Single females are actually judgmental. And it was necessary to. They dont have all the time in the world to figure out if a guy is worth their period, so theyve honed in on a few key things men do on first dates that are reliable indicators of their( absence of) fitness as potential mates. The one most often overlooked by men is what to wear; specifically shoes.

To get a more accurate sense of how females judge a guy shoes on a first date, we surveyed 434 young, straight, single American girls. We showed them 32 types of mens shoeseach a Zappos.com bestseller in its category. They encompassed almost everything a normal guy might wear on a date. We asked the women to imagine casual lunch dates with different guys wearing different shoesand to rate what each shoe form says about the guy wearing them.

We got more than 110,000 individual ratings, and more than 2,000 write-in comments. The girls presented very similar savors, both in what they liked and what they loathed. Their predilections were strong, consistent, simple andonce we crunched all the numbers and analyzed all the commentsbroke down into seven major insights that every single human could use going into their next first date.

1. WEAR SHOES THAT COVER YOUR FEET.

Women detested every single sandal we showed themCrocs, Birkenstocks, KEENs, Nike slides, Reef flip-flops, it didnt matter. These all said, I have no sense of style, Im not interested in this date, I have contempt for you as a woman, Im a lazy loser. One female said Oh God! out loud when she saw these, and not in a good way. Unless your first date is at a hacky bag tournament or a nudist colony, females do not want to see your toes; they want your foot properly covered in a proper shoe.

2. WEAR LEATHER SHOES.

Women like leather. The top seven shoes we depicted had altogether leather uppers. The only shoes in the Top 14 that didnt were Vans and Converse All-Starsthe classic casual sneaker. By contrast, of the 10 lowest-rated shoes, seven were mostly plastic. There was nothing specifically appealing about leather, per se, it was more that leather shoes look nicer, which codes to girls that you are at least made significant efforts. On the first date, thats all most women are looking for. So merely wear the leather. Even if your date proves to be a vegan who morally disapproves of slaughtering a defenseless animal, scalping it and wrapping it around your feet, its light years better than shoving your grubby bare toes in her face. Andbonus! your leather may have saved you from a tedious, frigid relationship with a humorless killjoy.

3. WEAR NORMAL SHOES, NOT BOOTS.

Of our 12 top-rated shoes, merely one was a boot( the Red Wing Iron Ranger, $300 ). Most of the boots scored in the middle of the rankings, including the Clarks chukkas, the Red Wing chukkas, the Timberlands, and the cowboy boots. You might believe the boots are stimulating you appear manly, confident, protective and sexy, but most women dont consider them that way. Theyre largely just thinking Meh, boots, whatever.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. There was a statistically significant strain of cowboy lust among our survey participants, for example. The problem is that youre unlikely to know that about a woman before the first date, so youre better off simply wearing normal shoes to be on the safe side.

4. DONT WEAR ATHLETIC SHOES.

Vans and Converse scored O.K ., but theyre more stylish casual sneakers than true tennis shoes or cross-trainers. The true athletic shoesMerrell hiking shoes, Asics running shoes, Innov-8 minimalist cross-trainers, Brooks walkers, KEENs water-sports shoes, and FiveFingers Paleo-training shoesall scored in the bottom half of the rankings. Women are just not impressed if you wear athletic shoes on a date.

For those of you who were considering wearing one of these shoes, we know you think they say, Im strong, fit and sexy. Well, they dont. You know what does? Your belly, your jawline and the fit of your shirt over your chest, shoulders and armsthings you cant hide or fake with a pair of shoes that actually say, Im poor, have bad taste, dont respect you as a woman, and didnt am worried about getting myself together for this date.

5. DONT SPEND A LOT.

Two of the three top-rated shoes in the survey results cost less than $100: the Kenneth Cole Reaction Sim-Plicity ($ 98) and the Dockers Gordon ($ 50 ). In fact, 80 percent of the shoes we demonstrated girls expense less than $200. Shoe price correlated zero with overall rating, and merely modestly with how much girls believed the shoe expense. You dont have to break the bank when youre shopping for shoes. There are plenty of simple, classic, reasonably priced options that females find acceptable and appealing. Besides, on a first date girls arent looking to see how much you spend on yourself.

6. STYLISH SHOES MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A MAN.

Young men, especially, tend to worry that stylish shoes will make them seem lesbian or feminine. Nothing could be further from the truth. Women rated the more stylish, dressy, leather shoes as more manly and masculine, and as building the guy seem more sexually experienced, more mature, and better able to protect and defend them physically. In fact, the Kenneth Cole dressy Oxford ($ 98) was rated more manly than the Red Wing Heritage Iron Ranger combat-style boot ($ 300 ); the To Boot Winston stylish oxford ($ 375) was rated more manly than the Laredo Castle Rock cowboy boot ($ 125) and the Cole Haan Winter Saddle ($ 198) was rated more manly than the Red Wing Heritage Work chukka ($ 250 ). Remember, looking nice and put together is the outward expres of inner confidence. And for women, confidence is the manliest of masculine virtues.

7. WEAR SHOES THAT SHOW YOU MADE AN EFFORT.

Too many guys guess seeming cool and casual is the key to getting laid on the first date. As a result, American guys tend to under-dress, and wear shoes that are much too casual for a first date. In our survey, we described our hypothetical guy as wearing quality jeans and a casual shirt, for a weekend lunch date at a local eatery, and even then females hardly ever complained that stylish shoes made a guy look over-dressed. In fact, women equate stylish shoes with, This guy is interested in the date, respects me, wants to impress me, and is considerate, kind, and mature. You might think that dressing up for a date says Im desperate, but most women just think it entails I am confident, ripen and bright enough to know that this is appropriate footwear for a real man to wear on a real date with a real female. And real girls find that very attractive.

Young single humen, this advice from Americas single women can help you put your best foot forward. Just do us a favor and dont set that foot in your mouth before the check comes.

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