Heights of Absurdity
Posted on February 15th, 2007 by shoesense under Balenciaga Shoes
Um, excuse me, but isn’t this just a tad ridiculous? I know Balenciaga has a devoted following, but Ghesquiere seems to have taken things a bit too far with this spring-summer 2007 collection. Fashion has always had this tacit component of objectifying and fetishizing women, and these impossible-to-walk-in heels take that assumption to the extreme. For, surely, you can’t really walk in these–at least not like a normal, sentient, aware human being. And if you can’t really move, and/or your gait acquires all the elegance and fluidity of a rusted robot, and/or after 5 to 10 steps your feet and calves are screaming and begging you to please, please get down from up there, for the love of all that’s holy–you’ve become nothing else than an object. Do fashion designers really hate us women so much? Will somebody please tell them to stop this nonsense? There’s nothing really revolutionary about these vertiginous trippers. Here’s something revolutionary for the Torquemadas of the fashion industry: comfort. A simple, yet painfully underrated concept. How about seeing more of that on the runways???
- Never underestimate the power of the feminist blogger to raise shoe awareness
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- From the ‘You can pry these shoes out of my cold, dead hands’ series
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Piperlime
August 7th, 2007 at 1:10 am
as if these are not the most revolutionary designs in todays modern silhuettes of footwear. im you dont have the will to walk in these masterpieces than dont! i dont see anyone forcing you too. its called sacrafice. its your choice.
i personally tip my hat towards balenciaga’s uniqueness and willingness of moving forward.
August 13th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Darling, you are obviously an American. There is a saying for your kind: “if its comfortable enough to sleep in, its not for streets”. So you just really cant walk arround in baggy clothes just cause they are comfortable. So for the shoes. Shoes are made to love them, to covet them, and least to show off. Girls who wear Balenciaga shoes really dont need to walk arround in them, they are driven by their drivers and held by strong men. I disagree on your feminist thesis on sexiist attitude of designers. They are all gay anyway. There is a thing called aesthetic. You know, high heel looks really beautiful, just like tall women and tall men. And i dont see why they should give up on it. Learn to deal with beautiful people and if you really want, go and get classes of walking in high heels. You will be happier:)
October 26th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Go Belma go… he’s obviously an American… lol
January 16th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Oddly enough I came accross these Balenciaga platforms that you call “absurd” last summer. I instantly fell in love with the design and had to purchase them. It was my first (and you never forget your first!) pair of expensive designer shoes. I took and home and looked at them and the heel height and thought “AM I CRAZY?” ………Well, alas it is Saturday night out with the girls, first hour a little rough, add more liquor, ok, now its easier!!! They really were not that bad at all, in fact, I walked through an entire airport in them. One thing I will say about a Balenciaga high-heeled summer platform…………YOU WILL NEVER EVER FEEL SEXIER IN YOUR LIFE. I PUT THESE ON AND ITS INSTANT SEX APPEAL LIKE YOU CANNOT IMAGINE. WORTH EVERY PENNY, JUST PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!
February 18th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
My Opinion on these Masterpeices of Design is that they are really irresistible. The topic shoes is passion! I’m male and not gay, I’m an exzentric and very aesthetic. Back to the shoes, look at Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik, everyone knows there designs, they are outdated, it’s time for revolution, like these sculptures of art show us. Ghesquiere is a huge talent and his work is important to strech the dimensions of possibility to find something adaptable to our spirit of time, to introduce a new Spirit! Ghesquiere is gay, really? My dear…
June 15th, 2009 at 2:12 am
Assuming that I’m the only straight-male to reply to a thread on this site, I would just like to say that Balenciaga make the hottest shoes I think I’ve ever seen (Although Gucci is a fair contender), And I reckon that any girl who would walk in a pair of Balenciagas is the girl of my dreams.
These shoes are almost too gorgeous for wearing, almost : )
i like
alot
June 18th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Was googling Balenciaga shoes, I think they look great! They are extremely high though, but they’re designed to push boundaries and creativity - sure sometimes designers go a bit far, but the world would be stuck in one place if it weren’t for people trying new stuff out to inspire the rest of us. If wearing really high heels out and you’re unfortunate enough to have to walk in them, I would pack a pair of flats in my handbag first…
August 11th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
All of those shoes pictured above are wearable. Balenciaga has a lot of ‘out there’ footwear that you didn’t even picture, if you can wear these babies, you don’t belong in heels hun’. go back to the sewer where you belong and wear mary janes, ms.boring.
avid shoe-enthusiasts love the art of the shoe.
you should embrace it, not annoy it.
August 12th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I have a mental rating system for my shoes….8-hour, 6-hour, 2-hour, etc. 6-8 hour shoes get the most wear (and will likely wear out faster, sigh). If a shoe is less than 2-hour’s but sexy as hell, I will find some way to wear it, even if that is occasionally as ‘ lingerie’. We have clothing appropriate for different occasions and events, why not shoes? I have some shoes that are more beautiful than anything made by La Perla, anyway.