carson@homxa.UUCP (P.CARSTENSEN) (04/18/85)
Can anyone tell me how to walk quietly in heels? Patty (current solution of padding around in stockinged feet is getting me a *lot* of grief...:-)
sed408@ihlpg.UUCP (s. dugan) (04/18/85)
> Can anyone tell me how to walk quietly in heels? > Patty > > (current solution of padding around in stockinged feet is getting > me a *lot* of grief...:-) Get a shoe-maker to put some soft rubber pads on the bottom of the soles *and* heels of your shoes. This will not only help you walk more quietly, but will also help you keep from slipping on #$%&* waxed floors.
eagan@druxp.UUCP (EaganMS) (04/18/85)
Is there any rule that says you have to wear HEELS? I try to wear the flattest shoes I can find, and have even worn running shoes with dresses. Some women have told me that they envy my "guts" to wear them with dresses. But if you cannot wear sneakers or such, they DO make decent shoes that are flat. you just have to look harder to find them. The heels I DO have are usually thick so I don't have to balance on them. But, I just don't think heels are too good for your feet.
jamcmullan@wateng.UUCP (Judy McMullan) (04/18/85)
It's not a case of whether a shoe has (high) heels or not that makes them
noisy. It is simply what the soles/heels are made of. I have a pair of
flat-soled boots that sound the same (noisy) as the 1" heels on my dress shoes.
Any crepe-soled shoe will be quiet. That includes high heels (though
manufacturers only put soft soles/heels on the type of high-heeled shoes that
are all one piece). So, you have got to get your shoes re-heeled with something
soft or you have got to get another style of shoe -- with soft soles/heels.
--from the sssstickkky keyboard of JAM
...!{ihnp4|clyde|decvax}!watmath!wateng!jamcmullanthoma@reed.UUCP (Ann Muir Thomas) (04/19/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** About heels: The grandmother of one of my housemates was unable to put her heels (i.e. the backs of her feet :-) ) on the floor because her calf muscles were so shortened from wearing high- heeled shoes all her life. Do you want that to happen to yourself (or to any of your female friends)? Gosh, I sure hope not! Personally, I wear either tennis shoes, low-heeled men's boots, or walking shoes. These last are not great looking, but they last a long time and don't squeeze my toes, unlike most women's low-heeled shoes. Face it, most "stylish" women's shoes, regardless of heel size, are made to fall apart or get raunchy looking within a few weeks, so you have to go out and spend $40 on a new pair! My "SAS Handsewns" cost me $45 five months ago, and look almost brand-new. They are promoted in shoe stores as "active women's shoes." Not pretty, but not bad-looking either! Ann Muir Thomas "I'll be mellow when I'm dead!"- weird Al via Tony F.
annab@azure.UUCP (A Beaver) (04/20/85)
> But if you cannot wear sneakers or such, they DO make decent shoes > that are flat. you just have to look harder to find them. > The heels I DO have are usually thick so I don't have to balance on them. > But, I just don't think heels are too good for your feet. Not only are heels bad on your feet, they are REAL bad on your back. I now wear my Birkenstock with EVERYTHING, even dress. Just wish they worked of sailing too. Had to buy some deck shoes. ~l /l /5l\ / 0l \ Annadiana Beaver / 5 l \ A Beaver@Tektronix /____l___\ ,,,,\__,,,_/,,,, "I'd rather be sailing" wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
dimitrov@csd2.UUCP (Isaac Dimitrovsky) (04/22/85)
[] > The grandmother of one of my housemates was unable to >put her heels (i.e. the backs of her feet :-) ) on the floor >because her calf muscles were so shortened from wearing high- >heeled shoes all her life. Also, I've heard that back when most running shoes were pretty flat, Achilles tendon and calf injuries were unusual. When running shoes with higher heels and lots of cushioning started coming out, this kind of injury became common. Isaac Dimitrovsky
chabot@miles.DEC (Bits is Bits) (04/25/85)
I too tackle the problem of the noise of walking in high-heeled shoes by not wearing them. Persistance helped me to find a pair of flats suitable to wear with my suits, and I'm glad--although I wish they had more of a cushion on the sole, at least I can stand up for hours (it seems to be the rule on the occasions when a suit-clad me is required) which I couldn't if I were wearing high-heels. I'm never exactly comfortable with remarks from other women who say they wish they had the courage to wear comfortable looking shoes like my old timberlands. I wonder why they lack this supposedly desired courage. I agree, they don't go with much other than jeans and such now (they've had a hard year), and that something lighter-weight would go with a spring dress much better. Nothing extraordinary has happened to me because of the way I dress, so I have a hard time pinning down why it might require courage. These days, anyway. I can remember times when women wearing pants was considered pretty disgusting. But that's been a few years. L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot chabot%amber.DEC@decwrl.ARPA DEC, LMO4/H4, 150 Locke Drive, Marlborough, MA 01752
clayton@satan.DEC (04/25/85)
>This indicates that as women we are still afraid to say what it is we >want or prefer. >****andrea mason**** In this facility high heels are wanted and prefered... Here, (a manufacturing facility) ALL employees are supposed to wear steel-toed safety shoes. It's not enforced for the secretaries, engineers, materials people, etc. because they all put up a stink to preserve their right to wear HIGH-HEELS. Exchanging one torture for a worse one. I wear sneakers or 'loafers' or anything flat and comfortable. >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >Disclaimer: The above thoughts are mine; my company makes computers, not >high heels. >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shouldn't that be 'not low/no heel shoes'? The posting was a sales pitch for them, not high heels. Elizabeth Clayton ...!decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-satan!clayton
hxe@rayssd.UUCP (04/29/85)
Aww, come on guys! The poor woman asked for advice on how to walk relatively quietly in high heels - not for our opinions on their suitability or appropriateness (is that a word?). While reader of mail.fem will recognize me as one who regards "political correctness" to be a central factor of her life, I also don't impose my own standards of health and/or attire on others. Herewith my answer: Make sure that the heels you wear are low enough to allow you the normal heel-toe walking rhythm that you would use were you in sneakers. When trying them on, try back-and-forth and up-and-down ankle movement. Much of the noise from walking in heels comes from the heel and the toe hitting the floor simul- taneously; this also causes a lot of back discomfort. And the hard rubber heel and toe pads previously mentioned really do reduce the "click click" in the hall. Whenever possible, try shoes on a hard surface rather than the carpeted floor of the shoe store. They will always tell you it is impossible. You will tell them you won't buy them without walking in real conditions. They will tell there's no such place to walk. You will tell them they have just lost a sale. They will remember that their storeroom is uncarpeted. And a quote from another reader: >Also, I've heard that back when most running shoes were pretty >flat, Achilles tendon and calf injuries were unusual. When >running shoes with higher heels and lots of cushioning started >coming out, this kind of injury became common. Actually, it's quite the opposite. One of the reasons that heels were raised in women's running shoes was to reduce the calf strain on women who wore heels most days and then put on very flat running shoes. The lesson is that you can't change your foot's environment too drastically without some injury. Remember Earth Shoes? Remember how much they hurt? Could you go back and forth from those to conventional shoes without discomfort? Most couldn't. -- --Heather Emanuel {allegra, decvax!brunix, linus, ccice5} rayssd!hxe -------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't think my company *has* an opinion, so the ones in this article are obviously my own. -------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ain't life a brook... Sometimes I feel just like a polished stone" -Ferron
barry@ames.UUCP (Kenn Barry) (05/01/85)
One disadvantage of spike heels that no one has mentioned is
their effect on the average floor. Some heels only have about a square
centimeter's worth of contact with the floor, and the force with which
those tiny heels push on the floor is enormous, even if a small woman
is wearing them. They'll leave little crescent depressions in any
linoleum ever made, and I'm not even sure hardwood floors would be
safe.
- From the Crow's Nest - Kenn Barry
NASA-Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA
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USENET: {ihnp4,vortex,dual,hao,menlo70,hplabs}!ames!barrychabot@miles.DEC (05/01/85)
Actually, a major reason I refuse to wear heels is the noisy feature. I feel
safer walking home at night if it's not obvious to everyone around for a block
that it's a woman walking home ("click, click, click, click"). A related issue
is that once I'm heard by, say, someone with aggression to strangers on their
mind, I can't run away fast and I can be tracked by sound ("clickclickclickclick").
L S Chabot ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabotcolonel@gloria.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) (05/02/85)
> > The grandmother of one of my housemates was unable to > >put her heels (i.e. the backs of her feet :-) ) on the floor > >because her calf muscles were so shortened from wearing high- > >heeled shoes all her life. > > Also, I've heard that back when most running shoes were pretty > flat, Achilles tendon and calf injuries were unusual. When > running shoes with higher heels and lots of cushioning started > coming out, this kind of injury became common. > > Isaac Dimitrovsky From "The Mechanical Bride," by H. M. McLuhan: "To the mind of the modern girl, legs, like busts, are power points which she has been taught to tailor, but as parts of the success kit rather than erotically or sensuously. She swings her legs from the hip with masculine drive and confidence. She knows that "a long-legged gal can go places." As such, her legs are not intimately associated with her taste or with her unique self but are merely display objects like the grill work on a car. They are date-baited power levers for the management of the male audience." No wonder high heels became popular! -- Col. G. L. Sicherman ...{rocksvax|decvax}!sunybcs!colonel
jss@brunix.UUCP (judith) (05/03/85)
Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Keywords: I've had good luck finding relatively dressy flat-heeled shoes at children's shoe stores. The "classic" Dr Scholl's strap-on sandal also looks quite nice for summer wear. And then there are square-dance shoes, something like the old MaryJanes, which come is a variety of colors. judith
greenber@timeinc.UUCP (Ross Greenberg) (05/03/85)
One of the good things about high-heels:
Perhaps I'm a sadist at heart, but watching women walk across sidewalk
grates seems to be enough to wash the blues away. There seem to be
a few methods currently in use: The NY shuffle --- quickly avoid
the grates by going to one side or the other, leaving your companions
talking to mid-air whilst you cause the person in back of you to
bump into you. The Tiptoe --- go on tip toes for the length of the grate,
which seems to be at least three kilometers long, once you are committed.
The I'll-take-my-chances-I'm-tough --- go for broke. Only used with old
shoes.
Sitting down on a balmy spring afternoon to watch the spectacle can be
amusing, and informative as you get to see the panic when a high-heeler
is confronted with a corner crossing of gratness.
Why don't you just say "No!", and wear sneakers/flats. I bet you
won't get fired or anything.
A number of years ago, it was difficult to explain to the client why I
refuse to wear a tie. After just saying "No!" for all these years,
others having also taken up the chanllenge, I no longer have to
confront the powers that be with lengthy explanations.
Try it. Although if it works I'll have to find other diversions :-)
--
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Ross M. Greenberg @ Time Inc, New York
--------->ihnp4!cmcl2!timeinc!greenber<---------
"If ever the pleasure of one has to be bought by the pain of the other,
there better be no trade. A trade by which one gains and the other
loses is a fraud." --- Dagny Taggert