Why I’m rekindling my romance with heels this year

Most people gape at me in disbelief when I tell them I hung up my heels for the better part of the last decade. Even though I never really identified with the bracket of women who ran errands or boarded flights in high heels, I wasn’t one to pass up an occasion to splurge on them either: graduation, samples sales, my best friend’s cousin’s wedding; you get the drift. So, while my feet were always dressed pretty, I was less Victoria Beckham (who famously said she couldn’t concentrate without high heels) and more Elizabeth Olsen, who admitted to feeling her feet were “sitting in pools of blood,” in heels. The French have a saying: Il faut souffrir pour etre belle, meaning ‘You have to suffer to be beautiful.” But suffer I could no more. I’d had enough of ‘Satan’s shoes’, as Jennifer Lawrence once dubbed them. At 5’7”, I always taller than most in my clique even in paper-thin flats. So, my decision to do away with heels entirely for most of my 20s was not a sore point (pun unintended).

Chances are, you’ve been there too— retiring from the dance floor early to chase down the closest empty bar stool or secretly chastising your choice of footwear even though you’re strutting for the world. Like me, maybe you pulled an Emma Roberts and just decided to stay away from them. But if you are an unwavering member of the ‘if you must wear heels, commit to it fully’ club, then chances are you’ve made best friends with soothing pain-numbing sprays. Mandy Moore and Melissa McCarthy also reportedly swear by CBD oil or cannabidiol, an anti-inflammatory oil derived from cannabis, to soothe the pain.

Many a woman’s devotion to high heels aside, the stigma that one is not appropriately turned out for a formal occasion without being clad in a pair has been a controversial one. The Cannes Film Festival, in particular, has received flak for their strict heels-only policy—especially after a group of women wearing flats were reportedly turned away from a screening of Carol in 2015. Kristen Stewart decided to walk all over this dress code when, in 2018, she infamously kicked off her black Louboutin stilettos in the middle of the red carpet, and proceeded to carry them as she climbed the steps barefoot. We bet she had the likes of Emma Thompson and Lena Dunham in her corner, who have also previously taken off their heels at public events (both, incidentally, while accepting awards on stage).

Whichever side of the debate you stand, ground floor isn’t the only available option. There is a more down-to-earth medium to be considered as well. And the resurrection of the practical is a John-Cusack-with-a-boombox moment for anyone who has been treading the fine line. Two inches, as it turns out, are the new six inches. Strappy block heels of the non-vertiginous kind really can do no wrong—they’re a stable crossover of functionality, ease and style. Cult Gaia’s clear block slip-ons and Jacquemus’ geometric heels should be your go-to dancing shoes this season. The square-toe strappy heel made popular by Bottega Veneta is still reigning high on popularity charts, and we recommend you don’t ignore the minimalistic mule either. Kitten heels may not be everyone’s glass slippers. But they have managed to shed their image as merely a pre-coming-of-age-choice, reinventing themselves as the smart everyday heel—one in which you can drop your kids to school, make a coffee pit-stop and still make it to your desk before your boss arrives. J’Adior slingbacks, we’re looking at you.

In an interview with Professor Mary Beard on Radio 4 last year, Manolo Blahnik said, “In high heels, you just feel powerful.” But we bet your aching soles from all those morning-afters would beg to differ. And the current comeback of the sensible heel is best excuse for you to make the switch, if you haven’t already.

Also read:

Why flats are replacing heels as the new favourite shoes

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