I Tried Martha Stewart's Favorite Walking Shoes—Here's What I Thought

A few weeks ago, I got to interview one of my heroes, one of the women who inspired me to become a food editor—Martha Stewart. When I was in high school in the 1990s, one of the families I regularly babysat for had piles of cooking magazines in the TV room where I spent most of my time after the kids had gone to bed. I would read them cover to cover, painstakingly copying down recipes into a notebook to try at home. One of those magazines was Martha Stewart Living.

I've now worked for EatingWell since 2005, so I guess you could say my professional dreams came true. And even though I've spied Martha at restaurants in Bar Harbor (she has a summer home nearby), it wasn't until last month that I got to actually speak with her.

Stewart launched a line of shoes in partnership with Skechers last month to coincide with International Women's Day. "I've had two other collaborations with other shoe companies, but now I think I've found a home," Stewart shared over Zoom. She appreciates that Skechers is innovative, always seeking out new technologies and sustainable materials.

As Stewart held up one of the shoes she designed, she gushed about being able to choose new colors and fabrics to work with: "So this one has a nice gold fleck in it so I can wear it with a beautiful outfit." The shoes feature Skechers slip-in technology, which allows you to put your shoes on hands-free, which is a pretty neat feature. "I have shoeless houses, so you have to take them off and put them back on all the time and, yeah, this technology really helps a lot," she said.

With a tween, two dogs and a full-time job, I feel like I'm constantly taking off and putting on my shoes too. Oftentimes, my hands are full. I'm lugging multiple bags to the office, or my daughter asks me to grab her lacrosse stick on top of everything else in my hands as we're rushing to get out the door in the morning. Sometimes I'm just plain lazy: we don't have a fenced-in yard, so we bring our dogs on short walks around our yard and neighborhood for bathroom breaks. Being able to slip into shoes without tying them is so clutch! So I was pretty excited when Skechers offered to send me a pair to try out.

The collection spans sandals to walking shoes. I tested out the Skechers Slip-In: Ultra Flex 3.0. All I can say is this slip-in technology is freaking amazing. I wore them while shopping for clothes and shoes one day, and it was so nice to be able to quickly slip them on and off in the fitting room and the shoe department. And that fabric Stewart was so excited about is really pretty. I appreciate the neutral shade of the fabric, that makes it easy to wear these shoes with just about any outfit, yet the little gold flecks throughout give them an elevated look. And they are super comfortable—they kept my feet cool and, even though the shoes were brand new, I didn't have any hot spots after a long day of running errands.

If you are looking for something geared toward walking as a form of exercise, you might want to opt for the D'Lux Walker, which touts a cushioned midsole and air-cooled memory-foam insole. Research is constantly touting the health benefits that come from lacing up—or in this case, slipping on a pair of sneakers and getting outside or on the treadmill to get in some steps. Research published at the beginning of April suggests that walking 8,000 steps (or about 4 miles) even just once weekly may improve longevity by 15%. And now that spring has sprung, it's a great time to start a new walking plan—whether you are walking to help lower your blood sugar or reduce stress, there are so many ways you can benefit from walking more. And when you're clad with a shoe from Stewart's Skechers collaboration, you can walk in style.