We did the flats. Group chat asked about the pumps. Here.

This is the shoe that built the corner of the catalog Dream Pairs lives in. The ANNEE in beige nubuck is the closest thing under $40 to those Louboutin lookalikes that go for $200, on a 1.5-inch chunky heel that won’t fold on you halfway through a long reception. Our own foot has done six weddings in this pair since 2023.

Same shoe DNA, the toe leans squarer, the upper looks a half-tick cleaner. 17,237 reviews on the counter. The price ping-pongs with pick #1 by a few dollars on any given day — that’s the algorithm doing its thing. Just pick the color that matches whatever you’re wearing it under and move on.

Two-inch chunky heel, splitting the gap between flat and proper dress shoe. The padding under the ball of the foot is the bit Dream Pairs nails at this price and the cheap copycats miss. Eleven thousand reviews, $38, the pair we’d grab if three rehearsal dinners landed back to back.

Two-and-a-half-inch block, lightly square toe, properly matte finish. And by black we mean black — a sneakily common fail at this price, where most “black” Amazon shoes turn up looking like flat charcoal. Lives in the desk drawer for days we biked in. Eleven thousand reviewers, 4.4 average.

Three-inch chunky on a buckled ankle strap. We’re cosigning a taller heel from this brand for exactly two reasons: the chunky base actually keeps you standing, and the strap means it’s still on your foot when the dance floor starts. $37, ten thousand reviews, the heel you can wear to a wedding without anyone’s mother whispering the word cheap.

Four-inch block heel, pointed toe. We are personally out of the 4-inch business at this point. If you’re still in it, this is the tidiest version under $40 — leather-look upper, no obvious seams, the kind of pump that reads pre-2018 Manolo from across the room. 9,977 reviewers. Order a half-size up, same as every Dream Pairs.

If pick #6 is the after-party shoe, this is its corporate twin. Slightly lower three-inch block, sharper point, sleeker upper. $39, and the pair our copy editor (real person, real foot) has been rotating into work for two years now.

Dropped last year, only 7,833 reviews so far, a legitimate 2-inch kitten that doesn’t scream 2008 cubicle. We’ve worn ours twice and they looked great both times. The hold-up: kitten heels are having a moment, and Dream Pairs’ tooling for this silhouette is younger than its bread-and-butter chunky molds. Jury’s out on how it holds at scale.