Zara red high-heel sandals, £79.99
Last week, a male commenter left a message on my personal blog, telling me that the red shoes I was wearing in the photo sent out “the wrong message” to men, and that I therefore shouldn’t wear them. (For context, it was an old photo, in which I was wearing these dark red shoe boots, with a very “modest” outfit, which is typical of the type of thing I usually wear, and not remotely provocative – or not as far as I’m concerned anyway.) I’ve had these comments a couple of times now (always from men), and they always take me by surprise, because up until quite recently I was living in blissful ignorance of the “red shoes mean you’re a prostitute” thing, and hadn’t even considered the idea that the mere colour of my footwear could cancel out the rest of my outfit/personality (i.e. according to some people I could go out wearing an adult onesie and a pair of flats, but if those flats were red, I’d still be considered “slutty”) and give people “the wrong impression”.
I don’t respond to comments like that because I think they’re inappropriate (Not QUITE as inappropriate as the “gentleman” who offered to pay me for photos of my feet last week, but still…) but if I had, I’d probably have responded to the “you should stop wearing red shoes” comment with “OR, how about I continue to hurt no one by wearing whatever colour of shoes I want, and men stop trying to read strange, subliminal messages into the colour of a woman’s shoe?” Because that’s just creepy and weird, to be honest, and so today I bring you a pair of the reddest, vampiest shoes I could find.
There’s no doubt in my mind that these shoes are “sexy”, and that they could look a little bit OTT, depending on how you styled them. It’s not the colour of your shoe that matters, however – it’s how you choose to wear it, and I think women should be free to wear whatever colour and style of shoes they want – with whatever outfit they want – without people making personal judgements about their characters. That’s why I’ll continue to wear red shoes with pride: and with that little rant out of the way, here’s how I’d style these ones!
What to wear with red strappy sandals
Honestly, this is so horrible and enrages me to no end – men trying to police women’s behavior down to the color of clothes we get to wear. Unless I am walking around with a banner that says “F OFF YOU SEXIST, MISOGYNIST MORON”, there are no messages I am sending. UUUUUGH. Seriously, UGH.
Comments like this creep me out, enrage me and, frankly, scare me. “You’re sending the wrong message” is treading horribly close to the “she was asking for it because of what she was wearing” defence. That there continues to be a section of society who believe this is worrisome.
On a somewhat lighter note, as a teenager in the 80s I was told that one should not wear white boots, unless one wanted to be thought of as a slut. White boots totally send the wrong message, yo!
Perfect red shoes!
Rose & Pose Highstreet Fashion
Well, it usually comes from men who are so insecure around women that it makes them aggressive. Yes, it’s creepy and maybe, even, in some situations, can become dangerous. Attractive women doing *anything* to make themselves more attractive seem to insult these jerks because they know very well that the woman has not dressed up for *them*.
I own several pairs of red shoes – lace-up boots, flats, college pumps – and never has such a comment reached me. Obiously I couldn’t send the wrong message even if I tried *gg*.
No-one has ever said that to me when I’ve worn red shoes! I feel left out. I do like these, however, and I think they’d look even more amazing on.