The 12 Best Flats for Work, Tested by Editors

Best Overall

Margaux The Demi Flat

View on Margauxny.com

Material: Italian nappa leather | Size Range: 3–14, wide and narrow sizes available | Colors: 9 | Toe Style: Rounded

With an incredibly inclusive size range and great customer reviews, these classic flats provide a great value while being stylish, classic, and comfortable, putting them at the top of this list. After wearing these flats for an entire workday, our feet were still happy thanks to the plush foam footbed and buttery nappa leather. The classic bow is also adjustable, so you can loosen or tighten it depending on the width of your feet. By the second day of wear, these flats molded to our feet nicely.

Best Budget

Amazon Essentials Belice Ballet Flat

$22 at Amazon

Material: Faux leather | Size Range: 5–15, wide sizes available | Colors: 21 | Toe Style: Rounded

For less than $25, you can get a comfortable, sleek flat on Amazon. As devoted standing-desk users, we spend a lot of time on our feet, and the padded insole made from memory foam provided great support. Thanks to an elastic heel, there was no break-in period. Our only complaint was that the faux leather design wasn't that breathable and caused our feet to sweat a bit.

Best Splurge

Gucci Leather Princetown Loafer Mule

$920 at Nordstrom $920 at Saks Fifth Avenue View on Net-a-Porter

Material: Leather | Size Range: 4–12 | Colors: Black, white | Toe Style: Rounded

Gucci isn’t necessarily in everyone’s budget, but if you’re looking to invest in a pair of flats and you have an eye for luxury, you can’t go wrong with this easy-to-wear pair of Gucci Loafer Mules. While mules sometimes offer less stability, these held our feet in place, even when they got a little sweaty. Due to the open back design, we didn't have to worry about blisters and the front of our feet felt great in these as well. The leather is a little stiff at first, but it starts to mold to your feet quickly with wear. While the quality and craftsmanship are top-notch, it is worth noting that the sizing runs a bit small. We recommend sizing up by one full size when shopping for the perfect pair.

Best Value

Sam Edelman Lorraine Bit Loafer

$150 at Amazon $105 at Nordstrom View on Samedelman.com

Material: Leather | Size Range: 4–12 | Colors: 37 | Toe Style: Almond

We've had these loafers for three years, and they are still in amazing shape. The soft and supple leather formed to our feet and we don't experience any blisters or discomfort even during a full day of work. There's even some extra cushioning at the heel to give us support. Safe to say, these loafers are super comfortable, stylish, and are worth the investment.

Best Loafers

G.H. Bass Whitney Weejuns Loafer

$175 at Nordstrom $175 at Ghbass.com $175 at Bloomingdales

Material: Leather | Size Range: 5–11 | Colors: 6 | Toe Style: Rounded

Though the Gucci and Sam Edelman loafers are top picks, if you are looking for a loafer without hardware and more of a classic menswear look, this style from G.H. Bass can't be beat. These penny loafers are versatile and stylish, while still being comfortable. Despite having arched feat, we can wear these all day without any discomfort like back or foot pain. The fit is a bit snug—we recommend sizing up—but they didn't give us blisters. Hand sewn in El Salvador, we can tell the quality is superb and the smooth leather is easy to wipe down and keep clean.

Best Mary Janes

Sam Edelman Michaela Mary Jane Flat

$130 at Amazon $90 at Nordstrom View on Samedelman.com

Material: Velvet or leather | Size Range: 5–11 | Colors: 13 | Toe Style: Square

If you're thinking of investing in your first grown-up pair of Mary Janes after seeing them on the likes of Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, we recommend this style from Sam Edelman. Coming in neutral leathers, tweed, and velvet, it's easy to find a color that matches your vibe. Thanks to adjustable straps, our wide feet had no trouble fitting into these shoes, and we also appreciated how the straps kept our feet secure as we walked around New York City. Despite all our trekking, there were no changes to the color or shape of the shoe. If you got to be on trend no matter the occasion, these are the ideal work flat that turn heads while being secretly comfortable.

Best Ballet Flats

FitFlop Leather Ballet Flats

$83 at Nordstrom View on Fitflop.com $98 at Zappos

Material: Leather | Size Range: 5–11 | Colors: Black, brown | Toe Style: Rounded

Physical therapists recommend this brand to patients for the comfort and support, and we could easily see why. These ballet flats have featherlight midsoles that are anatomically contoured to support the feet and bouncy cushioning. Plus, the rubber outsole is made to be slip-resistant, which you don't always find in ballet flats. We found them to look better in person and the leather was really soft and non-constricting.

Best Chunky Loafers

Reformation Agathea Chunky Loafer

$268 at Reformation $189 at Net-a-Porter $270 at Farfetch.com

Material: Bovine leather | Size Range: 5–11 | Colors: Black, brown leopard, silver | Toe Style: Rounded

For a bit more height and a funky vibe, we turn to chunky loafers, like these from Reformation. Though they did feel snug initially, they very, very quickly stretched out and molded to our foot. The leather was high quality, and though they did make a squeaking noise when we first broke them in, it went away after an hour or so of wear. Even with the short breaking-in period, though, we think these chunky loafers would be worth it for anyone looking for a trendy pair of work flats.

Best for Narrow Feet

Everlane The Day Glove Flats

$138 at Everlane.com

Material: Italian leather | Size Range: 5–11, narrow or wide sizes | Colors: 12 | Toe Style: Round

Finding a flat that fits well can be hard when you have narrow feet, but these flats from Everlane truly hugged our feet like a glove. Yet the soft and supple Italian leather didn't cause blistering or chafing, and we were able to wear these shoes with stockings or a low-cut sock. We were also impressed with the support these flats offered—usually our feet are sore after wearing flats all day but not with this pair.

Best Pointed Toe

Sarah Flint Natalie Flat

$129 at Sarahflint.com

Material: Vegetable-tanned calf leather | Size Range: 4–13 | Colors: 12 | Toe Style: Pointed

While we love the look of a pointed toe ballet flat, the silhouette can sometimes be too narrow, but that wasn't the case with these. Our toes weren't pinched, and we could wiggle them around. Made from supple Italian calf leather, the shoe is fairly snug, but it wasn't uncomfortable and our heels didn't chafe. In fact, we could tell this flat will last a long time due to the sturdy construction and high quality materials, hence the higher price tag.

Best Machine Washable

Rothy’s The Loafer

View on Rothys.com

Material: Knit | Size Range: 5–13 | Colors: 8 | Toe Style: Rounded

If you're going to be wearing a pair of shoes regularly to work, naturally they are going to get dirty, and that's why we love these machine-washable loafers from Rothy's. Made form the brand's signature thread—which comes from plastic bottles—you can throw them into the washer worry free. We also found the material to be extremely breathable, making these loafers a great option for warm weather when you don't want to be commuting in heavy leather shoes.

Best for Wide Feet

Birdies The Starling

$130 at Amazon $140 at Nordstrom $130 at Birdies.com

Material: Leather | Size Range: 5–13, wide sizes available | Colors: 23 | Toe Style: Rounded

With tons of helpful (and positive) customer reviews and a fairly inclusive size range that includes wide-fit options, Birdies would be a good place to start if you’re looking for an ultra-comfortable flat for wide feet. After walking 10,000 steps in urban terrain in these flats, we didn't get any blisters and our feet felt supported the entire time. We also were impressed with how they kept our feet warm while we were outside in 40-degree weather. They come in a variety of colors and materials, including leather, suede, and knit.