stupid shoes. help(?)

At lunch today, for some reason, the subject of academic attire came up. Apparently, the combination that I wore to last night's bio station "inaugural ball" (sweater, buttony shirt, tie (!), khakis, and brown sneakers) has a major flaw that sticks out to some unusually perceptive people. A hint for all you normal people out there like me, it has something to do with the footwear. I was like, ok, well, no big deal, it was a gathering of 6 grad students and me (not a grad student) in the middle of nowhere. The problem is, see, this represents a measurable portion of what I had planned to wear for grad school interviews, and everyone is saying no sneakers.

So for all you fashionistas out there, what should I do? I limited what i brought to the bio station with me... sneakers, hiking boots, ski boots, snow boots, dance shoes. Mostly I wear hiking boots around all day. I guess the options are to stick with the sneaks, wear my fun dance shoes, have my mom mail me my dust covered dress shoes (even though they claim to be comfortable, they can't compare with sneakers or hikers), or grudgingly shell out $ for yet another pair of footware that I will rarely ever wear. I figure y'all will have fun telling me what to do, and then I don't have to think about it...? :-/

I very much dislike spending time thinking and worrying about fashion and attire - it bores me, and I'd rather be doing something else like science. I need like a butler to decide such things for me so I don't have to worry about it. I think what gets me most of all though is that as much as I'd like to totally ignore it and write it off and be liberated, a part of me that really diggs doing my science worries that such opinions will limit me. Yay hypocrisy.

Humbug.