Dresses and footwear

[NotABanana]

What makes a dress need heels? What makes a dress look awful when worn with flats?

I have a lovely new dress and really want to wear it in the week but the heeled shoes won't do for the school walk. The lady selling it me said it needed a heel but having worn a longer dress last week with flats and it looking fine, I am wondering if this dress (just below knee) will be fine too with flats.

depends on many things including length, fullness and the shape of the legs protruding from the hemline

If I wear a shirtdress with wedges it looks sharp and a bit sexy, if I wear flats it looks mumsy and if I wear heels I look lik I've stepped out of the 50s.

Try and see.

This is the dress

I don't have the best legs...

i think that dress would look a bit 'mumsy' with flats tbh- the way i determine (which is only my opinion) is if the dress is bit young and girly like a smocked dress then ethnic type flats look a bit boho.....if the dress is stylish like that you need a heel.....today im wearing dress with thin straps and just on the knee but floaty tiny bit of ruching on the chest and i wear flip floppy shoes with that like thongy birkenstocks?- the dress you chose id wear wedge sandals with ......i might be v wrong on the fshion stkes tho.

my dress was £6 in asda 9 years ago lol

I wear boots all winter and flip-flops/strappy sandals in summer. I don;t possess any heels, and I wear dresses a lot in summer.

Go with what's comfortable. If you don't usually wear hells, it will look odd, whatever else you are wearing.

I work for Principles and I would definitely wear heels with that dress. It looks dreadful with flats I'm afraid to say.

What about a little ballet pump in a colour picked from the dress? Could that look whimisically 1950ish?

It seems to me that the shorter the dress, the more it looks ok with flats. So an ankle skimming floaty type dress would need heels, whereas a mid thigh shirt style dress would be okay with flats.

Are am I totally not getting this?

OR not ARE I mean.

Could you get a pair of wedges to wear with your tea dress? they are dead easy to walk in, even tho they are high.

Oh heck. More shopping..............

not flats

wedges or casual heeled sandals

I'm probably not the best person to comment but I'm with Captainmummy on this - go with what feels comfortable. I feel the fashion "rules" on these things have relaxed a lot in recent years and are much less rigid. Personally I would probably go with strappy flat sandals (= flip flops with style) - can't promise how long I'd keep them on though, especially on a hot day like today

these are similar to what I was hoping to wear but are flat.

Agree that wedges would look great, especially cork/raffia ones as they provide a contrast against the formal element of the dress and would keep the look fresh. They don't have to be sky-high though - there are lots of lower ones of around 2.5" heel.

Heels could make the dress too formal and flats could make it frumpy (IMHO.

PS if you are not too confident about legs, slingback wedges can be more flattering than the sort that tie round your ankle.

you say you want to wear it for the school walk...i'd go for it, wear it with dressy flip flops or wedge sandals or ballet pumps if you like. might look better with heels, but go for it, be confident and no-one'll notice.

IMO with heels it'll be very dressy for a school walk.

Great dress!

When I went out shopping in my dress I wore some black heels but they were killing me so I bought these in black to go with the dress but I don't think they are right for the school run esp as my legs aren't that great and I would need to wear tights. Not right for the summer but I love the dress and want to wear it!

Wedges

I got these yesterdsay

They are mega comfortable and cheap! Can be worn with jeans too

Nice dress.
Wear whatever you want.

On second thought, get Sheik's wedges in black, very nice.

How HIGH are those, Sheik?? I'd be falling over!

I'd love to wear it with my white pumps but that would be silly wouldn't it?

I'm with captainmummy.

I last wore a pair of heels sometime in the 1970s. I wear dresses. Go for ballet flats, dammit.

They aren't that high - the sloe of the foot is less than you think - they are just high because od the width of the wedge.

They will take a teensy bit of practice to walk in but they are great for walking in - also, becauise of the solidity of the wedge heel, they will give you a lot more stability and you are less likely to hurt your ankles./ I walked in mine for about 3 miles last night after 6 or 7 pints of lager! I didn';t stumble once

sheik was that cos the people either side were holding you up???