Nike's Glass Slipper

In theory programs to help female student athletes prepare for the business world are a fantastic idea.
The next generation always needs new role models and woman role models shows a closing of the gender gap.
Win. Win.
Right?
So why are two of the programs that are attempting to provide equality for female students titled Hoops to Heals and Sooner Stilettos?
Are we really teaching girls about how to succeed outside of sports or are we simply reinforcing the traditional gender roles of the past (and sadly the present)?
Is Nike's glass slipper benefiting female athletes or simply leading Cinderella to her prince and their very domestic happy ending?
What do you say we rename these exciting programs and teach young women to succeed no matter what pair of shoes they decide to wear...
ANM

Photo: Google Images

Shoe 12: Speaking of Tip Toes...

Have you ever been to the ballet and somehow, between the polite applause and the beautiful story, this question always seems to be in the back of your mind: "How on earth do those women stay on their toes (point in dance speak) for so long!"
Now you can too!
And to make up for the fact that not all woman have the natural grace of a ballerina they added heels - for balance...
ANM

Photo: Photobucket

Shoe 11: Disco's Back

Ok, stilettos have been around for a while and they are obviously still being worn or designers would have picked up on the much more comfortable flat and opted out of designing shoes that make the streets of Manhattan into the leaning tower, or more appropriately the teetering pathway, of women.
But they haven't so the question is, what ever happened to plain black high heeled shoes?
Classy, not overly high, business appropriate, and on a scale of uncomfortable from 1 (being the least uncomfortable) and 10 (being the most uncomfortable) hitting a solid tolerable comfort range of 4.
Case and point the dancing queen six inch stilettos that are now available for a weekend on the town.
You can jingle while walking down the street to your favorite tunes from the 70's, but don't forget the skin tight white bell bottoms -you want to make Mr. Travolta proud.
What do you think? Would you slip on these six inch stilettos for a night out with the girls or do a sequined pair of silver flats sound much more comfortable?
ANM
Photo Google Images

Shoe 10: I'm an Robot...In Stilettos

Next Halloween when you're deciding what to wear to the big party and you're tired of being a cat or a nurse, be a robot.
Why else would you wear these eccentric stilettos that scream costume?
These multi colored sky high heels that not only protect your ankles from road burn, but also allow you to put on that bright yellow rain jacket and for the first time match.
But hey, to each her own.
Besides you could always break them out again for the Transformers 3 premier...
ANM

Picture: Google Images

Stiletto Car

Looks like Dorthy's red slippers didn't make it back to Kansas after all. They also weren't gifted to either the good witch or the wicked witch, but were instead made into a car - for the munchkins...
Why anybody would want to drive around in a stiletto car is beyond me, but I'm sure its more comfortable to sit in then to walk on and probably much, much faster.
What do you think in this red stiletto pump part of a pair?
ANM

Picture Thanks to Google Images

Shoe 7: Faithful Bootie

There is now no need to hop on the back of a motorcycle to live the dangerous life - you just have to throw on a pair Faithful Booties straight out of Alexander McQueen's ready to wear shoe collection.
These 4 and a 1/2 inch stilettos allow all the possible accidents of a motorcycle crash without leaving the ground.
These shoes can absolutely be called booties, but faithful? If it is meant as a 'I refuse to ever come off of your foot even when you fall' type of faithful then yes, they do indeed live up to their name.
With no disrespect meant to the late Alexander McQueen, these heels scream - 'I am too a rebel and I'll prove it!' I'll prove it by dropping over $1000 on a pair of leather shoes that I'll probably only wear once just to prove to the man I'm trying to attract that a good girl can be bad - on occasion...
What do you think? Are leather jackets meant to be worn as shoes?
ANM

Shoe Information:
Designer - Alexander McQueen
Price - $1,155.00
Heel Height - 4 1/2 inches
Website - http://www.alexandermcqueen.com

Shoes 5 and 6: Aminaka Wilmont - London Fashion Week

Wooden heels? Check.
Ribbon? Check.
Being able to walk outdoors? Ummm....
Designer Aminaka Wilmont has taken the high heel and turned it into a torture devise, a means of making women walk around on their tip-toes - permanently - or so long as there wearing what only passes for a shoe because it is somehow attached to the foot (enter the ribbon).
What ever happened to shoes being meant for protection from the basic elements - frost, rain, sharp little rocks?
Not only are women wearing these heels in permanent point position, but the protective casing that shoes are meant to provide is somehow nonexistent.
The bare foot is held at an excruciating angle by a shaped and hopefully smooth, wooden spike and the women are forced to walk along the runway with the grace of a model...
Hopefully Ms. Wilmont is simply making a statement about the contortions that woman's feet go through when wearing a particularly high pair of stilettos because if that were the case she would be making a very strong artistic statement - look at what's going on inside the shoe or, perhaps more importantly, look at what, at who, is wearing the shoe.
However if it's not the case she is simply advocating pain for attention, attention for her shoes and the woman desperate enough to purchase them.
What do you think? Are these shoes an artistic statement or a step back towards foot binding?
ANM

Shoe Information:
Designer - Aminaka Wilmont

Shoe of Shoes by Victoria Fuller

The statue 'Shoe of Shoes' is made of all individual aluminum cast stilettos and then reassembled to make the one large heel. In this way it resembles other large statues that you might see in public parks or university campuses but it also looks like the type of shoe the tin woman would pick up for a night on the town - silver and shinny.

Food for thought: Why did V. Fuller use aluminum casting on all of the heels instead of leaving them as individual representation of the person who may have purchased them and the designers who choose to make them different?
ANM
Photo by William C. Hutton

Put on some heels...Be a woman

"Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn has traded in her downhill skis for high heels..." (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20364524,00.html).
In other words, Ms. Vonn has stepped, quite literally, into the shoes that define her not by her profession, but by her gender. Off of the trails she is the quintessential female - attending events in formal dresses and painful shoes.
And who could blame her?
She works hard and certainly deserves the rewards that she's now receiving. The problem lays not in her extracurricular activities, but in the fact that there is a double standard.
Sure different shoes, like most other attire, have a distinct place in society. There is a time and place to wear heels as opposed to flip flops. Just like wearing a wedding dress to pick up your morning coffee would be quite unacceptable, so too would flip flops in the board room.
But by putting on heels women are morphing themselves into what is expected - that after an afternoon run they can still slip into that little black dress and pumps and be feminine.
Women are not expected to wear multiple hats - it is still impressive when they can be an Olympic medalist and can clean up nice to walk the red carpet, when they can play multiple parts well.
But how often, if ever, are remarks made about a man's transition from work, to the gym, to the red carpet?
Why is it in this, the 21st century, in a country that is consistently referenced because of its stance on equality women are still expected to be less than men?
Its not the pumps themselves, or the Olympic medalist wearing them, its what they stand for - a differentiation of the sexes.
A repetitive mantra: You can be whatever else you want as long as you don't forget that you're first and foremost a woman.
ANM

Shoe 1: The Quito

If a woman's shoe collection was organized in alphabetical order you would find the Quito not under 'Q', for Ecuador's capital, but under 'F' for First Date.

Now its pretty common knowledge that the first date is akin to a sales pitch and these shoes say everything...
They say I'm successful, independent, and slightly exotic (hello I'm wearing blue snake skin!). They say I'm willing to dress up to impress i.e. I like to make, at the very least, a decent first impression.
They also cage in the entirety of the foot - stating that the woman wearing them is guarded and unwilling to place herself on the same level as you this first time. They say I don't trust you with my sneakers and sweatpants.
They say I'm wearing these shoes to keep you intrigued and at a distance.
So what does this say about the woman that steps into these shoes? Is she strong and independent or self conscious and guarded?
You decide,
ANM

Shoe Information:

Name - Quito
Brand - Jimmy Choo
Price - $1295.00
Heel Height - 4.7 inches
Website - http://jimmychoo.com