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

[CathJames]

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!

censured, no. Laughed at, yes.

and if your clothing choices make you less efficient at your job (teetering round in a ridiculous fashion, unable to work safely, or going round barefoot because you bought stupid shoes) then you deserve all you get.

Do you know what I think is a really bad look?
Judging people on their appearance.
Arrogance.
Finger wagging.

It's seriously unflattering, ladies.

depends if they can do their job or not. Have had to pick up pieces for some floozie who didn't want to wreck her makeup by doing the job we were both paid to do.

oops, excuse me, terribly sorry, shook out my wet clothes in the wrong place...

lesson learned.

and I can think what I like about duck-walk fugly high heels, and express it here. As long as I don't offer the opinion in person unless specifically asked.

Of course you can think what you like. Just as I can think what I like of someone who dscribes women as floozies.

What special said. If you choose to look like a prat in your badly fitting, too high heels with your orange legs and constipated duck waddle then you'll have to accept that you'll get less than flattering thoughts aimed your way. Of course, you won't actually know that, will you - because they are private thoughts and none of your business.

What Floisme said. It's a very special type of person who calls other women "floozies".

I have seen much sniggering and abuse on MN of women who wear Birkies , ugly, (tag the Birkies, not the women ) etc, so I am well
aware of what people think of me

Floozie hasn't done Frost and French much harm...apparently there are plenty of women out there who don't mind the label.

But shoes? Nah I think they're just dressing up.

I think we're sort of agreeing, just from different angles. I wear high heels occasionally because I like the way I look in them, which is (presumably) caused by social pressure rather than some innate evolutionary tendency towards walking around on ridiculous spindly things. Sometimes with a new pair that requires a short practice walk to Tesco or wherever before I properly get the hang of them, which is a minor inconvenience and, yes, makes me look silly. But I don't see that as particularly being a more socially pressured inconvenience than, say, spending £50 on a nice dress instead of cutting a neck hole into a heavy-duty binliner - just because that's why something's done doesn't make it wrong. It seems pointless to single out heels in particular (except of course if people are feeling pressured into wearing them when they don't want to, which is a different issue).

Obviously people are free to think I look like an idiot, and sometimes I'll agree. I'm also free to ignore their opinions, and we can all go on our merry way.

I've got many pairs of shoes (DP calls me Imelda Marcos) but I have two pairs I just can't walk very far in. The first are a pair of purple snakeskin boots with 4" heels, that I absolutely adore. I fell in love with them, and then wore them on a night out. The other are a pair of Clark's sandals, bought for a wedding earlier this year. The heel isn't too high, but the platform is so thick on them, I can't feel if the ground beneath my feet is uneven. And yes, I did fall over very gracefully in them at the reception, didn't even spill my drink

When I was younger, the only high heel shoes that you could buy were courts (no platforms, heel not higher than 3 or 4 inches). Now it seems that you can only get platform high heels which are awkward to walk in and desperate to walk in on uneven ground or cobbles or whatever. I'd love to get a nice pair of high heels but I just can't find any.

One major advantag of being a wheelchair user is having amazing shoes that I can't and don't need to walk in

Am neutral on this issue but can't see this thread as judgey at all. Surely people are allowed different views on shoes???

I think we probably do agree Laurie I'd be the first to admit, the impulse to decorate is strange and really rather silly. But it can hardly be sillier than forming opinions on people based on the height of their heels - or the shade of their spray tan.

LOL BrilloHair! Enjoy. And your Jimmy Choos won't wear out either - good value!

Women don't decide to "dress up" by wearing heels (when men don't) in a vacuum. Porn, films, the fashion industry, what's available in shops, what is culturally seen as "sexy". Do we ever see pictures of flat shoes for women with dressy clothes?

Choosing "pretty" clothes over wearing a sack is different. Clothes are not harmful to mobility and health in the way heels can be, eg back, hip and joint problems, accidental injuries.

Porn
Fashion industry.

On a boring practical notes I'll just say thin high heels can really fuck up some wooden or lino type flooring. Ends up looking as if someone had a go on a pointy ended pogo sitck.

brendaflange a previous life involved me with some celebs. Short famous men favour cuban heels with an additional riser inside the shoe. Is sort of related to female fashion as I believe the main purpose is for those 'here we are arriving at this glittering awards/party/PR junket' photos where they inevitably have to stand next to women in four inch heels.

Swoon-worthy 'hunks' are often a bit short. It's what makes them hunky and not lanky.

My mum drummed into me never wear shoes when you're out that you can't run in. Luckily I gave my daughter the same advice, as she was recently dragged down a lane in the city centre- luckily wearing her doc marten boots, which she used to great effect, thus avoiding being raped or worse.

If she'd been wearing those ugly platform things she would have had no chance.

I personally hate high heels , and never wear them. I can see why other women like them though, and that's fine. We're all free to wear what we want to (pretty much) in this country, thank goodness.
When people wear them to the point of developing bunions, shortening of the calf muscle or even spine/hip problems, then yes I do think they're being a bit silly.

I do occasionally stagger out in heels, holding desperately on to OH, in the interest of formal conformity, but I hate it. I never wear heels with work wear. Since first pregnancy, arches have fallen, ankles have caved in etc., even as a teen the made me feel so uncomfortable. I also have a nagging idea in my head of the historical eastern practice of foot binding where women of stature had to have very small feet aesthetically and walking/mobility was a sign of working classes. Hence women were restricted in movement (too precious to move, like ornaments). Also they make your butt stick out so not only looking like you need a wee, but like a ewe ready for rutting. Why would this be 'empowering'? Overall I'm with Caitlin Moran on this one.