Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Ridiculously high heels - Apprentice Final Four

427 replies

axolotlfloof · 18/03/2022 22:28

Just watching this week's episode.
Really pleased to see 4 women in the final, but why the heels?
Even Karen is wearing them.
They are bad for your feet, balance and just ridiculous.
My Mum's feet were destroyed by heels in the 60s, and I prioritise walking over heels.
Aibu?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
doadeer · 18/03/2022 23:04

It's funny because I work in London, in business.... And 95% of the time everyone is really casual.

The tight structured dresses and heels are very outdated in my sector (tech, marketing and PR).

My impression is it's only finance and estate agents that dress up anymore 🤷‍♀️

godmum56 · 18/03/2022 23:06

@Jaffapaffa

Unfortunately yes, I teach in the UK.

And it's female staff (non heel wearers) who have decided that this is non negotiable.

I despair, I really do.

This isn't what I want young people to think.

do they know it could be illegal? parissmith.co.uk/blog/dress-code-heels-work/
eurochick · 18/03/2022 23:07

@Jaffapaffa that's a really outdated view. I loved my heels but they seem very outdated in 2022. I'm moving over to flats and most of my younger colleagues never wear heels. We are City lawyers so it's a pretty formal environment. Your colleagues seem to have a view in their head of what professional women wear that doesn't accord with reality.

BigButtons · 18/03/2022 23:08

It’s not a serious programme. The candidates are not chosen for their business acumen. It’s all about entertainment. Alan Sugar should be ashamed of himself. Surely he has enough money.

Feelingoktoday · 18/03/2022 23:10

I thought it was illegal to dictate how women or men should dress.

Noisyprat · 18/03/2022 23:10

Personally I think the women's attire in this series is like The Handmaids Tale. The dresses all look the same but in different colours. All are tight fitting and heels always high. I've actually found it really uncomfortable to watch. Do women dress like this for work now? I'm in my 50's and was always suited and booted but not like this.

I think this has been the worst series, it's just embarrassing. I've sold more vintage items online that whatever her name is and the one with the alcoholic protein drink, really?

godmum56 · 18/03/2022 23:10

@Feelingoktoday

I thought it was illegal to dictate how women or men should dress.
actually its not....take a look at my link
HundredMilesAnHour · 18/03/2022 23:11

@Jaffapaffa

I've been told today that I have to teach my class (Y8) that heels are part of a work wardrobe for women, and that if you want to succeed, it's essential to wear them.

I've objected several times, but have been told that it's not optional.

I'm really not comfortable with this at all.

But yes, apparently there's still a school of thought that says women must wear heels to be successful - hence their appearance in The Apprentice, I suppose.

This is such bullshit though. Heels are very dated, even more dated than skintight dresses. I work in a senior role in the City and the only women I see wearing heels these days are very junior admin assistants.
Original poster
axolotlfloof · 18/03/2022 23:11

@doadeer

It's funny because I work in London, in business.... And 95% of the time everyone is really casual.

The tight structured dresses and heels are very outdated in my sector (tech, marketing and PR).

My impression is it's only finance and estate agents that dress up anymore 🤷‍♀️

I am glad to hear this. FYI I work in property and have never worn heels, and I don't think they are very practical for estate agency. There is plenty of shuffling through pissy carpets and shoulder barging sticky doors - heels are really not practical.
OP posts:
Momijin · 18/03/2022 23:12

Yep all I could think of was how uncomfortable they must have been

JackieWeaversLaptop · 18/03/2022 23:12

@Jaffapaffa

I've been told today that I have to teach my class (Y8) that heels are part of a work wardrobe for women, and that if you want to succeed, it's essential to wear them.

I've objected several times, but have been told that it's not optional.

I'm really not comfortable with this at all.

But yes, apparently there's still a school of thought that says women must wear heels to be successful - hence their appearance in The Apprentice, I suppose.

Wow that’s awful @Jaffapaffa. What does your school say when you try to object?
BigButtons · 18/03/2022 23:12

@Jaffapaffa at my kids’ secondary school ( state) the girls have not been allowed to wear skirts for a good few years now. The school decided they wore their skirts too high and made them wear trousers. I find that equally as awful as it is still dictating what young women should wear. The boys were left to get on with things as usual.

TheLeadbetterLife · 18/03/2022 23:12

The outfits on The Apprentice look really dated these days, especially the 4 inch stilettos. I have to assume the production tells the women they need to wear a solid colour bodycon dress. It can't be a coincidence that they all wear them, and luckily all different colours from each other.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 18/03/2022 23:15

@Feelingoktoday

I thought it was illegal to dictate how women or men should dress.
Of course not - plenty of jobs have dress codes for both sexes.
Nicoise · 18/03/2022 23:17

I think the women in this series are grotesque. They're cookie cutter parodies of femininity. Tight dress, bare arms, long hair, high heels, fake nails, fake eyelashes, comedy eyebrows. I'm old now and probably out of touch, but what the hell has happened to women?

Anoisagusaris · 18/03/2022 23:24

@Nicoise

I think the women in this series are grotesque. They're cookie cutter parodies of femininity. Tight dress, bare arms, long hair, high heels, fake nails, fake eyelashes, comedy eyebrows. I'm old now and probably out of touch, but what the hell has happened to women?
I don’t know if I’d use the word grotesque but they see like carbon copies of each other.

Every week my 13 year old DS comments how ridiculous they all look and asks why they are wearing so much makeup and such high heels.

mastertomsmum · 18/03/2022 23:30

The Apprentice has been way past it’s sell buy date for many a year.

SoyaChai · 18/03/2022 23:34

I only wear heels when going out to a nice restaurant or to a bar or club.

nancy75 · 18/03/2022 23:35

My favourite part is when the get the early morning phone call saying you’re going to x the car will be here in half an hour & they all get out of bed & get ready. Like hell do those women get ready in 30 minutes!

youvegottenminuteslynn · 18/03/2022 23:37

@Jaffapaffa

Please please please consider going to a women's rights charity or directly to the press about what you're being forced to teach. It is shockingly sexist and outdated and makes me want to smash my head against a wall!

shrunkenhead · 18/03/2022 23:37

It's so outdated and 80s, the series (and the "look" that the women have to adhere to) has had its day.
The thing that gets me is they always get a phone call at daft o'clock with 30 mins to get ready every morning! Think I'd just get ready the night before and lie motionless on my bed all night ready!

Windyone · 18/03/2022 23:39

@Jaffapaffa I don’t believe you

WhatTheWhoTheWhatThe · 18/03/2022 23:40

[quote Windyone]@Jaffapaffa I don’t believe you[/quote]
Neither do I!

Thoosa · 18/03/2022 23:42

The tight structured dresses and heels are very outdated in my sector (tech, marketing and PR).

It’s very outdated everywhere I think.

They always look like the cast of some US glamour soap from 2005 (or what I imagine soap wardrobes in America used to look like, anyway!)

It’s very clearly wardrobe policy for the programme and not personal choice because it’s just so uniform and off-trend. Nothing current. Nothing classically stylish. Nothing quirky. Just all identikit male fantasy of a female business woman.

Daily Mail have a similar unvarying photo policy for their feature photos, just slightly dowdier.

PyongyangKipperbang · 18/03/2022 23:42

I wonder if they are told what to wear by the production team and LS is waiting for the one who wears trousers and flats, so picks her! Maybe it is the final test that everyone so far has failed.