Women Behaving Badly with Shoes, High Heels and Footwear for Naughty Girls
Women Behaving Badly - The series began with the naughtiness of girls with Chocolate. Having bitten into this first topic (the author licks her lips in sweet remembrance), it is now time to progress to Shoes.
I should explain that this series of essays is an examination of those little feminine naughtinesses that are not really sins at all and are the essentially the prerogative of women rather than men.
By shoes I’m not thinking so much of sensible flats or smart, lace-up brogues but more audacious, showy, show-off shoes.
Think significantly high heels and bright, shiny colours. Think too of boots that extend beyond the calf. Even boots that cover the knee or extend on upwards, if not sky high then at least, thigh high.
These are frivolous shoes. The sort that your Mum wouldn’t buy you let alone allow you to wear to school. These are bad, sinful shoes. Tramp shoes. That’s exactly why Women Behaving Badly just can’t get enough of them!
Why do Women Desire Shoes?
For smaller, rounder women those big heels add height. They make us feel more like supermodels.
They don’t just add height but they also make our legs look longer and sexier. They make us feel more desirable. The bright colours also draw the male eye to our feet.
We also kid ourselves that Heels make us walk more attractively. That we wiggle and sway on them in a seductive manner.
This may be true when we first slip into our shoes but by the end of a long, late evening on the town we may well sway, totter and even fall off our fabulous footwear and end up staggering home on sore, stockinged feet carrying the offending footwear in our hand.
But its about much more than just the wearing of shoes. The high heel shoe is itself an object of desire. Its form and look is just as appealing to the feminine eye as a painting or sculpture.
It becomes to the owner a treasured work of art. I had an idolatrous flat-mate who installed her left scarlet stiletto on a plinth on top of the television. She stared at it for hours even when the TV was off.
Another simpler argument in favour of high heels is that they take you four inches closer to heaven.
So What not to Like About Heels?
I remember a physics lesson where we were warned that the pressure exerted on the floor by a stiletto heel worn by a petite, slim girl is far greater than that delivered by a fully grown elephant.
The moral being don’t ever dress your elephant in heels.
Fortunately this statistic results in modern domestic and commercial floors being strong enough to withstand a herd of elephants.
This is much better than the banning of stilettos that happened in the 1960s when traditional soft wooden flooring in institutions such as libraries and art galleries was rapidly pockmarked by the then fashionable heels.
The other issue against fancy heels is the extravagance. One pair might be acceptable. A man may crave a sports car and be happy as Larry with a single Ferrari. Women, however, collect fabulous shoes like young girls collect Barbie Dolls.
Imelda Marcos
This feminine weakness is well illustrated by the 2,700 pairs of shoes that Imelda Marcos left behind in Malacanang Palace after she and her dictator husband fled the Philippines some years ago.
So what do high performance, towering, flashy heels say about the owner?
"There's an awful lot you can tell 'bout a person by their shoes --- Where they goin, where they been..."
Forrest Gump said that in the 1994 movie of the same name. Food for thought maybe. So do your favourite shoes say you're safe, dependable and reliable or do they scream out you're successful, powerful or even a sex worker?
So what about you, Gina?
No leave me out I'm just the messenger here. OK so I do have a few too many shoes divided between my travel case, my flat and my parents home. But some of them are really sensible.
I do admit to always carrying at least one pair of fabulous heels and a gorgeous dress on my travels to the forgotten corners of the globe. Literally just in case. Unfortunately my job means keeping a very low profile so my finest shiny shoes seldom see the light of day!
Anyway enough of me. I hereby give you permission to buy just one more pair of shoes in celebration of this article. If you can't be bothered to make it to the shops then why not have a quick look on online for what the Web has to offer? Buying womens shoes online has never been easier and it s a great way to find something out of the ordinary.
Come on, you know you want to. Finally, look out for further Women Behaving Badly articles from Gina - I have a long list, I assure you!