Another article on the death of high heels

[Shyheels]

I saw this in The Guardian this morning

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/28/sarah-jessica-parker-shutting-down-shoe-company-things-looking-grim-high-heels

 

 

[mlroseplant]

I get the fact that heels are not as popular as they once were, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that women aren't expected or required to wear heels anymore. This, coupled with the fact that everyone, and I mean everyone, even those who supposedly love and live in heels, sets people up with the caveat, "Well, you just have to push through the pain. It's the cost of beauty." Even the author of this article said that, despite her professed fondness for heels, her feet and ankles were messed up from years of wearing heels at the law firm. My first question is, "Why did you let this happen?" There is no need for any of that. We know this. Why doesn't anybody else know it?

Edited August 30 by mlroseplant

[at9]

Mark Twain said: "The report of my death was an exaggeration"

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_hoax

[Shyheels]

Exactly. Well fitting shoes are essential, high heeled or not. I had some (well padded) trainers some years ago that were badly made and the inner sole had a nasty edge on it, unnoticeable at first, that made hamburger out of my right foot. By the logic of people who write articles about heels, I should be condemning trainers as articles of torture, instead of simply noting they were badly made. Certainly no pair of heels messed up my feet like those!

[Chorlini]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, high heels are going the way of the corset. Fetish items only. Occasionally they will make a brief fashion comeback and then they will drop off again.

[Shyheels]

And I’ll say again it’s just the cyclical turn of fashion and bears no resemblance whatever to the vanishing of the corset. Nobody wears corsets but we all wear something in our feet and will continue to do so. And the overwhelming variety of footwear has a heel of some sort. As long as the concept of fashion remains with us, variations in the height and styling of heels will remain as well, as aesthetics and trends shift back and forth. 

[mlroseplant]

If we could but make heel wearing into a challenge, a sporting event of some sort, I bet it would come back pretty quickly.

[Shyheels]

A few if the right celebrities wearing them would do it. If Taylor Swift was a high heel aficionado they’d be in style pretty quick.

[Jkrenzer]

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

A few if the right celebrities wearing them would do it. If Taylor Swift was a high heel aficionado they’d be in style pretty quick.

Am I the only who is sick of Taylor Swift?

But your point is spot on.

[Shyheels]

I’ve heard the name (a lot) but I wouldn’t know her if she knocked on the door and I wouldn't recognise any of her songs or even know the names of them 

I do better with James Joyce and Finnegans Wake. I at least know the title and first word

Edited September 2 by Shyheels

[at9]

Like Shyheels, I have no interest in Taylor Swift. But she has certainly been seen out and about in high heels. Plenty of reports such as: https://pagesix.com/2023/12/13/entertainment/taylor-swift-shows-off-toned-legs-in-sky-high-heels-and-sparkly-black-mini-dress-for-34th-birthday-celebration-without-travis-kelce/

https://it.pinterest.com/pin/taylor-swift-high-heels--537476536760241241/

 

Edited September 2 by at9

[p1ng74]

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

A few if the right celebrities wearing them would do it. If Taylor Swift was a high heel aficionado they’d be in style pretty quick.

She is.  Taylor Swift is 5' 11" and wears heels often, including in her shows, dancing.  

Taylor Swift's High Heel Era With Travis Kelce | POPSUGAR Fashion

[Shyheels]

Well then I would say that would be an influence 

[mlroseplant]

Yes Taylor Swift DOES wear high heels for shows all the time. Hasn't seemed to make any difference with young girls adopting heels. Many of my younger relatives are Swifties, so I know a little something about her. Although she writes a good deal of her own material, much of it is.  .  . less than awesome, especially by the time the arrangers and producers get hold of it. Not to put too fine a point on it, I've always thought she was kind of a hack, and that's even before she switched from country to pop. I tried to like her music, I really did. Some of it from 10 years ago wasn't all that bad.

[Chorlini]

On 9/2/2024 at 9:37 AM, Shyheels said:

And I’ll say again it’s just the cyclical turn of fashion and bears no resemblance whatever to the vanishing of the corset. Nobody wears corsets but we all wear something in our feet and will continue to do so. And the overwhelming variety of footwear has a heel of some sort. As long as the concept of fashion remains with us, variations in the height and styling of heels will remain as well, as aesthetics and trends shift back and forth. 

Some things are cyclical and some things come to an end altogether. Corsets were considered part of daily wear for women, not just rich women, for centuries. COMPLETELY GONE. They're not coming back, other then some cheap corset lookalike for Goth girls. Same with high heels. They were in vogue for a while in the 50's to 80's, and then fell out with the masses. But even before the 50's women wore low heeled shoes for decades, so they were accustomed to wearing a sort of pump or heeled shoe already. Now it is almost completely gone, replaced by sneakers and combat boots. Even ballerinas have become rare. We live in an age where women value freedom over style and I don't see that changing. If only for the fact that you need practice to get used to walking comfortably in heels. And women aren't getting any practice anymore. So the moment some fashionistas proclaim the return of high heels, the women they are talking too don't know how to walk in them even if they wanted too. So if they get some they end up in a closet anyway. There is also no sense of self improvement among women any more. To quote youtuber Nerdrotic, it's the HERo's journey. You are perfect the way you are and once you realize that and ignore the patriarchy you become even more perfect. Why waste time improving yourself by learning to walk in heels when you are already perfect in sneakers? Unless a major cultural shift happens away from feminism I don't see high heels coming back happening.

On 9/2/2024 at 1:11 PM, Shyheels said:

A few if the right celebrities wearing them would do it. If Taylor Swift was a high heel aficionado they’d be in style pretty quick.

We've had that already with the rise of the designer heel. That did not translate into more women taking up wearing high heels. Like any corset revival being restricted to semi fetish and goth circles, the rise of the designer high heel was just something for fashionistas and celebrities. I did not see one more high heel being worn because Posh Spice wore Louboutins or Taylor Swift is currently wearing them. Any desire of fan girls to emulate their heroes will fall flat on these women being unaccustomed and ill accustomed to wearing heels. Not to mention that most cannot afford designer heels and the cheap Chinese knockoffs will hurt them even more.

[Shyheels]

Well, if people stop wearing shoes then I guess heels will indeed go the way of the corset. But as long as they do wear shoes, or boots, there will be a variety of styles in offer.

And I doubt that the likes of Louboutin are planning on getting out of the footwear business and investing in feedlots or heavy industry

[mlroseplant]

13 hours ago, Shyheels said:

And I doubt that the likes of Louboutin are planning on getting out of the footwear business and investing in feedlots or heavy industry

Just as soon as they do, let me know. I need a project to carry me through until retirement.

[Mr. X]

High Heels definitely seem to be on the outs.  I recently visited a DSW store.  And, there was't much there at all that I would personally classify as High Heels.  And the little that they did have, was mostly thick and chunky heels, and just plain butt ugly.

[Shyheels]

Prevailing politics and the state of the economy have always played big roles in fashions cycle. We are living in insecure times, ill-fitting the exuberance of a lofty stiletto heel.

[mlroseplant]

What goes around comes around. I was talking with my son the other day about how sloppy kids look these days. That would include my son, but his sloppiness is discernibly different from your average sloppiness. His sloppiness is also a hell of a lot cheaper. He was commenting that kids (or their parents) will spend a lot of money to achieve that look. I mentioned a Billy Joel song from 1980, which has the line, "You can't dress trashy 'til you spend a lot of money." The song, of course, is "Still Rock and Roll to Me."

[Shyheels]

And it was true then, and true now

[VirginHeels]

This also spills into the fact that Dolly Parton always said, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap.

The dress standards of the kids now has taken a slump. Too many women around towns and shopping centres in workout gear, and guys in track suits and just looking too casual in sports gear. I’m not going into the workwear thing, that’s another wreck.

Whats wrong in waking up, putting on a nice pair of jeans, trousers or a skirt for those who want to. A nice shirt or blouse and what ever the weather suggests you should. Then a nice pair of shoes, or ideally heels?

It doesn’t cost a lot of money to look good, and to feel good. Feel good, do good. Standards have fallen.

Talking to a friend recently about this, who has a job in aviation recently. They have been encouraged by management to get dressed on a day off. They also have a fitness standard to keep, again feel good, look good.

I blame the pandemic, and the economic situation right now globally. Standards have fallen with the work from home/remote/hybrid working environments. Standards dropped for two to three years and it’s going to be a struggle to get them back.

[Shyheels]

Working from home shouldn't be reason for falling standards. I've been a freelance for nearly 30 years and one of the things that I do to separate my work life from my home life is to dress for work - not absurdly, but enough to distinguish work timeframe leisure time. In that heels have been really helpful. They are an indicator that I am at work, not lolling about at home. It just the find of thing that really does help one to focus on work, step mentally away fro your home environment. It makes freelancing viable

[VirginHeels]

That’s the thing, it’s the younger generation may not have the experience for that. I know as an elder millennial that the Gen Z folks are needing help. The younger ones especially, the older ones are okay.

Im not completely blaming it on working from home, it is an element in it. Also, the amount of shops and service workplaces that are relaxing their uniform codes is in there too.

[mlroseplant]

My younger Gen Z child has no problem working. The reason he always looks a little trashy is because I can't seem to get him to segregate his "good" clothes from his "working" clothes. The kid has probably eight pairs of jeans, and every one of them is greasy from working on machinery of some sort, which is what he likes to do in his free time. On the other hand, he also knows how to tie a necktie, and owns a suit. His fashion is either "1" or "0", there's no middle ground at all. As an aside, he has never given any signs of being ashamed of his father in any regard, fashion or otherwise. I guess I'm lucky.

[CrushedVamp]

I think some of the blame for the demise could be put on husbands and boyfriends too. My wife LOVES high heels, but sometimes on a date we ended up walking much further than we thought, or we ended up standing longer than anticipated. Other times her new shoes just hurt her feet quicker than anticipated. It was no big deal... my wife kept a pair of soft flats in her purse. They took up some room, but were no heavy, but more importantly were always there as a way out.

While I preferred her to be wearing high heels, and thought it made a much more poignant fashion statement, the truth was her heels hurt her feet, so she switched to black flats. I think to some degree if husbands and boyfriends adopted that concept, it would not only be supportive, their loves might wear high heels more often since they have a way out of painful shoes.

But it need not be just black flats. Having Keds at the ready, or even going to places where she can go barefoot are all painless alternatives. And alternative shoes can be kept in the car, the inside pockets of a mans suit jacket, etc. Its just the concept of them having a less painful alternative that might help make wearing high heels a little more attritive then the person thinking, 'It's going to be a night of painful feet".