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| Trying flats on for size. photo credit: photo pin cc |
Nothing fancy, just my pair of everyday runaround heels that I pretty much wore to death before I had a baby. They are a moderate height (I gave up the skyscrapers long before the super skyscrapers became the fashion du jour) and I thought they were a good choice to get me reacquainted with my more feminine self.
What a mistake that turned out to be. Walking in them no longer felt natural and more than that, I felt like a fraud. It reminded me of the times when I would steal into my mother's closet, put on her heels and walk around in circles on the foyer tiles to get the clacking sound. Thirty years later I was a little girl playing at being a woman all over again except without the fun. The balls of my feet soon started to ache and the act of walking was all a bit too hard. I had ducked up the shops to just get a few items and I soon pared back my list of things to do because it required walking too far. How limiting.
So it wasn't quite the boost to my self image that I imagined. Rather than feeling glamorous and together instead I felt like mutton dressed up as lamb. How did it come to this? Before baby I wore heels to work nearly everyday, I even clung on to a low heel for the first few months of my pregnancy until lower back pain made me give them up (now all of the maternity-wear ads of women in their last trimester wearing enormously high heels really shit me).
I'm going back to work in a few weeks and I realise it won't be as simple as digging out my old work wardrobe. Flat shoes will be bought (well, flattish) and pants will be taken up. No doubt heels will slowly creep back into my life but for now I appreciate that they feel as ridiculous as they are (and they are). It also makes these images all the more farcical:
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| Victoria Beckham carrying baby Harper in New York. Yikes. (Zimbio) |
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| An ad for a maternity dress, which is like most ads for maternity clothes. |
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| An ad for the Mountain Buggy Swift pram, it's oh so realistic. |
Have you had to give up on heels too?
-- Natalie
This will change, I promise! I don't wear heels that often any more but I wore my low heels to walk from the CBD to Pyrmont and back today.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that someone who faces my vertical challenges (under 5 foot) would embrace high heels with gusto. The reality is my husband has more shoes than I.I would love to wear/own more high heels but after Baby No1, I quickly realised I am not or will I ever be SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker)!I actually mourn a pair of Calvin Klein Black Leather Wedges I owned in my 20's which were a) comfy, b) stylish and c) made me 10cm taller, the holy grail for this shortie. They lived a long and fun life until with a heavy heart I had to retire them. Today you will find me in flats and more flats, sometimes they are smart but usually they are my Converse All Stars and I'm ok with that.
ReplyDeleteThat photo of Posh is bloody ridiculous! Also, my stupid feet got bigger after I had bubba, so none of my old shoes fit anyway!
ReplyDeleteDon't give up ladies! Since having gone back to work after #2, I've now upgraded to approx 8cm heels. Granted, I only wear them on days when not much walking is required or when visiting clients. (Even then, there's a pair of old comfies in the car to wear when my feet aren't in public view).But I feel oh-so-glamorous for those brief moments when I don the heels. I feel decidedly unmumsy - which can be a bit of a relief these days!
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