The well-shod guest

A reader writes:

In your October 14 column you passed on the excellent idea of providing clean socks for guests if one wanted them to remove their shoes to protect wooden floors. Another way, much more convenient for guests, is to provide something to slip over their shoes.

Felt "babouches," modeled on the traditional Moroccan footwear of that name, are available from www.4giftgiving.com/products/babouches/. They're made for this purpose, effortless to put on and take off, and amusing to skate around in. The cost, and the storage space they require, are modest enough to outfit a dinner party, though impractical for a larger gathering.

My wife and I were introduced to them at Sans Souci, Frederick the Great's jewel of a palace near Berlin, where they are called Pantoffeln and a pair is issued to every visitor.

Very interesting! I must confess to a bit of inner discord regarding the shoes-off-indoors policy, when applied to guests. I do see the logic of it, yet it invariably irritates me. Despite the fact that I don't like wearing shoes and don't wear them in my own home. And despite the fact that getting everyone out of their fancy shoes and into something rather silly-looking can have the effect of jump-starting a party--kind of like those getting-to-know you games are supposed to do, but not as annoying. Maybe I just don't like being told what to do.

Would these Pantoffeln go on over high heels, I wonder? They don't look as though they would. So they're good for some guests but not others.

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