Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why the hell women insist on wearing high heels that they cannot walk in?

145 replies

CathJames · 31/08/2015 16:22

Just that really. Every weekend I see women (usually short women) wearing high heels, some of them of gigantic proportion and they cannot bloody walk in them. They are trotting along with their knees bent and almost buckled trying not to fall over, they look absolutely ridiculous so why do they wear them? I mean I'm all for keeping up with fashion and looking good when out and about but if I can't walk in a pair of shoes without looking like I'm constipated (or drunk) then I don't wear/buy them!

OP posts:
Chottie · 31/08/2015 16:27

I was visiting my DS in footballer land in Cheshire and there were loads of young woman in sky high heels tottering along hanging on to their BFs arms. Those heels should come with a health warning :)

Original poster
CathJames · 31/08/2015 16:33

Lol I just don't understand it. Everyone wants to look good, but you can achieve that without looking like a complete idiot.

OP posts:
SaucyJack · 31/08/2015 16:34

Because they like their shoes?

TravellingToad · 31/08/2015 16:34

I know it's a complete mystery to me. Why would they think they'd look better staggering and looking like pricks then they would in nice shoes they can actually walk in!

Gingermakesmesick · 31/08/2015 16:34

Because I'm SHORT, and without high heels people feel the need to comment on the fact I am SHORT!

Original poster
CathJames · 31/08/2015 16:35

I love my shoes too, trust me I'm obsessed but I still couldn't go out walking like I need the loo.

OP posts:
Lurkedforever1 · 31/08/2015 16:35

Yanbu, it's beyond me. But I'm tall and long legged, so possibly the concept of choosing footwear just to add height is beyond me. I'm all for nice shoes and even heels but not above comfort, and certainly if I couldn't walk properly in heels.

RainbowFlutterby · 31/08/2015 16:36

I don't get stepped on when I wear high heels.

(Short high heels wearer here. Fuck off Mrs Perfect.)

PogoBob · 31/08/2015 16:36

YANBU, I especially don't get it when women wear huge heels they can't walk in to work. They're in them all day and by halfway through the day they can't walk straight and end up looking daft!

I get liking shoes but it is possible to get nice shoes and still be able to walk!

Original poster
CathJames · 31/08/2015 16:36

I know all about being short, I'm 5ft 0 but still, I'd never go out in shoes that do not fit me properly or shoes that I couldn't walk in, I'd rather be short than be on my arse with people laughing at me.

OP posts:
PogoBob · 31/08/2015 16:38

Wearing hells to add height make sense but surely there is a middle ground between adding height and being able to walk. Those saying they wear hells for extra height - are you able to walk in the ones you choose? Many people can walk in very high hells, my comments are about those that can't

SaucyJack · 31/08/2015 16:42

I wouldn't go out in shoes I found uncomfortable to walk in either.

But that's our preference.

I couldn't give a shit about other people's shoes (unless I gave birth to said person and therefore have to listen to them slapping their feet after me in Tesco).

Threads like this make me want to be a better person.

OurBlanche · 31/08/2015 16:43

I am short. I wear comfy flat shoes. I also wear marginally less comfy higher heels.

But I can't get my head round the "I need a poo" stance adopted by those in too high heels. "Too high" is different for everyone, you know it when you wear it...

Gingermakesmesick · 31/08/2015 16:44

I struggle to find nice shoes without big heels.

But shoes do need to be broken in. The same shoes you can't walk in one week are your best mates the week after.

Seriously. I don't have great posture. I look much better in heels. I don't always wear them and in winter especially am fond of the flat soled boot but in summer I wear heels.

maybebabybee · 31/08/2015 16:45

I'm short and I made myself a solemn promise at the age of nineteen that not once in my life would I ever wear heels again, ever.

I live in trainers, vans or converse now, all the time, including at work, and my feet are so happy.

Having said that, if other people want to wear heels, it's none of my business.

Bunbaker · 31/08/2015 16:46

I agree. I get that some women want to be taller, but I don't think they realise that shoes with ridiculously vertiginous heels make them look like pregnant ducks when they walk in them.

HamaTime · 31/08/2015 16:47

I think Glosswitch puts it rather well

'We’d rather be viewed as stupid and irrational (“girly”) than not in control of our own lives. Yet the truth is we’re not in control. We live under patriarchy and we shouldn’t be ashamed of what it makes us do. We don’t make choices in a vacuum. What we should be seeking is not the illusion of agency, but freedom from the hierarchy which dehumanises us to begin with.'

Nonnainglese · 31/08/2015 16:49

As someone who resembled Dick Emery in drag when wearing heels, I can't see the attraction at all.
Goodness knows what feet problems they'll have when older - seeing Victoria Beckham's feet would be enough to put me off!

LightningOnlyStrikesOnce · 31/08/2015 16:50

Yup, a bigger question is who the hell decided that high heels should be part of formal office wear. Bloody stupid idea.

I don't wear high heels, at all, ever, even though I'm a squirt. I don't know how anyone manages to walk 100 yards down the road in them without turning an ankle. I take my hat off to you. But not my shoes, hands OFF!

Theycallmemellowjello · 31/08/2015 16:51

Err well high heels are easy to walk in for a bit then they get uncomfortable. Or they're hard to walk in, but ok once you're in the bar/club whatever as you just stand by the bar or bob around on the dance floor. Or some of the women you see in heels are pissed. Whatever the explanation, I'd say that they're dressing to please themselves rather than you! And why the hell shouldn't they. I hate it when people snipe at women's appearance like this -- I just got off a train filled with a load of pissed chaps in football shirts. They weren't exactly going to win any sartorial prizes, but no ones going to start a threat complaining that men dare to leave the house looking unattractive/badly dressed are they? YABU!

OurBlanche · 31/08/2015 16:51

Yes, but putting up with shes that cripple you is not a woman thing... just an idiot thing. It probably closely equates to balding men and combovers/obvious wigs.

happymummyone · 31/08/2015 16:52

I won't wear them because I can't walk in them. I'm short so I probably should but even on special occasions I prefer flats. Comfort over style.

OurBlanche · 31/08/2015 16:52

shoes [Reminds self to proofread prior to pressing Post]

Topseyt · 31/08/2015 16:55

I am a short arse. In my wild and mis-spent youth I would often like to wear high heels and in those days I would have disagreed with your OP vehemently.

How times change. If I am honest, I was never really comfortable in high heels. When pregnant with my DD1 more than 20 years ago I felt too uncomfortable and unstable, so gave up. I haven't worn them since and never will again. Watching some women struggling with them worries me and I can't look.

I remain fussy about my footwear, but only because it must be comfortable and I must feel safe in it.

BackInTheRealWorld · 31/08/2015 16:55

I don't wear high heels, I don't own any. I try them on and love them but I can't walk in them so I don't buy them.

If I was rich however, I might buy all the pretty high heels and then just employ someone to carry me from place to place while I sat there happily in my pretty shoes!