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Why flats are officially back!

By Lucy Hutchings on Thursday 30 July 2009

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Anna Wintour - Celebrity News - Marie Claire

It's official: the fashion work has gone flat!

While the word on heel height has been the bigger the better for season-after-season, it appears that sky-scrapers have finally had their day – for now, at least.

The evidence? Infamous fashion doyenne, Anna Wintour, eschewed her typical towering three-inch plus stilettos, for yep, you've guessed it, flats!

Attending a designer showcase in the Hamptons, the Vogue Editor-in-Chief slipped into oyster slip-on-sandals - an unheard of move for the Manolo-loving fashionista.

And it's not only Wintour favouring a more relaxed form of footwear. Her fellow US Vogue staffer, editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley, has declared the high heel officially over, branding stilettos 'towering torture chambers.'

He wrote, 'Can't anyone take a cue from First Lady Michelle Obama, in the elegant low-heeled shoes she always wears? A flat would be nice.'

Concluding, he called on the world's designers to embrace the flat, 'Can you stop the madness and dream up a new way to define your silhouette without a needle heel that defies not only gravity but elegance?'

What more of an endorsement do you need ladies? Ditch the crippling heels and slip into some chic pumps, for the comfiest fashion fix of the season.

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Thursday 30 July 2009

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I've ditched the heels since I seriously sprain both my ankles when wearing (not even very high) heels in different occasions. Now it's flats or at most kitten heels, I don't care where I'm going. Ok it helps I'm very tall already, but I gladly swap "elegance" for healthy ankles!
Comment by Maria on July 30 12:44

I love flat shoes.. i wear them every day.. well ok when going out i wear high heels but im quite tall 177 cm... so for every day flats r my best friends.. :)
Comment by Ema on July 30 14:21

Like Ema I love flat shoes and only occasionally wear kitten heels, but unlike her I never wear high heels! Only idiots wear them - they're not comfortable, ruin your knees, ankles and back and are only really designed to fuel men's fantasies! Lets hope they never come back in fashion - especially the Louboutin spiky 'Gladiator' high heeled shoes -surely they must be the ugliest shoes ever.
Comment by Rosemary on July 30 15:28

Well there's a time and place for everything! Every day and shopping certainly flats or flattish - comfort being the key. But for glamour and occasions you can't beat a high heel - I have stilletos and others going back 30 years or more and love wearing these beautiful shoes.
Comment by Lynn on July 31 12:06

I am 5 ft 3 so heels are a must for me! They make you look taller and silmer and I also think I walk more gracefully in heels. I will never give them up. I do wear flats and trainers for comfort and practicality. But nothing beats dressing up in high heels!
Comment by nikki on July 31 12:39

Haven't worn heels in years, since I thought about how they affect my foot, leg, back, posture and since I don't want to find that I'm held back in what I can do, i.e. run, walk on cobbled streets, etc.

I'm not tall but don't feel the need to be either, so no need for raised heels for me.

I watch some women walk on their raised heels and wobble with every step - check it out, it's terrible looking.

I dream of the day when I can have a 'fun' shoe shopping day and not a 'why-oh-why the obsession with raised heels' shopping day.
Comment by Ida on July 31 15:49

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