I love living in New York. As a transplant, my first year took some major adjusting, especially regarding walking. I’m from the South originally, so walking even just 20 minutes felt like a long time in my first year. I would walk and walk and be surprised when I saw that there were still 15 more minutes until I’d reach my destination. After a few years, thankfully, I’ve adapted to schlepping to even longer distances; sometimes I’ll walk an hour to a cafe or to a friend’s apartment for my “hot girl walk.” Surprisingly, especially during the spring, I don’t wear sneakers with my outfits, but rather chic, comfortable shoes: flats.

While sneakers are really cool, I want to look as elegant as possible for the upcoming warm weather, so flats it is. For me, flats are a reliable and easy-to-slip-on shoe to elevate all my outfits. I tend to go basic when I’m on walks if it’s really warm. Think light layers like tees and tanks with bermuda shorts. What better shoe to trek in an outfit like that than flats?