Two days ago, I was helping a GG co-worker, and met another GG coworker for the first time. I was sitting in what space there was, and the second woman needed to walk past me. As she did, she glanced down at my shoes and exclaimed "I have those shoes! And they are so comfortable!". The shoes are simple flats with a small bit of an open weave... simple flats that I bought from Payless in the womans' section. Womens' shoes but not blatant ones.
My reply was, "Yes, but unfortunately you can't get them anymore!" She echoed that back questioningly, obviously not expecting they would no longer be available. I then continued with, "Yes, I did some checking, and I can't even find the company that made them." She made a vague noise of commiseration.
I don't know the degree to which she thought about the fact that I was wearing womens' shoes: they are very comfortable so she might just have thought about me buying them for that reason and not thinking about their gender.
I have had my shoes noticed before, but this is the first time I can think of that my shoes were noticed by a co-worker (*)
And "Who cares? So what?" (The sun will rise and the moon will set...)
I rather think my dangling black pearl earrings are more of a "tell" than the shoes
(*) Well, my boss did happen to notice some high-heeled ankle boots one time and in a puzzled voice remarked "High heels??", but the heels on those were wide enough that the boots were pretty much unisex (vaguely "Western" style.)