Yves St. Laurent's 105 mm (4") stiletto pump.[/ALIGN]
Well it certainly has been a busy Fall so far here in the U.S., if not the
world. A long-overdue financial crisis hit the States, and soon trickled
over the borders. Stock prices fell the furthest since the Great Depression,
bounced back a bit, and then jumped up and down. We had a debate between
our two current presidential candidates, and another between the vice-
presidential candidates. Large sections of the U.S. were unable to get
gasoline. The Federal deficit continued to climb into nebular realms. An
unpopular war continued to tick and tick like a wind-up clock. And as of
the time of this writing it is only about 20 days until the next election,
after which our government can get to doing what it does best — running
for the next election.
But I really don't want to talk about all that. What I want to talk about
here are supermodels and high heels.
The Fall fashion shows that have taken place over the past months from
London to Paris to New York have been pretty dangerous for supermodels.
Many have fallen on the runway due to insanely designed high heels. The
style these days in heels for most designers is a kind of rounded, 1940s
style toe with a very high late-50s style stiletto heel. Most of these heels
are 4" to 5" and taper down to a very small tap area with the floor — about
1/4" in most cases.
Even a young engineering student could pretty much tell you that this is
just bad design. On heels that tall, more contact area is needed with the
floor in order to provide stability. Making it worse is the rounded toe,
which also gives less contact area than the long, pointed-toe versions of
the 1950s. But of course the bottom line is that the heels are just too
damn tall.
The reason that I take up time with such a seeming irrelevancy is simple:
I think the supermodels should go on strike.
First, I think designers need to rethink these shoes to prevent injury to
models and the women who buy the off-the-rack versions of the shoes. And
a strike by the best supermodels would give them pause.
Second, I think it would be just totally cool to see six-foot tall fashion
models with picket signs outside of Yves St. Laurent and Prada. In fact
I would pay good money to see that, assuming I had good money. But I'm
sure somebody would tape the thing and put it up on youTube, so I don't
think I would really need any good money.
Anyway, I don't think that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health
Administration) is going to come down on these designers. OSHA usually
concentrates on guys wearing work helmets so that they won't get a
concussion and on trying to prevent workers from cutting their arms off
with huge circular saws. I don't think they are going to care about
stiletto heels.
So it looks like the girls are going to have to do this themselves.
Supermodels of the world, unite.
I would hate to see poor Valeria Mazza fall in
her heels and break her leg. Because then she'd
have to get a job making pizza. And I doubt whether
she would be able to make pizza.
ellinidata said:
"I would hate to see poor Valeria Mazza fall inher heels and break her leg. Because then she'dhave to get a job making pizza"of course!only ugly girls work at pizza places….. hmmmmmmmmmm why I am not happy with this comment ??as for shoes… check this link: http://www.2heels.com/
edwardpiercy said:
You do have a point. There's nothing wrong with making pizza. But making pizza really doesn't seem to make use of Valeria's "talents," if you know what I mean.Tricia Helfer worked on her parent's farm before she was discovered. Nothing wrong with working on a farm, either. But I'm glad she became a supermodel and actress, because now I get to look at her and stuff.
edwardpiercy said:
I think I came across that site a good while back. But I didn't bookmark it, so…Thanks! :up:
ellinidata said:
when you are bad, you are good at it!! :lol:yes, I am glad you did not post the 04874849903903 dollar shoes on a poverty day awareness :)I gave Ripp a video (you got it too)see his post on poverty 😆
edwardpiercy said:
It just occurred to me that I'm glad I didn't post this yesterday, otherwise people might have thought it was my deal for Blog Action Day — 😆
edwardpiercy said:
That looks more like an iAnkle. :)Those shoes are even more rad than the photo I used for the post.
edwardpiercy said:
Hey, they are only $770.00 dollar shoes! Why, I was thinking of buying them for my sister they're such a bargain! :lol:I'll check out the post. :up:
ellinidata said:
Ed,the location was the tempting one…not the ipod ! :lol:I never use mine,the kids gave it to me for Xmas because I always used a "river".I still did not get to love the little devil…I wish I had the time to update the songs with what I listen these days….I am surprised Melissa didn't get more recognition…..
edwardpiercy said:
Me too. I guess iJustine had more self-marketing going for her. Although it's hard to imagine how.I was thinking at one point about getting an iPod until I realized that I never go out of the house. Not much use for it. 😆
ellinidata said:
I thought they could be a pair ! :lol:here is a 700.00 savings! :p
edwardpiercy said:
@ Star. Hmmm. I don't know. 😀
ellinidata said:
:)you can buy payless shoe store for that kind of money! :lol:(pay half of the shoes the rest come free! )please allow my to add this :
edwardpiercy said:
Melissa laying on the beach had the iPod I was wanting. 😆
ellinidata said:
I will keep an eye out there,sometimes things happen and we never know,not to go far see what happen with Scarlett… we almost gotto be the last to know! 😦
Stardancer said:
I've never understood high-heeled shoes. They hurt, they're dangerous, and they're not even shaped like feet.Why would anybody put herself through that on purpose?:rolleyes:
ricewood said:
At the beginning of this entry I was about to become really nervous. I simply couldn't stand the thought of reading another entry about the financial crisis – so you can probably understand my relief when I realised that you were getting back to the essentials – long legged young females and their accessories – in the wink of an eye.
edwardpiercy said:
I try to do what I can in these difficult times. 🙂
ellinidata said:
:lol:you altruism is worth loving!!!
Aqualion said:
The late Rudolf Broby Johansen, controversive danish journalist, rebel and communist, in his 1966 book on fashion 'Krop og Klær' – 'Body and Clothes' – examines the connection between women's fashion and the state of american economy from 1913 to 1953. As an example he uses the length of the skirt – in good times the skirt is short, in bad times the skirt is long. To put it short (no pun intended), his theory is that wealth gives people a feeling of security, and when women feel secure they will reveal what is usually hidden. If you decide to examine the length of heels in the same perspective, you might find a similar connection.
edwardpiercy said:
Sounds like a very interesting read.I suppose accorging to his theory that we should now see skirts lengths get very long indeed. There was some work I think by Herbert Marcuse in the area, but I don't know if he covered clothing or not.Konrad Lorenz, the ethologist, dealt with clothing a bit. His observation was that for women there always seems to be a kind of rule where in the 20th century at least a certain percentage of the body is covered. In the late 60s and early 70s as skirts grew shorter, more of the chest and arms were covered. But in the earlier late-50s and 60s, as well as the late 70s and early 80s, more of the arms and chest were revealed but the skirts got longer. In any case, that's his theory. I do know that fasion was driven by economics here in the States during the WWII period. Just about everything was rationed due to the war, including material to make clothes. You saw skirts get shorter during the war than they were in the 30s. And women's jackets became smaller, higher, and tighter fitting. After the war ended, in the early 50s, when there was plenty of material around again, skirts all of a sudden got longer — ankle length — a sign of prosperity. Also to be condidered is that the two most sexually repressed times in history — medieval times and the Victorian era — just about all of a woman's body was covered except the hands and face. Perhaps this another case of "more research needs to be done in this area" — 😆
edwardpiercy said:
:lol:Bring on the Elizabethan bar wenches!Or the girls I went to high-school with who wore skirts up to their navels! Yeah!:)
Stardancer said:
Maybe it's just so simple as "some women are exhibitionists, and some ain't". :lol::D
Aqualion said:
High heels are practical. I stand 186 cm tall, wich means that I have to bend my neck to kiss my wife of 170 cm, if she doesn't wear high heels. Whiplash and osteoarthritis will cripple a man, so I've heard. Good thing she likes pumps!:D
Stardancer said:
😆
Aqualion said:
I'm sorry to confuse you with european metrics, Ed, it's not appropiate, you being an american and all. 😉 Let me put it different: I stand six feet two and my wife only stands five feet seven, which is why I think it's a good thing that she likes pumps. I don't have to wear pumps, the average male hight in Denmark is five feet elleven, when I walk in a crowd all I see is hair and hats.:DNow… How about that pizza?
Aqualion said:
Blond moments? My life is one big blond moment. Every time I feel like making a joke about blondes I remember what my pass port says in the haircolour space.;)Speaking of pizza I cooked a really great one the other night. In Denmark week 42 is the annual Autumn Vacation and all schools are clozed so both our sons came to visit us, my son Simon along whith his new girlfriend, and Ann-Charlotte's son bairly returned from a three weeks tour with his band in Japan. Three young people in their early twenties, one of them heavily jetlagged, in a small apartment on the first floor. Go figure. Young people are hungry, but for some reason they can't be bothered with cooking which is how MacDonald's make money. So I cooked this gigantic pizza with salad and relish which kept them quiet for almost an hour. Musicians!
edwardpiercy said:
Martin, that sound like a very sensible solution.I assume you are talking about boots or something…but if not, I'm certainly not one to criticise a man's habits. 😀
edwardpiercy said:
That isn't the metric system. That's me having a blonde moment — stupid!Okay. The pizza's on Valeria. She might not be able to cook it, but she sure as hell makes enough money to buy it.
Stardancer said:
I love homemade pizza! I have a 16-inch pizza pan that I use when I dig out all the stuff to make mine. By the time I get finished piling on all the toppings, the pizza usually ends up being about 5 or 6 inches thick, too.Yum. :chef::D
edwardpiercy said:
Martin, I suppose even a densley packed reunion is still a reunion, especially when there is good food. Star, I make my own pizza out of warmed-up biscuit dough, spaghetti sauce, and cheese. It ain't half bad.
Aqualion said:
My wife, Ann-Charlotte, came home from one of her raids downtown with a bag of spice labelled 'Kebab Spice'. Turns out that it's some kind of magic potion. What ever you put in the pan turns to kebab when you add a spoonfull of this powder. Cooking is sorcery, I've known that since school, but this sorcerer still have things to learn, I guess!
edwardpiercy said:
It is a long road, Grasshopper. 🙂
CultureSurfer said:
I love it that my blog has inspired an intellectual discussion of fashion. I have an upcoming interview with the head of Washington University's fashion school (one of the top in the US), and he also gives an academic opinion on fashion.As far as skirt, dress lengths. I'm not sure how long ago the clothing was designed that I saw 2 weeks ago at St. Louis Fashion Week (before our economy officially tanked?), but I saw some seriously short skirts and dresses. Hmmm….
edwardpiercy said:
Naomi, maybe there's a certain lag-time in the fashion industry, where they haven't felt the full force of the econmomic thing yet.And thank you for the idea. Everything is culture, really. That's one of the things I love about anthropology — pretty much everything is within your purview.
CultureSurfer said:
That's how I see everything- as culture. Whether it's art or cycling or politics, it's a certain culture. That's why I named my site CultureSurfer because I truly do surf cultures. Life gets boring otherwise.I wonder if you're right that we'll see longer hem lines down the road.