Women are sick of stilettos.
Women can have developed flatter feet in consequence of laidback style trends necessitated by pandemic lockdowns — during which lots of us spent an unprecedented amount of our time scooting around our homes in bedroom slippers and flip-flops.
Latest research by footwear retailer Kurt Geiger within the UK shows a spike in sales of flat shoe styles with low heels of two inches or fewer, comparable to ballerina flats and loafers, while pumps of 4 inches or higher make up a fraction of all non-flat shoe sales, the Sunday Times reported.
For hundreds of years fashion trends have dictated to what extent women are expected to contort their feet into highly structured styles, from thigh-high boots to sky-high stilettos. Now, podiatrists say the COVID lockdown could explain a recent trend toward low-heeled shoes — because the structure of our feet adjusted to wearing flatter styles across the clock while stuck at home, per the Sunday Times.
And customers aren’t wanting to return.
“‘Our customers now appear to lean into ‘occasionwear’ that may offer each height and luxury in equal measure, with platformed flats and platformed sandals being the large winners, closely followed by dainty, colourful ballerinas and vivid loafers,” said Kurt Geiger’s creative director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley.
Meanwhile, the resurgence of retro sorts of the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s — think kitten heels and ballet flats — has also likely influenced recent shoe sales, in response to Farrar-Hockley.
A switch to more modest heel heights may very well be an orthopedic boon as repeatedly wearing high heels can result in painful foot conditions comparable to hammer toes, bunions and everlasting musculoskeletal injury.
Women are sick of stilettos.
Women can have developed flatter feet in consequence of laidback style trends necessitated by pandemic lockdowns — during which lots of us spent an unprecedented amount of our time scooting around our homes in bedroom slippers and flip-flops.
Latest research by footwear retailer Kurt Geiger within the UK shows a spike in sales of flat shoe styles with low heels of two inches or fewer, comparable to ballerina flats and loafers, while pumps of 4 inches or higher make up a fraction of all non-flat shoe sales, the Sunday Times reported.
For hundreds of years fashion trends have dictated to what extent women are expected to contort their feet into highly structured styles, from thigh-high boots to sky-high stilettos. Now, podiatrists say the COVID lockdown could explain a recent trend toward low-heeled shoes — because the structure of our feet adjusted to wearing flatter styles across the clock while stuck at home, per the Sunday Times.
And customers aren’t wanting to return.
“‘Our customers now appear to lean into ‘occasionwear’ that may offer each height and luxury in equal measure, with platformed flats and platformed sandals being the large winners, closely followed by dainty, colourful ballerinas and vivid loafers,” said Kurt Geiger’s creative director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley.
Meanwhile, the resurgence of retro sorts of the Nineteen Nineties and 2000s — think kitten heels and ballet flats — has also likely influenced recent shoe sales, in response to Farrar-Hockley.
A switch to more modest heel heights may very well be an orthopedic boon as repeatedly wearing high heels can result in painful foot conditions comparable to hammer toes, bunions and everlasting musculoskeletal injury.
