{"id":13696,"date":"2013-04-18T00:30:10","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T07:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=13696"},"modified":"2013-04-18T00:30:10","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T07:30:10","slug":"my-killer-shoes-brought-down-to-size-by-those-4-12-inch-heels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/my-killer-shoes-brought-down-to-size-by-those-4-12-inch-heels\/","title":{"rendered":"My Killer Shoes — Brought Down to Size by Those Four-and-a-Half-Inch Heels"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Silver<\/a>
The Killer Shoes: Silver satin with with 4 1\/2-inch heels and a funky zipper up the back. By Glint, at Nordstrom, $129.95. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

Jon picked out his wedding attire in a half hour. I\u2019ve devoted several all-day shopping trips to my wedding outfit and I\u2019m still not done.<\/p>\n

Jon feels sorry for me. All that shopping. So many trips to the mall. So many trips into San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\"Father<\/a>
Jon tried on the jacket chosen by Peter and his fiancee. It fit. And that was that. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I feel even sorrier for Jon. His visit to our local Men\u2019s Wearhouse was over and done with in forty minutes.<\/p>\n

Our son and his bride had already picked out coat, tie, vest, slacks and shoes for the men in the wedding party. All Jon had to do was go into the store, get measured, try on the ordained shoes and jacket in two different sizes, fill out some paperwork and, boom, he was done.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s at times like this that I\u2019m glad I was born female. When there\u2019s a fancy occasion we women, unlike the men I know, don\u2019t settle for a de rigueur uniform. We have choices. We get to shop.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve picked out the dress I\u2019ll be wearing<\/a> to Peter\u2019s wedding. It\u2019s long and purple and pretty. Last week I was ready to decide on some shoes to go with it.<\/p>\n

I was thinking strappy silver sandals with the same one-and-a-half-inch heel I\u2019ve been wearing since I married my \u2013 sorta short \u2013 husband thirty-six years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Chrome<\/a>
Chrome wedges at Nordstrom. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That shouldn\u2019t be too hard to find, I thought. Wrong.<\/p>\n

Dress shoes for women right now, as you may have noticed, sport heels that go on forever. Wedge heels, spike heels, stack heels \u2013 everywhere I looked I saw nothing but heels of skyscraper proportions built to lift their wearers an ankle snapping four or even four-and-a-half inches off the ground.<\/p>\n

Ridiculous, I thought as I passed the mannequin at the entrance to Nordstrom. Who would wear those silly chrome wedges with the astronomically high heels?<\/p>\n

And who would wear those preposterous gold pumps with the swollen toes in the display case at Steve Madden?<\/p>\n

Not me, I thought. I\u2019m sticking with practical, sensible, safe. One-and-a-half inches max. Like always.<\/p>\n

\"Deevaa
Steve Madden’s Deevaa shoes, $149.95. The heels looked to be 5 inches tall. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Until I saw The Killer Shoes.<\/p>\n

There they were, on a table at Nordstrom, daring me to try them on.<\/p>\n

Elegant pav\u00e9 rhinestone straps wrapping just so around ankle and instep. A funky zipper up the back.<\/p>\n

And a four-and-a-half-inch heel.<\/p>\n

I asked the saleswoman to bring them to me in my size.<\/p>\n

I put them on. They were beautiful. My feet were beautiful. My ankles were beautiful.<\/p>\n

I stood up. I was beautiful. Statuesque, for heaven\u2019s sake. No longer was I my modest five-foot-three-inch self. I was tall. I was elegant. I towered five feet seven-and-a-half inches above the crowd at Nordstrom. I could see over the tops of their heads.<\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/a>
Statuesque in the 4 1\/2-inch high Killer Shoes. BF Newhall photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I could actually see the point of wearing those ridiculously high-heeled shoes.<\/p>\n

But then I took a few steps, and I knew right away that The Killer Shoes and I had no future. No way was I going to get through a wedding, let alone a reception, in those heels. I\u2019d fall on my face. I\u2019d break something essential, a hip maybe.<\/p>\n

Chastened, I stepped out of The Killers. I put them back in their box and returned to my old reliable, five-foot-three-inch self.<\/p>\n

I spent the following days scouring the department stores for a pair of simple, low-heeled, strappy sandals. I found a few. But they were either too expensive, too informal or a poor fit. I settled on too informal as the least of the three evils.<\/p>\n

I thought of Jon and his shoes. Shiny. Black. Presentable. Comfy.<\/p>\n

Sometimes men have all the luck. But only sometimes. For example, they don’t get to shop for earrings, most of them . . . And that’s what I’m going to do next.<\/p>\n

\"Silver,<\/a>
Too expensive:<\/strong> $248 at Bloomingdale’s. Marc by Marc Jabobs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Silver<\/a>
Didn’t fit:<\/strong> Silver wedges by Nina. At Macy’s $79. Photos by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alfani<\/a>
My best bet:<\/strong> Alfani’s Victoria stack heel is a little informal, but comfy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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If you enjoyed this post you might also like “I’m the Mother of the Groom, Now What Do I Do?”<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Also, “Shanghai Chic: Where a Woman’s Style Starts With Her Shoes.”<\/a> \u00a0 Share this post with friends by clicking on the Facebook, Twitter or Share icons below.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Barbara<\/a><\/p>\n

Dress shoes for women right now, as you may have noticed, sport heels that go on forever. Wedge heels, spike heels, stack heels \u2013 everywhere I look I see nothing but heels of skyscraper proportions built to lift their wearers four or even four-and-a-half inches off the ground. Read More.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[565,34,245,566,962,869,835,55,82,963,814],"class_list":["post-13696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","tag-body-image","tag-dont-miss","tag-empty-nesters","tag-fashion","tag-high-heeled-shoes","tag-low-fashion","tag-mother-of-the-groom","tag-family-stories","tag-on-the-funny-side","tag-shoes","tag-shopping-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}