Have we seen the back of wearing heels?

[Ginfordinner]

This article hasn't told me anything I don't already know really, but I was never much of a heel wearer. To me heels are anything over 2" high, and I can't wait to kick them off as soon as I can.

www.instyle.com/fashion/high-heels-sales-dropped-71-late-last-year-will-we-ever-go-back?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

'Appreciative gentlemen' were one of the reasons I first gave up on heels 40-odd years ago. My quality of life improved immeasurably.

I have been walking SO much more in lockdown - avoiding public transport, and going on long walks for exercise when the gyms and pools are shut.

I so enjoy my walking fitness now that i just couldn't contemplate anything that would hinder or hamper me or make me feel less free and active.

I have never liked the look of heels anyway - the heel 'thing' sticking off the sole looks bizarre to me. And I am tall so have never appreciated them for extra height.

Fair play to anyone who loves and wears them, but I have never worn more than a 1.5" kitten heel and won't be starting now.

I’d settle for five inch for perfection!

I won't be returning the compliment.

I was about to say that all the male heel fetishists won't be happy about the trend dying out among women, and lo and behold...
gentlemen, you can keep them.

I love my simple elegant heels for nights out that are taxi - restaurant - taxi - opera - taxi. I have slim legs and very flat size eight feet, in a dress without heels I think they look like a clown or a golf club.

I don't like the look of them either. I wince at the sight of the presenters and female judges on Strictly teetering about in them. I did used to wear them when I was younger (in the 80s/90s) but only the very shortest of my friends wear them even for nights out now, mostly we are all in flats and trainers.

Lol at 4 inches being a bit staid

Try them, have a go, Booths, honestly.

The pp who said about not being able to imagine wearing anything that would hinder you being less active or free - that's it, that's just it in a nutshell. Free to enter and exit any situation, fast, on your own terms. Just like men have always done.

I love heels! They make me feel taller and glamorous! Everyone else can wear their trainers and flats but I will wear my heels 😁

I said to DH last night that I’m going to start looking for some nice flat (possibly just flatter) work shoes. Heels aren’t good for me and I’m fed up of traipsing around the office in them. I’ll probably end up compromising with wedges or something with more of a platform sole.

@GinIsNotOriginal

Feel free to shoot me down and it’s perhaps internalised misogyny but I think heels are dated!! My mum (aged 57) wears them as part of her ‘glam’ look, along with all of her friends. Any dinner out etc is always heels! Whereas younger women (I’m 30 so hope I can include myself in that bracket!) tend to favour trainers. When I was in Paris (pre-covid) I didn’t see any you f women wearing heels on a night out. I work with two female surgeons- both in their 40s. Incredible, accomplished women but the one who wears heels on her ward round seems far more dated in her aesthetic than her colleague who wears trainers or converse to work. I love s&b! The only place I can share such thoughts

I'm the same age as your mum and I totally agree with you. I think they are really ageing. I work with a lot of women around the same age and those who wear heels look like they've never really left the 80s.

I also share the pain of the PP who mentioned the despair when dropping your teenage daughter off for a night out and the girls could all barely walk and the lads were all comfortable in trainers. I wonder if that generation of women will stick with them into their 50s?

My knees turn to concrete now if I wear them so they don't even cross my radar any more.

@violetbunny

I'm 5"2 and will die wearing heels 😂

Me to!

I need all the height help I can get!

Urgh, I was just recoiling from the comments about them looking "sexy" and thinking how much I hate that word and then the lid opens and Booths pops up.

Not wearing heels is a very good creep on the make/wanker filter.

Booths you sound incredibly seedy.

I bet Booths is the husband who bought his wife sexy underwear for Valentines Day.

The sales of heels were dropping before lockdown, it's hardly surprising that sales have dropped even further as we all WFH (I've only bought 1 pair of shoes in the last year which is unheard of for me). I'm sure heels will become fashionable again but I do think that something has changed but not because of Covid-19. My Mum (in her 70s) would never not wear heels when she left the house. I (40s) was brought up very much being told I had to wear heels to look smart even though I never chose to wear them unless I absolutely had to. But I think that view that heels are the only possible option for women when they are smart or dressed up has gone, I have a selection of pointy flats for nights out. The internet has meant that it is very easy to search for flat shoes only (whereas when you go into a shoe shop often the only smart options are heels). My daughters won't be told they have to wear heels to be smart, it will be a choice for them. So I do think heels are on a slow decline, even if there are still a large minority of women who do enjoy wearing heels themselves.

OK I've been biting my tongue for the last page or so but that's It.

Not only have some of us been wearing flats for decades, the fact that it's now so much easier for you to wear them in workplaces and smarter venues is not all down to some Covid induced zeitgeist. It's due at least in part to the women - many now in their 70s and older - who fought that battle for you.

Yes I know - I will lighten up now.

@Booths

Just a comment from me to say how much I appreciate heels from an observational point of view. I’m a gentleman who should know better but I literally can’t take my eyes off a pair of high heeled shoes. Six inch looks a bit forced to me and four inch a bit staid so I’d settle for five inch for perfection! I do hope that heel fashion isn’t in decline. Really enjoying reading all the different points of view on this thread!

Which reminds me. I had one grandma who waxed lyrical about how good heels make your legs look and another who said “never wear shoes you can’t run in”. Wise woman. You never who is an old letch and when you might need to run.

Don't own any. DD who is 17 has never worn them in her life.

I hate heels. Don’t own any at all, my feet seem to have no padding on my feet (plenty elsewhere) even with partyfeet in my shoes I want to rip my own feet off! Flats all the way!

@Floisme

'Appreciative gentlemen' were one of the reasons I first gave up on heels 40-odd years ago. My quality of life improved immeasurably.

Indeed! Right up there with men who describe themselves a 'old fashioned' and 'old school' - back you fuck to the past then.

Heels will always have a market.

I used to wear them a lot on my 20s, then started to work in London so did a lot of walking, flats and boots then became my thing. I'm now in my late 40s and cringe at the thought of wearing heels, even on nights out I'm in flats

work courts market will likely suffer but for going out lots of people like a heel.

I've never had to wear heels for work & have a massive trainer collection but I still like a lift for a party.

I'm wfh and I've been wearing my heels around the house too! The soles don't get worn down, and my DD12 thinks I look amazing 😁😁

I'm 5ft 10 but happy with a heel, they can make an outfit.