With all the time we’ve been spending at home this past year, having a great house shoe has become more important than ever. It’s also quite a difficult thing to find, believe it or not. We searched high and low for what we felt would be the best one out there, and finally stumbled upon a unique, special brand called Artemis that we think is making some of the best house shoes on the market today.
For us, a good house shoe has to meet certain criteria:
Aesthetics: Namely, it has to look nice, and work, in theory, with everything from sweatpants to dress trousers. The former is easy, the latter more difficult. So many indoor slippers are big, fluffy, bulbous things that are anything but good looking. Of course, such shoes have their place, but if you want to feel put together when working from home, that is not their place.
Toe covering: We don’t want any toes exposed either for safety (stubbing) or visual purposes. Again, the idea here is not for a slipper or flip flop, but a proper house shoe. Something neither too dressy, nor too casual, but something that is, and only is, at home in, well, your home.
Backless: This isn’t a true requirement, but we do see it as a bit of a bonus, as it adds a bit of casual ease to a shoe that otherwise might feel a bit to stuffy for wearing around the home.
Surprisingly, with this criteria, your options are incredibly limited. Most shoes designed for indoor wear prioritize comfort and only comfort at the expense of everything else. Comfort is of course important, but, again, these are shoes, not slippers. You can, and should, have both. But for day to day, as you work, and want to feel put together without fully dressed up, that is where house shoes come in.
Truly, once you account for all the above, you’re left with Artemis and pretty much just Artemis.
But here is where things get really cool. Artemis makes beautifully and intricately designed house shoes from carpet. Yes, you read that right. The uppers are made from unique Turkish carpets. It’s a wonderful aesthetic that works so, so well for house shoes. It’s unique and cozy without being too casual nor stuffy. And, because each carpet is unique, no two pairs of Artemis shoes — ever — are exactly the same. So every single pair is unique just to that customers. Truly awesome, and very rare.
The shoes come both with or without a back, but, for the purposes of house shoes, we prefer backless. Feel free to snag another pair for great, unique summer shoes for wear with chino shorts and a polo.
Two words of caution: (1) The shoes sizing is a bit weird. They are super easy and simple when it comes to returns, so order two sizes and you’ll end up with the one that is best (go a bit smaller than you think you need — a proper fit is supposed to have your heel just slightly extend beyond the back of the shoe) and (2) they take a bit to break in. At first they’re quite stiff and rigid, but with a week or two of daily wear, they become super soft and mold to your foot extremely well.
All in all, we highly recommend a pair of Artemis Slippers.