Women in flat shoes still able to do job shock!
May 13, 2016 5:49 PM   Subscribe

Grauniad: Women share flat-shoe photos in solidarity with dismissed receptionist - Women at work on Friday were snapping pictures of their flat shoes in a show of solidarity with a receptionist sent home from her temp job after she did not wear high heels. The Twitter trend was initiated by the Fawcett Society following a backlash against sexist dress codes imposed by some employers.
posted by marienbad (96 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow. That's some retro bullshit. Expect the agency will be rewriting its policy shortly. And people should be giving PcW grief as well because PcW hired the agency and can absolutely influence the dress code. Except the PcW men probably like having female receptionists in heels. Grrrr!
posted by Bella Donna at 5:54 PM on May 13, 2016 [6 favorites]


As a male all I can do is shake my head and apologize. As the father of a daughter who is in business school and is just starting her working career I want to burn the world down.
posted by photoslob at 5:55 PM on May 13, 2016 [19 favorites]


I've followed the story and it looks like the company has already changed the policy. But I'd have taken a photo indeed, and added the story about how a doctor once recommended that I not wear heels because my back can get messed up and I'd throw it out. The idea of heels-only dress codes makes me want to throw things.

thank god that my current job has no formally defined dress code, and on Fridays everyone in my particular office rolls in in jeans and sneakers. It is DIVINE.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:01 PM on May 13, 2016 [11 favorites]


I was involved in a very minor car accident around 2 years ago, I was rear ended by a lady, who was then rear ended by another lady, and those two drivers apparently ended up suing each other. At the time of the incident, the middle lady made a statement to me and the third driver, saying something about how her foot got caught up in the pedals, and presumably that's why she hit me. Fast forward to last week, I was subpoenaed to give a deposition as a witness, and obviously the attorneys asked me about what she had said. I said, "I remember she said something about how her foot got caught", and of course, that led to more questions about what kind of shoes she was wearing. I had no idea, I didn't remember even looking to see. She told me something directly relevant to why she hit me with her car, having to do with her feet, and I didn't even think to look at her shoes. So, who are these people who care what kind of shoes someone else is wearing?
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:04 PM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


Bring back heeled shoes for men, I say. First man buns, then man high heels. Don't be a wimp, bro, it makes your butt look good.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 6:05 PM on May 13, 2016 [78 favorites]


Holy effing shit. I wear flats every single day to my high-rise corporate business-dress banking job and I just dare someone to say something to me about it. Just... I... I haven't the words. This is some misogynistic b.s.
posted by bologna on wry at 6:06 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


I have long maintained that high heels are tools of oppression.

I mean, what's the point of shoes that make it more difficult for you to move around?
posted by chickenmagazine at 6:13 PM on May 13, 2016 [17 favorites]


My sister works at PWC, and she has all sorts of horror stories about required heels and after-work bullshit and people playing stupid political games about "looking hard working" even if there's nothing to do, because apparently the entire industry (she's worked elsewhere previously) is a chaotic mess of neurotic idiots with no fucking idea how to assess employees on their work instead of their ass kissing and outfits. Of course now that there are women with the opportunity to object to the dress code and the practice of black balling women for promotions when they seem the right age to get pregnant, the corridors are filled with moaning from guys convinced that THEY are the real victims and promoting women so high when THEY MIGHT TAKE MATERNITY LEAVE is political correctness gone insane.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 6:21 PM on May 13, 2016 [25 favorites]


Oh, I'm required to wear heels to work?


WELL


*shows up the next day in sick custom made seven inch platform stilettos*

I don't wear these for you. I wear them for me.

t(○,○t)

*cue Nancy Sinatra*
posted by louche mustachio at 6:28 PM on May 13, 2016 [27 favorites]


PwC and its contractors need to double down:

Bring back foot binding!

I mean, it's hardly the most evil thing they've done.
They also have a page on Urban Dictionary.
posted by Mezentian at 6:31 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


Is that normal? Years ago, I did a lot of temping, and I had some jobs that required me to wear a suit with a skirt, but I don't remember anyone ever dictating high heels. That's some serious bullshit.

I liked temping, but I didn't like the receptionist jobs where they were looking for an attractive young woman to sit out front and greet people. You were kind of part of the decor, like a semi-sentient potted plant or something. And I had some guy friends who also temped and who used to note wryly that they never got sent out on those receptionist gigs. It's not that guys aren't required to wear heels. I suspect it's that guys don't have some much more fundamental qualifications.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:38 PM on May 13, 2016 [9 favorites]


The Solidarity Codpiece.

Gentlemen, it's time.
posted by mhoye at 6:39 PM on May 13, 2016 [13 favorites]


lalex: Can we please stop with this "Grauniad" nonsense? It's confusing and irritating on the front page of the blue."

probably not (previous meta on same)
posted by namewithoutwords at 6:54 PM on May 13, 2016 [12 favorites]


The world is perilous. Don't trust anyone who insists you wear shoes you can't run or roundhouse kick in.
posted by prize bull octorok at 7:02 PM on May 13, 2016 [14 favorites]


mhoye: The Solidarity Codpiece.

Gentlemen, it's time.

-----------------------------------------
The Daily Mash is on it:

Male Receptionist Sent Home For Not Wearing Codpiece
posted by Morfil Ffyrnig at 7:10 PM on May 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


We might as well just require women to wear corsets, too.

Of course, the really awful thing about it is that sexist dress codes are just a tiny part of the problem, and relatively easy to attack because they're explicit. We can get rid of the dress codes (and should), but the expectations are still there.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 7:11 PM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]


I wonder how long it will be before someone has the bright idea to sue their company for lifelong back and leg pain due to having to wear heels? I find heels excruciating, blister inducing torture mechanisms and my feet ache days after wearing them so if I was forced to do it, I would be asking for pain and suffering compensation.
posted by Jubey at 7:15 PM on May 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


Bring back heeled shoes for men, I say. First man buns, then man high heels. Don't be a wimp, bro, it makes your butt look good.

The Prince RIP thread is still open, you know.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:30 PM on May 13, 2016 [7 favorites]


Every time I think we actually are in the 21st Century (THE FAR FUTURE!!! 🚀), some sexist, racist, or generally fucked-up jackoff comes along dressed in a sabertooth tiger skin, banging the ground with a club, and screaming incoherently about women, immigrants, or other SCARY group of people.

The B Ark (🚀) can't come soon enough.
posted by Celsius1414 at 7:34 PM on May 13, 2016 [8 favorites]


If my boss paid for these heels, I'd agree to wear them every day.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:42 PM on May 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


As I returned to the workplace after an extended leave, I decided to try out the femme side of being a woman. Previously, I was fairly neutral to hostile. I tried many kinds of heels but even the most comfortable invariably tortured if worn all day. Here's my horror realization...even when sitting at your desk, heels require your feet to be flexed. MEN! CAN YOU IMAGINE DOING THIS TO YOURSELVES?

Yes, of course I kicked them off constantly. I did love when others admired my shoes but they are just fucking bad for you. Even those of you who have studiously gotten comfortable with them.

I love reading Zappos comments on women's shoes -- so many are like, "the toe box is too narrow and I think the strap will give me a blister but they're really cute so probably keep them for a wedding or something." No. Those are reasons to send those shoes back!

She should be made a part of some advertiser's shoe campaign and be given free shoes for life.
posted by amanda at 7:48 PM on May 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


Men's ties ('look at my crotch' arrows that they are) should come with a 30lb weight at the end, to even the back-ruining gendered-clothing playing field.
posted by dazed_one at 7:49 PM on May 13, 2016 [12 favorites]


(Also, anyone know what brand those snakeskin shoes are? I need!)

ETA: maybe they're just Vans...
posted by amanda at 7:58 PM on May 13, 2016


It's somehow apropos since such a monumental work of masochistic heel apologetics just came out.
posted by meehawl at 8:01 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


When I was a kid (many decades ago) I remember an orthopedic surgeon friend of my parents, who would often go on tirades about high heal shoes, which were the cause of many of his patients problems. Seeing a woman trip in a restaurant would start him up: "Look at that. They should ban them! What are people thinking? She could have broken her ankle!"
posted by eye of newt at 8:10 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


As a millennial librarian constantly facing pressure to not perpetuate librarian stereotypes, I have always felt somewhat guilty about wearing utterly sensible shoes every day of my life - especially since I switched to wearing nothing but men's shoes (partly a sizing issue and partly a style issue). And then one day I was startled to realize that men get to wear sensible shoes every single day and no one ever judges them for it! (To be sure, nice men's oxfords are not as comfortable as sneakers, but they're a sight more comfortable than any women's dress shoe I've ever put on.)

I am determined never again to put on a shoe I couldn't wear to walk away from a major natural disaster, except for weddings. (Other people's weddings. If I ever get married, I'm wearing men's shoes.)
posted by Jeanne at 8:16 PM on May 13, 2016 [14 favorites]


Go home, get heels, return to office, use heels to stab these idiots in the neck with said heels.

Sorry, but holy @#$% what the hell?!
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 8:34 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


"Crotch arrows"?

As a guy who owns more heels than ties --
Should I... be reconsidering my hatred of ties? :-)

Apropos to the OP, and medical issues aside, asking employees to fulfill a fetish, even a "mundane" one, should be considered grounds for prosecution of the employer.
posted by smidgen at 9:10 PM on May 13, 2016 [8 favorites]


"Crotch arrows"

That's some bullshit too. I live in the tropics where it makes no sense to wear a suit and tie unless you're going from your limo to your air conditioned office. It's t-shirt and shorts weather! I'm a Swedish-Australian and I don't cope too well with summer, even without wearing a de-facto scarf that POINTS AT MY DICK.
posted by adept256 at 9:28 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


The Big Four are ridiculous Mad Men-esque bastions of fuckery. Everything is about the appearance of work, and desperately trying to make partner. I saw the Graun article this morning and made a mental bet on which one it would be when I clicked through.
The best career decision I ever made was not going anywhere near them after a couple of co-op terms.
posted by Kreiger at 9:37 PM on May 13, 2016


this is also really upsetting
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:44 PM on May 13, 2016 [1 favorite]


Last time I was in Saigon PwC had an ad for local staff that required women to be under 30, unmarried and "able to wear ao dai" which I assume meant suitably slender.

Point being, fuck PwC, they totally knew what the deal was and were almost certainly responsible.
posted by aramaic at 9:46 PM on May 13, 2016 [5 favorites]


Yes, the Atlantic article is upsetting as well, particularly this part: Working in an industry dominated by men, she appreciated the few extra inches of height the shoes gave her. (And also: the sense of professionalism, and of femininity.) Sense of professionalism? WTF??

She refers to Dolly Singh, the CEO of the shoe design firm Thesis Couture, the company trying to make high heels bearable rather than just destroying all heels. I appreciate looking at some high heels but I look at lots of things I would never wear or use, including razor blades. I mean, better to have heels that don't disable you than heels that do but can't we just stop it already?
posted by Bella Donna at 9:56 PM on May 13, 2016 [4 favorites]


I have a pair of brown shoes and a pair of black shoes for necessary occasions (so: flats [I am partial to Mary Janes], sandals and boots, one set black, on set brown) plus tennis shoes and that's it, really. Oh, some flip flops for the pool. I buy Life Strides or other comfy types of shoes and think nothing of it. I wish my local DSW didn't carry quite so many versions of platform stripper heels, and more comfy cute boots and flats, I'd spend more money there. It's not just middle age, I have resented heels since my first introduction to them in junior high (also my first introduction to aching feet and blisters on my little toe where the shoe rubbed. And the way that so many pumps snag on your hose so easily and give you runs in them.)

The last time I wore a pair of (1.5 inch) heels, to a wedding, I fell down a half-flight of carpeted stairs when one of them caught (slight twisted ankle, bruised dignity). The pair I wore to my mom's funeral? I slipped and fell in the parking lot and muddied my skirt. Thankfully that was after the funeral. I took these two events as a sign that I was officially done with heels, and really it's been nice and I haven't missed them at all.

I am utterly uninterested in space age "comfy" heels. They might be great for Beyonce (though I think she's probably already done a lot of damage to her feet dancing in heels) and other people driven to wear the damn things, but I have moved on already. I ain't the Little Mermaid, I don't need to walk on knives for anybody.
posted by emjaybee at 10:16 PM on May 13, 2016 [15 favorites]


Yeah, my heel-wearing is limited to a few parties a year. I like to walk fast, work standing up (adjustable-height desks for all!), and not have sore feet. If I inadvertently buy a pair of flats that hurts my feet, it gets thrown to the back of the closet never to be worn again.
posted by mantecol at 11:02 PM on May 13, 2016


Can we please stop with this "Grauniad" nonsense? It's confusing and irritating on the front page of the blue.

I navigated "Grauniad" okay, but "PwC" threw me for a loop.
posted by Chitownfats at 11:39 PM on May 13, 2016 [3 favorites]




That comfortable heel link is infuriating. It's not just the blisters and the squeezing and the falls due to heel breakage, it's the shortening of the achilles tendon, the necessary posture correction requiring a constant teetering at 10 degrees or more, the weakening of the ankle, the lower back strain, and the changes in the knee joint that ultimately lead to weakening it. You cannot fix any of those things unless the heels are also hoverboards.
posted by xyzzy at 12:09 AM on May 14, 2016 [15 favorites]


I thought the Atlantic article was great.

I suggest those of you that reflexively react, "high heels why would you wear them they hurt your feet lol" read the article. It isn't quite so simple.

Of course, I'm biased. I probably own 50+ pairs of shoes, many of them heels to varying heights. None of them are as comfortable as sneakers, or any shoe remotely designed with the needs of the human foot in mind. But that's not what most people wear them for anyway.

Now, the FPP link itself deals with a very different situation, that of a woman being required to wear heels. That is absurd. But just because a workplace doesn't require heels, doesn't mean that the semiotics of high heels are any less pertinent.

Congratulate yourself all you want for your principled decision not to tolerate uncomfortable footwear for any job, but recognize that there are many valid reasons to wear heels that aren't quite so stark as "I will literally get fired if I don't."
posted by Aubergine at 12:12 AM on May 14, 2016 [14 favorites]


I navigated "Grauniad" okay, but "PwC" threw me for a loop.

They officially changed a while back, to be hep viral with the kids.
The same way Ernst & Young is now EY.
Deloitte Touche Tomatsu is now Deloittle, and will probably soon be Big D.

(and, of course, Arthur Andersen is now Accenture...)

The Big Four are ridiculous Mad Men-esque bastions of fuckery.

I'm amazed no one has mentioned that this is nothing compared to airlines and their restrictions, which are beyond this. Far beyond. Creepy, even.

here are many valid reasons to wear heels that aren't quite so stark as "I will literally get fired if I don't."

Aside from "because I want to" (which in and of itself is possibly a loaded question), what are these valid reasons? I mean, I own three pairs of shoes and a pair of what I will call flip-flops for American readers, and I have wide feet so my experiences with heels have been limited (and short-lived) but I am in the dark.
posted by Mezentian at 12:40 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


I work in the building in London where this was supposed to have happened and until recently worked closely with the team of contractors involved.

Firstly I want to say that I totally agree that as long as the shoes are professional looking, flats are an acceptable option in the workplace.

And yes the contractor does have a uniform and set strict standards for personal grooming for all genders which I think contain some over prescriptive wording around heel height which needed to be rectified.

But elements of this story have been exaggerated and there are some significant omissions as well.

For the record I have worked here for several years and have never been told, or felt compelled to wear high heels. My experience of this company has been that people are more interested in what I have to say than what I am wearing.

Our welcome teams have always worn shoes with a variety of heel heights which has always been at the discretion of the individual. Even if the policy stated heights, generally professionally looking flats have been around in this building with no issue before the policy change late Thursday.

As long as you don't, say for example rock up in a pair of trainers and an attitude about it on your first day (just hypothetically of course), a request to wear professional looking flats is perfectly reasonable. I'm glad the dress code has been clarified so this is no longer something people feel they should have to ask for. That is unfair. But the protest here is disproportionate, it was taken all the way to eleven without any opportunity for this to be resolved in good faith.

I don't disagree with the argument about heel height but am personally disappointed that events at my workplace have been unfairly represented, and my employers incorrectly labelled foot binding shoe patriarchs. It's just not so.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:05 AM on May 14, 2016


But she didn't roll up in trainers -- she was wearing sensible, professional black flats, which are acceptable in every office environment I've been in (NYC inclusive). And apparently acceptable elsewhere in the same building, save that particular office.
posted by mochapickle at 1:20 AM on May 14, 2016 [12 favorites]


I don't disagree with the argument about heel height but am personally disappointed that events at my workplace have been unfairly represented, and my employers incorrectly labelled foot binding shoe patriarchs. It's just not so.

Your employer confirmed the story to the BBC, and you pretty much did as well, so it seems it is exactly so.
posted by effbot at 1:32 AM on May 14, 2016 [22 favorites]


Their dress code also specifies all the makeup women have to wear. Considering there are no similar requirements for men, how is this still a thing?
posted by harujion at 1:32 AM on May 14, 2016 [17 favorites]


I navigated "Garuniad" okay, but "PwC" threw me for a loop.

I liked how the company was represented by a Mr Prat.
posted by effbot at 1:37 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


I love high heels and own several pairs but can rarely wear them anymore due to a bad back (coincidentally...) When I worked for Estée Lauder companies the contract specified a dress code including heels of a minimum 1 inch height - this was 10 years ago now so I'm not sure if it has been changed. I worked for Clinique most of the time and they also specified: jewellery (silver studs only, one ring plus wedding ring, watch), hair accessories (black or silver only, hair below collar length to be in a ponytail), makeup (subtle). Being forced to wear heels as a receptionist is bad enough; being forced to wear heels when you're not allowed to sit down all day - you were forbidden to sit while on the floor, only on your half hour lunch break - is torture. I wore the minimum height required and usually wedges but some of the women spent the day in sky-high (gorgeous) heels and I never figured out how they did it. I often expect to bump into them at my back doctor's office...
posted by billiebee at 1:53 AM on May 14, 2016 [6 favorites]


I have hypermobile feet which means I'm unsteady even when wearing flats.

Now imagine being me and trying to get temp jobs as a student. Every low-paid retail job required me to wear heels. 9 hours in a busy department store leading up to Christmas?! That is bad enough, but doing it in heels for no other reason than I am a woman? And no exemption for medical reasons?

Yeah, that was fun.
posted by kariebookish at 2:19 AM on May 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


Mod note: A couple of comments deleted. If you want to share additional (factual) details about the situation, that's fine, but hinting at secret information is not a great way to go here.
posted by taz (staff) at 3:25 AM on May 14, 2016 [4 favorites]


I work in the building in London where this was supposed to have happened and until recently worked closely with the team of contractors involved.

I don't want to have a go at you, and I do not intend to have a go at you.
(But... it's almost certainly going to come across that way at some point).

And yes the contractor does have a uniform and set strict standards for personal grooming for all genders which I think contain some over prescriptive wording around heel height which needed to be rectified.

There is wording around heels and make-up, at all. That is bad.

But elements of this story have been exaggerated and there are some significant omissions as well.

Welcome to journalism, where the truth meets word counts, and people - and I am not referring to you - will see the words that came out of their mouths in print and tell you they were misquoted and mis-interpreted, even when faced with audio recordings that came out of their speech-holes.

Our welcome teams

And here is where my "but" comes in:
"welcome teams".
Are you really comfortable using that term to describe reception/front desk/security?

Anyway, this thread was lost when the Buzzfeed link with the bloody feet got posted.
And I am glad we are having this debate, because until this issue came to light, I thought this kind of prescriptive, micro-managing dress code was relegated to airlines and Hooters.
posted by Mezentian at 4:09 AM on May 14, 2016 [8 favorites]


Surely it's the 21st century, and if powerful men want pliantly submissive feminine assistants, they have Siri for that.
posted by acb at 4:18 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Anyway, this thread was lost when the Buzzfeed link with the bloody feet got posted.

Really? Because bloody toes have been my experience every time I have had to wear pumps for a formal event. I'm not averse to mary janes with a wedge or flatforms, but formal heels kill me every time.
posted by sukeban at 4:25 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm wearing flats now, and with very few exceptions (the occasional formal dinner/wedding/etc)I have worn flats my entire life; even on those exceptional occasions I've never worn more than a 2-inch heel.

I refuse to wear shoes that tend to have narrow toe boxes that crush the toes and cause hammertoes and bunions, blisters, bad backs and ankle injuries; and usually have less-than-ideal arch support. (Regularly wearing high heels also causes the calf muscles to bunch up and shorten, and that just looks awful.) The only justification for high heels is sexual gratification, and (unless you're a stripper or sex worker) that doesn't belong in the workplace.
posted by easily confused at 4:27 AM on May 14, 2016


Because bloody toes have been my experience every time I have had to wear pumps

I'm a guy, so until this point, I thought pumps were flats with a puffy base.

Because bloody toes have been my experience

Call me crazy, I just think bloody toes should never be your experience, or mine.
Blisters, sure. Blood? Nah.
posted by Mezentian at 4:30 AM on May 14, 2016


I have long wondered how many extra women may have died in 9/11 because of footwear.
posted by srboisvert at 4:37 AM on May 14, 2016 [17 favorites]


What do you expect happens when you fit a healthy adult's weight into two footprints smaller than the palm of your hand, really.
posted by sukeban at 4:37 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm in my sixties and never really wore heels. I still have foot problems, because I'm an athlete and because of heredity. For a few months this year, I was in severe pain because of plantar fasciitis. I cannot imagine what my feet would be like if I had actually mistreated them. The other day I was talking with my 8th grade boys about high heels and why people wear them, and (a) they suddenly realized that those things make you walk on your toes and (b) they realized that their own shoe choices are a fashion statement. It's a prep school with a uniform, so they wear technically conforming shoes that are the wrong size, they walk on the backs of them so they look like mules, they don't tie the laces, and they can't run in them. But they're still not damaging their feet nearly as much.
posted by Peach at 4:48 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


The only justification for high heels is sexual gratification

Um, no? While you can argue that my aesthetic appreciation for some high-heeled shoes is nothing more than internalised misogyny I will have to counter that with the fact that assuming women have no agency in their shoe choices is itself misogynistic and bringing high heels = sex worker into the equation is deeply problematic. I love my red satin peep toe high heels with a passion and I can't even wear them, but I occasionally gaze at them as at a work of art even as I lace up my trainers. I mean, forcing people to wear them under any circumstances is assholery of the highest order, but women choose to wear them for many reasons.
posted by billiebee at 4:56 AM on May 14, 2016 [9 favorites]


At the New Yawker, Down with High Heels.
posted by beagle at 5:16 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


In the past, I've worn flats that make the "clip-clop" sound when you walk on a hard surface, thereby making everyone think I'm wearing heels when I'm really not. My flats from Seychelles (I believe the style is called "Out All Night", currently not in production but they'll get cycled back in) do this admirably.
posted by orrnyereg at 5:21 AM on May 14, 2016


I navigated "Grauniad" okay, but "PwC" threw me for a loop.

Yeah, took me a few links to realize PwC is PricewaterhouseCoopers, the awful accounting firm (check the "controversies" section of its Wikipedia page for starters), so it's perhaps no surprise they refused to publicly clarify their position on flats for their own employees (allowed) while hiring companies that require them for other women.

Also, I have a knee-jerk reaction of disgust for posts that use "grauniad" as a joke term for the Guardian while linking approvingly to the Guardian.
posted by mediareport at 5:24 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]



I refuse to wear shoes that tend to have narrow toe boxes that crush the toes and cause hammertoes and bunions, blisters, bad backs and ankle injuries; and usually have less-than-ideal arch support.


My mother wore high heels for most of her life. Beautiful stilettos, wedges, platforms in all colors and styles. She traipsed through the eighties, all day, every day in elegant suits and dresses and gorgeous shoes and she looked like a movie star and I adored her for it. And now? Well, she's in her sixties and her feet are a disaster and, though genetics didn't help, most of it is due to the shoes. These days, she still wears the fabulous clothes but an awful lot of the time she wears sandals and what are basically bedroom slippers at the office and the surgeries that could correct what she did to her feet are complicated, expensive, painful and not-necessarily guaranteed to totally fix the problem. And even now, she has a closet full of high-heeled shoes.

I adore high heels and have a closet full of them. Because I work from home and in an industry not inclined to dress up in a town where I mostly walk places, I wear them so infrequently, they count as decorative collection at this point. And to that end, a friend recently, gently, and with great patience suggested that it might be time for me to get rid of them and I was . . . well, it made me sad, but I know she's probably right).

I remember being twenty-three years old, just after college, visiting a close friend of mine in DC. She was working for a congressman at the time, whose staff tacitly encouraged a high level of grooming standards. I met her at her apartment one evening and found her on her bed, wrapping feet bloodied by (comparatively) sensible heels in gauze. I watched her and thought. "This is so dumb that we do this to ourselves." And then I thought. "Those shoes really make her legs look great."
posted by thivaia at 6:36 AM on May 14, 2016 [4 favorites]


People blithely throwing PwC under the bus here should bear in mind that they have no idea what happened in this particular case, and that the entire story relies on a set of unsubstantiated claims made out of the blue 6 months after the event. If you read the press statements made by both Portico and PwC, you'll notice that neither company acknowledges or endorses the specifics of Thorp's story, but limit themselves to the matter of the dress code.
posted by Sonny Jim at 6:38 AM on May 14, 2016


Nor deny it, which speaks volumes.
posted by Etrigan at 7:16 AM on May 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


I think we can safely say that, like most corporations who outsource things, PwC is mostly interested in limiting their liability and paying as little as possible in the process and does not care even a little bit about the working conditions or worker protections of the contract employees.
posted by hydropsyche at 7:20 AM on May 14, 2016 [6 favorites]


And I would suggest you have absolutely no understanding of the tendering process for contractors within the accountancy sector, and no understanding of UK employment law.
posted by Sonny Jim at 7:27 AM on May 14, 2016


I was going to make one of my characteristic "light-hearted" "puns" concerning something along the lines of "Feet wrecked upon the Scholls of dress codes" etc., but it's Saturday morning and the drugs haven't kicked in yet, so, I won't, I guess.
posted by Chitownfats at 7:32 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


The entire reason that employment law exists is because companies don't otherwise have to care about worker protection.
posted by Etrigan at 7:34 AM on May 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


I have long wondered how many extra women may have died in 9/11 because of footwear.

My cousin worked in the WTC complex (not in one of the towers) on 9/11. When they evacuated she had to run, in her high heels, while the towers came down behind her. She ended up walking all the way home to the UES mostly in bare feet because her shoes hurt too much to walk that far. At some point she passed a shoe store that was giving out free sneakers to women, and she was able to get a pair there. She says that since then, every time she buys a pair of shoes she thinks, "Can I run for my life in these shoes?"
posted by katemonster at 7:41 AM on May 14, 2016 [77 favorites]


I work in a tall building in NYC, and when a fire warden came to give us a lecture on evacuation procedures, he told us that if we were wearing heels we needed to leave them at our desks or else carry them in our hands... because on 9/11 the stairwells were littered with discarded heels, making it harder for everyone to escape.
posted by showbiz_liz at 7:52 AM on May 14, 2016 [31 favorites]


I will admit that in a dispute involving a major multinational corporation, a staffing agency that specializes in high end receptionists ("Our teams within these environments are responsible for all client ‘soft’ services.... it is our Portico people who provide the first and last impression and create the ‘opportunities to impress'"), and a temporary receptionist, I'm not so worried that the multinational corporation is the one who is going to get thrown under a bus. My impression is that multinationals generally end up ok, which is not something that can be said about temporary employees.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:57 AM on May 14, 2016 [20 favorites]


Ah, lovely memories from college, when working in one of NYC most well known event spaces, and being forced to wear heels for 10 hours straight. It was not a sitting job either. The director was a woman herself who would watch our feet to make sure we didn't secretly slip on our flats. She wore heels too but she mainly sat in her office in them.

Anytime someone would hint at the damage they were doing, and how we had to ice our feet when we went home, she would sweetly remind us it is the dress code and we were welcome to go work somewhere else if we couldn't handle it. She would also say things like "you call those 3 inch flats heels?!".

I've never been a huge fan of heels and the way they make you walk like a fragile, freshly-hatched chicken, but I despised them during that time. I can't think of a more idiotic invention, created solely to complicate the most essential of human functions, bipedal walking
posted by ariadne_88 at 8:01 AM on May 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


And I guess another thing that occurs to me is that one of the things I found tough about temping was the clothes. It's really hard to afford professional clothes on what you make as a temp, especially if you aren't working all the time. Some clients don't care what you wear as long as it fits some basic standard for appropriateness, but the receptionist gigs often want people who look good, not just people who are wearing something that ticks off all the boxes for professional attire. I was able to come up with an ok temp wardrobe from thrift and consignment stores, but shoes were always a problem, because you don't want to buy second-hand shoes. And comfortable, stylish shoes are expensive, even if you don't have to wear heels. I don't think that most temps are going to be able to afford well-made heels, so we're not even talking about the best-case scenario with high heels. We're talking about spending all day wearing junky heels, which hurt even more than the expensive ones. Oof.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:26 AM on May 14, 2016 [17 favorites]


I once worked at a place that had the dress code stenciled into the full-length mirrors in the restrooms.
posted by lagomorphius at 8:29 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


I work in a tall building in NYC, and when a fire warden came to give us a lecture on evacuation procedures, he told us that if we were wearing heels we needed to leave them at our desks or else carry them in our hands... because on 9/11 the stairwells were littered with discarded heels, making it harder for everyone to escape.

There were also photos of empty NYC streets in close proximity to ground zero littered with women's shoes the day after. I was 18 at the time, college freshman with literally nothing else to do but read news accounts and feel terrible, and that image plus the description of the WTC stairwells took me from waffling about performative feminity to fuck all that forever right quick. At least about heels. And terrorism. They're kind of horribly linked in my head too, is what I'm trying to say.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:38 AM on May 14, 2016 [18 favorites]


I'm very tall and tower over most people when wearing heels. And I'm not very good at walking in them anyway: mediocre balance and an upbringing that disdained makeup and other such trappings, plus teenage me wasn't interested in enduring more "How's the weather up there?" yucks. But I love stilettos as works of art.

So back when I lived in Chicago, imagine my delight when one of my nearest-and-dearest turned out to be a crossdresser who took fashion extremely seriously. He could pull off fantastic outfits, replete with gorgeous and very high heels. His closet was incredible, and I took great joy in buying him fabulous shoes and seeing him incorporate them into his wardrobe. Win-win.
posted by carmicha at 8:41 AM on May 14, 2016 [5 favorites]


First, one of the women in the article is wearing what looks like black leather high top sneakers. Can anyone see the brand well enough to tell me what those are? I need them. Need. I have a significant tendon injury, and have been searching everywhere for non van ankle support tennies.

Second, my first job out of college was working on the mainframes at EDS. This was like a basement type room, with multiple levels, connected by wire grate type walkways and stairs. I was the only woman down there in the pit. Like the guys, I wore jeans, concert shirts and high top sneakers, wore my hair in a ponytail, and (by dallas standards) almost no makeup. I got a memo one day, which I still have in a folder somewhere, where HR sent me the dress code, and said I needed to wear a skirt and heels if I wanted to keep my job. These ladies had never been in the pit, so I went up to their office, and asked them to come down there in their dresses and ludicrous shoes. The second they tried to walk on the grates, their heels went through them, and they realized that if they climbed the stairs, everyone could see up their skirts, and I suggested that perhaps the lawsuit that would happen if I tried to climb around this equipment in heels and a dress was not only inevitable, but would be very, very expensive and really bad press. I mentioned that a dress code that allowed men to wear trousers, but that mandated skirts,pantyhose and heels for women was probably discriminatory, and did they really think this policy through before they sent it to me.

They rescinded the memo, and not long after, EDS changed their policy to read Professional Dress, instead of a laundry list of wardrobe choices. I'm sure it wasn't just me, but I was serious when in said I would sue, and they knew it. This was about 30 years ago, so this bullshit gender based lookism is well past its sell by date.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 8:57 AM on May 14, 2016 [52 favorites]


Dress codes are weird. At my store, huge piercings, facial tattoos, hair colors not found in nature, gender bending of all kinds are all fine. But ripped jeans will get you sent home. I am not kidding.
posted by jonmc at 9:05 AM on May 14, 2016


It just occurred to me to wonder if the companies that still try to mandate heels are also on the trendy bandwagon of urging employees to use stairs and walk more to bring down their health-insurance premiums (supposedly). I'll bet there's a few with that overlap.

Our company largely lets you wear what you want if you're not an executive/meeting clients--except for my department. We are forbidden to wear jeans and thus sneakers. We are basically waiting for the guy who instituted this rule to retire so we can be comfy again.
posted by emjaybee at 9:07 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


If I ran a welcome team These would be mandatory footwear.
posted by Chitownfats at 9:07 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


It just occurred to me to wonder if the companies that still try to mandate heels are also on the trendy bandwagon of urging employees to use stairs and walk more to bring down their health-insurance premiums (supposedly). I'll bet there's a few with that overlap.
Possibly, but at least in the US, contract workers don't typically get benefits, so lowering insurance premiums wouldn't be an issue. That's one of the reasons that big companies use staffing agencies. Originally, temp agencies were supposed to be for when you had a temporary need, like when an employee was on vacation or called in sick or was on maternity leave. Increasingly, big companies are using staffing agencies to fill low-level positions permanently. This allows them to brag about the generous benefits that they give employees while not mentioning that clerical workers, cleaning staff, and the like are not their employees but instead are outsourced from some third-party agency.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:04 AM on May 14, 2016 [6 favorites]


I just read a series of articles the other day on how injury rates from high heels have doubled in the last decade (that article is from May 2015, study is from 2002-2012). It does seem, from my anecdotal viewpoint as a woman, that heels have become increasingly fashionable/desirable these past five years or so. It used to be most heels were 1-2", now you see women in offices wearing 4-5" regularly.

I will say it is the ONE upside to being tall. I'm 5'10" on the side of 5'11", so if I wear a one-inch heel I'm already as tall or taller than most men. Put me in 3" heels and I'm towering. 5" heels? I do that when I want to be all, BYOTCHES, COWER BEFORE ME. No seriously, I have this amazingly comfortable pair of 5" heels that do not at all look that tall, but are, and arrogant pricks are all "ooooooh nooooo the lady is looking down at me aaaaaahhh but she is conforming to gender stereotypes oh shit *faceturnsbeetred* what am i to do in order to assuage the ego of the patriarchy oh shit she just said hello if I acknowledge her it willl mean acknowledging the existence of a woman physically intimidating me oh fuck *brainexplodes*" and yes this happens on their faces and in their voices and attitudes. It is so much fun.

But the vast majority of the time I wear flats because I want to be able to use my legs, hips, and back when I'm retired.
posted by fraula at 11:05 AM on May 14, 2016 [12 favorites]


She says that since then, every time she buys a pair of shoes she thinks, "Can I run for my life in these shoes?"

I wonder whether, if one were to plot the popularity of high-heeled shoes on a graph, September 2001 would be a noticeable downward inflection point.
posted by acb at 11:05 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


Wow I was kind of shocked to read this. I can't imagine high heels being a job requirement. Is this 2016? Sigh. While I absolutely love wearing high heels, all of my doctors have told me recently that I'd be insane to wear them other then when I'm sitting down, due to my numerous ankle, knee and back injuries. I would probably flip out if an employer mandated heels, skirts, makeup or other shit that the men didn't have to deal with.
posted by FireFountain at 11:09 AM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


I actually love the way heels look. As art objects. Or as foreplay. But not, you know, as actual footwear.
posted by Bella Donna at 11:30 AM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


I will have to counter that with the fact that assuming women have no agency in their shoe choices is itself misogynistic

The idea that women look good wearing shoes that harm their bodies is culturally mediated and anyone who freely chooses to wear heels bears some responsibility for perpetuating that barbaric culture.
posted by straight at 12:34 PM on May 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


No, I think that goes too far. Women who like wearing heels should wear heels, women who like flats should wear flats. (Same as with makeup, same as with skirts, or hair color, or spray tan.)

When the heel is mandated as part of the dress code, that's where we should draw the line.
posted by mochapickle at 12:55 PM on May 14, 2016 [4 favorites]


I used to work retail at Macy's in my late teens in 4 inch stillettos. Bright red too. Loved the clack clack of them on the floor- you couldn't really sneak up on anyone, tho.

Then real life and repetition sunk in, and I realized speed was more appealing to me than comfort, so no more heels (you can run surprisingly fast in a pair of ballet flats).

Breaking every bone in my right foot in a climbing accident made the decision for me.No heels ever again, as wearing them for longer than a minute invited the Red Hot Ass Knives of my sciatica to take permanent residence in me.

I still admire them, and anyone who can wear them with aplomb.
posted by LuckyMonkey21 at 1:03 PM on May 14, 2016


Best high heels ever. (Ballet dancer is the day job)
JpDubs - I Hate My Job
posted by Peach at 1:46 PM on May 14, 2016 [3 favorites]


I know someone with MS who can't wear high heels due to balance issues. WTF.
posted by Canageek at 3:49 PM on May 14, 2016


SecretAgentSockpuppet, I couldn't see the brand but here are some similar black leather hi tops:
Supra
Ecco
Adidas
Vince
posted by asphericalcow at 3:56 PM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


People blithely throwing PwC under the bus here should bear in mind that they have no idea what happened in this particular case,

While I don't know this particular case, my S.O's little sister works at PwC Melbourne and just did a stint in the NYC office. She's a private school girly girl and even she has acknowledged her office has stringent, unfair, and capricious standards of how everyone needs to be dressed up but women in a far more particular fashion. This starts from the point of her manager casually remarking that he wouldn't stand for men not wearing "fitted" (personally tailored) clothing.

And that NYC in particular enforces a cultural standard of binge drinking/work 12 hours then party hard.

PwC has earned its reputation.
posted by cult_url_bias at 4:29 PM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]



The idea that women look good wearing shoes that harm their bodies is culturally mediated and anyone who freely chooses to wear heels bears some responsibility for perpetuating that barbaric culture.



Sometimes I WANT to be almost six feet tall though.


I should to be able to choose those times, but I can have them.
posted by louche mustachio at 6:45 PM on May 14, 2016


The idea that women look good wearing shoes that harm their bodies is culturally mediated and anyone who freely chooses to wear heels bears some responsibility for perpetuating that barbaric culture.

you do you. I'll do me.
posted by LuckyMonkey21 at 8:47 PM on May 14, 2016 [1 favorite]


I never mastered walking in heels. (That's an understatement!) Anything over an inch and I'm bobbing and weaving and tripping - and some people think that would be more work-appropriate than wearing some nice professional black flats? I could never work in a place like that.
posted by SisterHavana at 10:58 PM on May 14, 2016 [2 favorites]


Me too, SisterHavana. I can fake it for a little while if I only have to take a few steps eg. on stage (which is pretty much the only time I've worn heels). There's nothing attractive about my legs in high heels because I literally walk like the tinman bereft of his oilcan. It's embarrassing.

And I agree quite definitely that everyone should have the choice as to what they wear on their feet. Choice being the operative word. It's such an important word.

It's shocking, I can remember reading stories about women in the workforce in the 70's standing up and demanding the right to wear something other than skirts and panty-hose and heels. What's happened to that brilliant start? Rigid gender roles, restrictive dress codes, all the steps forward re: reproductive choice and everything that goes along with that gone, continuing inequity of pay. It makes me so angry when I think about how much we've lost when we really only just got started. Glacial change, indeed.
posted by h00py at 3:01 AM on May 15, 2016 [3 favorites]


I loathe high heels. I've never really learned how to walk in them. I'm 40 now, so I don't know what I'd do if something in my life required me to wear them. Whenever I try to wear them, it lasts for all of 10 minutes before I'm ready to hurl them in a dumpster. That said, I rarely leave the house without makeup and I sleep in my underwire bra, but no one makes me do these things, it's just how I'm most comfortable. I imagine there are women (and men--yes, Prince! among others--) who feel that way about heels, although clearly all of these things should be strictly optional, regardless of gender. I haven't worked for any companies that required heels, but a couple that required panytyhose and close-toed dress shoes. Oh, good luck finding close-toed dress shoes this time of the year, btw! I still don't understand what was so potentially offensive about seeing my toes in an office setting--and the pantyhose can just fuck right off. If I had any music ability I'd write a song called "Control-Top Pantyhose Blues." Itchy nylon squeezing me in the middle, cutting into my stomach as I sit at my desk, making me so uncomfortable I actually want to stab everyone...oh man, adding heels to that would have resulted in homicide for sure. At those jobs I just wore pants or long skirts without pantyhose.

My mom wore heels for decades and now she can barely walk. Even a few years ago she had a closet full of very pretty heels, but she has finally given them up, per doctor's orders. She was certainly part of a generation where heels were expected in the workplace and she, like so many women, loves how they look and how they lift your butt and lengthen your calves or whatever the fuck, but now she is hobbled. Not worth it. Whenever I see a woman in spike heels I don't think "pretty" or "sexy". I think "agony" and "permanent damage."
posted by apis mellifera at 4:15 AM on May 15, 2016


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