YES THEY ARE. Or at least they have to be. I mean, walking in high heels all day long and pretending it doesn’t hurt?! Pretending it doesn‘t matter walking on cobble stone pavement?! Pretending it‘s no problem keeping up with people in comfy, flat loafers?! OH Come on! It matters. It can be a problem. And it hurts. Sometimes it hurts A LOT. A five inch heel is never comfortable, no matter who’s it by. So isn’t it crazy spending money to suffer pain? From this point of view, there has to be a huge mistake during women’s decision making process. I mean who would buy molded food, knowing to suffer after eating it, when there’s fresh and delicious foot available?! Well, if that’s the way you would choose, I am pretty sure they’ll give you drugs and a few weeks of in-patient treatment for it.
Yet when it comes to cloth, women buy high heels knowing that they might suffer wearing them and even spend a fortune while doing so. In year 2010, when pretty much every high-end retailer struggled, Christian Louboutin could in fact expand their stores worldwide. However his heel height has nothing to do with comfort. Selling “pain” for 700 dollar a pair obviously works. Why is that? Why do people spend so much money on something that can cause pain and might even be harmful to health? It’s obviously not because they like to suffer. High heels make woman feel feminine and upgrade any outfit in a second. They make them taller, which makes them feel stronger but still sexy.
In addition to that, wearing the ones with the red sole puts you immediately in row with top earners worldwide. A business women once said in an interview “[wearing Louboutins] signals to the word [that] I’m a successful woman and I bought these myself, that I'm powerful -- and still feminine." Hence women feel empowered by wearing high heels, especially by wearing Louboutins. The red heels are in a way a universal code, promising a world of glamour and privilege. Halle Berry wears them to the Oscars, Oprah Winfried wore them on her TV Shows, and Kate Middleton wears them to official receptions. Who does not want to line up with this?The other advantage about Louboutins or high heels in general is the fact that you are never too big to fit them. Almost every woman is dissatisfied with her body and it can be frustrating not to fit in the cloth you would like to buy. But even if you put on some weight, your feet will look the same. Thus if you are uncomfortable with your shape and you don’t feel like shopping for anything else to wear, shopping for high heels is always fun. It gets you excited and you don’t have to worry about needing a bigger size. Therefore even if wearing them might be painful, shopping high heels is absolutely painless. So why should one consider that they might hurt after walking in them for a while? They don’t hurt when you trying them on in the store, do they?
The reason I wrote this blog was a friend of mine who posted on facebook how thankful she was for having the honor to put on real Louboutins. Wearing high heels myself all the time, it got me thinking that it is in a way funny that we are grateful for something although we know that it will make us suffer. But when you consider how gorgeous, feminine and empowered my friends felt that night, it’s not insane at all.
Fabienne Schattner
Interesting post Fabienne. All of your points are valid and I'm happy to not have to deal with such a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading, I was trying to come up with a similar situation that might apply to myself or maybe men in general. Using the similar issue of forgoing comfort for the sake of style and other emotional reasons, a high-end car or motorcycle purchase seems to have many of the same characteristics. Riding in an ultra-high performance car (Porsche 911, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc...) is all about sacrifice. For the thrill of the performance and let's be honest, the ego boost from ownership, many trade-offs exist. A super rough and not always comfortable ride, limited passenger and cargo space, extremely high maintenance and insurance costs, a sparse dealer network, and so on... The person who seeks a vehicle like this endures a significant amount of downside for the handful of benefits that they really care about. It's all about what you value, I guess. For some it's worth it and some it's not.
The real question is how this plays into marketing and how to apply it to a real world situation. Does the sacrifice that a customer is willing to go through in a strange way enhance the experience? Does putting up with the negative aspects of a product to enjoy its benefits make the consumer feel special in terms of knowing they are committed or part of some type of devoted few willing to cope? I'm not certain, but these types of hypothesis are interesting and hopefully something that we will learn from our professor in our buyer behavior class.
As a fellow high-heel wearer this post made me laugh. But as TJ mentions it all comes down to prestige. A $70 pair of heals is just as comfortable (or uncomfortable) as Loubitons. My fascination is with how something as simple as a red sole becomes the symbol of status.
ReplyDeleteIf we apply this model to emerging markets such as China, where statues means even more, how do foreign companies capture that differentiating factor. Of course quality is a part of it but not the whole story.
But no, I don’t understand why we women do what we do. But that is a whole other story...
Alyssa Thomas
I think it's really fascinating that to our culture, status is in fact valued over comfort--or at least over physical comfort. Status even defines our emotions. As you said in your post, the shoes do not hurt initially when you try them on in the store, and I would argue that for most purchases, the dissonance between the initial elation at purchase and the later discomfort would be enough to discontinue use. However, with goods such as a pair of Louboutins, not only do we continue to suffer through the physical pain, but in doing so, we continue to be a signal to other would-be-customers. We are triumphant, powerful women, and while our feet may be aching, we know that a third person only sees the first three. Then that woman, wanting to be as powerful, triumphant, etc. as us, goes and makes the next purchase of the same brand furthering the cycle. Many women will argue that they want to dress well or expensively for themselves--not for anyone else. While yes, doing so does make us feel good about ourselves, it makes us feel good because we look at ourselves as others see us. No matter how we may try and say that I feel powerful, and I feel sexy, we are always really saying I look powerful, and I look sexy--and therefore I feel. So you're right, it really does always come back to status. It seems that brands such as Louboutin have managed to trick many women into believing the emotions associated with such a purchase or use is internally-generated, but that is seldom the case. And regardless, I'd personally still die for a pair Louboutins.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of beauty, status, and prestige in any society has not been spared from the uncomfortable fashions that move us to ask ourselves “why would someone in his/her right frame of mind wear such a thing?” Good examples of uncomfortable fashions include the corsets in western societies, rings in earlobes and in the neck in African societies, foot binding in ancient Asian societies, etc. I guess our generation will be known for its love for the high heel. It will be interesting to see what uncomfortable fashions the women of the future will wear! I enjoyed reading your article, Fabienne.
ReplyDeleteLuis
Women aren't insane: we've been trained. To Luis' point, definitions of beauty in many societies come to things that are considered to be unnatural and cruel to ourselves. So why would we do it?
ReplyDeleteWell, frankly because deep down, everyone wants to be attractive. Often times for women, it's values such as physical beauty, self worth, independence and empowerment that equate to attractiveness in today's society.
The Louboutin brand has successfully aligned itself with these values and have trained us the consumer and potential consumers to equate the brand with those values. It's great marketing!
When someone says
"Walmart", we think "Everyday low price"
"Tiffany's", we think "Unique, quality diamond"
"Louboutin", we think "Sexy but means business"
Louboutin has successfully forged out a space for the product in the mind of women that aligns with relevant values and will continue to reap the associated benefits until our definitions of beauty change.
Marielle des Etages