Being a department store, Barneys offers a wide selection of fashion brands and footwear manufacturers. We are talking about possibly hundreds of names here. You can literally find anything, from the easily-attainable sports names such as Adidas and New Balance, to less known but no less impressive in quality brands such as Comme Des Garçons Play and Ancient Greek Sandals.

What is important here to know, when it comes to brand selection, is that no one brand is better than another. Fashion, like all other forms of art and self-expression, is highly subjective, and whether or not you go for a specific designer or a specific style is all up to you and your personal preference.

What sets apart designer brands from ‘regular’ ones is the personal touch and the attention to detail. Take Balenciaga, for example. The Triple S sneaker has been specifically designed to break the rules of conventionality and challenge the concept of a traditional sporty sneaker silhouette. It is not meant to perform, but rather to impress with its aesthetic. Or at least to cause a few head turns here and there.

Another good example is the Taygete, from Ancient Greek Sandals. Being from a luxury brand, this sandal is handcrafted in Greece, with the utmost care given to the finest details. Several other options on our list have been produced in Italy, by the hand of only the most qualified of artisans.

Footwear produced at large, such as that from big manufacturers like Adidas, lacks that finesse that high-end shoes have. However, Adidas sneakers are also far less expensive than anything with a luxury label stamped on it, and yet they don’t lack in the quality department at all.

Ultimately, your final decision shouldn’t be based on brand name alone. While this is something that helps you narrow down your choices - especially if you already know which designer’s aesthetic you favor - there are other factors which are just as, if not more, important when you’re shopping for footwear of this caliber. Use the name of the footwear brand only as a compass to guide you to a design which will meet all of your other criteria as well, and then you can be sure that you are going home with the right pair of shoes for yourself.

As a department store, Barneys is stocked full of countless styles and fashion options. However, given that this is a list of only the best ones, the selection is a little less varied. What you will encounter in our list is a number of sneakers - sports and lifestyle alike - as well as a sandal, a heel, and a clog.

The reason for this is quite simple - sneakers are arguably the most comfortable footwear choice available. They go well with literally any type of outfit - jeans, sweatpants, skirts, dresses, shorts, even suits! As long as it isn’t a black-tie event or if your workplace isn’t strictly against this casual design (and even then, dress sneakers are a thing), it is pretty much sneaker city if you wish it to be.

You can choose from some of the sportier options, such as the APL Techloom Pro, which is actually designed for running, and New Balance 990v4, a supportive sneaker that keeps you wonderfully cushioned as you walk long distance, or you can go a bit more glam, a bit more high end. The Common Projects Achilles, for example, and the Buscemi 100MM are sneakers which are meant to leave an impression on your surroundings. The Balenciaga Triple S as well - there isn’t a fashion-conscious person who wouldn’t look at you and think, wow, that one’s got style.

When it comes to other footwear choices, we have the Taygete sandal for easy summer days, the Christian Louboutin So Kate for classy outings, and the Birkenstock Boston Shearling for whenever we need to be comfy and cozy without paying much attention to the overall appeal.

All of these designs suit specific occasions and specific seasons. High-top sneakers are great for chilly weather, while low-top ones offer more range of motion and more breathability. Open toes on the Ancient Greek Sandals Taygete are a must-have when it’s too hot to wear sneakers outside, and the plush lining of the Boston Shearling provides heat retention that you need when the temperatures drop.

There is a suitable style for any event, and all you have to do is spend a few seconds considering whether or not an item is a good choice for you. After all, a shoe’s visual appeal and usefulness is entirely up to you and your way of life, and no one else can - or should - make that decision for you.

After narrowing down the brand names that you like, and landing on a style that you need, it is time to consider the potential comfort - or lack thereof - of a design. There is hardly any point in purchasing footwear that you can’t wear, or that you put on only once before you decide that it is too uncomfortable to do it again. You want a design which you can wear as much as you like, which brings a smile to your face and not a twinge of dread as you think about what you’re going to put your feet through in the next couple of hours.

So let’s discuss how the items in our guide achieve their comfort levels.

• Materials: One thing that all designer brands have in common is that they don’t rely on any advanced features to maintain comfort. Rather, they turn to construction methods that have been tried and true through decades - even centuries - of practice, as well as premium quality materials that are impossible to not enjoy.
  That is why we have a high number of genuine leather and suede options here; in fact, all of the options on our list contain a certain percentage of these materials. Leather and suede deliver comfort like no other, because of their wonderful ability to mold to the form of the foot. Over time, as you wear your shoe, it will take on the shape of your foot and provide you with a personalized comfort, one that fits no other foot but yours. This is why high-end footwear is still just as comfortable as, say, Nike or Adidas sneakers, even without all the fancy high-tech gadgets.
• Technologies: Speaking of high-tech gadgets, another great way to make a shoe - especially a sneaker - comfortable is to outfit it with a carefully engineered technology. This is what we see in the APL Techloom Pro and the New Balance 990v4. Sports brands like these take pride in delivering only the most advanced systems to their customers, which are specially conceived by teams of experts to increase energy return, provide more shock-absorption, reduce the amount of pressure put on the joins, and deliver only the smoothest, most cushioned of rides.
  While technologies like these may be important to professional athletes, to us regular folk, who aren’t breaking world records or winning gold medals, it’s simply a neat bonus. You shouldn’t lose sleep over choosing the right technology for yourself, since slight differences in each don’t mean much in the long run. What is important is that the design is comfortable as you wear it, and that you feel comfy and pampered no matter how much time you spend on your feet.
• Heels: Finally, because of the Louboutin So Kate, we need to address the notion of heels, and how to pick out a comfortable heel optio, if you want to be able to walk and perhaps even dance as much as you want at an event.
  Heels in themselves aren’t very comfortable. However, if you choose one which is three inches or lower in height, and which has a stable, solid shape - a chunky heel or a wedge - then there is a high chance that you won’t feel even the slightest discomfort.
  Anything other than that - a heel that is four inches or higher and a stiletto one, which is coincidentally, what the So Kate embodies - will surely start to hurt in a couple of hours at most. There is no way around that. Heels put your foot in an unnatural position that can cause cramps, numbness and pain; only by choosing a lower height and a good foundation for your steps will you be able to find some relief while looking amazingly elegant at the same time.

When we purchase a gorgeous new pair of shoes, one that we are looking forward to showing off anywhere we can, and which is also addictively comfortable - we want to be able to wear them for as long as possible, no? Especially in the case of a luxury brand, for which we probably shelled out a lot of cash - it would be a huge disappointment if the design falls apart after only one season.

Durability of a model is determined by several different factors: the quality of the materials, the reliability of the construction, the conditions you wear it in, how often you wear it, etc. Some of these you can influence, and some of these you can’t.

Fortunately, most of the designs in this guide are made out of truly the best, hand-picked materials. This is particularly true of brands such as Golden Goose, Balenciaga, Christian Louboutin and Ancient Greek Sandals. All of their products are carefully envisioned and constructed to last as long as possible, and even with regular wear they are surely going to last you years.

A little less durable are the New Balance 990v4, whose mesh material develops holes after a while, and the Birkenstock Shearling, whose lining starts falling out. However, these options are also far less expensive than of the brands listed above, and it stands to reason that you might have to replace them sooner.

What you shouldn’t do, under any circumstances, is limit how often you wear your new favorite shoes just because you want them to last longer. Taking care of them, regularly cleaning them and conditioning them - if they require conditioning - is a good thing, but holding yourself back from enjoying the most out of them is not what amazing footwear is about. It is about wearing it, showing it off, being confident and proud of your purchase! Never let the fear of something falling apart prevent you from taking full pleasure in completing all of your outfits with such a stylish design.

Lastly, as it has wound its way through all of our previous sections, we also have to mention the factor of price. A lot of the options on our list belong to luxury brands, ones which are not meant for the everyday public but for those who wear designer clothes, drive Ferraris and Maseratis, and own several beach-side villas. We understand that buying designer products is not a regular occurrence for most people, and a question of whether or not it is worth it is quite appropriate.

We already discussed the issue of durability in the previous section, and in it we confirmed how these designer brands definitely don’t lack in quality. Their products are made from materials which ensure that you will be able to appreciate your fancy shoes for many seasons to come.

All of the options on our list are comfortable and easy to wear - maybe with some practice, in the case of the Louboutin So kate - and there isn’t really anything that should stop you from treating yourself with a design that you may not ordinarily get. We’re sure that everyone will envy you on that, and that they will want to get a pair just like it for themselves.

For your convenience, we ranked the options in our list from the least expensive at the top all the way down to the priciest. The Adidas Samba comes at an expected price for an Adidas sneaker - however, the Barneys New York limited edition is a bit more costly than that - followed by the Ancient Greek Sandals Taygete and the New Balance 990v4.

The last item on this ranking is the Balenciaga Triple S, whose price reflects the impact of the designer name and the now-almost-iconic stacked midsole silhouette. If you want to mimic the style of some of the most famous kpop stars (think JHope from BTS), then you’d have to part from a sizeable amount of money to do that.

However, fashion knows no bounds, and if you feel like your budget can take it - don’t hesitate to reach for what you love the most, because we guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.