You know, doing searches around for market trends, what I find is that the heels market took a massive nosedive during the pandemic (no big surprise) and has been rebounding since, with strong growth expected through at least 2027.
You know, doing searches around for market trends, what I find is that the heels market took a massive nosedive during the pandemic (no big surprise) and has been rebounding since, with strong growth expected through at least 2027.
I agree, I am in the Great Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon), dresses, skirts, and heels are a becoming extinct. The favored clothing now for work and home are yoga pants (leggings), with running or training shoes, and sports tops. If I want to blend that is what I pretty much have to wear. But for "Brenda time" and not around too many people I do like skirts, medium heels, and 3/4 sleeve tops. Do I like it? "No", but that's just the way it is here.
And your point is? They probably are not wearing corsets, girdles, stockings and shelf bras either! But that does not preclude me from wearing them!
Sticking to the original post, ask any woman and the practical of wearing some shoe that is known to do long term health issues to the feet.
Escapism isn't necessarily bad, but is definitely unhealthy in the long term. While helpful in the short term, things will degrade over time. At some point, the escapee will have to face the issue. Things simply blowing over isn't really going to happen in many situations.
Think about it. Women wear heels to look good. Same reason they apply makeup and fuss with their hair. They want to be attractive. They know when men look at them. They get respect, maybe even admiration from other women.
Older women--not so much--comfort rules.
About your first point, Margret: At my job, I wear a suit, tie, and dress shoes. A few years ago, I had a pair of dress shoes that, if I walked just right, clicked exactly like high heels. I took a certain distorted pleasure knowing that I was setting up people's expectations, then disappointing them when I finally came into view.Originally Posted by CDMargret
I too am 5'9" tall already. As an older woman (late 50s), I am perfectly comfortable wearing sneakers or flats, as do most of my cis sisters, so I blend in better and don't tower over them. Heels are reserved for special occasions, such as when I went out New Year's Eve.
If only our families and friends could be as supportive as our bras!
"my dressing isn't about achieving an image but rather reaching an emotional state of happiness and connection with myself" - member Cassie2024
I'm 5' 9", Margret. And, I've been out countless times in hi heels among men, woman, and trans. The only time I've felt tall in 4"+ spikes is the one time at a trans men meeting in Atlanta!
U can't keep doing the same things over and over and expect to enjoy life to the max. When u try new things, even if they r out of your comfort zone, u may experience new excitement and growth that u never expected.
Challenge yourself and pursue your passions! When your life clock runs out, you'll have few or NO REGRETS!
I have noticed that most women do not wear heels. I know a woman that does but she is not at this time. She has a back brace on for some reason so i assume thats why no heels. I love the sound of heels on a hard surface floor.Also notice most women dont dress up hardly at all pass few yrs
I think Monica stated the point: a growing disconnect between some (not all) CDers' view of typical female clothes and what female actually wear. I can't myself imagine a CD session without a bit of heels, but if I went out in my region of the world I would find myself mostly surrounded by women in sneakers, whether in casual or more formal attire. It's just that the sneakers are not every sneakers, there are relaxed versions of them, and more formal ones, typically golden-heeled Adidas.
For evenings out, heels had gradually disappeared since the eighties and are slowly coming back with the younger generation, which can be viewed as a freedom for women to wear heels if they want, now that the social expectation of it is gone, or as an unfortunate come back of such social expectation (for women to look like fragile things).
I suspect part of the disconnect is due to where most CD's are likely to venture, so the sampling is limited. Since I go to clubs, I see some interesting variety. You will not see shoes like this at the grocery store.
heels.PNG
Sandi
Oh Sandi, I think I saw a GG in Walmart wearing those same boots. Ok JK
Crissy
Working in home improvement retail, I am in a position to observe things like footwear. Mostly, I see athletic style shoes, followed by boots and flats. Now tomorrow is Sunday, and I often see more heels then.
The moral of the story? If dressing to blend is your goal, think comfort, match the footwear to your clothes, and note the day of the week.
www.flickr.com/people/196660660@N08/
I agree, we see fewer heels on GGs when out and about than some decades ago ... unless of course the few times a GG might want to dress to impress.
But the same can be said for men who wear dress shoes.
The trend to dress down has been happening since before I was born. Compare late 19th century outfits to the 1920s (no corsets, comfortable loose dresses, no bustles), then compare that to mid 20th century (women wearing pants), then compare that to the cultural revolution of the 1960s (tie-die, jeans). There was a bit of a dressy resurgence in the 1980s as women entered the work-force en masse (dress suits, shoulder pads, silk blouses, heels), but then men and women at work slowly stopped dressing up. "Casual Fridays" turned into casual all-week. I can't remember the last time I saw a man in a three piece suit. Most people don't wear fancy dress in urban areas any more, even when they go to events that called for it, like the opera.
Reine
I have to disagree Reine.
You obviously have not been to Churchill Downs on Derby Day.. lol
Emily
I?ve seen many young women wearing heels on any given night out. Though it?s funny because they seem to obviously be struggling with them. Meanwhile I?m thinking to myself ?I can walk better than they can in those shoes?
OK, and how many times per year is there a Derby Day? :D What do the GGs wear the other 364 days?
Reine
My first pair of heels were 4 inch fuchsia pink sequined stilettos. They looked sooo sexy on the rack and off I went.
After getting all dolled up and donning said heels as the piece de resistance, I soon found out that my calves were screaming in agony within seconds and that rather than a simple, swaying strut that I imagined, I looked more like a newly born Giraffe. Not pretty...
I have since come to my senses and purchased 2.5 inch heels which at first burned my calves but I was determined to master. Didn't take long really. Now I wear them almost exclusively at home and feel no calf burn at all. I no longer weedle around the house, I walk with confidence and can emulate that feminine strut and sway of the hips...
I have a real pretty pair of 4" stilettos that I am hoping to graduate to very soon!
The most common form of despair is not being who you are. - Soren Kierkegaard
There is a remote possibility that the women participating to these events are trying to emulate crossdressers.
Erin, I like your comment about looking like a newborn giraffe when first trying to walk in heels. I used to work at an entertainment venue that included a nightclub. I would see lots of gals in their early 20s - some of them walked confidently and stably in their high heels, others looked like they were wearing heels for the first time in their life.
If only our families and friends could be as supportive as our bras!
"my dressing isn't about achieving an image but rather reaching an emotional state of happiness and connection with myself" - member Cassie2024
And some of us Senior biddies should give up on heels, we wobble around enough already with our canes. Grin
Leslie Mary Shy
Remember this:
You do not have to be a man to love a woman, or be a woman to love women's clothes on her or yourself.
_________________________
I guess context and taste explains a lot the use of heels or any other apparel. I guess high heels are still very trendy and their heights still breaking records every season. Very happy that the amount of designer and popular models of shoes available in large sizes keeps growing daily!!!
I work as a professor with many students who are seniors at a university. They seem to appreciate my attending their graduation ceremonies. At my university, it has become traditional for the graduates to enter the stadium through a cordon of their professors. One of my GG colleagues told me at graduation last week that it is fun to watch the shoes of the graduates. She may have noticed me watching, as I have done for many years. The graduates march at a perfect distance from us professors for observing this.
Shoes, often heels on the graduates who present as female, is one of only two nonpolitical ways to express individuality in a sea of identical black robes and hats. Even many of the guys seem to express themselves by their shoes. It is quite entertaining to watch as the shoes vary in color and style and to observe how they correlate to hair and makeup and academic major. Many graduates totter along, revealing their unfamiliarity with wearing what, at least for three hours this day, adorns their feet. Fortunately, in my forty years as a professor, none have tripped though many have wobbled while crossing the stage to shake hands with the university president and the Dean.
As a photographer I too, get to see many shoes. Most obvious is the period of the going up stairs/ramps. I too, have NEVER seen a graduate fall.
Leslie Mary Shy
Remember this:
You do not have to be a man to love a woman, or be a woman to love women's clothes on her or yourself.
In my opinion, wearing heels is one of the most girly things we can wear; yes I know about dresses and skirts. My point being, when I wear heels, I feel more like a girl, than I do when I wear flats. Plus they make my feet look smaller; I wear a size 11 in women's shoes, so when I wear flats, my feet look enormous.
It's a Jeep thing, you would not understand!!
We size 13 girls have the problem of having "big feet". Some of use have even bigger feet. Just finding shoes is a task, but it slowly is getting easier as the average size of woman's shoes are getting bigger.
From www.Zappos
Women in the 21st Century use larger sizes than any other generation before, due to their larger foot sizes. As of the 1960s, the average shoe size for women was 6.5. In the following decades, the 80s and 90s, it was measured at 7.5+. As the new millennium closed in, the average shoe size was found to be between 8.5 to 9, with a slight increase in shoe widths too.
Last edited by Leslie Mary S; 06-01-2023 at 09:37 AM.
Leslie Mary Shy
Remember this:
You do not have to be a man to love a woman, or be a woman to love women's clothes on her or yourself.
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