoes, then I take a clean pair of trainers, if I remember. Otherwise, it's difficult - knowing I'll have pain for some while and cold feet as well!

Fortunately, my general style works well with trainers/lace-ups, and my good friends don't care that I keep my shoes on. A win win situation.

Your house, your rules izabella

I always remove my shoes at home and when entering other people's homes. I cannot stand the thought of walking outside muck into a house.

We have friends who never remove their shoes in their own home, or in ours, and I wouldn't dream of asking them to.

I am in the minority here. Yes always request shoes are changed for slippers (Muddy country area with no road) and we always take slippers when invited out. I am obviously out of touch as I thought it was merely good manners.

At home we all take our shoes off before we walk on carpets. It keeps the carpets cleaner and cuts down on hoovering. I don't ask visitors to take their shoes off but am pleased when they do.

My mother would make people take their shoes off if they had stiletto heels, because they made holes in the floor. But until I can teach my dogs to wipe their feet there seems no point!

If I have visitors for a week and they come dog walking with us I would prefer them to have another pair of shoes/slippers to wear inside to try and keep the dirt down. I would not be offended if asked to take my shoes off, I have trodden in dog poo too often.

we wore ones like these:
www.selvedge.org/shop/huopaliike-lahtinen

my feet were better in those days

In Finland those nice knitted slippers were useful and they swept the wooden floors as you walked around too.

These look better, though, they have more of a grippy sole:
www.suomikauppa.fi/product_info.php?products_id=6908&language=en

My Dad used to wear Harris tweed slippers

Personally I hate walking round in stocking or bare feet. There is also a safety issue. We live in a very old house with narrow windy stairs. From choice indoors I wear house shoes with solid non-slip soles to stop any danger of slipping on the stairs, or for that matter on any of our very smooth wooden floors, not to mention stubbing my toes on the furniture.

However DH and both DC walk round the house bare footed, not for any reasons of hygiene, or cleanliness of floor coverings, but because they find wearing shoes and socks indoors restricting. However I show scant sympathy when they stub their toes on the furniture or stand on something uncomfortable.

Carpets are for walking on and I can see no point in having a carpet a colour that leaves you constantly worrying about the footwear of people who tread on it.

Always change them at DD's house (farm)!

We've always been a 'remove your boots' family. Grandad S had to leave his in the back door step after coming off his shift down the mines and Granddad Mc had to leave his in the back porch after a day on the smallholding and later on from his allotment.

Their wives would have created a huge fuss if they'd trampled dirt into the house.

The same rule applied to my children and DH. Muddy football boots, dirty Hunters, all had to be keft in the mud room. I notice workmen are very good these days at taking their shoes off just inside the door.

I'm not as fussy about downstairs now as we have hard floors that can be easily cleaned and disinfected, but I do expect shoes off on stairs and upstairs carpets.

No, I never ask, and don't expect people to remove shoes unless they're dirty or muddy, in which case most people inc. me would do it anyway.

Personally I think it's bad manners to ask, especially if people are dressed up and have their nice shoes on. My feet soon get cold anyway, and no, I wouldn't want to wear any old 'guest' slippers provided for the purpose.
However I know that in other parts of the world, SE Asia among others, it's the norm. But there at least it's usually warm.

To me, houses are for people, not the other way around. I don't recall Hyacinth Bucket ever asking people to do this, but that's how I think of it! Over-fussy and frankly rather ridiculous Hyacinth behaviour, and most definitely NOT posh!

I don't ask anyone to take their shoes off (I just grit my teeth as they walk all over my new pale carpet ) but the family always take theirs off.
Because I can't walk barefoot or in slippers I tend to take a pair of indoor shoes with me just in case I'm asked to take my shoes off in anyone else's house.

Jane10 mwah! mwah! [hugs]
As DD said once when she was very little - I want to give you a French kiss
She then proceeded to kiss me on both cheeks.

I never ask.....and we live deep in the country so muddy boots are the uniform. However if people are visiting as in they are coming into the house for a coffee/meal etc they either remove boots at door or have come in 'normal' shoes and I would not dream of asking them to remove them. They are my guests and I'd be embarrassed to ask. DD and her children have got into the habit of removing shoes in the scullery - but its their choice....I've never asked it.
Can always remember the episode of Sex in the City when Carrie is asked to take of her very expensive designer shoes at someone's flat and they are not their at the end of the party - her reaction was one of horror at being asked and then even more horror at someone pinching her decent shoes.

It seems a relatively new thing. It quite simply never happened when I was a girl. It seems to have crept in. I certainly wouldn't expect visitors to remove shoes.
DGSs make a great palaver of taking off their shoes though -takes ages! Their mum didn't have to do this any time when she lived with us so I guess its become a new social custom along with all that kissing and hugging when greeting. Grumpy? Me?!

I was helping a friend house hunt a couple of years ago. We were asked to remove our shoes at one house and we both refused which went down like a lead balloon. We both have disability and balance problems, my friend being an old polio. The floors in the house were hard but not clean and I had no intention of slipping downstairs. I made sure I did not touch any surfaces because in the main bedroom there were layers of dust.

I only ask somebody to remove their shoes/boots if they are going to make indents in my flooring. My immediate neighbour is from Iraq and he does it automatically.

I have never asked anyone to take their shoes off in my house and I ve never been asked to take my shoes off when visiting anyone else, so obviously I walk in less posh circles ?

I would never ask a guest to remove their shoes, though the family do this as a matter of course - it becomes second nature after a while. When we go elsewhere I always ask if they would like me to take off my shoes. If they say 'yes' I am never offended, and I find that only one or two of our friends insist on it, but they have very pale carpets. We have wood. annsixty we used to have a particular friend to dinner regularly, along with others, and I knew that if she caught me still in my slippers when she arrived, she would despatch me off upstairs to find a pair of shoes - it offended her sensibilities!

My own family always remove shoes at the front door because pf light carpets and children playing on the floor. I do not ask visitors to remove shoes, sadly not all are as house trained as my family, because their friendship is more important.