"Oh my god! She's fashion roadkill!" - Stanford Blatch, Sex and the City.

Ahh, the perils of high heels.

Whether you’re a supermodel walking the catwalk or an average Canadian woman navigating through the snow and ice on the way to a Christmas party, a balancing act must be executed.

I was informed by a co-worker, that model Ming Xi, recently experienced every model's worst nightmare: tripping and falling to the floor, mid-strut. This lovely lady, modeling in the most-watched fashion show across the globe, came crashing down as she took on the runway at this year's Victoria Secret Annual fashion show. This strutting snafu was surely made all the more embarrassing by the fact that Xi was walking the show on her home turf. 

Supermodels and “mortals” alike are faced with the same problem. Occasionally,  vanity, fashion, and the desire to look attractive to our “audience” will propel us into the daunting world of uncomfortable footwear. High heels make us taller, give a nice shape to the leg, and are, well, considered sexy, in our western society.

I was met with this conundrum, heading out to a Christmas party, Friday evening. As a Canadian, freshly-minted prairie woman, the decision to forgo my winter boots in favour of the more fashionable choice seemed to be the right one. No long walk in the snow was ahead of me, so I figured I could get away with sporting my 6” black satin Betsey Johnson platform heels.

When one makes such a decision, there are always risks involved. Your fall potential is increased astronomically, but the style payoff is huge. Luckily, in these situations, there is usually someone willing to extend an arm to hold on to if heel meets ice in the steps to the vehicle. If no one is around to grab on to, one must go it alone and pray for one’s natural balancing skills to come into play.

Thankfully for me, I avoided a catastrophic fall on Friday, and I’m sorry to say things didn’t work out so well for Xi this year.

So, ladies, if you’re going to stash away the Kodiaks for the evening, go slow, hold a hand, and work the room with confidence once you make it to solid ground at that Christmas party.

High heels can be worth the effort, risk, and decision-making, at least for a special night out.

katie

Katie Kraus is a Toronto-born, fashion-loving, 107.5 Bolt FM DJ/Announcer and former city girl, gone country. Stay tuned for weekly Eye-on-Fashion Blogs at discoverhumboldt.com.