Yay or Nay: Kitten Heels

Meow, kittens.

Here's your latest Spring '10 trend to rip to shreds, or, as we like to say, "discuss."

Let's start off with this: we never could stand kitten heels. We always found them either dowdy in the old lady sense, or self-consciously "sexy" in an old-fashioned sense (we tend to associate them with a pair of maribou feather mules like something Ginger Grant would have worn or Jayne Mansfield on a day when her back was bothering her from lugging those jugs).

Now, before you jump all over us, we'll say this: Mega high heels are not for every woman (in fact, they're not for most women*), so we aren't saying Go High or Go Home. One can find a flattering and stylish low-heeled shoe and certainly one can always find a cute pair of flats to wear, although they don't always look good with certain hem lengths. But there's just something so half-assed about so-called kitten heels.

Not surprisingly, with our Amazonian First Lady sporting them frequently, the kitten heel is making another comeback to the runways. Let's take a look:

Missoni Spring 2010 Collection

Marni Spring 2010 Collection

Louis Vuitton Spring 2010 Collection

Uniformly AWFUL. To our eyes, the best thing to do with a kitten heel is to slap it on a very low-key, practically minimalist shoe. These all look like platform shoes with the platforms sawed off. And seriously, what the hell is up with that Marni collection? Is that supposed to be some sort of joke? Because yeah, if you're going to market kitten heels, the very best thing to do would be to make everyone think of old ladies with their knee-highs puddled around their ankles.

We say YAY to the idea of kitten heels, so women who care about their foot and lower back health can feel stylish and make choices, but we say NAY to these kitten heels because they are an assault on our eyes.

*And to the first person who says "Of course you like them. You don't have to wear them," we retort with "Neither do you."

[Photos: Style.com]

Post a Comment