Is the designer Alexander McQueen a fashion genius or just crazy? He rocked Paris yesterday during his Plato’s Atlantis show. Models wore heels towering 12-inches high.
Photos are taken from the Huffington Post.
Those models are very brave women for wearing these heels and none fell. I watched the entire show and each model walked across the runway without so much of a shudder. They all looked like they were floating. There have been assessments of McQueen’s heels all over the internet, but most like InStyle UK and the UK Daily Express, have been praising him for his adventurous spirit.
McQueen channeled his inner explorer in his spring/summer collection from Darwin’s The Origin of the Species. Each clothing piece was in earth tones and bright blues. There were nature prints ranging from feathers to coral patterns.
I admire McQueen for trying something different in his designs which have been described as “outer world choices” and “alien-like.” The heels are just insane. I’m a tall woman of 5’10″ and I often wear stiletto heels when going out. I would never attempt the 12-inch heels because I’m already called Godzilla and Amazon by friends. I could possibly stand in them, but the ending would not be pretty. I hope no women try wearing these shoes out and about – that would be insanity.
I don’t think these heels or copies of them will be released to the public, but perhaps 7-9 inch heels will in nature tones and animal skins in the spring.
What are your thoughts? Would you wear these heels?
♥ – Erin
70 Comments
October 9, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Brilliant! Although even Her Indoors would be pushed in to wearing those in deepest darkest Cheshire on a winters eve.
October 9, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Any women that would wear these are crazy. Why would you take the chance of breaking you leg, ankle or neck for some designer?
October 9, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Ridiculous. Can women sue McQueen in later life when they suffer with ankle troubles?
http://doctorbeatnik.wordpress.com/
October 9, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Ghastly. The overall shape is something akin to misshapen pigs’ feet.
Not. A. Chance.
October 9, 2009 at 2:36 pm
Disturbing. I can see the merit in making these for curiosity’s sake but although fascinating I have to agree with Digital Dame — they are hideous!! And Erin, I’m 5’10″ as well and i would have no occasion whatsoever to wear those except for Halloween… This is from a 16 year old girl (a.k.a. “the future”) so maybe designers should think about what might be worn even just once and liked as well!!
October 9, 2009 at 2:45 pm
That is redonkulous!
http://www.theprettyproject.com
October 9, 2009 at 2:46 pm
What is really hideous about these is that they look like the result of Chinese footbinding only on a BIG scale – yuk! North Coast Muse at http://sally1029.wordpress.com
October 9, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Just… why??!!¡¡¿¿
Even my shoe-loving girlfriend winced when she saw these.
Joe
October 9, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Those are insane! I’m amazed just looking at them, I cannot imagine anyone wearing them. They’re odd and perhaps interesting, but so impractical.
October 9, 2009 at 3:09 pm
I love McQueen for being the artist for show and not profit.
October 9, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I would just so I could feel tall for a moment (I’m 5’2″) then…I’d fall…hard LOL On a regular basis, not at all they look uncomfortable.
October 9, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I’m just wondering how their ankles aren’t being torn up…really, I was looking for rings where the edge of the shoes would be cutting into them.
Wow, there is no way I would wear these…or even a smaller version. They’re unique, but ugly and they look super uncomfortable!
October 9, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Do people really wear ANYTHING that comes off a runway? I mean, most of the things on the runways are out of this world and crazy. Most of which I would not wear unless it is Halloween. Those shoes top my list of worst shoes in the world. Of course, I was never a heels person,but if I did wear heels (and sometimes I do) they are gentle to the ankle, cute, and comfortable. All I can say about these shoes is: Do these models have good health insurance? Ouch.
October 9, 2009 at 3:49 pm
What more can be said other than “utterly ridiculous”?????? But you know, it’s all about making a big splash/drawing attention to your self/your designs/ your bottom line, as it were. As long as the general population is infatuated and deceived by the monstrosities of the marketplace, this is the result. A sane person can only laugh silently and hope the end comes soon.
Note the expressions on the models’ faces. This is big clue to the Reality of the situation.
October 9, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Well, that made my boring little Midwest day look a lot brighter…and safer! Slippers anyone?
October 9, 2009 at 4:12 pm
wow – they really look like hooves -
October 9, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Um, is it just me or does the whole show seem to be orchestrated to make the viewer uncomfortable? From the woman writhing around with the snakes at the intro, to the painful shoes (even though Erin points out in her post that no one fell, I was still on edge waiting for someone’s leg to snap) to the robot cameras “following” the models…I didn’t have time to watch the whole thing but I was so tense that I had to keep repeating to myself, “it’s just a fashion show, it’s just a fashion show…”
October 9, 2009 at 4:19 pm
I agree with SallyK… these remind me so much of bound feet and lotus shoes that I can’t really get behind them.
That said, I am impressed with the models! And as a 6′ tall woman, it would be pretty funny to try them on.
October 9, 2009 at 4:59 pm
super exercise in self promotion. but of course the shoes are totally impractical
October 9, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Those are hideous!!
October 9, 2009 at 6:21 pm
absolutely redonkulous!
October 9, 2009 at 7:02 pm
check out http://www.MissMeanshoe.com for the whole entire Alexander McQueen collection
October 9, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Really!? I am a shoe fanatic. I travel a lot and buy shoes instead of souveniers. These are more like souveniers of the fashion show. I got to give it to the designer, he is very daring. I just don’t think it’s the next fashion trend. Decoration piece? Maybe.
October 9, 2009 at 7:47 pm
I would never be caught wearing those heels- I think artistically speaking they are beautiful but I can’t imagine torturing my feet like that! No woman should put her poor feet through that…I wonder if the designer tried wearing them?
October 9, 2009 at 9:25 pm
no way. They look like lobster claws to me.
October 9, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Not only are those insanely STUPID, they are also hideously UGLY.
If we’re trying to ruin women’s feet and practically cripple them, why don’t we just go back to foot-binding? It’s cheaper and you can do it yourself.
October 9, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Ha! I hardly wear heels now; I prefer ballet flats. I do have some heels that I’ll wear, specifically my knee-length boots. The heels are thick on them though so I can balance my clumsy self better.
I’ve nearly broken an ankle wearing stilettos so I tend to shy away from them. I’m more about comfort than style
October 11, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I agree with you. I prefer comfort rather than style.
October 9, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Absolutely ghastly! They look like ballet toe shoes with heels. Couldn’t imagine wearing them. Could break a leg on uneven ground.
October 9, 2009 at 11:07 pm
I can barely walk in 3 inch heels
imagine thoes
oh god…
October 10, 2009 at 12:28 am
How do you get your feet in? Looks like there’s no room for the toes! It looks too cramped!
October 10, 2009 at 12:56 am
they look like big bird beaks, but it would definitely make short girls feel that much taller!
- http://redlinemg.net/blog
October 10, 2009 at 1:01 am
it’s high fashion, i should know, i’m 11
October 10, 2009 at 1:03 am
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October 10, 2009 at 1:08 am
Those are rediculous!!! “Mt.Everest of Heels kill 12, all families sue”. I want to sue him so bad, but I never even heard of him before in my life!! I feel sorry for his models….
October 10, 2009 at 1:16 am
hannah i hate to disagree, but that’s high fashion and he’s my favorite designer. but i can agree with you that he went a little overboard this time. but he always does, see his trash runway show on youtube, and thier wearing 50 foot heels there!
October 10, 2009 at 1:18 am
yikes! sorry wasae, mayb i should do a little reasearch next time! what is the title if it?
October 10, 2009 at 1:21 am
“extra! extra! read all about it alexander goes overboard and pushes models when the are in killer heels and they die!!!”
October 10, 2009 at 2:57 am
There just fucking shoes for god’s sake. They don’t mean shit.
October 10, 2009 at 6:46 am
I need to see video of women walking in these for the first time. It seems pretty unrealistic and I can’t think of many men that want to make a girlfriend a foot taller. Who is the target market? Children trying to get to a cookie jar?
http://futurefashionnow.wordpress.com/
October 10, 2009 at 11:38 am
I’m over 60 and thought I’d seen it all – paper dresses, mono-kini’s, go-go boots, Pucci print mini-shorts, Mary Quant mini-dresses, maxi Coats, peanut pants, hip-hugger’s, and even the invention of pantyhose ! But as mentioned above – from pigs feet to foot binding – gross as they are, sooner or later, they or a variation, will show up on the streets of NYC – oh, street-walkers anyone ?
October 10, 2009 at 12:38 pm
reminds me of some crazy version of chinese foot binding.
October 10, 2009 at 2:10 pm
At 5’9″ I already tower over most people I know when I put on a pair of “normal” heels. I can just imagine seeing nothing but a sea of hair if I were a foot taller.
October 10, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Ever the showman, I think this is one of the best collections McQueen has ever done. The shoes are mental, but I really want to see if they actually go into production? Cant wait to see those shoes on the street!
October 10, 2009 at 2:53 pm
The man hates women. Its not just the height but the shape. Very foot binding. Will cripple any woman dumb enough to wear them.
October 10, 2009 at 6:23 pm
McQueen put on a great show.
I think the shoes were a nice touch to the overall feel of it. But yeah, I wouldn’t be caught wearing those anytime soon :s
October 10, 2009 at 7:05 pm
[...] the designer Alexander McQueen a fashion genius or just crazy? He rocked Paris yesterday during his Plato’s Atlantis show. Models wore heels towering 12-inches [...]
October 10, 2009 at 7:57 pm
it’s just an artistic exploration, and for the short show i think they’re amazing – visually insane and inspiring. sure i’d love to try them on for a photoshoot or something, but they’re not made for wearing in ‘real life’, and shouldn’t be thought of as such!
October 10, 2009 at 8:11 pm
In theory they are a fantastic idea fashion wise but that is all it should be, an idea. Women should not even be allowed to wear them! Death traap if you ask me.
October 11, 2009 at 12:27 am
alexander mcqueen is a fashion genius don’t get me wrong but those are some ugly a–shoes twelve inch heels what he’s trying do wait for a accident to happen! Please honey try another approach before it’s to late!
October 11, 2009 at 1:09 am
I saw shoes like this in an S&M magazine once. Good grief these are ugly shoes!
October 11, 2009 at 1:50 am
jesus christ. he should just stick to doing björk’s tour outfits…
October 11, 2009 at 2:47 am
those heels are like the ‘golden lotus’ heels that chinese women used to wear around the qing dynasty where foot-binding still existed. Its shaped exactly the same way, he probably got inspired by them. of course it’s impractical, and besides, they look like giant vases here.
October 11, 2009 at 2:57 am
This designer has some really beautiful fabrics and patterns, however, the styles arent appropriate for real life. Only those wafer thin models could carry those off. The shoes were really weird but meshed well with the clothing. This show was like a bad trip!! Can you imagine showing up at an affair in one of these outfits and having the same hair and make up? Would probably be taken away in a straight jacket……
October 11, 2009 at 4:17 am
no i fell off my 3inch heels and near broke my ankle its never been the same keeps giving out now and then but there was no ankel support on them but these look like rollar scates or stilts without the scates
people have to stop the obsession with height
October 11, 2009 at 4:18 am
short is better im 5ft 4 and im staying this short
October 11, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Je trouve cela fou de dépenser une fortune pour décorer ces chaussures de la mort alors que des gens meurent de faim dans le monde.
Le ridicule de la Mode à l’état pur.
October 11, 2009 at 4:01 pm
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October 11, 2009 at 4:35 pm
lol! Oy vey. The showpieces have gone too far. what if someone fell and wound up in the hospital?
xx
Choubelle
October 11, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Obviously NOT!
October 11, 2009 at 7:07 pm
wonder how the weather is up there on those things?
October 11, 2009 at 7:40 pm
2 comments regarding these riduculous shoes – and the anoerexic models who are wearing them…
Graceful these women were not, neither did they “float.” This most reminded me of the platform sandals I insisted wearing when I was a gawky, stork-legged 8th grader…and those were of a normal height!
As for the poor souls strapped, zippered and perhaps superglued into these shoes…It is a very scary thing when your shoes are wider than your thigh!
October 11, 2009 at 7:50 pm
oh, even looking at them hurts a bit.
I could imagine that their internal construction is somewhat better, that most of us think. None of the models fell over.
October 11, 2009 at 8:08 pm
As works of art these shoes are stunning; as footwear they are nightmares. If a woman were to wear a pair and needed to move quickly for some reason I think she’d break something. Art, yes; practical, no.
October 11, 2009 at 9:11 pm
i think he’s stupid, the shoes look retarded and so unnatural .. i dont know what to say it just looks completely stupid
October 11, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I am reminded of the ultra high platform sandals that were popular in the French Riviera during the mid 90′s. I was enjoying the azure blue water when I spotted a girl in short-shorts sporting these ultra impractical shoes, and although she looked great, she needed the assistance of a gentleman’s arm to get anywhere without tipping over.
October 11, 2009 at 9:53 pm
So…that’s how the NBA will recruit me…! A good sense of humor that McQueen, if not, some shin splints for sure.
October 12, 2009 at 12:12 am
Mc Queen has a sense of adventurism. Looks like animals’ hoofs. But I’d rather be an animal with real animal hoofs than die wearing one like this.
October 12, 2009 at 12:40 am
I think they look like decorative animal hooves.
October 12, 2009 at 3:03 am
This is just a publicity stunt. I am sure they have no plans to sell these “shoes”.