Grant continues:

Friends tell me that they keep their heels in a drawer in the office, in case they have to look smart for a meeting or a lunch or are going out after work. Women in the City have said that they need heels to look their male colleagues in the eye, but they are getting to work in flats. Few are able to negotiate public transport in the shoes that are being sold in the shops. Wobbling on to a fast-moving escalator during the London rush-hour in 6in heels? Running for a bus? Taking the children to school?

New York living is hard on the sole. Lots of walking, uneven sidewalks, cobblestones. Even though I lust after heels, I find that I'm always in the market for a great flat. Grant mentions that in the '80s and '90s, women who are in their late 20s today were children and teenagers. "What did they wear?" she asks. "First they wore [sneakers], and then they wore clumpy shoes. Only the re-emergence of the ladylike shoe, and the colossal influence of Sex and the City in introducing us to the shoe wardrobe, convinced that generation to get into heels." Even though I'm beyond my late 20s, I think this is somewhat true: In high school, college and even in my first jobs, my shoes were cool, but generally flat: Hip sneakers, Doc Martens, menswear-inspired oxfords. I wanted to be fashionable, but I needed to be mobile. And I was! I needed to dance, run errands, hurry down subway stairs. And I could!

But recently, I'm convinced I'm not "dressed up" unless I'm wearing heels. I put them on for events, suffer for a few hours, and end up taking a cab home even though I'd rather walk — just to get off my throbbing feet. I have one pair of glittery stilettos that are so painful I've never made it out of the house with them on; I call them my "phone call shoes," because that's all they're good for: Wearing while lying down and talking long distance.

So how did I get convinced that in addition to the comfortable flats I love, I "need" high heels? Maybe because that's all one finds upon shoe-shopping? Grant writes:

This total disconnect between fashion and what people actually wear, seems to have passed almost unnoticed. Magazines continue to show us ever more crazy shoes. Fashion has decided that there can be nothing in between the 6in heel and the flat.

I, for one, would embrace the return of the kitten heel, or at least a move away from stilettos. In the meantime, I'll agree with Grant, who says: "I love the extra height heels give me. I like being able to look men in the eye. I like the look of beautiful shoes, but until the manufacturers start including a sedan chair and two attendants with each purchase, I shall wear ugly shoes." At least for running errands.

Real Women Wear Flat Shoes [Guardian]

[Milan, September 23. Image via INFDaily.]

• God bless Vivienne Westwood for being so undeniably herself. Says the fashion designer-cum-philosopher: "I'd like to do less, but there are people dependent on me now. My thing has always been, just let me finish this pair of trousers and then I can read my book. We've all got to wear something, I suppose. So my advice would be to buy quality. Choose well. I think there's a certain status in seeing someone wearing the same thing over and over again." [Vogue UK]
  
• God bless Heidi Klum. She's just so wise: "[Take] time out for yourself so you can engage in an activity that you really enjoy. [Also, don't] neglect the romance in your life. [And] wear pretty lingerie if you don't want to feel schlumpy." [Vogue UK]
  
• God bless Donatella Versace for saying at the Times Talks on Sunday that her fashion motto is "Don't let the rappers wear more bling than you do!" and that she hopes to be reincarnated as Maya Rudolph. [Fashion Week Daily]

• God bless Agent Provocateur co-founder Joe Corre (who is, incidentally, also the son of Vivienne Westwood) for making his brand's latest advertising campaign, fronted by Kate Moss, actually about his feelings of disdain regarding the Vatican and Catholicism. The apple clearly does not fall far from the tree. [NYMag]
• God bless the Project Runway producers for sticking to their guns and maintaining contracts with NBC rather than following their bastardized show to Lifetime. [Yahoo]
• God bless Burberry for not using Agyness Deyn in its next advertising campaign. [Fashionista]
• God bless Jack White and Karen Elson for seemingly non-stop sex. [Globe and Mail]
• God bless model/tsunami survivor Petra Nemacova for making big money in real estate. [Page Six]
• God bless Margerita Missoni for deigning to look at apartments in Alphabet City, NYC. [Fashionista]
• God bless Giorgio Armani for sorta slighting the Met when talking about last night's Costume Institute Gala: "The superheroes theme is both topical and modern and will, I believe, attract a wider audience than usual to the Costume Institute. I am looking forward to welcoming everyone." (Let us not forget in his first press conference regarding the exhibit, he managed to insult Anna Wintour.) [Vogue UK]
• God bless alice+olivia designer Stacey Bendet, who is reportedly pregnant with baby number one. [Page Six]