Cannes Film Festival, Flat Shoes & High Heels

7:19 AM

Cannes Film Festival was in the news last moths for not such good reasons. It faced a huge backlash after some women reported that they weren’t allowed to attend the screenings since they were wearing flat shoes. According to The Guardian, the film festival has attracted controversy for its pro-heels attitude. Some of these women were even going through medical conditions that demanded them to wear flats. Dubbed as the Flatgate controversy the scandal provoked some serious comments from leading Hollywood actors. Emily Blunt has been leading the charge with strong statements but William Hanson, an etiquette experts says that flat shoes were in fact breaking the dress code of Cannes – the Black Tie.

While it is still huge news in the fashion fraternity, this incident raises some crucial questions about footwear and its relation to health.

Changing the way we walk

Women are not made to catwalk on all occasions – it looks well-placed only in the ramps. Similarly, wearing high schools for long and regular periods have been found to change the way you walk. It even gives rise to joint and bone problems quite often. Someone acquainted with the topic will have an idea of what a “corns and bunions” is. This is a condition that makes your toes run into each other and shift into a particular position – often reasoned with faulty footwear.

The moment you step in high heels, all the body weight in transferred forward, away from the heel (where it should be) and towards the toes (that aren’t meant to balance body weight). As a result, walking get more rigid and the individual is lesser capable in balancing to the shocks associated with walking on uneven grounds. That’s why women wearing high heels will stumble more often.

The forward shift in body balance increases the likelihood of ulcers in the ball of your feet. These are not only disabling but can be fatal for people suffering from diabetes. In some cases, these ulcers might demand a foot amputation. In fact one of the women who was turned away from the Cannes screening had recently undergone a foot amputation surgery.

Risk of falls

As already said, high heels shift the body balance completely. Women take a long time to acquaint themselves with this change but initial adapters are always likely to fall and sprain their ankles. Women who have been wearing high heels for a long time have adapted physically to the changing balance by a shortened calf muscle, reduced flexibility of ankle and stiffer Achiles tendon.

Back pain

Walking is a fine act where the center of gravity is maintained on our feet. Changes in foot positioning when walking on high heels can have drastic consequences to the body. If you haven’t been wearing high heels since you took your first walk, switching to them at a later age will lead to increased curvature of the lower back. The backward lean can be quite painful and many users feel tired after wearing high heels for prolonged period.

90% of feet operation is carried on women who have switched to high heels. Even when buying flat shoes, make sure you are finding it comfortable, not just in balance but also in flexibility of your toes. There is no reason in sacrificing walking comfort for some misplaced fashion stunt.

Author Bio - Daisy Carter is working as a Marketing Manager at Cocorose London. Apart from writing about latest fashion & lifestyle, she can be found providing tips to small businesses to achieve their business goals.

Karthik

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor Aenean massa.Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor Aenean massa.