During my teens, I placed all my femininity aside and never wore high heels when I was growing up.
On my twenties, I finished University and I entered the work force. I was at a different stage of my life, feeling more confident and so I decided to have a go and I started wearing heels.
At that point of my life I was living in Lisbon and Lisbon has terrible (but gorgeous) sidewalks/pavements for women’s shoes. Made of chunky cubes of basalt and limestone that make our streets beautiful, your shoes get destroyed within 5 seconds you step out in the streets. The Portuguese sidewalks are also very slippery when it rains and this makes wearing heels in Lisbon an extreme sport. Yet, I had developed my taste in shoes, my collection was increasing and I wanted to wear those shoes on my everyday life.
In 2014 I moved to the UK and I went to live in a small town. It was a very challenging year for me. The fact that I worked 5 min away from my house, that I had no friends there, I didn’t have a social life where I could use all my shoes, day by day I started wearing high heels less and less.
One year after, I moved to London. I was excited for this new step in life, to be living in this amazing city, but one thing I realised was the distance people had to walk every day, commutes were so long.
Because I had not been wearing high heels for a year and now I had to walk long distances, I realised I was probably not going to wear them so frequently. I still tried to go back and wear my high platform boots and my high heels. But most of the times I would think about my day, I thought I didn’t want to be tired of wearing heels at the end of the day and I would choose to wear flats.
After a while, and also because I was now living in a smaller place I decided I would rummage through my shoes and I would start selling them online. If I was not wearing them, maybe someone would appreciate them.
I would put them on, walk a bit with them and check if the height of the heel was comfortable or not. If not, then I would sell them.
This was the 1st time I realised that most of the high heel shoes, available in stores, have unbelievably unsafe, unhealthy heights, that women cannot maintain them during their night outs or through their work days. Who has not taken their shoes underneath their work desks, raise your hand?!
Nowadays when I am trying new shoes, I always check if the heel height and the inclination they propel my body, is acceptable. I ask these questions:
– can I run in these shoes?
-can I wear these shoes throughout the night out/throughout my work day?
– does it feel I can easily slip or trip over?
– are the heels height forcing my leg muscles into a stress position?
Why do I ask all these questions? For several reasons:
– I want to spend my money on shoes I AM GOIG TO WEAR. Buying stuff just because they are amazing and gorgeous is a waste for your time and MONEY. Don’t clutter your life with items you won’t use.
- I want shoes that support me and not the other way around. Shoes need to be functional and wearable. If stores and/or designers are making shoes that look amazing in paper, but they mess up your body, then what’s the point?? Shoes have a purpose, to keep your feet protected and supported. I want my feet to feel supported, Ok. Who doesn’t want to feel supported?!
- We all have busy lives. We work, we raise children, we take care of our parents, family, we have hobbies, so the things you buy should be in your life to help you, to improve you. I do taekwondo, which is a sport that relies a lot on legs. After class I am exhausted and the next day, I still feel my legs are sore and in pain. Why am I going to use heels/shoes that are going to make my day worst? No, I am going to use something that looks amazing but comfortable.
And to all the people put there freaking out, thinking I am suggesting they shouldn’t wear heels, please don’t. I am saying that we should make informed purchases, there is product diversity, you can find amazing shoes that have smaller heels, or even flats. Look around. Remember, your style doesn’t depend on a specific item, or model, or pattern, or color. You don’t have to wear heels to look feminine or to look attractive. My personal opinion is that you look more sexy and beautiful, when you look relaxed and comfortable.
The other point I want to mention on this post, is that we don’t need to comply with what society tells us to wear. I have read cases, where employers forcing women to wear heels: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/11/receptionist-sent-home-pwc-not-wearing-high-heels-pwc-nicola-thorp
And of course the entertainment industry telling women what to wear: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/19/cannes-backlash-high-heels-emily-blunt-flat-shoes
These entities are embarrassing themselves and my hopes is that scenarios like these, will be fewer in the future.
With this post I want to remember women that you don’t have to wear something, just because everybody else is wearing it, because movies, the magazines, the blogs etc are all posting the same thing. Find whatever makes your happier.
Franca Personal Style Consultancy 