The Addictive Appeal Of High Heels

What is the appeal of high heels? It’s a question I often ask, usually when I am soaking my poor, aching feet in a bowl of water after wearing the things for any length of time. I like to think that I’m a sensible person. I can see through the ad-man’s hype and I don’t trust or believe in everything so I read or see online. I know that there are lots of things to be said against heels. I have said most of them myself at one time or other, sometimes through tears of pain from a wrenched ankle, so I still keep coming back to them. I could no more do without my heels (several pairs all waiting in line) or my phone.

It’s probably the same with you. You have heard about, or maybe experienced, the tendon pain and the sprains and maybe even the bunions, but you still climb aboard every time there’s an even faintly dressy occasion. Because the truth about heels, and the reason for their appeal, is that they do make us look good and feel good. It doesn’t actually make sense, but then the appeal is not a sensible one. It is to do with aesthetics and associations.

High heels are adult shoes. Your first pair of heels is a landmark in growing up. The fact that they are not easy to wear is weirdly part of what makes them eye-catching. Walking in heels is an adult skill. I always think this when I see some poor girl tottering and teetering around; she’s joining the club.

Also, you can’t get away from the fact that heels are supposed to make you look good, that is attractive, which is to say seductive. There are practical reasons for that – accentuated calves, legs looking longer,  you look taller , feet looking shorter, and standing with your back straighter – have you ever tried to slouch in heels? It’s as if you’re planning a nose dive. Heels also, of course, make you walk attractive in the cat walk fashion, with your hips swaying. I’m not sure exactly why this is thought to be sensuous, but you know it is. Now kids also start to wear heels and they look attractive. So you can see there is a wide variety of “Kids Sandals” in the market there is a wide variety of “Kids Sandals”.

I think at the heart of it, the appeal of high heels, is the very impracticality of them. They are like little black dresses or wedding dresses or any form of highly impractical attire. They are not part of the workaday world. You wouldn’t wear a backless evening dress in some sheer material if you were going to the shop, nor would you wear a pair of heels if you were planning to run for a bus.

High heels are the ultimate in special occasion wear, and that is their appeal, as far as I’m concerned. They lift me out of the humdrum world and into somewhere more exciting and alluring. They do this just as surely as they lift me up into the air. Because of all this, heels are exciting, and how can anything exciting ever lose its appeal?