When you travel to France, what kind of heels should you wear? This may sound like a silly question because heels are heels, right? Apparently not. I packed my suitcase full of stilettos thinking that I would make the perfect French woman à la mode. But as always, darned France proved me wrong. They seem to wear a thicker heel, one that resembles those worn in the 40s. Aside from France, I noticed this fashion in London too, which is ironic because I had to borrow my friend's heels for a 40s costume that she had bought in London. So I suffered 5 months of sunken stilettos caught between the cobblestone cracks, while the other French women walked freely about without trouble. This may or may not have set me apart as an American.
That's funny. I went heel shopping with my gay boyfriend because he's doing a Lady Gaga/drag theme for his going away party at the end of the semester. He tried on this hot pair of patent leather, knee high boots, and it would have been perfect with a pair of fishnets for a Gaga theme, but we opted against it because it had a thick, rectangular heel and kind of ruined the hotness of it all. He went for a thinner heel - not quite stiletto, but not rectangular either. It was manageable for him.
ReplyDeleteThe choice of the French and British women inspires ambivalence. On one end, I applaud them for being both fashionable and prudent. On the other end, I don't know why they don't choose one or the other and commit to it. If you're going to be fully prudent, why not just go for a nice pair of flats to face the cobblestones? If you're trying to be really fashionable, why not go all out and rock the stilettos? I guess the combination is the optimization of both values and it shows the dedication to fashion along with good decision making. I just think of how much it hurts to walk in heels for prolonged periods of time (not to mention on cobblestone), and I also think, "Go big or go home."