# Shoes Onto Feet: Which Goes Where First? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 14, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171 "2023-03-14T14:52:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/21 "2023-03-15T14:28:39Z")
I never thought about how I put on my shoes. As it turns out, I can’t remember ever using the foot-on-knee approach of the OP. I usually sit, raise the foot up a little, and bend over to put the shoe on. Not sure if there is a preference to side–probably the shoe that is closest. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/22 "2023-03-15T14:29:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Today my feet both felt great, so it was random. Another day where my feet are both pain free. As I sat putting on my socks and shoes I thought about (for the first time) which foot to do first. My gf walked by and asked what I was doing. I told her I was trying to decide which foot to sock first. She shook her head, muttered something, and walked away. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/23 "2023-03-15T15:42:32Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > She shook her head, muttered something, and walked away. I have that effect on my wife a lot. ~~Glad~~ Sorry to see I’ve transmitted the WTF-are-you-_thinking_?!? bug to yet more hapless guys. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/24 "2023-03-15T15:47:42Z")
Crocs and slides, mostly. Socks, maybe. Sometimes I just stand there looking down at the slip on type shoes and wonder why I can’t just jump in, both feet. In one smooth graceful hop. But, alas I know how that would end. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/25 "2023-03-15T16:38:06Z")
I don’t really pay much attention. I’m just glad that I manage to get my pants on before tackling footwear. > **[Far Side - First Your Pants, Then Your Shoes 1983 - NEW, Far Side, FSFPTS |...](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/261560690831856198/)** > > Oct 13, 2013 - This is from Gary Larson's The Far Side famous comic strip. Featuring a man waking up, the caption says: "First Pants, THEN your shoes.". Distributed in 1983 by Chronicle Features. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/26 "2023-03-15T17:14:18Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > But, alas I know how that would end. “My attempt to leap into my shoes…it was bad, bad, BAD.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/27 "2023-03-15T17:37:55Z")
Always the right first. If I pick up the left first, I’ll set it aside and put on the wright. Now sock-shoe-sock-shoe or sock-sock-shoe-shoe is pretty random. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/28 "2023-03-15T18:18:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I don’t really pay much attention. I’m just glad that I manage to get my pants on before tackling footwear. Funny you should mention that. I’m a skinny guy, and sometimes I wear skinny guy jeans; which jeans fit snugly on the lower leg. When wearing those, it’s best to put socks on before pants. In the other order, it’s tough to pull the bottom of the pants leg back down over the sock without pulling the top of the sock down into a big lump under your pants above your ankle. I’m batting about 0.100 on doing socks first with those pants. Some habits are hard to break. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/29 "2023-03-15T18:22:43Z")
Not only is it random, as far as I can remember it’s pretty much random whether I tie the first shoe before putting on the second. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/30 "2023-03-15T18:29:50Z")
this is nearly as contentious as the toilet paper war. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/31 "2023-03-15T19:06:11Z")
I sit on the foot of the bed to do this. If the cat is hanging out with me, he will be on the corner I face when twisted leftward, and I will be paying attention to him as I put my left shoe on first. If he’s not, I’m probably vaguely interested in the weather and twisting right toward the window as I start with that shoe. May I simply express my gratitude for this opportunity to express myself? ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171/32 "2023-03-16T04:50:38Z")
It turns out that I put my right foot first into slip-ons (while standing) and I cross whichever leg isn’t having the most hip pain over the other knee to put on shoes that need fastening or are a challenge to pull on. I had literally never given it one moment of thought before reading this thread. Yet another instance where the SD community has prompted me to think really deeply about an issue I had never pondered in detail! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shoes-onto-feet-which-goes-where-first/981171.md?page=1)