By Lauren Bishop
Enquirer staff writer

Sure, your office is air-conditioned, but you're working up a sweat just walking from your car to your cubicle. Plus, you just got a $50 pedicure. So it's OK to teeter to work in open-toe sandals, right?

Not necessarily, says Andrea Kay, a Cincinnati career consultant and a nationally-syndicated columnist. The more conservative your workplace or industry is, the less appropriate open-toe shoes are, she says.

"Showing your toes is sexy, especially for women," says Kay, who opts for closed-toe shoes herself when she visits offices. "Not that you shouldn't feel good and look good, but I think there's a line to be drawn at work."

If you're unsure about what to wear, Kay suggests thinking of whom you look up to in your industry. If you want to be like them, dress like them, she says.

Your company also might have a dress code that has specific rules regarding footwear. US Bank employees Linda Carmack, 57, and Jamie Ross, 25, say their department has a rule that employees can wear shoes with either open toes or open backs, but not both.

The rule was enacted last spring, when some people were wearing footwear such as flip-flops to work, they say. But they're not happy about the rule, saying they think it's possible to wear open-toe and open-back shoes to work that still look professional.

"A lot of people just change shoes at their desks," Ross says, pointing out the high-heeled black slides that she put on before she and Carmack left the office to take a break in Fountain Square.

US Bank spokesman Steve Dale says the company wants its employees to dress in "business appropriate attire," depending on factors such as the department they work in and the weather. That's the same guideline Procter & Gamble uses, says spokeswoman Jeannie Therrington.

"It's typically up to the judgment of a manager on site to decide what is appropriate," US Bank's Dale says. "We just try to avoid people dressing to the extreme."