1980's stilettos - Page 2

Skirted-UK · 17th May 2007, 01:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucy

Hi Puffer!

Yes, broadly I would agree with what you've said, especially your point that many of us wore heels over 3" (contrary to Skirted's posting).

I would only venture to say that the first UK stiletto "craze" started earlier than you said, and hit us girls and our mothers in a big way in 1955. I think it had already started sweeping through Italy (and maybe the US) by 1954 or earlier, but 1955 the "Big Bang" reached the UK and by 1956 they were everywhere - on the streets, in my school (worn by the teachers and some of us more daring pupils), on cinema films etc. Remembering that there was only one fashion in those days - skirts, nylon stockings and high heels, every girl everywhere started wearing them. They came along the pavements in droves!

Love, Lucy

I think fashions caught on a lot quicker in London than they did in the shires in the fifties. I lived in a very conservative town and the straight skirt did not become popular down here until after 1956 and I don't remember any of the girls that I knew wearing 4" heels with it. Most parents did not want their teenage daughters wearing tight skirts and sky-high heels in those days.

Most of the girls that I knew wore 2.5" stiletto heeled sling-backs, some wore 3" heel court shoes. The first pair of 4" heel court shoes that I can remember were worn by a very short girl in our office who had small feet, that must have been about 1965. With the advent of the mini skirt in sixties, 4" heels went out of fashion together with straight skirts, it was all short skirts and flat shoes, or boots worn with them. I don't remember 4" stilettos coming back until the early eighties and straight skirts did not come back until the late eighties. 4" stilettos and straight skirts regularly come back into fashion as a new generation of women try them, but after a short while they soon tire of them and opt for more practical clothes.

Puffer · 5th July 2007, 23:17

I am sure you are right in principle, Skirted, but there were obviously many variations around the country. It should not be thought that 'London' (which is a pretty large and amorphous area) was the only place to see the more adventurous fashion styles (including high stilettos), at least in the earlier years. But I would agree that in, say, 1960, one was likely to see 4" heels readily in Westminster but rarely in Warminster!

From contemporary photos, films and the like, it is very clear that high fashion (and that certainly included high stilettos) was avidly followed in all the major cities apart from London, e.g. Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow. There may have been a modest time lag whilst the fashion spread, but that did not stop it being taken up, even out in the sticks. Such personal memories as I have bear this out, together with knowledge that girls in the north (and Scotland) tended to favour higher heels than many of their southern sisters - and still do. Without (I hope) sounding perjorative, it has something to do with class: there are more working class girls north of Watford and their idea of fashion is often considered tarty by the more refined 'gels' inhabiting the home counties (Essex excluded, of course!). Many other lifestyle aspects are subject to much the same considerations but the gaps have narrowed in the last 20 years or so.

I am not a sociologist nor a fashion historian but I am sure that there is a wealth of material that would support these general comments and provide us with some interesting statistics. Step forward, Professor Brantano?

donnawonna · 19th August 2007, 16:06

Speaking of 80's stilettos.I got a pair of *wild pair* boots from ebay.The heel height isn't that tall at all.Easy to walk in lol Here is apic of the 80's boots http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...geboots006.jpg