The lowdown

DKNY design flats. Photos by Reuters.
DKNY design flats. Photos by Reuters.
Models show designs by Tommy Hilfiger and DKNY at New York Fashion Week earlier this month.
Models show designs by Tommy Hilfiger and DKNY at New York Fashion Week earlier this month.
A model wears flats during German designer Karl Lagerfeld's show for French fashion house Chanel...
A model wears flats during German designer Karl Lagerfeld's show for French fashion house Chanel at his Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show in Paris last month.
Vanishing Elephant desert boot at Slick Willy's. Photos by Gregor Richardson/Jude Hathaway.
Vanishing Elephant desert boot at Slick Willy's. Photos by Gregor Richardson/Jude Hathaway.
Minx Pipity Pop at Frame's.
Minx Pipity Pop at Frame's.
Minx You Stride at Frame's.
Minx You Stride at Frame's.
Rollie at Frame's.
Rollie at Frame's.
Django & Juliette at Frame's.
Django & Juliette at Frame's.
Anaid Kupuri, at I Love Paris.
Anaid Kupuri, at I Love Paris.
Vanishing Elephant metallic copper at Slick Willy's.
Vanishing Elephant metallic copper at Slick Willy's.
Misita at I Love Paris.
Misita at I Love Paris.
Palomitas at I Love Paris.
Palomitas at I Love Paris.
Sempre di at I Love Paris.
Sempre di at I Love Paris.
Vanishing Elephant Derby, at Slick Willy's
Vanishing Elephant Derby, at Slick Willy's

Flat shoes in their many guises are making quite a footwear fashion statement. Jude Hathaway reports.

Women are swapping their skyscraper shoes for brogues and pumps as designers and style doyennes alike reject the agony of high heels, Zoe Wood recently wrote for The Observer.

Indeed, actress Emma Thompson walked shoeless on to the stage at last month's Golden Globe Awards, Wood reported, ''confirming what the rest of us have known for a while. Comfy shoes make sense''.

Clutching her Charles Louboutin heels in one hand and a martini in the other she joked that their trademark red soles were stained with her blood.

''I've taken my heels off as a feminist statement really because why do we wear them? They're so painful and pointless really.''

And flat shoes are selling well on the British High St according to the global market research company Mintel.

Three-fifths of women polled on their shoe shopping habits said they had purchased fashion flats over the past 12 months.

''The under-35s are willing to sacrifice fit for fashion,'' said Mintel's fashion analyst Tamara Sender.

''By contrast over-55s place more importance on well-fitting shoes.''

It seems celebrities including television presenter and British Fashion Council ambassador Alexa Chung and British model Kate Moss have been credited with making flats ''cool'' again. Both have padded along the red carpet of late in lace-up Oxfords and pumps respectively.

Our own singer-songwriter sensation Lorde made a similar statement when she performed at the Grammy Awards in Oxford lace-ups. And earlier this month Karl Lagerfeld at his Chanel autumn RTW show in New York sent his models out in sparkly couture trainers.

They could well have taken their cue from Dunedin's most notable designer Margarita Robertson, who has always insisted on Doc Martens and other low-heeled footwear for the models in her local and national Nom*D catwalk shows.

Dunedin shoe retailers have been well aware of flats making their mark not only on the US and European catwalks but also as a comfortable option by influential front-rowers at the leading fashion shows.

Ava Collins, founder and owner of the upmarket Dunedin shoe boutique I Love Paris, who stocks what she describes as footwear with ''manageable heels'' alongside pumps and new-season brogues, is well aware of this swing to comfort in fashion footwear.

''There are a lot of gorgeous light, low-heeled lace-up varieties which have a real transseasonal quality and which, incidentally, come from the same factory that makes for Jimmy Choo,'' she said.

These target young women through to her older clientele and can be worn equally well with feminine dresses as tailored pants.

She sees the slimmer pants styles and the larger jackets as a catalyst for low heels.

''It's a great look.''

Along the street at Slick Willy's, owner Amy Henderson says their flats sold really well this summer - particularly brogues - and for winter customers will have the choice of a range of funky brogues, desert boots and riding boots which come in a number of leather finishes including metallics and leopard.

Brands such as Australia's Vanishing Elephant and Senso, ''are becoming ever more adventurous and exciting in their styles and finishes. And our more mature customers are also experimenting with how and with what they can wear their flats'', she said.

At Frames Footwear, another Dunedin-owned shoe store, Greg Frame has seen a few changes in the 35 years he's been in the business.

''Some of the very flat ballet pumps of this summer represent a really young look.

"However, when it comes to some of the sports brands such as Nike, many of the styles - the colourful and the bright - are being sold as fashion shoes and many of our over-30s are wearing these at the gym but also out to coffee, lunch and other occasions.''

Another big trend is the return to wearing ''industrial-style footwear with dressy outfits''.

Frame sees comfort as the major factor for today's women.

''However, the ultimate would be for shoe manufacturers to make shoes that are both glamorous and comfortable, and the good news is they're getting better at this.''

For health professionals it is heartening that some of the influential female fashion elite are becoming more grounded.

''This is great news,'' said Dunedin general practitioner Dr Paul Bennett, who over a number of years has seen the damage wrought by women's penchant for high heels.

''This sort of footwear can cause a number of orthopaedic issues.''

He went on to illustrate the potential for foot problems by using callipers as a measuring tool.

''Take off your shoe and put your foot flat on the floor so that I can measure the width of the fore foot''.

This done, he takes the measurement of the shoe at its widest part. (My shoe, by the way, is a comfy, soft leather wedge-heeled style which at its highest point is 6.5cm).

However, at its widest point it turns out it is 2cm less than my foot width. Goodness.

''This shows how the foot is squeezed. But it is also pushed further down into the shoe because of the heel height. It's not good even for the strongest feet.''

It's difficult to argue with that.

But equally difficult is believing that women will not continue to enjoy the glamour of heels, especially those of us who have not been blessed with the longest legs in the world.

For many, it's been a love affair that has gone on just too long.

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