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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Heels or Flats?

Always the same - choose comfortable flat shoes or sexy high heels? I choose heels more often. Not always very high, but I get the effect. It depends on the weather condition, because for example it wouldn't be possible to walk on icy surface and feet swells and sweats when it's hot. There was a time when I was buying and never wearing heels. You know, they look nice on the shoe-rack and it's great to look at them from time to time. And I'm not alone, am I A.? One day I deemed that a real woman HAS TO know how to walk in a high heels. At my friend's advice I started to walk at home, then to the shop and to work at the end - the bus stop isn't too far and there were soft carpets in whole building, and I was sitting at the desk whole day, so it wasn't that hard. Even so I still have a few pairs of comfy ballerinas and other flat shoes on my shoe rack which I choose when I'm not sure about the condition of the place I'm going to. Sometimes I help myself by the wedges. The most important are good size, profiling, stability, soft fabric and shape fitted to the feet shape. I keep to a few rules and for example won't wear flat ballerinas with a skinny trousers. A lot of women is doing this but I think that they just shorten their legs and widen their hips. There's no other part of outfit that affect the entire silhouette and self-confidence as high heels. Designers like Christian Louboutin or Jimmy Choo know about it and still seduce by new designs.
In the past high heels were symbols of position and prestige. Today it's more a matter of personal preferences and comfort. In the past few years they got their popularity back thanks to the movies like 'Sex and The City'. Recently I've read about British trade union's idea to ban high heels from work. I think it has sense when you stand whole day but when you sit you can just discreetly take the heels off. And below a few reasons why wear or not to wear heels and flats.

HEELS:
+ add self confidence
+ are sexier and more feminine
+ a leg looks better, calf and bums are tight

- they can cause back issues, pain of different body parts, varices, cellulite and bunion - specialists suggest that for the back the best heel height is about 2-4 cm
-you need to first learn how to walk in them
- they're not suitable for extremal weather condition
- a women who can't walk in high heels but wear them anyway look silly
- abrasions, cramps and corns are everyday life - a different kinds of jelly insole and sole stickers will be useful 
- too high = no balance

FLATS:
+ more mobile
+ more practical
+ more comfortable for the most
+ perfect for pregnant women
+ a lot of designers discover flats and create better and better designs

- they can shorten the legs and make you look heavier
- completely flat shoes aren't good for your back either and can cause pain (at least 2 cm heel as above)
- from my own experience I know that the sole is very often too soft and too thin which can cause feet pain and lack of comfort during walking
- flat sandals almost always cause abrasions and corns
- you can look unprofessional if you wear flats for a job interview

As yo can see, high heels are more profitable in respect to aesthetic while flats to comfort. Well, it's important to remember that even the most stylish shoe, flat or high heel, won't improve the appearance if the foot are sloppy. But it's not time to speak about it in this post.

picture: Christian Louboutin, Marc by Marc Jacobs
source : net-a-porter

2 comments:

  1. Nice post! I'm always tossing up whether to wear heels or flats most days. I love how you've listed all the pros and cons - I really want to start wearing heels more x Sushi

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