Cardigan: Glassons
Dress: Bravissimo
Belt: Kinki Gerlinki
Socks: Sock Dreams
Shoes: Wittner
The Number One piece of advice that I receive from readers at Frocks and Frou Frou most often is “You should wear heels more often”, and it’s the one piece of advice that I usually choose to ignore.
My reasons for not wearing high heels are many and varied: I work as a sales rep, which means I do a lot of hurrying around hauling bags and boxes through the city. Negotiating cobblestones and staircases with a rolling suitcase, a handbag, a roll of posters, a laptop case and a pile of reading copies is precarious enough without adding stilettos into the mix. Also I walk. A lot. And no matter what people try to tell you, high heels are NOT comfortable. Especially not after eight hours on your feet.
My mum always had a very firm stance on high heels – i.e. NO – so I didn’t get my first pair until I was earning my own money and by then the damage was done. I had known the comfort of a life in flats, and I wasn’t going back. I didn’t know how to walk in them, I didn’t know how to look after them, and there were enough cute flats and shoes with low heels that I didn’t particularly mind avoiding them.
Sometimes I succumb to the pressure though, and so it was with these chunky platform heels from Wittner:
Right now, my Mum is sitting in front of her computer looking at the screen shaking her head and going “HOW can she even WALK in those RIDICULOUS things?” and the answer is: I can’t. Not really. I sort of…. totter. And clomp. And try not to break my ankles. The aesthetic benefits of high heels are completely outweighed by my lurching gait. Sigh. They are cute though huh?
I bought them for a quarter of their original price after seeing them on the lovely Esme. I only managed an hour or so in them before I came home and swapped them over for some Chie‘s though.
From now on I think I’ll save them for the office.
they rock!! I call all my heels “one-hour-shoes”
Love, love, love, LOVE! I think, without a word of a lie, this is my favourite outfit of yours EVER.
Did I say “love”??
I love heels – but ever since hitting 4 months pregnant, my feet have swelled and I haven’t been able to wear any from my collection. Having said that, even when I could wear them I never wore them outside. They are murder on my lower back and would cripple me! I always take them with me and pop them on when I arrive at my destination.
The one thing that I still love is wedges though – They give the illusion of height without the pain of stilettos. And they are super easy to walk in!
But look how long your legs look……..
I’m not convinced that’s entirely because of the heels – there is an optical illusion taking place with the higher-than-normal(for Lilli) hemline of the dress and the block of dark color from the socks making that flash of white really pop/stand out. you know, I think I can almost see knee! *scandalised* Lilli has quite slim ankles and high calves, so her legs never actually look short.
One thing that does seem to be happening here is that the heels have caused a pelvic tilt forwards, causing an elongation of her torso, and a more prominence to the lower half if the torso (i.e. abdomen) which is only a really slight emphasis. I guess fashion loves heels because of the body-emphasis they cause – bum’s stick out and tummy/pelvis drops, while back lengthens in order to maintain centre of gravity, causing the bust to tilt and lift. The sheer mechanics of high heels are geared to de-stabilising the human form. But I’ll stop before I bang on about cultural subjugation and hobbling of the feminine you’ve already stopped reading no need to go on.
I love the colors!
People ask me all the time: How do you walk in those shoes? My answer is always the same: I don’t – they’re great for sitting at my desk! Heels are lovely for tucking under your desk chair or for a pair of crossed legs as you sit in the tea-room and read your book but they are definitely not for jobs with a lot of standing-up and walking.
Your shoes are completely gorgeous, though!
You look gorgeous but I’m completely on your team. I can only manage pumps for a few hours – if I don’t have to walk much^^;
I’ve always called heels my “going out for dinner” shoes. They look great, so long as you just need to sit in them
I can wear shoes like that so long as I have somebody to piggyback me.
but I LOVE those shoes. LOVE. I will have them if you don’t want ’em.
I never ever wear heels! I have ankles which are as weak as boiled spaghetti & I can go over on then in a blink of an eye. Flats are safer! I try with them from time to time but I tend to look like a rugby player in drag!
I really like the outfit. If you’d told me what u were wearing I would never have imagined it working so beautifully. I esp like the knee socks.
I agree with Kitty – you must try The Wedge! Almost as easy as walking in flats, but you get the height too. Joanne Mercer do some great ones called Oriana and Paige – the latter is slightly higher. I have Orianas in black patent and Paiges in black suede.
V cute outfit btw!
for me it’s wedges 😉 I tried, really tried, but …. well 😉 there is nothing comfortable in high heels 😉
max. 6,5 cm, that’s not “high heels” 😉
and wedges? well, i cannot wear flats anymore 🙁 they are simply not that comfortable 😉
Such a cute outfit! I don’t find heels too bad but it varies wildly from pair to pair. I find heels are worth splashing out on because cheapies just rip your feet to shreds (although Novo aren’t too bad). Wedges are the best- I can walk in insanely high wedges all day because they help you distribute your weight properly. I do find Party Feet help A LOT.
My fave ever pair of heels are a black ruffled pair of t-bars but sadly the other day i was wearing them and they finally went to heaven!
I do love the heels with the socks though. 🙂 a favourite trait of mine is flat boots with socks when heels are just out of the question.
PQP
I’m with you. I have a gorgeous pair of heels with red and white polkadots ad a heart cut out on the toe…and I can walk about 3 metres. I’m sure Mini Mouse did better.At 5.1. friends try to get me to wear heels constantly, especially since I’ve always had a penchant for tall men. I’d rather remain standing and leave the heels for the occasional pose.
This outfit is so lovely! the framing of the cardi over the neckline of the dress is cute, and the dress itself is just FABULOUS!
I’m not sold on heels, but I am 5’9 and I feel quite conspicuously tall as it is. One thing I read about heels that HORRIFIED ME was how the affect muscle structure in the calf – they actually shorten your calf, and thus you’re hobbled, and have seriously impeded your ability to stride flat footed. Of course this occurs over time, with intense wear. But honestly? To ruin yourself for FASHION? not worth it. My self esteem has survived being heel-less quite well, thank you very much, fashion industry.
Heels: Absolutely Bloody Ridiculous.
also, they look like they weigh a kilo each! how heavy -are- they? is it an illusion?
Heels can be a pain, but I love the way they look on you! Gah!
I’m wearing that EXACT dress today with a white, short sleeve cardigan over it. It’s my meeting my bf’s parents for the first time outfit. This outfit is also known as my “Look at how cute and innocent I am in this dress! Please ignore the fact that your darling son and I are hooking up. Thaaaaaanks.” outfit. 😉
There’s a very more-modern Black Apple vibe to this outfit, like Black Apple updated. I dig it! I dig her and you so this is a beautiful style marriage 🙂
I can’t wear heels either unless they are very chunky and are in boot form or mary janes or something else that holds the shoe on the foot–my feet slide out of pumps which is more painful than the heels themselves 🙁
I do however love a good wedge and actually find them more comfortable than flats because they force me to stand straighter to maintain my balance, which helps reduce my chronic back pain (I slouch! It’s bad for me!), and I have huge feet, which gives me an advantage when it comes to heel height. A four inch heel creates a lot less of an angle on my foot than it would on a smaller one 🙂
These are ADORABLE shoes. I don’t blame you for wearing them despite the comfort factor.
Always love your outfits, and today’s not an exception. Amazing shoes,but I agree with other comments:I couldn’t walk more than three steps without looking like a tipsy duck!
xoxo from Spain
I am 100% on team flats — your legs look gorg in the shoes you do wear and I loves it! I am always inspired by your footwear (and other fashion choices) … and my wedding advice, I got brilliant shoes for my wedding and thought they were acceptable heels and I wore them for the ceremony and photos and then it was OMG into sandals… tragedy because they were/are stunning (we only got married last year)… so choose carefully… as I know you will!
xox
You look lovely! I really like the shoes too, they are very cute! I have the same problem though, I rarely wear anything with a heel, & if I do, 2 inches is my max. I call them my “sitting down shoes”, they are there to look pretty, but they are totally impractical. Which sucks, because I do actually love heels, & the way they look, but I have a complete inability to wear them. 🙁
Love them! And a big huge thanks Lilli for the awesome boots I just got from your ebay sale! I would never have the guts to trust that they would fit my fat old legs but they do Yay! Really a big thank you and even though they are high for me (I’m a librarian – we need ‘sensible’ as on our feet all day), I can’t wait to wear them to my next hour out. Jo x
I actually had a friend teach me how to walk in heels so that I stopped “clumping” and feeling like I was hiking up hill. In essence it involved walking the same way in heels as with flats, heel lands before forefoot, but it feels different with heels. I think the tendency with heels is to “clump” and your whole foot lands at once which then looks like hiking.
This isn’t a comment on whether one “should” or should not wear heels, just the idea that walking is easier if one doesn’t clump and that it can be learned. I wear heels more often now than when i was younger, I think it started at 40, but recently when trying on a bunch of shoes for a business trip I consider that I should just get rid of all heels that I can’t be in for over an hour. They clearly aren’t going on any business trips, and even in my office (which is carpeted) I would end up taking them off. but then i look at how pretty they are and my will to get rid of them fades………
Gorgeous, gorgeous outfit – and I love your heels 😉
As high heels go, I don’t think these ones are very easy to walk in because they aren’t flexible! But a bit of practice always helps 🙂
I never wear heals either but those are gorgeous!! and I love them with the dress and cardi too
It’s the other way around for me, Lilli. I’m not used to walking in flats anymore, and everytime I do, my leg muscles hurt. :(( I grew up wearing flats and it’s only in 2010 when I began to wear heels to the office and some events I go to. But same as everyone, I always get that unbearable pain you get after 8 hours of wearing them, but I don’t mind much. 🙂
Love,
Nini
LOL, practise makes perfect I guess1!
i love your heels !!!
you have to show us your shoes dressing !!!! 🙂
and make a facebook page for your blog !!