To think that high heels are just not worth it

[OrkneyGirl]

I've come back from a girls night out and feet are hurting like feck. Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of heels but omg why do I honestly wear them?

To a wedding?

I've tried on wedding dresses recently, long ones which you can't see shoes under. I plan to wear flats anyway. But obviously the sample dresses are long and would need altering, so the owner put me in heels to see how I looked when the dress sat at roughly the right length on me, rather than trailing on the floor. Even without seeing the heels/ my legs, the difference when I was wearing them was noticeable. My posture looked better, my shoulders sat pulled back, my stomach looked flatter, my back looked straighter, my bum looked higher.

I still won't wear heels with the dress, or if I do it will be a 1-2 inch block heel, as I'm all about the dancing, but it did remind me why it feels good to try on a dress with heels. But less good when you're walking home bare foot!

Empowering. How?

Surley if that poster finds them empowering then, by definition, they are to her.

If others don't find them empowering then to those people they are not empowering.

Haven't worn heels for years, found them so uncomfortable.

My mum used to wear heels and now she has problems and can only wear certain trainers and not walk far, her podiatrist said her issues are caused by wearing heels.

I thought they were out of fashion now anyway?

It's a good question, though - sometimes unpicking why we feel a certain way can be enlightening.

In my 20's I used to wear them all the time, even to work. Now in my 40's I'm in agony just after a few hours, so they only come out on formal occasions, and only for a few hours! I recently went to a wedding, wore heels for the day but straight into ballet pumps in the evening!

There's a little bit of a judgemental edge to the question though.

The poster is being asked to justify her opinion.

Truffle... why do you feel the need to ask.other women to justify themselves to you? That's a better question.

Would men wear something painful, that makes it difficult to walk, just to look good? No? Then me neither.

I don’t base what I do on whether a man would do it? They do loads of stupid shit.

I never had proper high heels, only a pair of boots with a pretty low heel. Luckily I'm quite tall but when I was younger I was always jealous of people who could wear heels (I always imagined falling over and breaking my ankle).

I gave up wearing heels in my mid twenties (I'm early 50s now). Ridiculous, uncomfortable things. I'm glad they've finally gone out of fashion!

Wore pumps to my own wedding

'@N4ish
High heels look very dated now. Seeing women tottering around city centres struggling to walk in them looks increasingly ridiculous. Why bother?'

Agreed! if I go out I want to be able and free to enjoy myself, not be in pain because of my shoes.

When I see women in city centres who can't walk in their heels and choose to wear tight dress and high heel sandals look in the middle of winter, I just think 'tacky and sad' not 'empowered'.

Heels are dated for now. No doubt they will come around again...but not for me.

I find being able to move at speed empowering, hobbling would make me feel completely un powerful. If I see anyone wearing high heels nowadays I think ouch and how dated they look.

My MIL feet were wrecked by shoving her feet into winklepickers in her youth. And she continued wearing heels into her 60s. Whilst bunions etc can be genetic a lot of damage is down to footwear choice. Our feet are amazing, what they have to withstand throughout our lives, we owe it to them to take care of them.

Yes, I agree. I wore them for decades though - day and night. I can't walk in them now - out of practice. I do have a bunion, but so does my sister, who hasn't worn heels. No intention of returning to them - though I have wedges for some dresses. They'll be back in fashion at some point.

I love them. Didn't start wearing them until my 20s, when I got a grown up job and put my both days behind me. Then wore for work and nights out.

I had to wear flats most of this year due to injury and it's really made me think about my shoes. My knees don't hurt as much (and I've never been overweight) and my hips don't hurt. I have done gorgeous heels, but lay time I wore some, I literally tottered about and had to sit down, whereas once, I'd have strode around the room.

Last few nights out have been in trainers and it's been bliss. But I'm going to have to really think about my work wardrobe because I still can't shift the mindset of flat = frumpy.

I love that heels are dated now but I am sure they will come back round as things always seem to. I'm hoping I will be old enough to not care by then though.

They can look very glamorous and finish an outfit but I could never walk properly in them.

I haven't worn heels since the 80s. I'm 6 feet tall.
I don't wear dresses either!

Good quality heels are very comfortable, I don't even know I am wearing heels. On the other hands, bad flat shoes can be painful to walk in

I only wear wedges these days for the same reason - heels aren't comfortable, sonetimes l need the extra height!

They weren’t designed by men for the male gaze, they were designed for men to wear originally

I wear wedges in summer and ankle boots with a block heel in A/W, but couldn’t wear anything other than that ever again. I’m even beginning to wear those a lot less and prefer being in trainers.

I still have several pairs of stilettos and other heeled boots. I know that I’ll probably never wear them again, but feel sad at the idea of parting with them.

I stopped because of Covid, and because trainers came into fashion

It was not just a poster on here mentioning empowering I have heard it heaps over the years

But I don't care what is fashion or not I won't wear anything uncomfortable just because it is meant to be fashion

I don’t base everything I do on whether a man would do it 😁

I don’t mind if heels come back into fashion as long as flats are also in fashion. There used to be a time when you felt forced to wear heels for weddings etc. I’m glad that’s gone.

Maybe they won’t come back, and one day stilettos will be seen in the same way as crinoline dresses and Elizabethan ruff collars!