There was a time when New York women chased “Sex and the City”-fueled dreams of frolicking down Fifth Avenue in towering Jimmy Choo stilettos. The higher the heel, the closer to fashion heaven.
But now Carrie Bradshaw is only seen in reruns, and women are coveting comfort over sky-high, leg-lengthening stilts.
Last week, Victoria Beckham — once the standard-bearer for fussy feminine glamour — revealed that she is hanging up her heels.
“I just can’t do heels anymore,” she told British newspaper the Telegraph. “At least not when I’m working. I travel a lot.” And in February, she took a bow at her fashion show in — gasp — Adidas Stan Smith sneakers.
It’s a surprising sartorial backpedal for the Spice Girl-turned-designer, who’s famous for deftly running around town in platform stilettos and once proclaimed, “I can’t concentrate in flats.”
But the mother of four is merely echoing what other successful, stylish women are saying with their feet — and their wallets. Sales for flats have exploded, dovetailing with a flurry of high-end designers from Chanel to Gucci debuting luxurious alternatives to ballet flats on their runways.
Since online shoe company M.Gemi launched almost a year ago, flats have doubled their share of sales, according to CEO Ben Fischman. “[They] consistently sell out 100 percent,” he says, “usually within the first week.”
Shana Scala, the founder of SRS Entertainment, a marketing and public relations firm, spent her 20s building an impressive shoe collection, including neon orange Louboutin stilettos. They’re now gathering dust in her Lower East Side apartment.
“I used to run out and buy whatever Louboutin was in style. I would wear 5-inch Manolos to meetings,” she says. “But, in the last few months, I’ve said, ‘Forget about it,’ ” says Scala, who now wears slip-on sneakers.
She moved toward more comfortable shoes last year after her doctor said her knee pain and shin splints were exacerbated by wearing heels.
“My 25-year-old self would never think I’d be running around in Vans-like sneakers,” adds the 29-year-old.
But doctors caution that even flats can wreak havoc on your feet.
“If you are wearing a flat, it may appear to be comfortable, but people will develop other [problems] like plantar fasciitis and Achilles issues,” warns Dr. Rock Positano, director of nonsurgical foot and ankle service at the Hospital for Special Surgery. “[You’re] really putting stress on the lower leg.”See more at:2015 formal dresses | formal dress shops brisbane
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