There are generations of women — well-heeled millennials and the valiant, stiletto-obsessed Gen Xers who came before them — who remember exactly what life was like before wearing flat shoes wherever the hell you like became common practice. Dedicated to gaining altitude at any cost, we routinely carried our heels in tote bags and changed into them at bus stops or in the dimly lit doorways of pubs. Some, the fiercest, even spent entire days in heels, prioritising the desire to feel “a bit Carrie Bradshaw” over the health of our shortening achilles tendons. Back then, packs of Compeed plasters, Nurofen and £30 foot spas from Argos were survival tools.
It’s with a trigger warning and a side of trepidation, then, that I must tell you: the heel is back in vogue. Yes, just as you were gazing lovingly at your now unfurled pinky toe and whispering the words, “You and me are better off without them,” fashion is again levelling up.
The rising issue was confirmed during the most recent Paris Fashion Week. Not on the catwalk, I hasten to add, but around it, as fashion editors fell head over (sorry) heels for a pair of vertiginous court shoes. Naturally these weren’t just any old courts, but a pair of two-tone, high-vamp heels from Matthieu Blazy’s long-awaited debut collection for Chanel. The shoes, revealed on the catwalk last year, arrived in store in early March, and all hell broke loose. Fashion insiders launched full-scale logistical operations to ensure they got their hands on a pair in shades of aqua, cream or a sort of gothic red. The hysteria marked a seismic shift: fashion’s inner circle has not had its collective knickers in a twist about a high-heeled shoe in quite some time. Certainly not since before the pandemic hit has a pair of shoes that we will all inevitably struggle to run for the bus in captured our hearts.
Of course, as there is only a tiny percentage of people on Earth likely to splash the £1,130 required for a pair of Chanel’s beautiful, crowd-lifting courts, the infatuation has obvious limits. However, it does confirm that something bigger is going on. Take a look around and you’ll see evidence of it everywhere — whether it’s kitten heels, Cuban boots or the vampish courts Blazy has inspired, the heel has come in from the cold.
M&S, a barometer of the nation if ever there was one, has noted an increased demand for heels from customers who seem to want more than just trainers now. Accordingly it has been busy adding more court shoes to its offering. “The heel is genuinely back,” Maddy Evans, its director of womenswear, tells me. While customers are not abandoning the comfortable trainers and loafers they have been living in since the pandemic, they are diversifying. “Our job is to provide her with new alternatives,” Evans says, “and that’s heels designed to work for whatever your day or night brings.”
The idea that this new breed is to be worn for day is an important distinction. The styles gaining traction are those that look great with denim, a trouser suit and even a skirt and sweater. We’re not talking about the kind that belong on a dancefloor, but shoes you might wear to work. The vampish shapes inspired by the catwalk come into their own here. While a more traditional court could look twee or a little out of date, this angular new style looks modern and cool. Shoe specialists such as Aeyde and Dear Frances are great places to find your new higher ground — both offer courts in high-cut shapes. Slingbacks are also emerging as a seasonal success story, with the fashion platform Lyst confirming that searches for the style — particularly by Saint Laurent and Prada — are among the most frequent on its site.
At the more affordable end of the market, stores such as Arket and Cos are embracing angular courts that occupy the sweet spot of neither too high nor too directional, but rather slot into a woman’s dressing repertoire without too much fuss or fanfare.
With the return of the heel comes acceptance of the idea that sometimes women might like to feel a little bit glamorous — feminine, even — again. Is it a symptom of what’s going on elsewhere in the world? Probably. The politics of heels have always spanned gender and power. Fashion’s collective swing towards a more overtly glamorous aesthetic feels like an inevitability right now, as women dress up as a mark of defiance. After years of quiet luxury and being asked by designers to blend into the background, the idea of overtly feminine dressing is revolutionary. Tiring of the same trouser suits and trainers is perhaps a sign that we are finally ready to choose self-expression over the safety of uniform; moreover, it’s proof that we have all got just a bit, well, bored.
Does that mean we are ready to ditch the flats altogether? Absolutely not. You would struggle to find a woman among us who wants to return to the days of changing in doorways and hobbling around with blisters, but it’s a thrill to find a new high to experiment with. Loafers are going nowhere, but they no longer have to do all the heavy lifting. Time to raise your game?