Tall Girls and the Flats
Manolo says, the Manolo has long been of the opinion that the tall girls should be free to wear the heels, that they should not, either through timidity, or the desire to protect the fragile egos of shorter mens, avoid wearing the super fantastic shoes.
Here, now, is the special case of the tall girl, her short man, and the flat shoes.
Left to right, you see before you, Prince Philip, Carla Bruni, the hotty-ish first French lady, Queen Elizabeth, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France.
And here is the reason for Ms. Bruni’s flat shoes…
But the biggest gulf between the newlyweds is that the French president is just 5ft 6in tall, while his former model wife stands at a willowy 5ft 11in.
Accordingly she has been wearing flat heels constantly, according to French media reports, and forsaking potentially more fashionably shoes for the sake of Mr Sarkozy’s public image.
The president has, in turn, been wearing a pair of stacked shoes made to make him look two inches taller.
Normally, the Manolo would deplore acquiescing to the societal conventions that say the man should always be taller than his woman, especially when the tall woman in question would be absolutely stunning in beautiful high-heeled shoes.
In this case, however, one can argue that that the flat shoes are almost the matter of state.
P.S. Here is the super fantastic 6′4″ girl who sometimes rocks the heels.
March 26th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
[…] Bens BargainsnH… has daylong been of the helper that the tall girls should be free to coiffe the heels, that they should not, either ended timidity, or the poverty to protect the brickle egos of shorter mens, chorus behave the caretaker fantastic shoes. … […]
March 26th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
[…] adminnHNormally, the Manolo would kvetch acquiescing to the societal conventions that feature the Negro should ever be taller than his woman, especially when the tall blackamoor in handle would be departed stunning in comely high-heeled shoes. … […]
March 26th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Height bedamned…look at the lovely ankles on Elizabeth! Magnificent gams, Your Majesty!
March 26th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
[…] JimnHNormally, the Manolo would kvetch acquiescing to the societal conventions that feature the Negro should ever be taller than his woman, especially when the tall blackamoor in handle would be departed stunning in comely high-heeled shoes. … […]
March 26th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
But even without heels, she’s still considerably taller than her husband — and nothing short (so to speak) of having her legs surgically remodeled will fix that. I really don’t see that another inch or two of graceful heel would make much of a difference, even for reasons of state — though tact would suggest she avoid four-inch stilettos.
And, indeed, a secure short guy can be very appealing. Jason Statham is unapologetically (that is, no funky height-hiding camera angles) half a head shorter than practically everyone else in “The Bank Job,” including the stunning female lead whose name escapes me at the moment, and he’s still a hottie :)
March 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Monsieur Sarkozy strikes me as the sort of man for whom this would be an issue…
March 26th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I think tall women wear heels, esp really high ones, better than short women - something about the proportions. Seeing a puny lady (like me) in anything higher than say 10 or 12 cm, it just emphasizes the short legs, where long legs can handle it. But Carla Bruni can tape garbage bags to her feet and still look amazing. B*tch. Sarkozy looks like a grumpy arse.
March 26th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Being a tall myself (5′11″), the problem I often have when wearing heels is that chairs are too low to sit in comfortably. A tall girl in heels essentially has to stand on those heels all day. On every sitting surface; office chair, toilet seat, & subway bench the weight of the legs rest on the ball of the foot & the stem of the heel, with no help from the backs of the thighs. This creates new problems when wearing skirts. We tall girls have trouble finding true knee-length shirts, and remaining decent on the subway where crossing long legs or ankles takes up more room than pitching a tent is no easy feat.
Another issue we tall girls have is the lack of half sizes. I half size too large is just as painful as a half size too small. Could the Manolo help us amazons out by pointing out a brand that manufactures shoes in half sizes bigger the 9.5?
March 26th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I have to agree with ya, Cristina. For my whole life, I’ve lived in areas with significant Asian populations. Most of them are short (except myself) so they tend to wear high heels a lot. Whenever I see a short Asian girl teetering on some ridiculous platform, I can’t help but notice how short she is and how bad the shoes look on her.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
I’m short and don’t wear heels much myself, but I have seen many little bitty women who can rock the sky-high spikes. It depends on the shoes. If the lines and proportions are right, it works — and it can work very well indeed. Surely no one is suggesting that short women limit themselves to flats!
(But I must agree with dangster on one point: Platforms are ridiculous. But they’re ridiculous on everybody, not just short girls.)
March 26th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
As a 6′ tall woman, I wear heels of any height whenever I please - even if it does make me four inches taller than my boyfriend on occasion! Flats just don’t look good on me.
And as for the skirts… yes, yes, a thousand times yes. There have been times when I cannot cross my legs, because to do so reveals way more thigh than anyone should be seeing outside of my bedroom.
Also, while we’re requesting shoes… any chance of the beautiful shoes in the size women’s 12? I love the shoes, but the 12’s are hard to find sometimes.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
It is the silly that Sarkozy obviously makes height an issue - his countryman, the Napoleon Bonaparte was a rather short man himself, this didn’t limit him to conquer most of Europe and conquer many beautiful women of many different heights.
And who wouldn’t look like a disgruntled old raisin next to La Bruni?
March 26th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I just love that a member of Rolling Stones and the President of France have both slept with the same woman.
March 26th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I’m 5′10″ and love rocking the heels when I can. I walk alot though, so its definitely not an everyday thing.
I sent that NY times article to my mother, my sisters, and my grandmother, all unapologetically 5′10″ or taller.
March 27th, 2008 at 12:25 am
I could reappy empathize with the feelings stated in the article, even thoug hI’m coming from it on the other side. As a 4′9 adult woman, sometimes it’s shocking what people think is appropriate to say out loud.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:34 am
As I’ve said in this combox before, I’m 5′10″, and in my youth I had several boyfriends who were 5′6 and 5′7. In fact I usually found shorter guys more energetic and interesting than their taller but often duller counterparts. My motto has always been: the higher the heels the better. I sometimes tower over my husband (a mere 6′0″) in my four-inch platforms–and I love it.
Tall girls who think that wearing flats will somehow disguise the fact that they are taller than their husbands or boyfriends are out of their minds. Look at Carla Bruni. All that flats do for her in the above photo is make her look as though her feet are so big that she can’t find proper shoes for them. C’mon, Nicolas, you’re the president of France! Can’t you accept the fact that you’ve married one of the world’s most beautiful women?
And what’s that little grin doing on Carla’s face during a state occasion? Is she secretly laughing at her shrimp husband and his elevator shoes? Or, now that she’s on British soil, is she indulging pleasant memories of Mick Jagger?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
“Being a tall myself (5′11″), the problem I often have when wearing heels is that chairs are too low to sit in comfortably. A tall girl in heels essentially has to stand on those heels all day. On every sitting surface; office chair, toilet seat, & subway bench the weight of the legs rest on the ball of the foot & the stem of the heel, with no help from the backs of the thighs.”
Interesting. At 5′3″ with short legs, I have exactly the opposite problem. My feet typically dangle and my weight is supported by my thighs, leading to weird pinchy pains in my hamstrings.
March 27th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Well I feel compelled to chime in from the man’s point of view.
I am 5.4 and my wife is 5.6 and I never have minded when she wears heels.
In fact I just bought her a new pair of Louboutin’s that she wanted (the style is Architek I believe) that seem to be sky high. She said they were only 120mm and I said “hey thats almost 5 inches!” But I hope I never get to the point where I share the expression of this particular French gentleman.
Anyway I think she looks great in anything and don’t mind looking up to her in heels.
By the way the shoes she picked were expensive but they look stunning on her!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
It is nice to see a president married to a taller woman. That is the way couples shold ideally be. I t is much nicer when the woman is taller. Hope this will encourage other men to do likewise
March 31st, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I’m 6′0 and my husband is 5′6″. There are issues with this, (mostly mine), but I’ve started to wear up to a 2″ heel on occasion. Where I really notice it is when we’re at a wedding or something and need to dance-everyone stares at us!