When I read this article called ‘The Height of Stylish Impracticability’ in the Telegraph, which basically lambast this season’s trend of chunky, heavy high heeled shoes (as seen at Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga and Chloe), I thought I should counter-argue. Perhaps it’s my relative youth, perhaps it’s my desire for fleeting things or perhaps I am a trend-whore. But I have absolutely fallen hard for these supposedly ‘ugly’ shoes. The same way I see beauty in seemingly ugly jewellery or a gaudy dress, I also see beauty in these shoes which to me is a development in footwear taking them to a new frontier. There’s a sense of recklessness and unpredictability about them and I love that element of surprise which makes you question the conventions of shoe design.
My gripe with the points that Clare Coulson raise is affirmed in this quote:
"The Chloé shoes looked like remedial footwear or an extreme version of something from Start-rite. Any man would quite rightly run a mile from a woman wearing them."
Funny, but I didn’t know the purpose of wearing shoes was to attract a man. I thought you wore them because you felt like wearing them and it satisfied your desires. I also didn’t know guys sat around discussing the merits of womens’ footwear extensively and studied our feet like hawks.
To defend these shoes’ practicability (which let’s face it, are no less practical than scurrying along in spindly 5 inch stiletto heels that get stuck in drain holes and escalator ridges), I recently bought a pair of "ugly" chunky shoes from Office and wore them the last two days, gallavanting around London after work to run errands (I even carried furniture in them!). The chunkiness of the base of the heel gave me more support than a pair of traditional skinny courts would. Furthermore, I liked the way I was striding around in them and walking the pavement in a swift and firm movement rather than teetering dangerously whilst holding onto rails to gain balance if I was in stilettos. The comparison is not to diss stilettos but to not completely write this season’s shoe into the abyss of ugliness either.
So yes, I may be a trendster, hopping excitedly onto a one-season bandwagon but then so be it. I have my eye on these Chloe-esque ankle boots from Topshop – so sue me! Naysayer: "Tut, tut, Susanna – spending money on a pair of shoes that you’ll only wear for a few months?" My reply: "Yes, I earnt those pennies, and at this moment in time in my fashion schizophrenia, I want to wear a pair of shoe boots to go with my vintage go-go dresses, so *shock horror* I’m gonna get them!"
I think your defense towards these shoes is not only credible but admirable, too.
Fashion is, and has always been, about wearing what you like. I hate fashion dictators and I hate even more fashion insults.
Please go ahead and buy those ankle boots you have your eye on because be it “pretty” or “ugly”, everything goes out of style eventually.
http://ibleedtulle.blogspot.com
I totally agree with your comment about not dressing to please men! Uh, last time I checked, women are supposed to dress to please themselves in this post-women’s lib society…
Anyway, I have to say that personally, I find some of these shoes ugly. However, the brown, multi-buckle example you posted towards the beginning of your post were lovely… And I love the Top Shop ones–I only wish we had TS in the US!! *cries* So maybe I will have to try these “ugly” shoes out for myself… 😀
OMG Susie! Those TS boots are *love*. Do you mind telling me how much they cost? TIA.
PS. I do, too, love those “ugly” shoes.
I saw those Chloe knock-offs in the Oxford Circus branch amongst a sea of beautiful shoes and immediately leapt towards them. I only forced myself to put them down after I saw the exorbitant price – worth it? Definitely. Enough money in pocket? No sadly 🙁 (Come on, bring on the Xmas sales!)
i have to admit that i laughed when i saw them back in february but now, i think i love them! i’ve been wearing chloe look alikes from aldo since spring. nice for shorties like me too!
go you! i know just what you mean about finding something quite pleasing in designs others deem ugly.
i guess in the past, and also to an extent now, part of the purpose of popular fashion is to look attractive to the opposite sex, to emphasize the right features. but there are more subversive branches of fashion with completely different goals, fashion that leans more toward art.
GREAT POST!
The Topshop shoes are pretty cool. I think the disagreement with Claire Coulson goes without saying. I like to try to read Telegraph fashion articles, but I find most of them unbearable because the authors try to be witty and don’t pull it off. They come off more uncomfortable than knowledgable.
Whatever, I lust after those Chloe shoes. They’re hot.
I feel like I’ve bought wayyy too many trendy shoes this season. I have three pairs of booties alone, about a million flats (to be fair, flats don’t go “out”), and two pairs of patent shoes.
i saw the ad for that {i thought it was Balenciaga but i guess it is Chloe?} shoe in the top row in the middle. oh my god i love that thing. i want to tattoo it on my forehead. it is stupidly amazing.
I gotta say that I’m partial to the chunky platforms… maybe it’s just cause I grew up in the 90’s, Spice Girl, mini-dresses and platforms era.
augh, have to part ways with you on this trend, i wrote about it in my blog yesterday…i find the clunky platform booties completely offputting,and i’m a lover of off-beat, ‘ugly’ fashion items, too. but not these. NOT. THESE!
and don’t give up on ebay! my vintage auctions are new and therefore still supercheap, especially for you brits.
http://stores.ebay.com/tiniest-spark-vintage
see?? i even have a karl lagerfeld dress up now, for suuuuuuuuupercheap!
cheers : )
I totally agree and actually posted about my love of ugly shoes on my blog only yesterday.
I so totally agree and I love this season’s thick heeled shoes! It definitely gave more stability. The shoes you got from Office were lovely!
your Office shoes don’t count as ugly platforms (they don’t even look that high), but the Chloe/ Balenciaga/Jacobs one’s do. i say ‘BRING ON THE SNOW!’ i’m going to sit back and pee myself watching all the non-dancer women toddle (and topple) along in these silly fall shoes. at least with a stiletto you can jam your heels in the ice to walk. with these things…TIMBERRRR!!!
^The Office shoes are quite high…. pics don’t really show the heel up that well. I think it also depends on the base grip as well….Whether the soles are slippy and stuff.
Do stilettos really grip the ice? Doesn’t a bigger surface area of the heel make it easier to grip the surface as you’re not putting so much pressure on it. Trying to remember what I remembered from science class…..
i knew a woman who only wore stilettos all year round. watching her walk in the snow was a trip cuz she was jamming her heels hard into the ice, but she NEVER fell. and your right about the soles of the shoe being important. the majority of these new shoes have a smooth leather sole without a rubber grip. you will be on your back in minutes… unless you’ve had years of dance training.
^Ah…good thing I get rubber grips put on anyways for icy pavements – we don’t really get snow in London…. my shoe guy does it for free!
smart girl you are bubs… tell me something, are the office shoes a big fit or a small fit? i have never bought shoes on line because of the sizing issue. sometimes i’m a lose in a 39 but big for a UK6…
oh, i forgot. who makes the club foot number in your post (top row, last one on right)? they have a rubber grip…
I think these shoes are one of my favourite things of the season. They make the leg look beautiful and I love the way they were styled with socks. I know what you mean about ‘triding’ around, I have a pair of black leather wedges which almost allow me to bounce along
i actually had that pair of shoes from topshop..all my friends doesn’t like them though =(
well, it’s not very comfy but i think i am getting used to it 😛
Yes! I find I have a million times more stability in the chunkier shoes than strappy stilettos. And nothing angers me more than fashion critics. Shouldn’t we be applauding individuality rather than degrading it?
Oh, damn I want those Topshop shoes. They won’t ship to the U.S., will they?
Why is everyone saying OFFICE shoes?? They are topshop, susie said they were topshop.
thanks for the tip, i getting the!
i love love LOVE chloe’s new line of winter booties and maryjanes!!! i’m on the waitng list for the belted booties you posted a pic of…
they are a little hoof-y and clunky but if you can put it all in proportion(sp) it works no matter what the ‘trend’.
I have those Topshop shoes, they’re amazing and totally like the Chloe shoes (minus the price tag) Bought them the second I saw them after looking at the Chloe show, someone pass me some thick wooly grey tights and I will be in my element this winter!
OK so I may be reading a bit too much into this but:
You talked about how you could stride about in these shoes rather than teetering around in stilettos. Maybe that’s why men would be less attracted to them. The appeal of a stiletto to men may not be the way they make women but the way they make women walk. Maybe men wouldn’t like the shoe beacuse they wouldn’t like the woman who can carry furniture in her high heels but rather the woman who is teetering around in them while he was carrying it.
Maybe I have no idea what I’m talking about and I’m just rambling.
Either way the shoes are really cute!
what would you wear them with???
Hi, I feel in love with these topshop shoe boots. Does anybody know where can I find them? I know it’s late but maybe someone wants to sell their pair or there is a late sale…. I am a 39.5/40 italian size. So probable a 6 or 7 UK size. Please help me find them 🙂
I can’t understand what it is Converse UK, because we had written about Incredibly Converse UK sometime back too. Once you are done with your footwear inspired by Converse UK, you can match them with a Converse UK to complete the Stylish look. If you also would like to furnish your room with some similarly themed furniture, you could go ahead and buy yourself these chic and stylish.