Heels in future in

[Shyheels]

Yes, wearing stiletto boots is fairly committed. You wouldn’t just casually change in and out of them as you might with pumps. 

[Heelsfor30]

I’ve worked in various office environments through the years and 5, 10, 15 years ago I saw heels everywhere. And pretty high at that.  Now it’s a rarity. 

[mlroseplant]

Last night was the first jazz band concert of the season. My younger entered high school this fall, and for the first time experienced the pressure of actually having to audition to get into a group. I was seated on the very wrong side of the auditorium, but oh well. Good pictures shouldn't be the major part of the experience anyway.

I can report that there were at least three girls wearing what you could call heels at the concert. There may have been more, but it's awfully tough to see into the back row, and I didn't hang around any longer than necessary. I would estimate the total number of girls participating in this concert was about 30. There were no boys wearing heels except for me.

I managed to capture in incidental pictures, and then zoom in on later, an example of what was the highest of the heels, worn by the vibraphonist, who appeared to be a senior. Pointy-toed suede or faux suede boots. There was another girl in a different band who wore fuchsia mules with 3 or 3 1/2" block heels. The prescribed uniform for all of the jazz bands is "Solid black with a splash of color." I found it interesting and admirable that this girl chose her shoes as the splash of color. I'm gonna guess they were prom shoes, and have only been worn one other time.

I guess heels are not completely dead yet, they are just on life support. One could say that during my own high school days, something closer to 15 girls out of 30 would be wearing heels. Yes and no, because the majority of those would have been 1 1/2" or less, and can you really call those heels?

[mlroseplant]

Another high school band concert last night. Amazingly, there were lots of heels! Of course, they were all low- to mid-heels, but it was pleasantly surprising, especially when the band director put, and I quote, "Flats are preferred over heels" right in the email reminding students of the dress requirements for the concert.

[Jkrenzer]

Interesting the note would even be sent like that and more interesting it was ignored. Nothing makes teenagers do things in a certain way better than suggesting or telling them not to.

Next time hopefully they say high heels are discouraged.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Jkrenzer

[Puffer]

You may find this article from the Daily Mail's 'You' magazine (5 October) interesting, if discouraging:

Why women are giving heels the heave-ho

Once a devotee of stilettos, Esther Walker says that now the real ‘statement’ shoe is a flat

‘Oh no,’ said my husband, ‘not those again.’ He was looking at my putty-coloured rubber pool slides from the Australian brand Archies, which I have worn every day since May. It being autumn and too chilly for open toes, I think he was hoping they would be replaced. But no. I simply accessorised them with a pair of matching putty-coloured socks.

I don’t know what to say, except the borderline scandalous comfort of slipping my 44-year-old feet into the squishy cocoon of these slides is a siren call I can’t resist.

But everyone is at it. I walk a lot in my daily life and I’d say only one woman in 50 I see is wearing any sort of heel. Take the front rows at the recent Copenhagen Fashion Week, where editors and It-girls wore anything but heels, choosing ballet flats, trainers and

– most popularly – black leather flip-flops instead. This is reflected in buying habits: figures from online shoppers at John Lewis show a 28 per cent decrease in searches for ‘heels’ in the year to June 2025. M&S has seen sales of heels slip so low that flats make up 77 per cent of its new autumn/winter shoe collection, and of its handful of kitten-heeled styles none is higher than 4.5cm.

When I met my husband, I was 27 and exclusively wore high heels. I had them in black, white, gold and brown – strappy, spiky, studded. If I wasn’t in heels, I was barefoot; trainers were strictly for the gym. At 15 I’d started wearing my glamorous elder sister’s discarded heeled boots, which were a size too big. At 16 I got my own: they had a block heel and elasticated straps and were profoundly dowdy. But they made me feel like Jessica Rabbit.

 High heels became a non-negotiable. They signalled to the world that you were a grown-up. Then in 1998 came Sex And The City. It set a new standard for many things: cocktails as fashion accessories, multiple partners as a lifestyle and heels as essentials for striding down the street. I was good at walking in heels – I didn’t totter or stagger. So what happened to me? What happened to all of us?

Well, a few things, the most significant of which was the then head of super-chic French brand Celine, Phoebe Philo, taking a bow at the end of her A/W 2011 show in a pair of white leather Adidas Stan Smith trainers. ‘That was a watershed moment,’ says fashion editor Harriet Walker. ‘Trainers worn not for sport or with leggings but very deliberately with tailored trousers. That juxtaposition looked so much cooler and more nonchalant than heels.’ It proved to be pivotal. Philo looked so incredibly chic, relaxed yet in charge, in her all-black outfit topped off with a dazzlingly white pair of tennis shoes. We all wanted a piece of that. 

Shortly after, I left office life and started working from home. Wandering about the house in a stiletto seemed a little strange. Then I had children – and kids and high heels just don’t mix. The physical demands of looking after under-fives mean you are constantly exhausted and in mild pain. The last thing you need is aching arches.

 

 

 

[Shyheels]

Well, that’s her. Fair enough. It may be the present trend, it may not be. There is nothing in that first person account, other than the title, to suggest that her experience is universal nor is her experience or story telling very compelling. It sounds like she got bored with heels and moved on - something that’s a matter of interest primarily to herself 

[higherheels]

I can definitely see that trend in my environment.

Almost everybody is choosing flats, even for dressier occasions.

I don't mind. I'm old enough to know what I want and will do that regardless of current trends.

[CrushedVamp]

I had a very professional lady here at the house today. One of those careers where even ten years ago she would be wearing high heels. Maybe she would swap them out in the car, but definitely have them on as she came in to conduct business...

Today she wore flats. 

[Shyheels]

9 hours ago, higherheels said:

don't mind. I'm old enough to know what I want and will do that regardless of current trends.

Yes! 

Here in England, even in London, one seldom sees stilettos out and about. You're more likely to see them up north in Manchester, Leeds or York, but even so, not many. Knee boots with chunky 7-8cm heels are relatively common - although nowhere near as common as trainers - but stilettos or tall slender heels of 10cm and above are rare. 

[higherheels]

The same here in Germany. Close to citys like Munich I see them a bit more, but only chunky lower heels. Especially now in autumn/winter they become more.

Stilettos are very rare. I'm happy that they are still sold, not that if it goes on that way they'll even stop selling them because there's no market 😅

[Shyheels]

Hopefully that won't happen! 

I think there will always be a demand for stilettos - the worry is only the real cheap and nasty  or the really expensive will continue to make them, with very slim pickings in that mid-range price and quality bracket

[CrushedVamp]

48 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Hopefully that won't happen! 

I think there will always be a demand for stilettos - the worry is only the real cheap and nasty  or the really expensive will continue to make them, with very slim pickings in that mid-range price and quality bracket

And that is the real shame because it becomes so circular.

People not used to wearing heels; lets say at a wedding venue or something, wear them. Their feet hurt because they are super cheap in quality, so they swear off wearing high heels. Then because they do, there are few future sales, and what few sales there are will based on price. No one is going to buy really expensive, high-quality heels for a one-time-only event, so soon it is just accepted that wearing high heels is painful.

Around and around it goes causing less and less people to wear high heels.

[higherheels]

That would be a vicious circle. I hope it won't come that far.

[Shyheels]

40 minutes ago, higherheels said:

That would be a vicious circle. I hope it won't come that far.

I don’t think it will. Fashion has always been cyclical and I can’t see that changing. Heels, like skirt lengths, go up and down. The whole business model of fashion is one of near constant change although that change is more typically evolutionary rather than fast and sweeping. At the moment heels are in a lull, but the market and the people who move it will eventually become restless and start shaking things up. 

[Cali]

4 hours ago, higherheels said:

That would be a vicious circle. I hope it won't come that far.

It's not a circle, it's a spiral.

[CrushedVamp]

5 hours ago, Shyheels said:

I don’t think it will. Fashion has always been cyclical and I can’t see that changing. Heels, like skirt lengths, go up and down. The whole business model of fashion is one of near constant change although that change is more typically evolutionary rather than fast and sweeping. At the moment heels are in a lull, but the market and the people who move it will eventually become restless and start shaking things up. 

Part of me says you are indeed right, and yet part of me says maybe not so much.

The reason I say that is in looking at hosiery. Every few years you hear fashion guru's say, "oh, pantyhose and stockings are making a comeback this year", and yet every year that fails to happen. Do a search for it for 2025 and you will see it was "going to be a fashionable trend in 2025" and yest.... crickets.

Yes, heels and hosiery are tied in together, but also not so much. Hosiery may be awkward to wear, but not exactly painful like high heels, and it is extremely inexpensive to buy, and a ton of fashionable ways to wear it. So you would think if anything fashion-wise that would make a comeback, with so much going for it, hosiery would... but nope, not really so far.

 

 

[Shyheels]

But we all wear something on our feet. Hosiery is an option but footwear is not. Boots, shoes, sandals, whatever, we all wear ‘em. Heels are a design element in that. One of those elements that fashions alter regularly. The buying public gets tired or bored, or designers decide they need to fire the market with something new, and there are changes. And so it goes. Heels will be back  

[CrushedVamp]

6 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

But we all wear something on our feet. Hosiery is an option but footwear is not. Boots, shoes, sandals, whatever, we all wear ‘em. Heels are a design element in that. One of those elements that fashions alter regularly. The buying public gets tired or bored, or designers decide they need to fire the market with something new, and there are changes. And so it goes. Heels will be back  

You have a semi-valid point. We do wear something on our feet but also wear something on our legs too. Just as flats are the go-to now, in legwear it tends to be leggings.

I know all it took was a few episodes of Sex and the City and high heels were back in fashion, but that was 20 years ago. Hosiery had its heyday in the 1980's; 40 years ago, and never bounced back.

I am not saying I like it, I am just not convinced it is a given. I have a wife. I have five daughters, and I can tell you they are not following their mother in heel choice. They wear heels to the prom and swear they never will wear them again.