Talking back (LOUD) to the Wall Street Journal

On Friday I was horrified to read this dress-for-success article (it's available online - at least for now):

http://tinyurl.com/2udkhs

Designers Push Fashion Elegance: Will Fashion Follow?
By Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan.
Friday, August 31, 2007.

According to designers (and presumably the Journal), fall elegance includes a matched suit with a knee-length skirt, gloves, a hat (hat?!) and my personal nemesis: 4-inch heels.

We are in the 21st century. Hasn't anybody told the author and the WSJ what high heels can do to your feet, back, stress and general health...not to mention that some women have feet that were never designed for those shoes?

Inside my own sneakers, my feet are shaped like little rectangles. I wear men's Asics, 7-1/2, on the recommendation of a podiatrist after I started getting blisters and corns from traditional shoes. I had trouble walking and exercising.

My Asics feel great. In a perfect world I would never have to wear any other shoes, ever. In this world, you get taken seriously in comfy shoes only if you're a cop, a nurse or a nun.

If you want to be a ballet dancer, you acknowledge you need a certain body type. Wrong feet? Sorry - go for modern, jazz or tap.

And if you want to be a well-dressed business woman, according to the fashionistas you'd better pass the foot test too.

Maybe we need some solid research on the long-term health effects of high heels. Foot and back injuries are notoriously hard to treat. Who pays the medical bills of these women? Do all of us have higher insurance premiums as a result?

What's next for women: a fashionable cigarette?