it's not all about comfort - good shoes are expensive, so why put all that extra wear on them, not to mention the beating bad weather (and that sand/salt they put out when it snows) can do to a good pair of shoes is just tragic. Though I have to admit I don't wear sneakers per se, I travel in the trusty old doc martens with a buckle. Only slightly more fashionable.
The real reason women carry their heels in their bags: to use them to pummel guys who criticize their footwear.
You've been warned!
P.S. What do you strap on your size elevens each morning before you hoof it to work, tough guy?
;-)
If someone would invent (and this can't be impossible... can it?) the ultimate line of comfortable businesslike shoes for women, would they not be an overnight millionaire?
Yes, he/she would. But all the men capable of something like that are too busy not caring, and all the women capable of the same thing are in bed because of teensy weensy blisters on their respective pinky toes.
SUCK IT UP, LADIES!
What uncomfortable shit do men have to wear every day that's the equivilent for this? Until you all start wearing heels or something that actually pains you, you have no right to criticize. Or guys have to stop whining about wearing suits and/or ties in hot weather, take your pick.
1. Good women's shoes cost more than men's shoes, and the fact that they have a raised heel on them makes them more susceptible to damage and causes them to have a higher rate of normal "wear and tear" than men's shoes which have a flat heel.
2. Fashion? Fashion requires that women have MANY pairs of 'dress' shoes (do you know how many pairs of black pumps I have??) in different styles, colors, heel heights. Unfortunately, we can't get by with one pair each of cordovan and black loafers and a pair of black wing tips. Remembering the point I made earlier about price, this adds up to serious money.
3. Serious money. Let's talk about that. These days, we women aren't depending on anyone else to pay our footwear bills- we're counting out those dollars for those shoes, adding that to the cost of all the other fashion accessories that we "have" to own to ensure that we don't commit (your words!) any fashion faux pas. Those shoes are an investment, and it's damn foolish to treat them poorly.
4. Safety. In the winter, just how safe do you think it is to schlep to work and back home again, not to mention the errands in between, in 2 or 3 inch heels? Who's going to pay to replace my twisted up shoes when they are destroyed as I slip on a patch of ice and twist an ankle or break my wrist?
5. What the fuck? Is it not enough that I drag out my pointy shoes with the outrageous heels, wear a strapless evening gown in the middle of winter- or that I have to be VERY careful of how I bend down in the summer when I wear that just-a-little-too-short dress with the spiky heels in the summer....all because I know you like to look? Now you want me to have to destroy my best shoes and, additionally but not primarily, cause my feet to ache before I ever even get to work....just because you don't like the look??
6. And let's just talk about THAT...you don't like the look- so I'm a wuss? Let me guess, you probably also think that childbirth can't be that bad and that women whine too much about the aches and pains of pregnancy. This is a woman thing about which you know nothing. You wear high heels every day, all day, for one month during the winter, to everywhere you go, and then you can enter this discussion with some reasonable facsimile of knowledge. Until then, you would be wiser- and trust me, safter- to strategically retreat as graciously as you can manage on this particular subject.
7. Walk to the bathroom? Piss in a corner pail? Oh, let's not EVEN get on the subject of bathroom inequities for the different genders....
That was quite long, but I stand by what I said. When I see a woman in a skirt, hose and sneakers, I see a wimp. Just deal.
Let's not make it out to be that hordes of men are out on the street cracking whips on women to wear stiletto heels in blizzards every day, either.
if they hurt so much dont wear them. plain and simple. find another pair of shoes that are just as nice that doesn't hurt.
Truth is: Women COULD get by with 3 or 4 pairs of dress/work shoes. I dont think I've ever noticed a woman's shoes.
Body - yes. Face - yes. Earrings, rings and purses - umm... no. Never walked into a parking meter staring at somebody's sexy heel.
Let's be honest, you gals wear them for each other! Probably so you have something mindless to talk about, in lieu of meaningful conversation. Sort of like men and college basketball...
That said, you can wear all the comfortable footwear you want to your little heart's content - safe in the knowledge that no guy (besides Paul) checks out anything from the knees down.
This is L-train in the flesh.
I don't think it's a debate or whether or not it's fashionable-- it's obviously not. The problem is women are tromping around the city and these shoes are ruining their feet(hammer toe, anyone?), giving them back problems, knee problems, not to mention, blisters. I just don't really see the benefit of creating all of these problems. I mean why, so guys like PK don't think I'm a wuss? Most guys don't even iron their clothes, I don't see them caring what I think.
Here's my thing. I acknowledge the fact that you think that I'm a unfashionable wuss, but you know what, I don't really care. And just because you wrote this article I'm most definetly wearing sneakers to work, every damn day.
Yeah, so there, like L-Train said!
See, if we'd have kept you barefoot and pregnant, we wouldn't be havin to put up with this shit now...
Seriously, I for one don't give a damn what you wear to and from work, as long as you're working.
Sorry Lucy. I didn't have the patience to read your entire post, but I have to respond to the first line in point number 1.
While it is obviously true that you can always find shoes of all prices and more expensive than the next, in general women's shoes are not more expensive than men's. I personally invest quite a bit in my footwear, because it is worth spending extra on good shoes with good soles and that is the first thing that a lot of other people notice about your professional appearance. I also have a girlfriend with a shoe addiction. In general, her good work shoes do not come close to what a guy has to spend for a good shoe to wear in the I-banking/legal/consulting/accounting/etc. profession. That's my $.02.
Wow, Paul. You really threw a rock at the hornet's nest on this one. That being said, I agree with you. I live in Chicago and see a lot of the same thing. The worst is when you see some chick with a black outfit on with white sneakers. You got to be kidding me. At least color coordinate, ladies. If you don't give a damn, you might as well wear a sign, because it shows..
PK, am I the only one to note here this is your attempt to draw traffic from Fashion Week(tm) in Bryant Park to your site?
I'll spring for an issue of Leg Action for PK to settle this.
Wear comfortable fashionable shoes to work. There are such things, ladies. For example, medium heel boots - they're reasonably comfortable and still look professional and stylish. Never wear white tennis shoes with a black suit and stockings...
That being said... Paul -- you can kiss my ass with your shoe to bathroom analogy. That's not even close.
With over 200 votes cast, the poll is split almost dead even. I wish I'd split the vote between women and men, because I would've liked to have seen how it broke down among gender. Thanks for the votes, everyone.
There will be more polls in the future.
Well since I don't dress in business attire this really doesn't effect me. But I will say this, I wear scrubs & sneakers for many hours at a time and at the end of a very long shift of dealing w/ drunks and old fat people who over ate and think they're having a heart attack, I slip into a pair of Nike sandals. It just feels better wearing a different pair of shoes.
I think you should fuck off. Men get away with terrifically comfortable shoes, loose-fitting jeans and tees. Women should have that same degree of comfort. Just because some fashion designer deems 4-inch heels the trend, that doesn't mean I have to kill my back to fit the trend. I wear Danskos. I suggest those...with everything.
"I think you should fuck off. Men get away with terrifically comfortable shoes, loose-fitting jeans and tees."
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Get away with? As if there's some conspiracy that enables men to skirt the rules on clothes...?
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"Women should have that same degree of comfort. Just because some fashion designer deems 4-inch heels the trend, that doesn't mean I have to kill my back to fit the trend. I wear Danskos. I suggest those...with everything."
==
Women SHOULD get the same degree of comfort? Apparently they already do since you wear "Danskos".... with everything. Is it just me or did you contradict yourself all the way through that post? You can't be a victim all the time, get over it.
What the hell is a Dansko anyway? Sounds like some kind of stinky-granola-hippie sandal or something... if it's not, it should be.
Who gives a crap what they got on there feet. My only interest is what color panties they're wearing....and if they even got any on in the first place!!!
If only you wore it for a minute and walked not on the ample streets of NY bu t in your own bedroom and see how it hurts then .....
it's not all about comfort - good shoes are expensive, so why put all that extra wear on them, not to mention the beating bad weather (and that sand/salt they put out when it snows) can do to a good pair of shoes is just tragic. Though I have to admit I don't wear sneakers per se, I travel in the trusty old doc martens with a buckle. Only slightly more fashionable.
Posted by amy at February 8, 2004 11:04 PM