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Women are sick of stilettos.
Women may have developed flatter feet as a result of laidback style trends necessitated by pandemic lockdowns — during which many of us spent an unprecedented amount of our time scooting around our homes in bedroom slippers and flip-flops.
New research by footwear retailer Kurt Geiger in the UK shows a spike in sales of flat shoe styles with low heels of two inches or fewer, such as ballerina flats and loafers, while pumps of four inches or higher make up a fraction of all non-flat shoe sales, the Sunday Times reported.
For centuries fashion trends have dictated to what extent women are expected to contort their feet into highly structured styles, from thigh-high boots to sky-high stilettos. Now, podiatrists say the COVID lockdown could explain a recent trend toward low-heeled shoes — as the structure of our feet adjusted to wearing flatter styles around the clock while stuck at home, per the Sunday Times.
And customers aren’t eager to go back.
“‘Our customers now appear to lean into ‘occasionwear’ that can offer both height and comfort in equal measure, with platformed flats and platformed sandals being the big winners, closely followed by dainty, colorful ballerinas and bright loafers,” said Kurt Geiger’s creative director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley.
Meanwhile, the resurgence of retro styles of the 1990s and 2000s — think kitten heels and ballet flats — has also likely influenced recent shoe sales, according to Farrar-Hockley.
A switch to more modest heel heights could be an orthopedic boon as regularly wearing high heels can lead to painful foot conditions such as hammer toes, bunions and permanent musculoskeletal injury.
