Dress and casual shoes

Dress shoes are categorized by smooth and supple leather uppers, leather soles, and narrow sleek figure. Casual shoes are characterized by sturdy leather uppers, non-leather outsoles, and wide profile.

Some designs of dress shoes can be worn by either gender. The majority of dress shoes have an upper covering, commonly made of leather, enclosing most of the lower foot, but not covering the ankles. This upper part of the shoe is often made without apertures or openings, but may also be made with openings or even itself consist of a series of straps, e.g. an open toe featured in women's shoes. Shoes with uppers made high to cover the ankles are also available; a shoe with the upper rising above the ankle is usually considered a boot but certain styles may be referred to as high-topped shoes or high-tops. Usually, a high-topped shoe is secured by laces or zippers, although some styles have elastic inserts to ease slipping the shoe on.

Men's

Men's shoes can be categorized by how they are closed:

* Balmorals (American English), Oxfords (British English): the vamp has a V-shaped slit to which the laces are attached; also known as "closed lacing". The word "Oxford" is used by American clothing companies to market shoes that are not Balmorals, such as Blüchers.
* Blüchers (American), Derbys (British): the laces are tied to two pieces of leather independently attached to the vamp; also known as "open lacing".
* Monk-straps: a buckle and strap instead of lacing
* Slip-ons: There are no lacings or fastenings. The popular loafers are part of this category, as well as less popular styles, such as elastic-sided shoes.

Men's shoes can also be decorated in various ways:

* Plain-toes: have a sleek appearance and no extra decorations on the vamp.
* Cap-toes: has an extra layer of leather that "caps" the toe. This is possibly the most popular decoration.
* Brogues (American: wing-tips): The toe of the shoe is covered with a perforated panel, the wing-tip, which extends down either side of the shoe. Brogues can be found in both balmoral and blucher styles.

Women's

There is a large variety of shoes available for women, in addition to most of the men's styles being more accepted as unisex. Some broad categories are:

High-heeled footwear may be shoes with heels 2 inches (5 cm) or higher. They are often seen as having more sex appeal than low heels (see article for discussion) and are thus commonly worn by women for formal occasions or social outings.

Kitten heels are low high heels from about 1.5 to 2 inches high, set in from the back of the shoe.

* Sneaker boot and sneaker pump: a shoe that looks like an athletic shoe, but is equipped with a heel, making it a kind of novelty dress shoe.

* Wedge Sandals are sandals but have the ankles higher as if wearing a high heels shoe.

* Mules are shoes or slippers with no fitting around the heel (i.e. they are backless)

* Slingbacks are shoes which are secured by a strap behind the heel, rather than over the top of the foot.

* Espadrilles are casual flat or high-heeled fashion sandals of a style which originated in the Pyrenees. They usually have a cotton or canvas upper and a flexible sole of rope or rubber.

* Pumps, known in the UK as ballerinas, ballet pumps or skimmers, are shoes with a very low heel and a relatively short vamp, exposing much of the instep. They are popular for warm-weather wear, and may be seen as more comfortable than shoes with a higher heel. In the US a pump is a high-heeled typically slip-on women's dress shoe.