Ladies, how relieved were you over the past few years not to have the pressure of going to events that required us to jam our feet into high heels? For the first time ever there was nowhere to go, and our feet gave a collective sigh of relief. Wearing shoes that felt good on my feet was EVERYTHING. No more limping home from work after a long day at the office, because everything was virtual. And guess what, I loved it! For now, my heels can stay in the closet. Indefinitely.
To be completely honest, I’m kind of used to the low-key shoe life now. Lately, I’ve been scouring my closet to find outfits that will allow me to continue my low-key shoe party. It definitely hasn’t been easy, but I am building a different type of wardrobe now. One that accommodates comfort.
After two years of the low-key shoe life, I’ve decided that I definitely don’t want back into the “heel game”. This post is about the comfort wear revolution that occurred during the pandemic, and why my heels can stay in the closet.
The Comfort Revolution
Something crazy happened during the last few years from a footwear perspective. We were actually allowed to be comfortable. For the first time, women weren’t expected to “Zhuzh” it up for optics. Many of us were working from home, and the circumstances didn’t require full-on office glam. For women, this was huge because we usually get extra credit for upgrading our femininity quotient. There was an explosion of athleisure and casual wear that not only looked good on camera but was comfortable as well. Because we were usually on Zoom, shoes actually became optional.
I saw this as a vacation for my feet, and I celebrated it. When I finally did get an invite out to a dressy event, panic set in. Even thinking about the upcoming event gave me visions of the inevitable limping marathon that would take place as I made my way to the uber later. I know I can’t speak for everyone, but for those of us who have a love/hate relationship with high heels, the return to the status quo was disheartening.
Another added benefit I experienced during this shoe vacation, was that clothes shopping no longer felt like a true need. I ended up saving a ton of money because I didn’t feel the need to go out as much.
This shift also made me think about what my true needs actually were. With all of the loss and craziness going on in the world, clothes shopping felt somewhat frivolous to me. I found myself purging my closet with abandon. I got rid of things I was never going to get back into, and even things I wasn’t crazy about. It was just stuff.
Heels, Heels, Heels
Since forever, high heels have been a huge symbol of femininity. Everything looks better with heels. Or does it? Wear heels or go home. Your feet could literally be ablaze with pain to the point that you are crawling off the dance floor, and you would find the strength for one more go when your favorite song comes on. Sound familiar? Hey, it’s all for the greater good! Or is it?
We teeter around on these symbols of glamour during parties, happy hours, and weddings, all the while envisioning the moment when we can burst through our front doors at home and kick off our heels. This is a familiar ritual for all women after a long workday or night on the town. You literally launch your heels off of your feet as soon as you get home, and wherever they land they land. Sometimes we don’t even make it that far. Remember the night your boyfriend carried you by piggyback the last couple of blocks to the car?
Part of this ritual involves the foot recovery period the next morning. When you wake up to go for that morning latte, your feet are still sore. Maybe it was just me, but my feet always felt traumatized and sad. If they could talk they would definitely be asking me why we went there “again”. I never have a good time in heels physically. Ever. They may look good, but they feel horrible to me.
Heels are a wardrobe staple at this point. When you throw on a heel, people know you mean business. The higher the better. I would often look on with admiration at the women who actually managed to make walking in heels look comfortable. How did she do it? If you opt out of a heel for a dressy occasion, your outfit better be nothing short of amazing, or it’s a total fail. Or is it?
Summers are an exception though. During this time we can just go crazy with sandals of various heel heights or even completely flat. I always saw sandals as a reprieve from the pressure of dressing up with the closed-toe pump we are forced into during the winter. Platforms were a huge help, but they never gave us reason enough to rule out the pump entirely.
Now of course some of you may say, “She’s crazy, my feet never hurt!”. Although that may be your story, there are a lot of us out here that are limping home after a night with friends. Sometimes your knees will start buckling after the very first round of drinks. Not fun.
The New Era
So now that we’re here, it leads me to a bigger question. Can we step with confidence into this newfound era of comfort-based clothing without losing our femininity? The pandemic brought an unprecedented and universal shift. Do we embrace the shift or collapse back into familiarity?
The pandemic also gave us a glimpse of life beyond our usual accouterments. Life beyond the things that we used to adorn ourselves with to feel special. After going without them, it makes me wonder if it was ever really necessary at all. Although I toyed with the idea of foregoing heels, I never truly imagined a reality where I wasn’t wearing them. Is dressy always better, or are we just following an imaginary aesthetic script?
I think this is a wonderful opportunity for us as women to reject these uniforms that have been assigned to us. It’s also an opportunity to let our inner beauty shine through free of objectification and shoe torture. We’ve been conditioned to suffer for beauty. We’ve been told that beauty is power, but that only speaks to the external. Inner beauty becomes just as powerful when we don’t allow ourselves to be influenced by societal pressures.
If we step out with confidence in the clothing that makes us feel good we can’t lose. Hopefully, the narrative will change, and more attention will be paid to our inner beauty attributes. You may decide that you are on the forever heels team, and that’s okay. We have the right to be the change that WE want to see. Whatever feels right for us should be the deciding factor. External validation is not real. Read more about this in my previous post “External Validation and Opting Out” https://bit.ly/3IItUDW.
Comfort Is King
After giving a lot of thought to what I really want and need to wear these days, I realized that I will be making comfort my priority moving forward. I’m not saying that I’ll never wear a heel again, but if you see me in one you can be sure that my feet love them!
There are so many clothing lines that are bringing a sense of sophistication to casual wear these days. I want to look good AND feel good. Also, with my focus on inner growth and self-care, my goal is to stand in my own truth. If I don’t feel good about something, why am I doing it? This goes for clothing too. I’m remixing the status quo so it works for me.
Who’s In?
