What Shoes to Wear to Mardi Gras | Orleans Shoe Co.
Orleans Shoe Co. — twenty-plus Carnival seasons on this route
What Shoes to Wear to Mardi Gras
Parade season is not a walk in the park and it isn't a workout either. It's standing still on cold wet ground for four hours, then walking two miles back to your car. Different problem, different shoe. Here's what we tell people who come in every January — locals and visitors both.
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Five rules, in order of how much they matter
Closed toe. No exceptions.
The ground on a parade route is broken beads, crushed plastic cups, bottle caps and occasionally glass. Your feet will get stepped on. Sandals and open toes are how a good day ends early.
Waterproof, or at least water resistant.
February here runs wet. The neutral ground turns to mud, and you'll be standing in it. Wet feet in fifty-degree weather is the single most common reason people leave a parade early.
Cushion built for standing, not walking.
Standing still is harder on your feet than moving — there's no gait cycle to spread the load. A max-cushion midsole is the right answer, which is why we point people at running shoes for this.
Nothing new.
Do not wear shoes out of the box to a parade. Buy them in January, wear them for two weeks first. A blister at mile one ruins the whole day and there's nowhere to go sit down.
Dark, and something you don't love.
Whatever you wear is going to get stepped on, spilled on, and walked through mud. White sneakers come home a different color.
The route changes the answer
Grass, mud and the neutral ground. This is where waterproof earns its money, and where you'll walk the farthest to and from parking. Cushion and a sealed upper.
Cobblestone and uneven pavement for hours. Stability and a stiffer sole matter more than max cushion here — a soft shoe rolls on an uneven stone.
Pavement, more room, easier parking. The most forgiving on your feet, so this is where a lighter everyday sneaker is fine.
What we actually put people in
On Running
The waterproof Cloud models. Cloud 6 Waterproof and Cloudrunner 3 Waterproof — a sealed upper on a cushioned sole. If we could recommend one shoe for standing on a wet route, it's this.
Hoka
Most cushion under you. Bondi and Clifton. When someone tells us their feet ache by the third parade, this is where we start.
Blundstone
Boots that handle mud. Pull on, leather, weatherproof, and they look right with a costume or a jacket. A New Orleans parade standard for good reason.
Kizik
Hands-free, for parents. Step in without bending down — which matters when you're holding a kid, a ladder and a bag of throws. We stock them for adults and children.
Oofos
For when you get home. Not a parade shoe — a recovery slide. Put these on after and your feet will forgive you in time for tomorrow.
If you're visiting
You will walk far more than you expect. Parade routes close streets, rideshares stop running near them, and the last half mile is always on foot. Plan for eight to ten miles on a full day and pack accordingly.
February weather here swings hard — it can be forty-five in the morning and seventy-five by afternoon in the same week. Bring wool-blend socks, not cotton. Cotton holds water against your skin and that's what makes you cold.
If you're here more than a couple of days, bring two pairs and alternate. A shoe that got soaked Saturday will not be dry by Sunday morning, and no hotel radiator fixes that.
And if you realize on day two that you brought the wrong shoes — that happens constantly, and it's most of what we do in February. Our French Quarter store on Chartres Street is walking distance from most of the Quarter. Come in, we'll measure you and fix it in twenty minutes.
Come get fitted before the season
We measure the length and width of both feet on a Brannock device, read your arch and pressure points on a Harris mat, and watch you walk. Then we bring out the right shoe in the right width — we stock narrow through 4E. Free, no appointment, every visit.
See our five-step fitting method
Four stores on and near the routes
Call 504-910-2900 to check a size before you come, or see hours and addresses. We're open through Carnival — check the store page for parade-day hours.