Why Washington Loves Flats
America has gone hog wild for Michelle Obama's flat shoes. With all the hoopla you'd think she'd sprouted wings out of her ballerinas like Hermes. Have Americans never seen a flat before?
It may be surprising, or admirable, to some that our first lady is greeting dignitaries in a flat, but if you live in Washington, you know that they are the city's official footwear. In the warmer months, there are so many toes tucked into Tory Burch or J. Crew ballerinas that you wonder if the District's women all have plans to pirouette with Baryshnikov after work.
Washington is a preppy town, and the flat is a very preppy shoe. Those outside the beltway may not realize it, but D.C. summers are full of whale pants, seersucker, Nantucket red and yes, brightly colored ballerina flats. Michelle's classic style is what Washington is made of. We are not a high fashion city but a town with a lot more emphasis on being put together than sexy. Capitol Hill and Georgetown are full of women sporting sundresses and pearls with nary a heel in sight. And they don't get tarred and feathered for their choice of footwear by Anna Wintour, because before January 20th 2009, the fashion world didn't know where Washington was.
Washington had style before the Obamas came to town, and the flat shoe was not birthed with the current first lady. But never mind the details. Barbara Bush had her pearls, Nancy Reagan her low BMI and Michelle Obama her ballerina flats. We've seen her in beige ones, silver ones, black, patent and lace ones, and then of course there are the flat boots and flat sandals. (See a slideshow to this effect.) Why has Michelle Obama picked the flat as the head cheerleader of shoes? Is it because she doesn't want to tower over her husband? Because she wants to be conceived as casual? Or does she have foot issues she would rather not share with us? The world may never know.
What we do know is that a political woman's footwear can put the media in a tizzy. When Sarah Palin wore her sky-high heels, she was scrutinized down to her bunions. I understand why our first lady is not following suit. She can't exactly strap on a platform gladiator sandal and have Midwestern moms and podiatrists chide her for her choice. So she has chosen the Miss Congeniality of footwear and showed us that there's something refreshingly modern about a first lady in flats.
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See Bart Motes's Profile
She wore plenty of high heels on the campaign trail.
Neither Michelle nor Carla want to be taller than their guys guys - no big secret there. In any case, flats with skirts are not flattering unless one has very thin legs...
But ironically there is now a picture of six young DC women at the top of the style page and not one of them is wearing flats....:- o
I'm currently studying in Moscow, Russia. The teenage girls and young women here wear high heels like I've never seen elsewhere. Not to mention some of the tightest pants imaginable!
HELP! I wish we could go back to a more stylish and medium heeled shoe. I'm too tall for high heels and they are impossible for city dwellers who walk a lot. Flats have no support.
I'm all for flats, MO's very thin shoes don't even look as supportive as flip-flops. Wonder what she pays for those? They look really cheap and plastic.
Sorry...I'll take Sarah's ruby slippers any day... And it maybe blasphemous to say, but I think Michelle looks kind of dowdy in that floral dress, flats and hand-bag...send them all back to QEII !
(Personally, I find flats uncomfortable...too much weight on the ankles,knees,hips.)
i prefer to see women in heels but michelle's 5'11" so i understand why she doesn't wear heels that often
Hello ! I live in Chicago and own at least 75 pair of flats. It's not a new phenomenon. Maybe M O like the rest of us feel secure with what we wear.
Washington loves flats because Michele Obama is a tall, tall woman.
Michelle Obama's fondness for flats aside, the real reason the rest of us on the Hill wear them is because it's impossible to wear heels on D.C. sidewalks. Every gotten your heel stuck between cobblestones and walked out of your shoe? Yeah, I have. Not cool.
I love heels but my feet are small and narrow and it is so hard to find a pair that I can wear that don't slam my toes forward or flop off of my heels. I'm grateful to see snazzy flats are an option. I didn't realize they were!
Anna Wintour is a pitch woman for products you didn,t know you needed but fear not having.
Youth is not hers to sell but she dosn't mind making money on it.
By contrast M.O. is not selling anything but by example will help women concentrate on education self r
relience and service to others.
If we vote with are shoes ,I hope flats stay as a staple forever.
i LOVE heels!!! and I LIKE flats!!!
I'm relieved that MO is bringing back the flat! Let's hope this fad stays for a long time to come!
The super-high torture heels that most women in the public eye have been wearing for years now is damaging not only to feet but the entire body as they throw off posture, creating a sway back, etc.
Actually, flats ARE fashion in Paris not that that really matters. Having had two surgeries on my feet due to heels, I save low heels for dress otherwise, flats are sensible.
I had to give up all my heeled shoes, thanks to rheumatoid arthritis (it was painful to do, but they all went to good homes). I'm thrilled that flats are the rage in DC!
There's something sweet and down to earth about flats (no pun intended). I love them!
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