What makes dress shoes click

It's not to impress anyone - I'd prefer it if my shoes were quieter on hard floors, but it's a trade-off for the quality. I have noticed this at my workplace, but it doesn't correlete to management, just to the male fashion nerds.

Therefore I am concurring that its an issue of the hard soles on really good quality shoes. To make the issue worse, we have concrete floors, and metal stairs, in a giant open-plan workspace. Along with the leather sole issue, people who are particularly fashion conscious and protective of their soles may have metal sole taps on their toes and heels. My office, for the record, is carpeted on all the floors, so you can't hear any difference.

Traditional men's "best dress" shoes have a hard heel and sole, and thus make noise compared to less expensive, more casual and more flexible shoes. I have to buy very expensive shoes because my feet are 7. They're definitely not high-end or dressy, but I have a pair of 19th centuryish reproduction hobnailed brogans with hard leather heels, and they are indeed pretty clackety on hard surfaces.

I always assumed it was the leather but maybe it's more the nails, or the combination of the two. Yes, and unlike some of the other commenters here i don't think it's the sole. It's the heel. Nice shoes have a heel made out of some completely solid hard material sometimes wood, sometimes other stuff with a very thin layer of rubbed nailed to the bottom.

On the nicest shoes i've ever had, that layer of rubber was hilariously thin. It's like they expected you to get that redone every six months and not wear them super often or something.

This really doesn't take as long as you'd think. A lot of the cheaper dress shoes i've seen really seem designed with someone buying them and either wearing them until they fall apart at the low-mid range, or just getting a lot of wear out of them before getting them redone in the midrange. There's a lot more rubber involved in the heel, and possibly even the sole if it's not leather. Which leads to, paradoxically, the crappier dress shoes i've had often far outlasting the nicer ones.

The actual leather of the nicer ones tends to be far nicer, but the sole and heel just doesn't last as well and is really intended to be regularly replaced. It's called a power click. The small folk who walk around in rubber soled shoes and make no noise also make no impact.

It always seemed to me that certain personality types are more likely to be noisy people. As a regular feature writer for "Southern Hospitality Traveler" and journalist for "Beachin' Magazine," she gets to experience the rich heritage of the southern culture.

She is also a licensed cosmetologist who has her own skin care line. By: Mimi Bullock. How to Change the Batteries in Kids' How to Roughen Up the Soles of Your How to Make Sneakers Not Slippery. How to Fix a Squeaky Dress Shoe. How to Increase the Grip on a Shoe's How to Wash Mesh Athletic Shoes. How to Fix Squeaky Leather Boots. CityGent Well-Known Member. Joined Jan 13, Messages 68 Reaction score 2. My goodness, send them back and get yourself a rubber-soled pair ASAP!

Joined Jun 13, Messages 77 Reaction score 0. Joined Oct 16, Messages Reaction score I'm surprised by the reactions so far. I like the clicking noise that my shoes make, especialy when walking on marble floors. Am I an anomaly? I think rubber soles Is this when the lampooning starts? Biscotti Distinguished Member. Joined Nov 6, Messages 4, Reaction score 2, You don't notice most men's shoes clicking because they wear cheap ass rubber soles.

Originally Posted by Biscotti. Joined Apr 10, Messages 1, Reaction score 4. Originally Posted by CityGent. KObalto Distinguished Member. Joined Mar 22, Messages 4, Reaction score Originally Posted by blackbowtie. Joined Jan 15, Messages Reaction score 6. It's normal with leather soled shoes.