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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:
specialsubject · 31/08/2015 19:29

once upon a time a high heel was still one women could walk in, maybe two inches at most. I don't remember seeing the stupid duck-waddle 20 years back.

now it is silly poncey ballet flats or heels so high you are on tiptoe, which makes everyone look awful. The middle ground is apparently outlawed.

google the pics, look at the huge clumpy ill fitting shoes, the straining calves, the sticking out arses. See it in motion and watch the waddle.

not pretty at all.

and a short girl in heels doesn't look taller, any more than a big girl with a coloured scarf on looks thinner. So you are short? So what?

madein1995 · 31/08/2015 19:36

Short arse here (5 foot 2) and I can't wear heels. 2 inches and under I can cope with, but ideally the lower the better for me. Just don't find them comfortable. When I do wear heels I prefer them to have straps, for more support and comfort. Can easily wear a pair of 2 inch high boots out clubbing (find them comfier than heeled shoes) but apart from that, it's flat or low heels all the way. Could never wear big heels out! My feet would hurt too much, I'd fall about everywhere making a tit of myself Smile and I don't compromise comfort for style! Flats/low heels can look just as good I think

Bunbaker · 31/08/2015 19:37

Great post specialsubject. I totally agree.

cocobean2805 · 31/08/2015 23:16

I just love shoes. And if I like them and want to wear them, I shall. Grin but I was taught to walk in heels when I was 14. And I'm talking silly high heels, you just have to adjust your centre of gravity Grin

hettyhatty · 31/08/2015 23:32

I can walk in high heels. I feel better in them as well. I'm 5 foot. I want to look taller. And the next time someone says to me "ooh I love standing next to you, you make me feel so tall!" I'm going to say "yeah, and I love standing next to you, you make me feel so thin".

EnthusiasmDisturbed · 31/08/2015 23:34

to make people like you feel better about yourself

obviously

hettyhatty · 31/08/2015 23:38

And why not cos I obviously make them feel so better about themselves

ALassUnparalleled · 31/08/2015 23:44

'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.'

I don't wear high heels but this sort of " I'm so clever , I know what is better for you because you are too thick to realise it" bollocks from people like Glosswitch makes me want to wear the highest pair I can find.

triathlon · 31/08/2015 23:47

I never wear heels and can't see the point of them. Perhaps one day we'll look back at heels in the same light as bustles and corsets, and be glad they're no longer in fashion.

ALassUnparalleled · 31/08/2015 23:48

now it is silly poncey ballet flats....makes everyone look awful

In your , not in the least bit humble, opinion . Who appointed you as monitor of what women wear on their feet? I love ballet pumps. I can walk , run, dance , do whatever I want in them.

You are arrogant and rude.

ALassUnparalleled · 31/08/2015 23:51

I never wear heels and can't see the point of them

Wow! So let's ban them all because you don't see the point.

I don't see the point of jeans. Dull, boring, unimaginative and unflattering to anyone over 25 and a size 10.

FrancesOldhamKelseyRIP · 31/08/2015 23:58

I wear heels because they bring my ears to somewhere vaguely within hearing distance of the conversation in the pub or in the office kitchen - otherwise it quite literally goes over my head.

Wear whatever height you like, if they hurt they hurt, that's your problem, but if you are wearing heels visibly beyond your personal ability to control them then you will look like a bit of an idiot. It's the female equivalent of a combover in that it is meant to improve your appearance but actually makes you a figure of fun. In the interests of full disclosure I do have one sky high pair with spindly heels that are a shade beyond my natural ability but they are very pretty.

triathlon · 01/09/2015 00:16

Wow! So let's ban them all because you don't see the point.

Who said anything about banning them? I don't see the point of them but if other people do that's fine of course. We're all entitled to our own opinion.

nocoolnamesleft · 01/09/2015 00:17

I only do it with one particular dress which is stunning, but just slightly too long. High heels (by my standards) make it floor length rather than dragging. The heels aren't visible, of course. The lace panelling makes it unshortenable, but the bodice section is so flattering that there is no way I'm not wearing it occasionally...but only if I know I'll have no distance to walk! Otherwise, it's nice comfy shoes all the way.

Fluffyears · 01/09/2015 00:36

I never wear heels. I'm 5'9'' so I don't need them but I cannot wear any heels. I seem to have no padding on the ball of my foot so any heels kill the balls of my feet within minutes even with those gel pads in and the pain lasts a few days. I sometimes envy women who can wear lovely high shoes but I'm happier and more comfy in flats so I stick to them.

BlahBlahUsername · 01/09/2015 01:20

There are some comfortable heels. I have high arches and can't find many flat shoes that are as supportive as I need them to be. Ballet flats tire my feet out as much as skyscraper stilettos would.

But I have moved into wearing shoes like this for work www.clarks.co.uk/p/20350674 with trousers, because I have no idea how to style them with a skirt.

BitOutOfPractice · 01/09/2015 06:53

I personally don't often see women who can't walk in their heels. I don't know where you lot go to see that Hmm

I love shoes. Any shoes. Especially heels. I love the way they look. I love the way they make me feel. I couldn't give a tiny rat's ass what anyone else thinks about my footwear choices.

Bunbaker · 01/09/2015 06:57

"I don't know where you lot go to see that"

Work, in town, the shopping mall, the supermarket.

Runningupthathill82 · 01/09/2015 06:58

Sometimes women who can't walk in heels look a bit daft. But so what? If they like their shoes, great. Completely up to them what they wear.

I find that people in flimsy ballet flats, the ones so thin that they make all wearers overpronate, look just as silly. Or Uggs. They're terrible for overpronation, and you can usually tell, because the boots get muddy on the insides.

But those are just my opinions as to what I would and wouldn't put on my own feet. I don't expect anyone else to give a shit, and equally I don't care what shoes other women wear.

goblinhat · 01/09/2015 06:58

I love my feet too much to wear heels.

My family are heel wearers and their feet are now totally wrecked.

silver-fish.hubpages.com/hub/The-Cost-of-Killer-Heels

ALassUnparalleled · 01/09/2015 07:00

I personally don't often see women who can't walk in their heels. I don't know where you lot go to see that

No nor me. I used to wear high heels. I don't any more. I don't see what the point of this nasty, judgemental thread is.

BitOutOfPractice · 01/09/2015 07:01

Really bunbaker? . I just don't see it. I certainly see VERY few women in heels at the supermarket and I live in Essex, supposedly famous for its heel wearers

BitOutOfPractice · 01/09/2015 07:03

In fact I suspect there's a lot of exaggeration going on on on this thread about how common it is to justify some of the more spiteful comments.

KathyBeale · 01/09/2015 07:03

I've noticed that hardly anyone wears heels any more. I work in central London and sometimes I count how many women I see in heels while I'm walking from the station to the office - often it's only one or two. I think it's very interesting. I love shoes but I really only wear heels to weddings now! But I can't wear cheap ballet flats either - they give me terrible cramps in my feet.

BabyGanoush · 01/09/2015 07:07

I like high heels (not the crazy looking mega heels, but say 5-7cm ones)

But I cannot wear them as at 6ft1 I end up banging my head/looking freakishly tall.

The thing about shoes with heels is, that often they are beautiful..Sad