Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-03-18
HIGH HEEI,ED SHOES.
The Alleged Evil is Once More About
10 Become Fashionable.

10 Become Fashionable.
(F'rom the st. Louis Mirror.)
We hear and read much OF the vaga-
RES of woman's dress. which. like the
old, old story, is forever new"
AT present the agitation centres
about the remark that the high heeled
shoe Is to be worn again ana the short
skirt is held accountable for what some
persons look upon as an evil.
IL the short skirt has accomplished
this, Il long-suffering public mind
should rise up and call it blest, feeling
that the laws of compensation are not
thing of the past, and, since we must
still see our fair ones in this ungrace-
full garD, we will be spared the com
nonsense boot which usually accom-
panies it and which so successfully con-
ceals the arched instep and slender
ankle that we have been forced to
conclude that feet are no longer built
that way"
Women complain that this Is a pro-
saic age; that the chap of the period
would not jump into the arena for his
lady's glove. and that even novelists
go back Il century or two for their
heroines.
Who can blame them? The women
Tor whom men have fought and died
and whom poets and novelists have i'm
mortalized did not incase their feet In
SiuiisS tdH icdtner, Dull-doS toe, inch
thick sole, flat-heeed shoes.
Think YOU Thackcrys hero. Henry
Esmond, would have imprinted a kiss
on his sweetheart's instep, or Elizabeth
Browning have written.
sweet, thou hast trod on n heart of
n woman who affected this popular
abominaiinn2
We read of the stately. queeniy car
riage" or of n heroine who "glidcs" or
or. -tcr ttx,
] dare woman 10 do any of those
In the common sense boot. She would
find that her heel, like that of Achilles
was vulnerable.
But the French heel will cause n wo-
man to take mincing little stems. some
one protests. Surely it's more woman
ly to mince than TO stride. and It's NOT
necessary to mince. either. and n high
heel is no more unhealthful than n high
collar, nor are they hard on the feet.
provided the shoe is not two sizes too
small
am personally acquainted with two
of the most prominent toe dancers i'm
the profession. and if high heels were
bad FOR the feet they would not wear
them. yet they do.
Actresses arc generally conceded to
be Very well dressed. and they wear the
high heel on and off the stage. and thew
certainly do not seem to be troubled
with the numerous complaints which
the much abused French shoe is sup
posed 10 cause.
It's utterly impossible anyway, for n
woman with an arched instep to be
perfectly comfortable in the flat-eoled
shoe. There Is no curve to IT, and there
is one to her foot. which receives no
support. Even If she be as nat foot ed
rs duck. the French heeled shoe with
It's gracefully curved sole. will give her
al least semblance of an arch and re-
duce the apparent length two inches.
Then they impart to the foot saucy,
copuettish look. which daintily up
lifted long skirt only ntensifies.
Let moralists say what they Will, all
womanly women desire to look we'll.
and almost all men. when they take In
the tout ensemble of a woman, look
critically at her footgear. Let us hope
most devoutly that in the future they
may be rewarded by seeing n dainty
foot. not one that recalls that of their
ten-year-old brother.