High Heels - Hot Topic

My love for high heels is pretty obvious. Half my blog's name goes to this one item in my wardrobe. When searching for new pairs I often look for styles and patterns that would look good not only with a short skirt, but also with a nice pair of dress pants for the office. Up until recently I saw no reason to keep them out of my Monday - Friday 9 - 5 life.

With the interviewing I have been doing over the last few months I did start reading up on some pointers regarding first impressions and what not. Many articles mention that it is not a good idea to wear perfume (obvi), bright fun colors (sad but again pretty understandable) but also no high heels. I get the concept if I were to wear a skirt, but if I'm wearing pants why does it matter that the last three or so inches of my leg is actually a heel? In the end I have been trying to wear flats to get the job. Once hired, those heels would go into the back of my closet out will come the far prettier ones.

I was fine with the whole, save the good stuff for later. Then my aunt sent me this article "Do high heels empower or oppress women?". It does make a few interesting points. After finishing it, I can't say I feel a super need to give up the heels, but at the same time I get very uneasy about the fact that they could be holding me back. There was the usual "women are fashion slaves to men" kind of argument. Know what, I honestly like the way my feet look in those shoes as well as the rest of my body. If it is because I am brainwashed by men in fashion, I can deal with that until they develop something that makes me feel as confident in something like a flat. The best point towards the keeping of heels (even though the article does lean towards a 2.5 incher) is the following:

“Take a look around — you rarely see women in power strutting around in ballet flats,” Goldman said. “Even their ‘flats’ have a small heel of some kind. Flats scream either demure or comfortable. Neither is an image you want to project at work.”

Yes, flats are for woman that are happy with the glass ceiling. (No I have many friends that love flats and do not like the glass ceiling but I couldn't help myself just now. I apologize).

Part of me wonders if the reason that you do see high heels considered a "no" with the workforce is because men are finding it intimidating to stand eye-to-eye (another pro point in the article). I mean, DSW just released the following ad that says just that...