Shoe Fashion Tip - Faux heels
This is not about knitting, but it goes with fashion knitting, as shoes can make or break an outfit.
I absolutely love shoes. I think, more than the average woman. I got my first pair of heels when I was 15 (back in the days when heels for little girls did not exist). Since I was little, my favorite pass time while out has been shoe watching. That is, watching shoes people wear, especially women.
I starved during the clunky and pointy shoe fashion of the mid 1990's to mid 2000's (nothing pretty to look at during that time) and living in the US, I am still a little starved. I realized exactly how deprived I have been during my last trip to Japan (Tokyo) in 2012. Cute shoes on every feet.
In the US, I feel that sadly, women have dissociated the idea of comfort from style when it comes to shoes. In their mind, stylish cannot be comfortable. Partly because stylish often means heels and heels cannot possibly be comfortable. I wear heels almost everyday. Often to people's surprise and dismay, I do everything in my heels. Teach class, go up and down stairs, run to catch buses, cross grassy areas, hop over ditches on construction sites. What I don't do in my heel is walk for miles or walk for too long on rugged terrain. That's bad for the feet and for the shoes. They are not meant for that.
The point I am trying to make is that I can comfortably wear heels on a regular work day and manage little things one encounters when walking outside. This lifestyle is possible because when I shop for heels, I have three criteria, in that order: 1) Comfort, 2) Style, 3) How easy the shoes are to put on and take off. 1) and 2) are a deal breaker, while I sometimes forgive 3) if the shoe is perfect on the first 2 criteria. When I buy shoes, I put them on and walk around in them. If I can't do that, they go back on the shelf. Yes, that means that when I say I wear heels, they are not towering heels. Mostly between 2 and 2 and a half inches, 3 inches tops, especially since I have small feet.
This bring me to the point of this post. If wearing heels make your feet and your back hurt just from the thought, or you have feet or back conditions that prohibit you from wearing heels, there is good news. You do not have to give up on style. First of all, they make very cute flats. And here is something else to consider: Faux heels.
Faux heels are shoes that look like heels but are really very nearly flat. An example are the shoes I was wearing when modeling my red skirt suit. Incidentally, that was a find at a market in a subway station in Tokyo.
[Update 11/06/2015] Sadly, I no longer have these shoes. I walked so many miles a week in them that they gave out 2 years after I bought them. They died in Hawaii.
I absolutely love shoes. I think, more than the average woman. I got my first pair of heels when I was 15 (back in the days when heels for little girls did not exist). Since I was little, my favorite pass time while out has been shoe watching. That is, watching shoes people wear, especially women.
I starved during the clunky and pointy shoe fashion of the mid 1990's to mid 2000's (nothing pretty to look at during that time) and living in the US, I am still a little starved. I realized exactly how deprived I have been during my last trip to Japan (Tokyo) in 2012. Cute shoes on every feet.
In the US, I feel that sadly, women have dissociated the idea of comfort from style when it comes to shoes. In their mind, stylish cannot be comfortable. Partly because stylish often means heels and heels cannot possibly be comfortable. I wear heels almost everyday. Often to people's surprise and dismay, I do everything in my heels. Teach class, go up and down stairs, run to catch buses, cross grassy areas, hop over ditches on construction sites. What I don't do in my heel is walk for miles or walk for too long on rugged terrain. That's bad for the feet and for the shoes. They are not meant for that.
The point I am trying to make is that I can comfortably wear heels on a regular work day and manage little things one encounters when walking outside. This lifestyle is possible because when I shop for heels, I have three criteria, in that order: 1) Comfort, 2) Style, 3) How easy the shoes are to put on and take off. 1) and 2) are a deal breaker, while I sometimes forgive 3) if the shoe is perfect on the first 2 criteria. When I buy shoes, I put them on and walk around in them. If I can't do that, they go back on the shelf. Yes, that means that when I say I wear heels, they are not towering heels. Mostly between 2 and 2 and a half inches, 3 inches tops, especially since I have small feet.
This bring me to the point of this post. If wearing heels make your feet and your back hurt just from the thought, or you have feet or back conditions that prohibit you from wearing heels, there is good news. You do not have to give up on style. First of all, they make very cute flats. And here is something else to consider: Faux heels.
Faux heels are shoes that look like heels but are really very nearly flat. An example are the shoes I was wearing when modeling my red skirt suit. Incidentally, that was a find at a market in a subway station in Tokyo.
You would call shoes like these low heels, and they are, but they are more than just low heels. Low heels do not have to be stylish or sexy. They are shoes with ... low heels. Faux heels have the elegance of high heels, without the height. I can, and do, walk to work in these shoes. Without giving up on style.
Another more recent find is this pair, found at the Salvation Army.
From what I can tell, they are vintage 80's, maybe early 90's, definitely before the pointy toe craze. Outdoorables (love the name) by Daniel Green. I love mary-janes, T-straps, and classic shoes. The light, neutral tone of these makes them perfect with spring and summer outfits. Cute and insanely comfortable too.
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| The shoes in action, with a summer outfit on a beautiful late August day in Montreal, Canada. |
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