A head for heights
Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend – but it’s our high heels that we can’t live without.
Bunions, hammer toe, broken ankles and back ache — as women’s footwear creeps towards ten inches, doctors here are blue in the face warning of the perils of putting your best foot forward.
But today’s fashionistas aren’t the first to hazard their health for their heels.
From ancient Eygpt to the modern high street, a new book called 100 Shoes is chronicling our love affair with shoes down through the centuries.
And introducing the photographic history of heels by the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum, actress Sarah Jessica Parker explains the agony and ecstasy of stilettos for women across the globe.
“When I was asked to write the introduction to 100 Shoes, my reaction was ‘Only 100’?,” says Parker, who turned Sex and the City’s heelaholic Carrie Bradshaw into an icon.
“As an essential fashion accessory, shoes allow us to manipulate our attitude and height, change our look, express our passion. Platforms, sandals, and stilettos, plus an array of other showstoppers, [high heels] inspire us to assert our style and power.”
There’s an Imelda Marcos lurking in every woman, agrees New York-based shoe designer Eileen Shields from Dublin.
“I remember reading an article once about how a woman’s extended instep emulates the extended paw of a lioness on the prowl for a mate,” says Shields, whose red hot heels have featured on Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives. “So there’s no prizes for guessing what we’re trying to say by wearing heels!”
“Heels make us taller, elongate the legs and give us a little swagger — just the tiniest hint of toe cleavage is the sexiest type of all.
“As women, our bodies change throughout our lives – we get fat, thin, pregnant, older,” she adds. “Our feet are the only part that never let us down — so even when everything else has hit the floor, they can still look fabulous.
“As a shoe designer, there’s no bigger thrill than seeing a woman strut by in the street wearing my designs.”
Here, we talk shoes, sex appeal and storage issues with three of Ireland’s real-life Carrie Bradshaws.
Mum-of-two Sinead O’Toole (40) has been collecting high heels for over two decades. And the office administrator’s amassment of stilts measuring up to 7” even have their own room at her home in Clonshaugh, Dublin 17.
“I’ve been obsessed with high heels ever since I was about 18. I can’t really explain it — I just love the glamour and feminity of wearing heels. And when I see a pair I like, I simply have to have them! At the moment, I’ve got about 200 pairs of shoes – not including boots and runners. I used to buy a new pair every week, but then I was out of work for a year, so now it’s down to about two a month. It’s gotten to the stage where I’ve had to move my husband’s clothes out of the wardrobe in our bedroom to make room for them. I’ve also turned the spare room into a walk-in ‘shoe wardrobe’. My favourite brands are LAMB by Gwen Stefani, JLo Shoes by Jennifer Lopez and Baby Phat by Kimora Lee Simmons. However, I’d never spend more than €100 on a pair of shoes. Anyway, I see my shoes as an investment — I’ve got some that are almost 20 years old. Although my husband gives out stink about my shoe collection, it’s very handy for him — he doesn’t have to think about what to buy me for my birthday or Christmas. He bought me a pair of Louboutins for my 40th birthday recently — now I’m just waiting for a good excuse to wear them!”
Move over Posh – PR Dearbhail McDonnell, from Kells, Co. Meath admits to wearing her stilettos 24/7 no matter the terrain. But bunions are a small price to pay for foxy-looking feet, according to the 25 year-old fashionista.
“Like most women, I remember dressing up in my mum’s high heels as a little girl — so maybe that’s where my fetish for shoes stems from! At 5’ 1”, for me, heels are a must. My shoes are my babies — I keep them wrapped in tissue paper in their boxes. And while I’ve stopped keeping track, I’d say I’ve got at least 200 pairs and generally spend around €100 a week on new shoes — sometimes more. But they’re worth it. When I put on a pair of new heels, I feel like a Superwoman. Even in the most ridiculous circumstances, I don’t feel properly dressed unless I’ve got my heels on. Just like Victoria Beckham, I’ve even worn them to a football match — and wound up getting stuck in the grass! Carrie Bradshaw is my fashion icon – but her famous Manolos wouldn’t be high enough for me. I remember getting an exact replica of a pair of shoes she wore on Sex and the City — and was never as excited my whole life. If I keep going the way I am, I may literally end up becoming — as Carrie once said — “the old woman who lived in her shoes”. Sure, I dread the thought of getting bunions — but nothing will ever stop me from wearing my heels. Anyway, that’s what chiropodists are for!”
Shoe distributor Maria Barber (37) from Leopardstown, Dublin 18, loves high heels so much she made her career. After falling in love with Rockin’ Reptile shoes, she quit her job to bring the brand to Ireland.
“I’m always aghast when a woman tells me that she’s not ‘into’ shoes. Even as a child, I remember spending all my pocket money on shoes. So now I’ve got an attic full of high heels — and a Stira installed so I can access them easily! My obsession with shoes has even led me to set up my own business. I was working in the jewellery trade and every time I visited a new city with work I would go in hunt of the shoe shops. During one trip to a trade show in New York, I remember buying 7 pairs of shoes in an hour — much to my male boss’s shock! Then while holidaying in Kuala Lumpur with my husband Viv in 2007, I stumbled upon a brand called Rockin’ Reptile. It was love at first sight — and within six months, I had become the sole distributor for the brand in Ireland and the UK. Whenever a woman asks me what I do, two hours later we are usually still talking about shoes! I love what I do — and with 200 pairs and counting, it definitely satisfies my shoe addiction. But I still check out all the shoe stores on my travels — just in case!”
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