WTF Friday

Fashionable, high-end shoes have become all the rage these days, and women are going to extreme measures to wear them in comfort. Yesterday, “Shoe Obsession” opened at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York. Over the past decade, according to the exhibit description, heels have reached new heights. High-heeled shoes have become so tall that even a 4-inch heel is considered “low.”

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Can someone actually walk in the pink ballet platforms? A 4-inch heel would put me in the emergency room. No, thanks. I'll stick with flats.

While catching up on News of the Weird last week, I come across some disturbing news. Women are reportedly having surgery to make their high heels more comfortable, receiving special foot injections, shortening their toes — and in extreme cases — cutting off their pinky toes altogether. Ouch!

After some digging, I found that News of the Weird has been reporting on this subject for years:

Five years ago, News of the Weird reported that a Philadelphia woman had undergone $10,000 elective surgery to shorten one toe and straighten another so that her foot would look better in the fashionable shoes she coveted. According to an October report by London's Daily Mail, foot surgeons' business has improved, especially since Manolo Blahnik's sleek, narrow models have become so popular. In addition to shortening and narrowing, young women seem concerned about the symmetry of their "toe cascades" (the curve from the big toe around to the little toe) and whether their ankles are shapely enough, with some women opting for liposuction on the lower calf. [Daily Mail, 10-19-08]

Most recently, the Daily Mail reported that a growing number of women are requesting pinky toe removal.

Are you a slave to fashion in the shoe department? If so, here are some options:

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Sex and the City (one of my all-time fave series) star Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) shoe fetish -- especially her beloved Manolo Blahniks -- is often credited with launching the designer foot wear cult following. The show ran from 1998-2004, which is around the time the foot mutilation started. 

Seriously, women? This is nuts.

Have a good weekend!