IS RAVING IN HEELS INSANE?
Is raving in heels insane? This was a question I asked when I found myself scrolling through the shoe section of the Dolls Kill website and immediately fell in love with a pair of their boots. These boots were sick. They had black flames on them and massive, four-inch heels. I needed them, but the longer I looked at the height of the heel the more I began to wonder if it was insane to buy a something so high to wear to my next rave.
Let’s face it, picking shoes for any event is always incredibly difficult. This has a lot to do with the fact that dressing for anything where you will be walking around, dancing, or doing anything for a long time is hard when you want to look cute but you also don’t want your feet to fall off. Raving adds another level of irritation to the equation because you have to factor in that you will be outside, probably in the dirt or grass, and will undoubtedly be on your feet for an insane amount of time. When you are planning on dancing for seven hours or more, your shoes need to be functional as well as cute, which is a hard combination to find.
You might think, well I won't be moving too much, or "oh well I'm sure there will be pavement," but let me tell you right now that there is absolutely zero guarantee that will be the case.
As a short girl I am always drawn towards heels mostly because I think I look better with a little extra lift, but even then it is hard to decide if you are willing to put up with being somewhat uncomfortable for upwards of seven hours at a time. I tend to fall back on wanting to be comfortable which is why my beat up Nikes tend to get a lot more love then even my boots with their little one-inch heel do.
However even though they are incredibly comfortable and I have never been left with banged up feet the next day, I always end up hating the way they look in pictures. There is something particularly tragic about wanting to wear heels, but knowing that it will cost me down the line.
So, I wanted to throw out a few suggestions for those of you who don’t want to wear your ratty sneakers to your next festival.
Try Platforms
With platforms, you get all of the benefits of wearing high heels without the pain that comes from being on pointy stilts for hours. Your feet get support, and it is also going got be a lot easier to walk around on dirt and grass than it is with a heel.
Invest in Some Cool Sneakers
Don’t wear your 900-year-old running shoes. Instead, invest in a pair of stylish sneakers that won’t completely ruin your outfit. Brands like Fila and YRU carry some awesome and very stylish tennis shoe options in a variety of colors to go with any outfit.
Wear a Pair of Block Heel Boots (1 inch)
It doesn’t hurt to try a pair of block heel boots with a short heel. I think it is a good way to test out how well you will do on heels for extended periods of time before you try anything about two inches.
If you are really concerned about your height, I would definitely say that the platform is the way to go. Festival grounds are often very uneven, and dips and bumps in the ground can lead to turned ankles or worse injuries if you aren’t careful. Platforms can be a little safer, but you still need to exercise a lot more caution then you do in sneakers.
To answer the question that started this whole conversation, no, raving in heels isn't crazy, it just takes a ton of endurance and focus. If you are a new raver, I would suggest that you stick to stylish tennis shoes before you even think about going near a pair of four-inch platforms. Think about it the way you would think about learning to ride a bike. We don’t immediately say “go, ride this road bike, kid.” We need training wheels first. If you are thinking about wearing a pair of heels to a rave first see if you can move around in the shoes comfortably for 2-4 hours, then try to increase the amount of time until the shoes are broken in completely, and you are comfortable walking, moving, and dancing around in them on any terrain.
