Basic Guide to Women's Shoe Styles and Types

A basic guide to the different types and styles of women's shoes, with pictures and/or descriptions, available for sale on Ebay and other sites...

Basic Guide to Women's Shoe Types and Styles

Women's shoes fall into one of the following basic categories: Dress, Casual, Athletic, and Boots
Dress and Casual Shoes

Dress shoes generally consist of leather uppers and soles with a narrow, sleek shape.  Casual shoes generally consist of sturdy leather uppers and non-leather soles with a wider, more relaxed shape.

The different dress and casual shoes are as follows:
• Flats - shoes with almost no heel at all -- i.e. ballet shoes/slippers
• Low Heels - shoes with short, sturdy heels up to 1 inch in height -- (as shown - low heel loafers)

• Medium Heels - shoes that range from 1 inch to 2 1/2 inches -- i.e. pumps, etc. (see image under "Slingbacks")
• High Heels - shoes that are over 2 1/2 inches in height...continue after the cut

Types of shoes

• Clogs - comfortable slip-on shoes (as shown) ,  the heel is generally made of wood
• Espadrilles - Canvas top and a rope sole (as shown)  
• Flip flops - flat thong-type of sandal used for the beach primarily
• Loafers - flat shoes with no laces, often have tassels or buckles or coin holders (see photo under "low heels" above)
• Moccasins - made of one piece of leather stitched together with a leather sole
• Mules - closed toe, open heel slippers
• Open-toe - Shoes and sandals with the toes showing
• Oxfords - leather closed-toe shoes with laces (as shown)  
• Platforms - shoes/boots/sandals with thick soles, generally made of cork/plastic/rubber/wood
• Pumps - closed toe and heel shoes -- pumps can be leather or canvas and can range in heel height from 1/2 inch to 4 inches (as shown) 
• Saddle - an oxford shoe with a contrasting colored strip of leather across the middle of the shoe (worn primarily in the 50s)
• Slides - Open or closed toe shoes or sandals with no heel strap
• Slingbacks - closed toe shoes with strap across heel (as shown) 
• Strappy Shoes - closed toe shoes or sandals with a strap across the instep -- include Mary Janes (as shown) , T-Strap shoes (as shown) , etc.
• Thongs- open toe sandals where the big toe is separated from the rest of the foot (as shown).

Types of heels

• Blade/Block Heel - A wide heel, sometimes stacked
• Chunky Heel - A solid thick heel, sometimes stacked
• Kitten Heel - short slender heels (from 1 inch to 2 inches) that tapers at the bottom and widens at the top.  These were made popular by Audrey Hepburn.  Also known as the Sabrina Heel (see slingback picture above)
• Stacked Heel - a shoe heel constructed of several layers of material
• Stiletto Heel - a long thin heel (can go up to 7 inches) that looks like a stiletto knife
• Tapered Heel - a heel that is smaller/thinner on one end
• Wedge Heel - a heel constructed of one triangular piece of material that extends from the front of the shoe to the back  (as shown) 

Shoe sale acronyms commonly used on Ebay

NIB: New In Box
NWOB: New Without Box
SZ: Size
AUTH: Authentic
EU/EURO: European Size
UK: UK Size
US: US Size
M: Medium
B: Narrow
BB: Extra Narrow
W: Wide
WW: Extra Wide
WWW: Extra Extra Wide