Photo via imjustsayin's flickr
Did we really need a study to tell us that heels are the devil's footwear? Britain’s College of Podiatry asked 2,000 people when their dogs started barking in pumps, and found that on average it takes just one hour, six minutes and 48 seconds for the pain to set in. And a healthy chunk of those surveyed, 20%, said their feet started hurting after just 10 minutes. Yet women still wear them, even if it means kicking them off at clubs (28% said they have done this) or walking home barefoot (which 37% admitted to doing).
While the NY Post talked to die hard heel-ers (“I would suffer for fashion. I can go a good three to four hours before it starts hurting."), a quick poll of the women at Gothamist HQ showed that not everyone will slide their feet into them for the sake of fashion:
- Jen Chung: "I can do 1.5-2 inch heels, but anything more than that and I'd die after 2 hours… but I do wear them to 'events' because I am taller and they make my legs look longer and whatever else women's magazines tell me."
- Rebecca Fishbein: "I almost never wear heels, because I like to walk miles and miles. They hurt after fifteen minutes. I am under five feet tall and I still never wear them."
- Lauren Evans: "I never wear heels, although I do own one pair. Sometimes I stare at them wistfully before putting on other shoes."
- Nell Casey: "I do wear heels, maybe once a month. I would not wear a pair if I knew they were uncomfortable in advance."
- Jen Carlson: "I love them, I hate them, I love them, I hate them. But in the end, I am 5' 10" so I never end up wearing heels because I feel too tall and awkward... and also they are painful and leave me a broken and hobbling woman by the day's end."
But you know what? Every single type of shoe will cause you pain, so ladies, just do what you gotta do.
