Why do women persist in torturing themselves for fashion? History has shown us how destructive some trends can be, but even educated, intelligent women still allow themselves to be ensnared in the fashion net.
Chinese foot binding and corsets so tight that women could scarcely draw a breath are just two examples of ridiculous fashions that thankfully have been discarded. But many women are still very unkind to their feet.
Some women consistently squeeze their feet into shoes a size too small, enduring corns, blisters and painful bunions as a result. Others walk to train stations, suffer at parties and at race days, and even through a day at work, in towering high heels, simply because they entertain an idea that the higher the heel the sexier they look.
Where does this notion come from, and why has it lasted so long? I don’t want to get into complicated sociological arguments, but it’s common knowledge that an idea of beauty is conditioned into us. I wish we women would trust to our own good sense more, and throw out the fashions that are stupid or plain dangerous.
It’s certainly true that higher heels can enhance proportions and make us feel more powerful by adding stature, but why the towers and why the great clumping heels? They only serve to make a woman look ridiculous. Like cows with thin legs and great hooves stuck on the end. Not to mention the back pain, sprained ankles and sometimes even broken legs that often follow.
I used to think that a lot of shoe designers must dislike women, but actually I’ve learned that marketers are more to blame for these fashion transgressions. It was Tamara Mellon, the marketing force behind the Jimmy Choo brand, who was pushing to go higher and higher on the heels of his shoes in the early days of building the brand. Jimmy Choo, the artisan, kept imploring, “No higher! You’re destroying the balance.”
I completely agree with him. When it comes to a woman’s shoe, balance is paramount. I have a general rule about shoes. If you can’t dance in them, or run in them, don’t wear them.
