High heel economics

Why do women endure the discomfort of high heels?

High heels are uncomfortable and make walking more difficult. Prolonged use can injure the feet, knees and back. Why do women keep wearing them? The short answer seems to be that women in heels are more likely to attract favourable notice. In Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen describes the character Elinor Dashwood as having a "delicate complexion, regular features, and... remarkably pretty figure".

But Austen describes Elinor's sister, Marianne, as "still handsomer. Her form, though not so correct as her sister's, in having the advantage of height, was more striking". In addition to making women taller, high heels force the back to arch, pushing the bosom forward and the buttocks rearward, thus accentuating the female form. "Men like an exaggerated female figure," writes the fashion historian Caroline Cox. The problem is that if all women wear high heels, such advantages tend to cancel out.

Height, after all, is a relative phenomenon. It may be advantageous to be several inches taller than others, or at least not to be several inches shorter. But when all wear shoes that make them several inches taller, the relative height distribution is unaffected, so no one appears taller than if all had worn flat heels. If women could decide collectively what kind of shoes to wear, all might agree to forgo wearing high heels. But because any individual can gain advantage by wearing them, such an agreement might be hard to maintain...which for men, is quite an advantage.

(Courtesy of Cornell University)

Rado Ceramica Watch Launch

Vein Wear was invited to join Rado as the "shoe of choice" to match with a Rado Ceramica XL watch at the collection launch in Potts Point, Sydney, earlier this month.

To celebrate the launch of the new watch a cocktail party was held at one of Sydney's hottest new venues - Ego Restaurant.

The event was profiled in influential newspaper title - The Sunday Telegraph as 'the' party of the week, ensuring strong social media attendance from prestige magazine titles and newspapers alike on the night.

A high profile guest list from the prestige fashion media, entertainment and fashion arenas attended to hear special guest Lee-Lin Chin interview the Publisher of respected design magazine company, Indesign Group Raj Nandan. Both are proud owners of Rado watches.

To have a look at the watches visit the Rado website. You might be wondering what makes these watches so special. Well, from what I picked up, it has to do with the super material high-tech ceramics that they are made of. Apart from its applications in high tech medical science it is especially well known for its use in space technology. The ceramics are not only extremely resistant to scratching and abrasion, but also very skin friendly.

So there you go. Wearing a Rado, while you are performing high tech medical procedures in space you can reliably tell the time, free from any worry of scratching your watch.

In a world with creative freedom...

Here are the "dodgy-doctored" pics of the Leopold show at Melbourne Fashion Festival. These are shoes the designers would have used. Quite funny really :)

Vein Wear Missing at L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Week

Well it has finally happened to Melbourne Fashion Festival. What was once, authentic and creative designer expression has been rail-roaded by the money men and logo-slappers. Seems to happen everywhere these days.

For years, my shoes have been used on the runways in this show. Used by the likes of Kenzo, Hugo Boss, and local boys Leopold. But not any more. Over a month ago the Leopold lads were working through my collection to find all the right shoes for their collection show this Friday in Melbourne. But they were in for a rude shock!

Apparently designers don't get to put together their looks anymore. Apparently designers can't choose what shoes to match with their clothes...like that matters or something. Who would have thought? Nope, now there are "footwear sponsors". Yep, companies that don't get invited to the party, but buy their way in anyhow. And after they've stuffed a few thousand dollars into the right pockets they can turn around and deny entry to the talent. "Sponsor's shoes only, Sir".

So there you go. The shoes you see on the runway are there as a result of corporate handshakes and the Melbourne Fashion Festival's decision to muddy the fashion waters and offer the people a fashion product not born of designer vision or fashion integrity, but of greed. And their core product, fashion, will be sub-standard now and towards the future.

I saw TV ads for the festival as far up as in Queensland...I guess the money has to come from somewhere.

What I might do, as an interesting exercise, is take the runway shots from the Leopold show and ask them to pick the shoes they would have chosen to go with them.