A few days ago, I posted a picture of a shoe on my Facebook. In fact, it was this one, from the Givenchy resort collection that just landed at Barney’s New York:
This is really interesting to me particularly as shoes are actually a very anxious subject for me -- I have some joint issues and very hard to fit feet, which means I basically spend hours and hours and hours researching, ordering, and returning various comfort shoes. My foot size hasn't changed -- or at least hasn't changed much -- since I was 16 or so, but what I can and cannot wear has.
And, something I've noticed a lot, particularly as I hang around a lot of "body positive" fashion discussion spaces, is that people who would NEVER comment negatively on someone's body shape or size will say really scathing things about people wearing "clunky" or "dowdy" shoes as something that detracts from their outfit. I'm not coming up with a quick explanation, but my point is that basically, I feel like discussions of footwear, and insistences on certain kinds of footwear as being acceptable/not acceptable or appropriate or whatever often involve a degree of ableism that seems really stealth most of the time.
I'm not remotely trying to argue with anything you've said here. I just wanted to add a comment about the shoe thing I've been thinking about, which is this issue of appropriate footwear and how it becomes an extension of the ways in which bodies are identified as or deemed acceptable.
And, something I've noticed a lot, particularly as I hang around a lot of "body positive" fashion discussion spaces, is that people who would NEVER comment negatively on someone's body shape or size will say really scathing things about people wearing "clunky" or "dowdy" shoes as something that detracts from their outfit. I'm not coming up with a quick explanation, but my point is that basically, I feel like discussions of footwear, and insistences on certain kinds of footwear as being acceptable/not acceptable or appropriate or whatever often involve a degree of ableism that seems really stealth most of the time.
I'm not remotely trying to argue with anything you've said here. I just wanted to add a comment about the shoe thing I've been thinking about, which is this issue of appropriate footwear and how it becomes an extension of the ways in which bodies are identified as or deemed acceptable.
Reply
Leave a comment