High heels are hot
That was the headline doing the rounds. The dissenter’s point of view: “High heels are hell.”
Well maybe only hell for the ladies in question after a long, hard day. And there’s little doubt they play their part in the City, along with the other power dressing. And they’re also de rigeur in that long dress. And essential with a high hairdo. So yes, they’re necessary.
But are they hot, meaning alluring? I wrote to Chuckles and haiku: “Depends entirely on the lady – feminine or hoofer.”
There are baby elephants and frankly, masculine looking women who perhaps look a bit ludicrous in the “trappings’ of female dress. I’m thinking of some HR types I know and they’re barely female in my eyes [don't tell them I said that].
Also, do we mean high heels or stilettos? I’ve seen horrible shoes, truly horrible, with solid heels from the rise to the back and they make a woman look club-footed. Plus high is not so good on young girls as it makes them look like young girls trying to be all grown up.
Then there is the character of the woman. A nasty piece of work accentuates that in the way she struts around in those things, an elegant woman manages well, an ingenue might look out of place. And frankly, some feet look awful, the sinews scraggy and even bitterness in the personality comes through.
Then there is the height of the woman – small women in ultra-high heels give that Tom Cruise effect which accentuates shortness rather than alleviates and hides it. A tall woman looks about right – so every woman has her maximum heel size which is right for her.
So there’s much more to it than just the impression from a distance.
………..
Via Chuckles and filed under “Any excuse”
Filed under: History & Culture, Society & human issues
Saw this piece at Salon t’other day :
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/02/can_evolution_explain_high_heeled_shoes/
and almost did a post on h/h myself, but changed mind.
I doubt it tells us anything we didn’t know already – it’s all in, as they put it, “the mechanics of a woman’s gait”.
I’m curious as to why these past couple of years or so heels have been getting ridiculously high – far higher than in my own h/h/ days when 3 ” was tops if one was in danger of having to run the the ‘bus – as I often was.
Now 6″ and higher is thought to be snazzy. Very odd – must be something psychological. ….added to which a lot of the modern skyscraper heels are ugly, straps around the ankle cutting the leg line, clumpy platforms …all very odd.