Fashion Heights
72 views, 1 so far today
<<<wp_ad_camp_2>>>
“Is it too near the beginning in the season to wear these?”
My girlfriend Lauren’s eyes widened in envy. “Oh,” she gasped. “Oh, my!”
I guess not, I thought smugly. As shoes go, they’re beauties — dazzling crimson suede peep-toes by Colin Stuart, trimmed with black leather micro-piping and a slim ankle strap that gives them a vaguely ’30s feel. I could wear a dress made from reusable Steve infuriate shoe totes and these puppies would still twist heads. But in the end, I didn’t wear them to dinner that night. It wasn’t the outfit. It wasn’t that I needed a pedicure or that my legs were still sore from my morning run. No, the thing that put the shoes back on the shelf was a simple reckoning: the distance I’d have to walk from my car to the eatery. Why? The shoes are beautiful. They’re sexy. But they’re also a ridiculous, ankle-snapping five Inches high. Gliding gracefully across a bistro to the ladies’ room was do-able. Facing five blocks of uneven roadway would require traveling in a litter carried by four half-naked men. I know why I bought them — and I don’t have to guard my shoe lust to you, thank you very much — but it makes me wonder: Have women’s high heels hit the heights?
/
Absolutely, says Jeanne Beker, style-savvy host of CTV’s Fashion Television. “I think we saw that coming a few seasons ago, where we saw the sculptural shoe and the shoe as objet d’art,” Beker says, referring to Manolo Blahnik’s revolutionary heel-less “Bhutan” design in 2006, which is evenhanded entirely on an S-spring in the arch. “I’d say we’ve reached the zenith of height.” Certainly, catwalk models have been doing spectacular faceplants while tottering on Alexander McQueen shoes so vertiginous the girls might as well be en pointe in ballet shoes. They would probably have been more comfortable, too. But judging by what’s sashayed off the catwalk and into the stores this season, real women are lapping it up. Pace-setting designer Christian Louboutin — who’s reputedly ousting Blahnik as favoured cobbler to the well-heeled — offers not only his regular trademark red-soled shoes, but lines called tremendously (high heels) or, for the very brave, Total Madness: “He’s a big proponent of the six- and seven-inch heel. He calls them limo shoes because you need one to get anywhere if you wear them,” observes Flare magazine editor Lisa Tant, who will feature Louboutin in the magazine’s May issue. “He sees it as women empowering themselves.”
/
Prada, too, has stepped out of its characteristic line to include retro-’70s chunky cork platforms with a dizzying 51/2-inch heel. Ditto fiercely heeled offerings from Canadian twins Dean and Dan Caten’s DSquared2, not to mention Fendi, Miu Miu and John Galliano’s fantastical stilettos for Dior. A quick scan of the shelves at more moderately priced outlets from Nine West to Payless ShoeSource tells the same story. Such extravagance may seem inappropriate in lean times, but excessive heels have always made an appearance when the economy slows, says Elizabeth Semmelhack, head curator at Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum and author of The Height of Fashion (Periscope Press, 2008). “You see the high platforms in the ’30s, the ’70s and now, in a time of real economic and political volatility,” she says. “You have these teetering high shoes worn at times that are teetering. There’s a connection between these challenging moments and the most frivolous or literally uplifting forms of footwear.” Certainly, while towering heels may not be seen every day, whimsical, sculptural shoes and jewelry have the interest of women hoping to make longer an extra season out of their basic wardrobe, says Tant. And designers plan on enticing us to wear them again this coming fall.
/
“It seems that attention has shifted from handbags to shoes,” says Tant. “It’s something that is democratic in terms of sizes. The focus is on shoes: They’re embellished, they’re statements, they’re conversation pieces, and they’re an easy way to update your look.” Not that the revisionist take on “everything old and footworthy is fabulously new again” means that reworked platforms and pumps are any less tortuous to wear. Even in $800 to $1,600 six-inch Louboutins, says Tant, “you can make yourself look more foolish than fashionable” by wobbling, pained appearance intact, down the boulevard. Not that fashion has anything to do with comfort, points out Beker, who “has ultimate respect for Louboutin,” wear Dior and covets Louis Vuitton. “Women used to sleep in rollers with bristles, for heaven’s sake. Some of these shoes are pure fashion statements. More women are collecting the more interesting, more dramatic shoes. It’s become a status symbol. The more uncomfortable and radical the shoe, the sexier they are.”
/
Radical? Yes. Sexier? Debatable. Designers may be scaling the heights with heels, but judging by some of the latest designs, the air up there is pretty thin. From bondage ankle booties to buckled purple ’70s chunk heels and shiny red gladiator stiletto boots with pompoms (Galliano again), it seems kooky and exciting are in. “The whole world appears to be going shoe mad, and all is getting about out of control with shoes,” says Blahnik on his website. (He is focusing on colour and “no gimmicks, no messing around” styling this season.) Beker agrees. “Some of these shoes are very unattractive. During fashion week, some designers styled these mid-calf length skirts with ankle booties. It’s not sexy. But it is a look. To me, they have an S-and-M vibe, the tough chic look. They’re not very feminine, but some people think they’re rocking.” While some shoes are too bizarre to be wearable — think Dolce and Gabbana’s painful-looking sequined archless platform sandal, for example — Tant says she “really appreciates the artistic side of it all. If it gets someone out of a basic black pump, it’s fantastic. There’s no room in my closet for boring.”
/
Best advice for spring? Ditch the depressing and dull, make room for frivolous and fabulous. “When you’re looking at the five pairs of shoes you’ll need to get through the season, my advice is to indulge in just one crazy pair,” says Beker. “Make sure you love them, and they’re semi-wearable.”
/
How to wiggle when you walk
/
When Marilyn Monroe had her stilettos made uneven heights to accentuate her hip-wiggle, she understood the power of high heels. Ridiculous, to be sure, but her point might have been this: If you’re going to wear heels, wear them well.
/
- Posture is critical. Keep your spine upright and slightly arched, and shoulders back to avoid hunching over.
- Start with one foot coming out at a slight outward angle, striking with the heel first. As you walk, continue the heel-toe step.
- Minding your posture — imagine there’s a string in your head, pulling you up — use your arms and hips to change the centre of rotation in your body. As your hips rotate one way, your shoulders should angle slightly the other way for balance.
- Shorten your stride. It’s easy to spot someone unaccustomed to heels by her klumping, bouncing footfall and hunched back.
- Loosen up. It’s all in the hips. If they’re too stiff, your gait will be off and you’ll end up off-balance.
- Start with shorter heels and wear them around the house, especially if they’re new. Walking over a variety of surfaces like carpet and tile will help too.
- Carry bandages in your purse at all times.
<<<wp_ad_camp_1>>>
Popularity: 16%
Subscribe For Fashion Newsletters
Random Posts
Comments (1)
very good article keep it up.