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!"
