Driving with heels

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

In 1996 recording artiste Nancy Sinatra released the single These Boots are made for Walkin', which was redone by Jessica Simpson in 2005, putting her spin on the song for the movie The Dukes of Hazzard. In both versions of the song, confident, sexy and alluring women are able to strut their stuff in boots with heels of varying lengths and thickness.

Lady Saw's currently
popular song, Heels On, puts an ultra-sexy take on
ladies' spikes, but since they are as popular in the boardroom as they
are in the bedroom, at the party or at prayer, there is the matter of
the wearer moving in them from place to place.

That is
where the automobile comes in.

Chyna Whyne, known as
the High Heel Guru, believes that confident women are more capable of
pulling off the driving in heels experience. "Only women who are
confident driving in heels should do so. If a woman is not confident in
driving in them she needs to definitely take them off, because she could
cause an accident," she said.

There are, of course,
many women who have footwear specific to driving, such as slippers, or
may choose to go barefoot. The heels go on just before they step
out.

While Whyne is aware of several women who are
confident enough to drive in high heels, she emphasised that skill is
essential in pulling it off without damaging the footwear. She quickly
pointed out that women often complain about the heels being damaged when
they drive in the shoes and explained that this happens when women puts
the entire heel onto the vehicle's floorboard.

"Skill
is important. Some women do not know how to drive in heels and so they
put their heels down onto the floor to press the pedal and then find
that the back of their heels is scuffed, which can be annoying," she
said.

Whyne noted that having the shoe in the correct
position on the pedal is key to driving in heels. "Some women know how
to use their heels as a pivot. They use this to gain leverage on the
pedal, which is how I do it. This is quite an art if you get it right.
Women's legs also have to be fit as the muscles in the legs are going to
feel it," Whyne said.

She explained that what women
consider high heels is relative and it varies widely among individuals.
"To a lady who doesn't wear heels, two inches could seem high. To
someone who normally wears about four inches and goes to about six and a
half, to them that can also seem high and so it's all relative to the
person," Whyne said.

Whyne admitted that she loves a
killer pair of heels and prefers to wear six inches or six and a half.
She said that if women are unable to drive in heels perhaps a wedge
could be worn instead. "If a woman isn't confident in driving in
stiletto heels, perhaps a wedge would give her more stability,"
recommended Whyne.

The High Heel Guru pointed out that
women who are in their late 20s and early 30s are more likely to drive
in heels than a teenager or an older person. A study done in the United
Kingdom identified women between ages 24 and 35 years old as being more
likely to wear heels when behind the wheel.

The same
study also pointed out that driving in heels is unsafe. However, Chyna
Whyne advises women not to drive in them if they are unable to handle
them.

auto@gleanerjm.com

Photos
by Chad Bryan