Several years ago, I drove my D to tour/interview at a school, and the weather when we left home was of a typical New England January day… icy, slushy, etc. I had new boots with me that were not comfortable for driving. We were barely on time for the appointment, so D ran in ahead and I parked the car close to the entrance and followed her in. It wasn’t until I was sitting in on a class and reached down to retrieve something from my bag that I realized I was STILL WEARING MY “driving” SLIPPERS. This story is oft-repeated by my D, who still finds it hilarious (despite her mom’s footwear, the school admitted her!). It is to this day known as “the fuzzy blue slipper incident”.
Depending on what shoes I’m wearing, i often just kick off my shoes when I drive.
Never heard of “driving shoes.” My mom didn’t have anything with that designation.
Never heard of “driving shoes” either. My mom just drove in whatever shoes she happened to be wearing, as do I. I’ve never had a problem with shoes getting scuffed from driving, even when I wore heels every day.
As for driving barefoot, I can’t imagine it. But my dad was a podiatrist, vehemently opposed to going barefoot anywhere but at the beach, so I’m always in shoes. I can’t even drive with flip-flops or any other sandals that move around on my foot while I’m going back and forth from gas to brake–makes me feel out of control.
@conmama, if it makes you feel any better, I have to find shoes that have room in front for my bunions but also fit my narrow heel. I’d be delighted to fit into a regular wide shoe!
I probably drive barefoot at least 25% of the time. It works just fine for me. I have no bunions or any other foot problems so far, as long as I minimize time wearing heels. 
@oldfort – sorry to say, but Tod’s at Woodbury Commons will set you back $300-$400. I have been buying them for 15 years as I have a very wide toe box. I used to find them in the low $125+ range, then they inched up, and inched up, and then they were more than $300 at the outlet! I was surprised to learn online that many retail for $650, so the $300+ outlet price is not terrible, but still a lot of money for very basic shoes. Having said that, I am still wearing the ones from 15 years ago, so money well spent, and you really can’t tell the 2016 shoe from the 2006 shoe!
I don’t bother with the all suede driving shoe as I destroy those too quickly.
I wear driving shoes. For winter I like [suede shoes](http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/58464?productId=986510&attrValue_0=Ink%20Black&pla1=0&mr:trackingCode=F35EAF02-BFE7-E511-80ED-00505694403D&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=c&mr:adType=plaonline&qs=3125166_google&cvosrc=cse.google.0KVP806060&cvo_crid=121978862000&lsft=qs:3125166_google,product:0KVP806060,cvosrc:cse.google.0KVP806060,cvo_crid:121978862000&gclid=CJGAtPiPk9ACFdRnNwod41ACsA&gclsrc=ds). In warmer weather I like [leather flats](http://www.dsw.com/shoe/eurosoft+shanelle+ballet+flat?prodId=372389) or [url=<a href=“https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.likefabshoe.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F05%2F23%2F0%2F53-Yuua-Demille-Flat-Sandals-for-Women-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.keyword-suggestions.com%2FZmxhdCBzYW5kYWxzIGZvciB3b21lbg%2F&docid=XTe0gARQyDMk1M&tbnid=MzbtbznInw15nM%3A&vet=1&w=810&h=810&bih=770&biw=1440&ved=0ahUKEwijyefskpPQAhUL5YMKHdxLBVw4ZBAzCD4oPDA8&iact=mrc&uact=8%5Dsandals%5B/url”>https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.likefabshoe.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F05%2F23%2F0%2F53-Yuua-Demille-Flat-Sandals-for-Women-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.keyword-suggestions.com%2FZmxhdCBzYW5kYWxzIGZvciB3b21lbg%2F&docid=XTe0gARQyDMk1M&tbnid=MzbtbznInw15nM%3A&vet=1&w=810&h=810&bih=770&biw=1440&ved=0ahUKEwijyefskpPQAhUL5YMKHdxLBVw4ZBAzCD4oPDA8&iact=mrc&uact=8]sandals[/url]. The key to driving shoes is matching them to your outfit so if you forget to take them off nobody will realize they’re driving shoes.
I honestly never heard of driving shoes…until this thread!
Did men have them too? Back in the dark ages when I was little…women didn’t do much of the driving!
Tod’s driving moccasins are still ~400 at retail stores. Whew! CT1417 got me worried. I still have mine from 10+ years ago. They still look the same. I bought most of them from Italy at much lower price.
@oldfort --oops! I have been buying the City Moccasin Loafers, which come in @ $500 & $675. I am too hard on shoes to wear the driving mocs, although they are as comfortable as slippers! Their loafers are the only shoes I can wear when walking long distances, other than Saucony running shoes, and that is just not a great look!
Add me to the list of never heard of driving shoes. I wear my everyday shoes to drive (sneakers in summer/Clarks walking shoes in winter). I never wear heels. I drive a manual transmission. Just looked at the back of the Clarks, maybe the back of the heels are a little worn from driving, I couldn’t care less. I feel like the $130 I spend on sneakers is high, would never consider such high prices for any kind of shoe, let alone one just for driving!
I suspect on the women’s side, most on this thread are more talking about “shoes for driving” than actual “driving shoes”. But for men it’s an actual style that typically involves a moccasin or boat-shoe style, rubber sole, rubber that wraps from the bottom of the heel up to vertical part of the heel, and a sole design that’s either small rubber pads or rubber deeply indented for flexibility.
As I mentioned upthread, I wear them for business casual at work and “smart casual” (usually with nice jeans) on my own time. The unstructured design, flexible sole, and typically soft leather makes them very comfy.
A couple hundred examples pop up when you search Nordstrom for “men’s driving shoe.” Here’s a typical example:
http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/marc-joseph-new-york-venetian-driving-loafer-men/4486669?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&fashioncolor=BLACK
@anomander
The unstructured design, flexible sole, and typically soft leather makes them very comfy.
And provides traction when depressing the brake and gas pedals. I recently wore a pair of skimmer flats with a smooth leather bottom, and found my foot slipping off the pedals.
The rubber up the back of the shoe as you described keeps the suede from wearing out.
LOL - I had no idea there are people out there driving barefoot…
Add me to the list of never heard of driving shoes/shoes for driving.
I’ve never heard them sold as such, but I certainly have friends and family who would wear sneakers to drive and put on their work shoes in the car. Both men and women, men more to make sure their shoes stayed shined or scuff free, women because driving in heels was annoying.
I would drive barefoot, but I also wore kneehis a lot with pants, so I would sometimes wear socks and sneakers, then change to kneehis or peds with nice shoes.
As for “driving shoes” as in shoes that someone driving a fancy car would want, I’m not sure if I’ve heard of them, but I know they would be way out of my tax bracket.
I also have never heard of driving shoes, but my mom always wore orthopedic shoes.