One of my chief aims with Lifestyle Fifty has always been to encourage women to grow older creatively and to take charge of their lives.
And the ‘taking charge of life bit’ made me take a good long hard look at all my tarts trotters lined up (not so) neatly in my wardrobe – scratch that, I should rather say, chucked in a heap in a hard-to-find-corner of my wardrobe.
Table of Contents
High heels and Tarts Trotters
Yes, I know they’re featured in the Lifestyle Fifty header. For when I began this blog I felt that high heels showed that we could still teeter and totter with the best of them.
Which For Me Isn’t So True Anymore.
Even though I’ve always wanted to give the illusion that I’m taller than my 4 feet 4 inches inches (1.62m) I’m not so sure I mind these days.
It seems as if I don’t feel quite so safe perched atop a mountain that rests on two spiky towers. I used to walk for miles in stilettos, dance all night and not bat a nubile eyelid. These days my bunions get in the way of a good walk in a ridiculously styled pair of shoes, and to tell you the truth I prefer a good walk.
As writer Liz Byrski put so well. “They are a symbol of the discomfort and restrictions of conformity.”
Restrictions and discomfort aside, I still try though. I’ll buy a pair of sensible black high heels, and the only sensible thing about them is the colour. Because I’ll put them on and within a short space of time I’ll be kicking them off under the table. There’s nothing like an uncomfortable pair of shoes to make me grumpy either.
These days you’re much more likely to find me waddling happily around more comfortably in Earth Spirit/Planet shoes during summer or small heeled boots for winter, like those below from Betts Shoes.
Whereas wedges like these below* get worn constantly. They are just big enough and not too high for comfort.
Shoes I’m loving right now
My Frankie4 sandals* which I’ve worn constantly all summer – they go with so many things. Designed by a podiatrist they just mould to my feet and keep on walking.
I can totally see myself in these Long Suede flat boots now $79.99 (were $99.99) for the entire winter. They’re available online here at Autograph*
Tips for a shoes cleanse
- If a shoe doesn’t feel comfortable right now, it probably never will.
- Shoes that you conserve for walking only from the car to the restaurant table to the toilet because they look good but don’t feel comfortable will not get worn – believe me. Chuck ’em.
- Keep shoes with a moderate wedge or block heel if they are comfy because they are great for a bit of height.
- You’re probably going to be looking for shoes with a wider fit these days, so toss out any pointy narrow beauties.
- Sometimes you might find that a very small heel is actually more comfortable than no heel at all.
- Flip-flops, thongs, call them what you will, have some very pretty brothers and sisters these days – so much so that they are actually more like pretty sandals. Stock up on those that don’t give you blisters between your toes.
- Old-lady-look-sensible-strappy-sandals, er you know the ones I’m talking about (and yes, guilty as charged) should be thrown to the wind in favour of the same kind of shoe but in a pretty style. You can find them if you look hard enough.
Question: Should I keep the drawing of Stilettos in my Blog Header or ask my daughter to edit them out and draw some flat ones instead?
Disclaimer : An * denotes affiliate links or (previously) gifted items
I’m linking up with the lovely Rachel from Redcliffe Style today.
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I don’t think I have ever worn stilettos! ever! And I am certainly way past them now. I have no idea how anyone walks in them! My niece had 2 pairs of shoes at her wedding – stylish higher heels, and a pair of sparkly flatties for later. Clever girl! But, I certainly need to clear out the dim recesses of my wardrobe – I keep saying it’s on my list of things to do! I know there are things hiding in there “just in case” which will never see the light of day on my body ever again.
Thanks for another great post Jo. Keep your header – after all we can still be fun, feisty & funky over 50!
Your niece sounds like she’s got things well sussed out, Jill! Love her style 😉 Woah, I wish you luck in cleaning out the deepest corners of your wardrobe, I had to do it when we moved and it wasn’t pretty! Thanks for your idea about the header. I do love the job Emma did on it, and don’t really want to change it. I think the high heels image serves as an idealogy for keeping with it, rather than a wardrobe essential.
Hi Jo, great to see you back online again, hope your big move is going well! I’ve never heard of high heels referred to as “tart-trotters” before, that made me laugh!
I stopped wearing towering heels at the ripe old age of 20, not coincidentally around the same time I lost interest in staying out dancing til 3am in night clubs every weekend and began to prefer hosting dinner parties and sitting around talking in pubs instead. Although I think I do think I look more attractive in heels, I certainly don’t feel unattractive in flats. Comfort and ease of movement is just a much bigger priority for me these days.
I don’t think your choice to wear high heels sometimes or to never wear them again (whether you’re aged 20 or 50+) makes that much difference to who you are or what this blog’s about, same goes for any other style choice, it shouldn’t matter so long as you’re feeling free, happy and confident and doing what you want rather than doing what you think you should do because you’re worried about how you compare to others. So I don’t see any reason to change the lifestyle50 logo 🙂
Thanks for your lovely reply Bonny, and I’m so glad that you too think I should keep the header as an idealogy of being who you want and wearing what you like throughout life rather than being chained to dogmas and doctrines about what we ‘should’ or ‘should not’ do. As you say, high heels are great for some and not so for others at any age, makes no difference. I love how you describe your time of ending clubbing (which I think when we’re young is the ‘look at me’ phase) and beginning the next stage of finding a community of like minds which is the ‘let’s sit down and chat and really get to know each other,’ phase. Thanks for showing up here and adding your sparkle to the conversation.
Only recently did I venture into a store to get a pair of high heels again – they lifted the bum, gave the upper body a bit more oomph and killed my feet – no pain, no gain. But every now and again I walk into the walk-in closet and gaze longingly at the rainbow coloured shoes, think about the the occasion I wore them, hoping there will be another occasion to put them on, only to walk bare feet by the end of the night and I sigh inwardly, because for a moment, only for a short while, I did feel like Cinderalla, but midnight struck hours before the actual midnight… and it was over.
Maybe I will wear them to bed;)
Haha Marlize! Sounds a familiar story to me … er …should we re-write Cinderella or start a new trend of wearing beautiful shoes … but only to bed!
I have a hand painted pair of beauties worn twice in a decade. I only keep ’em cos they are so lovely and they remind me fondly of times past.
Birk thongs are the only hurty hurties that are worth persevering with. Takes about 2 weeks and then they feel like part of your feet.
Keep the heels in your banner. They look cool and just cos they are there doesn’t mean you wear ’em.
Thanks for the tip Sue. Oh yes those hand painted beauties would be keepers 🙂 My instinct is to keep the header as it is too. Thank you.
I love love wedges but I’m not throwing out those heels as they are so pretty. I have many
oh dear it is so difficult.I dare not count how many pairs I have just to look at, but I am always going to wearing them one day!
I know that feeling so well but always end up wearing the same old same old!
I admire your style Rae.