Victoria Beckham confesses ‘I just can’t do heels any more’: normal?

The British Fashion Awards 2015
Singer and fashion maven Victoria Beckham (who will always be Posh Spice to me) recently debuted her fall and winter fashion line during New York Fashion Week and shocked the world when she hit the runway in a pair of sneakers instead of her trademark stiletto heels.

In an interview with England’s Telegraph, Victoria, who I can’t believe is 41, said, “I think people saw the real me when I came out [at the end of her Victoria Beckham show in New York] in a pair of men’s trousers, a roll-neck and trainers.” She went on to say, “I just can’t do heels any more. At least not when I’m working. I travel a lot.”She posted a pic of her new, comfy look on her Twitter feed with a caption saying, in part, “Off for a run!” This, coming from a woman who wore sky high heels while pregnant. I am having a difficult time processing this.

 

Well, at least she hasn’t given up heels completely, but she has changed her personal style. She went from Posh, who couldn’t decide between “the little black Gucci dress or the little black Gucci dress” (from the underrated film classic Spice World, which also gave us this gem of a clip) to a woman designing a fashion line and promoting that “Clothes have to be simple and comfortable.” She added that her collection is “all about making getting dressed easy. And being flattering.” The models in her runaway show back in November were sporting flat shoes, and many of the models for her fall and winter line for this year are also wearing flats. But, for some ladies (looking in the mirror right now), flats are not flattering. And, actually, as much as I adore VB’s personal style, her new fashion collection is kind of meh.

As for Posh, aside from her recent appearance at NYFW, she hasn’t completely given up on heels. In fact, she was recently seen sporting boots with a heel when she and the family were out and about in the Big Apple. I mean, come on, the woman wrote a book dedicated to high heels, 2006’s That Extra Half an Inch. (Yes, I own it. Don’t judge me.) The introduction clearly states, “As every woman knows, that extra half an inch makes all the difference.” And oh, does it. I am a heel fanatic, but I do wear flip flops and sneaks when I’m at home, so I think Victoria’s just trying to clear up any misconceptions that she’s strapped in stilettos 24/7. I truly believe that, every once in a while, we all need that extra half an inch, and I don’t think Posh would disagree.

2015 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards - Arrivals

The Global Gift Gala 2015

David Beckham and family leaving Balthazar in Manhattan

Photo credit: WENN.com

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53 Responses to “Victoria Beckham confesses ‘I just can’t do heels any more’: normal?”

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  1. Lucy says:

    I like Posh a whole lot. This makes me like her more!!

  2. Pri says:

    Posh just follows trends, that minimalist Scandi vibe on Insta and Pinterest is seen in her work.

    • Denisemich says:

      I thought she talked about this before like after the birth of Harper. I thought having the fourth child did something to her feet and back. She had to wear flats for a while. I think that broke her everyday love of heels.

    • Sooboringheis says:

      i was wondering whether it was the trend or age – or more likely both. it seems the flat, sporty look is in right now but i also have less tolerance for high heels now that i am now in my late 40s. i now hardly wear heels, partly b/c i walk to work and need comfort but also b/c my feet simply won’t tolerate heels anymore.

  3. J-Who says:

    I’ll be she’s got bunions the size of her head from those heels. Sadly, I feel her pain. My feet have finally given me the ol’ F U when it comes to those shoes anymore, LOL! Love ya, Poshers!

  4. Tiffany says:

    I thought that she got surgery on her feet awhile back because of the footwear because there was shock of paps catching her in flats.

  5. Ravensdaughter says:

    I haven’t done heels in years. I worked as a pharmacist by day (running shoes, literally!), and by evening I wanted relax my feet and avoid any strain on my back! Victoria probably does a lot of running around during her work day.
    Can’t turn away from the high heel exceptions. LOVE the long striped dress and the stacked heel boots!

    • swak says:

      I taught for 30 years and wore tennis shoes the entire time. I was on my feet all day and wanted the support. Didn’t care what others thought.

    • Wren says:

      The last time I wore heels I was in college. I don’t miss them a bit. When I dress up I wear my clean fancy cowboy boots. Works great and I don’t have to take them off halfway through the evening. The “extra half inch” or whatever is not worth the pain. I fully admit I judge the hell out of women who obviously either cannot walk in their heels or kick them off and run around barefoot at fancy events. Yes, they make your legs look nice, but I choose mobility.

  6. Pinky says:

    Those boots look comfy! And I like all those dresses she’s in. Hmm…

    -TheRealPinky

  7. OhDear says:

    People’s personal styles change.

    Personally, wearing heels bothers my knees.

  8. Betti says:

    Me neither, the pain in my ankles, calves and balls of feet got too much. If i wear heels now its a few inches and with a thicker heel for support or if its a posh do where my Jimmy’s come out, i take them with me and change when i get there – I have a pair of dressy flats for that purpose.

    • SNAP says:

      Support and cushion being the magic words…the soles of my feet started cramping and waking me up at night after wearing heels….it felt like a charlie horse on the base of the foot. So i listened to my achey feet and rarely if ever wear heels. 🙁 the pain isn’t worth looking fancy during daytime.

  9. Tiffany :) says:

    I LOVE this trend of flat shoes for women, there seem to be more options recently. I love the way I look in heels, but I just can’t wear them all of the time. There is something about the pressure to wear heels that feels kind of anti-women in a way. And I know it is a self imposed pressure (fashion is largely for the benefit of other women, not men), but it really does feel like a societal standard. If you are a petite woman, dressing to look professional, powerful, or sexy typically requires heels. Her recent outfits buck that concept, and I love it. (she wore a suit and white shoes outfit the other day that was killer)

    And yes, this post is a bit childish and I am just pouting. I am totally free to wear what I want and we set our own standards, but I just wish there were more options in comfortable footwear/outfit proportions that gave the same vibe as heels.

    • Bridget says:

      One of my favorite parts about summer is that I can wear wedges instead of heels, and that totally saves my feet when I want to dress up. Because with my sad runner’s feet I just don’t wear regular heels all that much anymore.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        Yes, wedges help so much! I have beige ones that I wear and they really make my legs look a lot longer. I have some booties for “winter” that are also more comfortable than regular heels…but they still aren’t as comfy as flats!

    • Who ARE these people? says:

      At the height of my career, business pumps had heels of 1.5-2″ which was a lot more manageable than today’s 3″ heels (and with shorter skirts, yet). These days it seems like women’s shoes are either super-high or super-flat, and neither is great. A nice selection of 1-1.5″ shoes that don’t scream “old lady shoes!” would be so helpful. And it would send a different message to young women starting out, too. I thought careers were not supposed to be about legs unless you were a hosiery model.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        I agree, the 3″ average heel height makes things so much more painful than a 1.5-2″ heel. I also agree that a super flat shoe isn’t good either. I have a pronounced arch and if I wear really flat shoes it gets painful as well.

        (I’m really complaining a lot today, huh?) 😉

      • yellow says:

        Yep. I simply chose to wear smaller heels and mostly wedges and platforms, and even though I probably wore those more than I should have, they are pretty easy on the feet compared to stilletos. I learned young that I can’t stand heels that have no cushioning where the toe area hits the pavement. I don’t care what’s in, I just can’t do that. Flats, however, aren’t very comfortable or good for the arches… there is a middle ground.

      • Betsy says:

        I agree with you. Why are heels pretty much up in dress-up, go-out height territory for everyday now? It’s absurd. Yet many of the (rare) lower heels are of the decidedly plain to orthopedic shoes type.

  10. celine says:

    Of course, her feet are deformed from years of wearing excessively high heels. She and Naomi Campbell have two of the ugliest feet I’ve ever seen.

  11. Bridget says:

    She probably messed up her feet wearing heels all the time. When celebs say they feel more comfortable wearing heels than flats, the usually means that their Achilles has actually tightened and shortened, which is bad. If she’s on her feet a lot for her job (which I’m betting she is) she probably had to re-evaluate her footwear.

  12. Kate says:

    Not normAl to “confess” that you’re done with heels but totally normal to Llow your style to chsnge

  13. Spikey says:

    RE: her new collection – The coats are great! O.M.G. the coats are great.

  14. holly hobby says:

    I agree with Vicki! Sorry I can’t wear them either. I don’t miss them either. They are pretty to look at but a b!!!! to wear.

  15. Nancy says:

    I hear her and feel her pain. I’m not even forty and am getting lower and lower heels! I like the look of an outfit with a nice heel, but the ankles, feet and legs pay the price. Men don’t know how easy they have it.!

  16. Kiyoshigirl says:

    I can’t wear heels. I wish I could, but my feet are ruined from years of wearing heels, especially pointy toed heels, and my back has also paid for it dearly. I am also comparatively taller than most women, so when I did wear heels I was always towering over everyone else. I think heels can be of great benefit to shorter women looking for an additional inch or two, but for a lot of us taller women it’s can be an unflattering look. To each their own. For me, wearing them is not anywhere near “worth the pain”.

  17. Syko says:

    You reach a point where comfort is the most important thing, especially if you, like I did, messed up your feet by wearing heels constantly in earlier years. Bunions, a hammertoe, misshapen toenails, and I gave up heels entirely and wore nothing but comfortable walking shoes, sneakers, and, yes, Birkenstocks. My feet thank me for it.

    • Scarlet Vixen says:

      I have finally given in to the “comfort is more important” stage of my life. I’m 36, but have a really hard time wearing heels of any kind anymore. It makes my a little sad because I have a closet full of super cute heels. My back and the balls of my feet just can’t take it anymore. I want comfy clothes all the time, too. I won’t wear pajama pants out in public or anything, but the work clothes come off & the leggings come on pretty much as soon as I get home. I live in flat riding boots in the winter and ballet flats or sandals the rest of the year. Altho, I’m even getting to the point where I should probably starting wearing more supportive shoes at work…

  18. The Original Mia says:

    I applaud her. I don’t wear unless necessary and cringe every time I see folks toddling along on 4 inches and higher. No thanks! I’m a chiro so I see a lot of folks come in complaining about low back pain, who refuse to give up their heels. Keeps me in business.

  19. D says:

    Did you guys see the video on Daily Mail, when she’s walking out of the hotel? She does some kind of strange side step, it looks pretty funny.

  20. Chinoiserie says:

    That you for saying something good about Spice World for once, it was my childhood favorite.

  21. Donna says:

    haha, I forgot how funny that clip was, thanks! 🙂

  22. chaine says:

    I can’t anymore, either (age 45). Nothing over about 1.5 inches, anything higher seems to trigger some kind of sciatica.

  23. Amelie says:

    I hate heels apart from stacked heels on boots and booties which I am actually wearing today. Those are comfortable.I cannot do pumps or stilettos nor do I understand women who can walk in them. I have very narrow feet and the heel of my foot is always stepping out of pumps. The pump is just always too wide in the back and means I have to do this weird stilted walk in order to keep it on, doesn’t matter the size of the shoe. I’ve tried insoles, those don’t work. I need a hand made shoe in order for it to fit me perfectly. Plus the heel is usually too thin and hurts my legs as soon as I put them on. Thank God my office is casual I would hate to work in a fancier industry.

  24. GemslieKnope says:

    I’ve just given up heels at the ripe old age of 32! I’m a nurse and when I’m not doing that I’m running around after 3 year old twin boys and I’m 5 10 so don’t need the extra height, and in all honesty I’ve never been able to walk in anything but a wedge heel. Feels great when I go out in flats, these days comfort is key

  25. Elle says:

    Used to love high heels. But slowly I started valuing comfort over the look. I also think there are a lot of really nice flats available now opposed to early 2000s. I don’t really like being up high like that and the way I have to walk differently anymore. Flats it is!

  26. Alarmjaguar says:

    After carrying twins even a small heel kills me! I wish I could do more than flats, but nope. I love seeing more variety, hurrah Posh.

  27. FF says:

    The heels and overdone dress sense were part of her tryhard era. I get the impression that sincs she’s come into her own through designing, she needs the accoutrements less.

    It was only a matter of time before the heels went.

    Good for her, tbh. I liker her new style.

  28. Sarah01 says:

    I can’t wear heels, I like to be fast and stable when walking and I’m like a baby giraffe when walking in heels. All of my shoes are either flat pointed toe, bulchers or flat boots. Cannot stand flip flops or stilettos.

  29. OGBklynGirl says:

    Worked for a ‘glam’ cosmetic retail line where I wore heels for 7 years. Left the profession to drive a truck cross-country with my husband. Haven’t worn anything higher than 2 inches in 5 years. When I try to, I can pretty much set a 2 hour timer (cause that’s how long I get, almost to the minute).

    You can google photos of her feet. Those bunions were INSANE. I swear the shoe industry is dominated by sadists. It’s really hard to find anything cute under 4 inches.

  30. PennyLane says:

    I love a stacked heel, especially on boots. I can walk for hours in a stacked 2″ heel and it doesn’t bother me at all. Frye boots are awesome for this.

    With stiletto-type heels, however, my feet tend to give out from right under me because my ankles are relatively weak. Not a good look…

  31. cd3 says:

    I think this is part of her marketing for her new collection. If you look at the runway shots of her fall 2016 collection from NY fashion week, all the models are in flats. Really, really amazing flats BTW.

  32. TeamAwesome says:

    Spice World is such a fun movie!! I think I can still quote most of it, and knew my husband was a keeper when he watched it with me and laughed in all the right places! Spice up your life!

  33. Veronica says:

    I would hope this a small step toward being more comfortable with herself. She always seem so tense and self-aware, which is a shame given the thoughtful business savvy we’ve seen from her in the lady decade or so.

    I used to love heels, but I find myself evening out the collection more with flats these days. I save the painful ones for special events and the comfortable ones for day wear. My feet are somewhat wide in the front and my heels narrow, so I have to be careful with any shoe I wear to avoid serious damage. At some point, you have to consider the long term consequences of wearing them.

  34. Katie says:

    Man…I’m a dying breed of girls that love the heel? I know I might regret it later but I’m enjoying those beauties now, 34 years and counting!

    • Veronica says:

      Oh, I love them. I’m still wearing them at thirty – I just don’t wear them ALL the time the way I used to, which is what I think Posh is saying. Heels do add that certain “something” to an outfit, but there’s no getting around a lifestyle that just doesn’t support wearing them consistently. I’ve worked in the medical field too long to ignore the signs when I started seeing the tell tale signs of stress around my toes and heel bone. It was a wake up call to be more careful about what I did to my body.

  35. Margo says:

    To be entirely honest, when I see women in towering 4″ or 5″ heels, my first thought isn’t, oh, how glamorous, but rather…her joints and tendons are going to be so jacked up, if they aren’t already.

    And the old adage that “beauty is pain” is BS, pure and simple. I work in an office setting and either wear flats or a very low heel, and usually very little makeup. I think I look professional — if others disagree, that’s their problem. I’m long over rigid beauty standards.

  36. What's inside says:

    When I was younger, I loved heels and had over 40 pair. Now, I like Orthoheels that are way kinder and gentler.

  37. kibbles says:

    I stopped wearing high heels regularly in my mid-20s. I still wear heels but only for special events or occasionally at work when I’m meeting someone important. After the event is over or whenever I am behind my desk, I change straight to comfortable shoes. I think by the time I was in my late 20s, I decided that if any guy would choose more high maintenance woman over me, then he wasn’t worth my time.

  38. MrsK says:

    So that deal with the Devil didn’t go through?