Wobbling Heights

Podiatrists everywhere cringe when articles celebrating turbo-platform shoes appear on the front page of Thursday Styles.

[...] shoes for spring present a special challenge. You just can't escape the fact that they are taller, more outrageous, involving a great deal more design and expense but also, it must be said, a great many more opportunities to humiliate yourself. Who pictures herself on a gurney? And how do you explain it? "It's not like you broke your leg skiing in St. Moritz," Candy Pratts Price said . "That's a good story. But 'I fell off my platforms'?" Ms. Price smirked.

There's also the risk of memory loss at such altitudes:

"I'm only looking for platforms now," Ms. Chetrit said. "I feel much more balanced in them." Besides, she added, "I need to be taller than my kids when I yell at them." And how tall is she? Ms. Chetrit gave one of those great deadpan New York looks. "I don't know anymore," she said.

At Avenue of the Americas and 55th Street I got out of a taxi. Taking the train there was out of the question: not only are the heels high and slanted, but they also taper to a point the size of a nailhead. I had thought to take along a pair of ballet flats, which many bright women in New York on their way to a date or a party have no trouble rationalizing. It's like having a limousine without the expense and bother. Now six feet tall, I suddenly felt less invincible than wretchedly vulnerable, to gross stares and gusts of wind. I ducked behind a pillar and put on my ballet flats. Then I hurried on, bolting past Ms. Wintour and the noontime crowd. [...] I enjoyed my new height and the giddy looks of fright on the men in the office. In reality you don't wear a pair of shoes like that if you carry a book bag and share trains with commuters. You invite looks of pity. Shoes like that serve a different purpose: seduction, fun, making men bark.

I don't personally feel the need for additional height (as previously discussed) - at least, not enough to add platform soles to my heels, but I can understand the urge - I once worked in an office with several not-so-nice men who also happened to be on the short side, and I wore heels on a regular basis to keep them a little off-kilter. But not at risk of life and limb. At least now I know why our totebags have to be so big - to hold our 'walking' shoes.

Stilt Walking Into Spring - [NYT]