I try not to be swayed by peer pressure, but when I wore a pair of beat-up platform boots to a trendy tapas dinner with a bunch of stiletto-wearing girlfriends, I had to wonder: Was I really that out ...

Amid the outer-borough sprawl of Williamsburg, where taxis don’t circulate and people often face a long walk from subway to trendily downscale bar, groovy but comfortable shoes are the order of the ...