Shoes for Women - why is their pressure to wear uncomfortble footwear to 'fit in'?

[TwoCotbeds]

When buying shoes, I am remindeed of the old chinese culture on foot-binding. Why is it one gender ( men) can buy shoe which are smart for work AND can also walk all day, round town in comfort, or over grass, say.... but Women have the only Option of 'smart' shoes for work that go with a suit,and look professional or shoes that they can easily wear in comfort all day - but not both ?

I think this has got worse recently with the fashion for very, very high shoes which actually damage the foot.

I always think to myself, a womans and a mans foot is structurally the same. They are not different shapes, like torsos are. Of course I like to look feminine not male, but I also like to walk as much as I like.

I was also told by a chiropodist that the only reason court shoes ( ones with no strap) ever actually stay on, not fall off is because they are actually too small !

I do wear high shoes but not v. often. Only going out, occasion wear etc. - places where I'm not going to be standing up much. For work I tend to either wear trousers, or boots which have flat or comfortable raised heels, so smart enough.

Clarks shoes no good for me, shoe size 2 - lots of shoes only start at 3.

I don't really get the fuss? I wear ballet flats or shoes with a one/two inch heel for work. I am comfortable and I think I look smart.

I do not own one pair of high-heeled shoes

"stripper" shoes that seem to be popular at the moment (a la Biffer Cole) I would not be paid to wear

I wear Birkenstocks outside the house (why the hell wouldn't you ?) and flat boots for practicality and comfort

I wear plimsolls and flip-flops because they suit my feet

if high heels suit your feet, go for it, but don't feel under pressure to look a certain way, fgs

Disclaimer - when I talk about high heels, I don't mean stripper shoes

What are stripper shoes?

There are plenty of smart, comfortable shoes that work with trouser suits. I will admit the if you are wearing them with skirts or dresses they seem alarmingly like the sort of shoe your grandmother would have approved of as being "nice and smart", but maybe Granny had a point?

I have freakishly wide feet so have a very limited range of options anyway, and generally have to order online from specialist "so, you have freakishly wide feet?" companies who appear to cater largely to the grandmotherly population, so this may skew my perceptions somewhat.

I have one pair of boots that have something like a 2-inch heel, but those are very comfortable so long as I am not walking around all day. A normally-active day and they are fine.

stripper shoes

I work with youngsters (early-mid 20's)

they wear shoes like those in my link for nights out all the time

it seems the thing to do, these days

they can't dance in them after the first half hour so just end up carying them around

I suppose they come in handy, later

< is in a different word emoticon >

now I see the point of the pole - it's to hold onto to stop them falling over in those shoes!

different world

I'm going to make a bold assertion and wonder if stripper shoes (which I did not know existed until today) are not really where the feminist population of Mumsnet will/should draw inspiration? Bloody horrified to know they exist, though.

I almost started this thread myself! Except that I have never, ever felt any 'pressure' myself to wear high heels. I look at other women wearing them and think: 'ooh, they look nice but OMG you're gonna pay the price some day!'. That's it.

Apart from stripper shoes. Which I just laugh at, frankly.

So far my fave shoes are either Birkies or Ecco, or (when I used to be able to fit into them) from Clarks. I do buy ballet flats, but ALWAYS with a small heel, and I then ditch them once they become too loose to walk in easily. About 10 years ago you couldn't find a flat shoe on the market unless you were prepared to go Old Lady (which, in my mid-twenties, I definitely wasn't). Now there are loads more designs, thank goodness.

I think having mahoosive flippers instead of dainty size 6's makes me extra-conscious of the comfort factor in footwear, so I refuse to kowtow to the fashions. Doc Marten's do good funky, comfortable shoes - they usually have a mid-heel style too. Not too pricey, either, IIRC.

AnyFucker...I am struggling to work out what use the stripper shoes could have later! Please enlighten me!

For stripper shoes read 'instruments of torture'. How in God's name can stuff like that ever be thought of as empowering. Killer heels are killing noone but the poor crippled wearer who still has to smile alluringly.

I can walk all day, and even run, in some very high heels. But flat office shoes and ballet slippers are painful for me - I have to have a heel, and I notice that hiking boots etc do have a decent heel. So it is not necessarily about that.

I have flat feet and am tall. So high heels have me towering over other women and men. But I often want to wear the painful flats. The women I see hobbling about in heels are often small, and must feel the opposite height pressure - and have smaller feet, shorter legs etc, which makes it much more difficut for them to walk!

I shall leave it to your imagination, SG

personally, I would like to see them used to kick dodgy blokes in the nuts boy that's gotta hurt...

I have never worn a high heel, I have no tolerance at all for discomfort.
and, tbh, I HATE the way that they make women wiggle. I hate it that this is viewed as normal.
I also hate to see the mangled mess of many female feet after the age of 40.
I wear boots all winter, sometimes a ballet flat, Birkenstocks all summer, plimsolls for casual.
I used to wear lace ups but find it hard to find them these days.

Um...useful for shinning up trees? Resting pints on while you pee? Umm...makeshift coat hanger? Instrument of torture?

Definitely for nutcracking dodgy geezers; good call, AF!

But in order to kick with one you would have to balance on the other. Are there women who can really do that? Without a pole to hold onto?

[http://www.bayareabags.com/footwear/chinese-mary-jane-shoes-a-perfect-fit-for-the-ladies-on-the-go.html I used to wear these as a student, anyone know where I could get them now?]]

and again

You may have to carry the pole around with you, just in case you need to do any high kicks...