Wearing Super High Heels Might Be Prematurely Aging You

Nobody ever said wearing high heels was comfortable. But a new study from Stanford University found that they might make you walk like you've suddenly aged 20 years.

Researchers measured how healthy women walked while wearing shoes with different heel heights: a flat sneaker, a 1.5-inch heel, and a 3.25-inch heel. They also had each woman walk with and without a heavy vest that weighed 20% of their body weight. Researchers paid attention to how the participants' knees moved while they walked and while they stood still.

The results of the study, published in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, were pretty scary for stiletto enthusiasts everywhere. When you walk in high heels, your knees are more likely to be bent when your feet hit the ground. That puts a lot of strain on your knees, and makes you walk in a similar way to older women or women who have arthritis. And it's even worse if you're overweight, since you put more pressure on your joints.

And all that strain on your knees can lead to trouble down the road. "High heel use, especially when combined with increased weight, may contribute to increased [osteoarthritis] risk in women," the study's authors wrote. So give your high heels a rest every so often; your knees will thank you later.

From Strappy to Stiletto: Sandals in Vogue Throughout the Years

The spring forecast calls for sandals, “those great and classic flatterers of women’s feet” as Vogue put it in 1933. As snowdrops and crocuses poke through the thawed earth, the bloom falls off our romance with winter’s high-heeled boots (or comfy Uggs). No shoe is as simple—or seductive—as a sandal. The barest and oldest footwear in existence, it has been worn by Roman warriors and Vargas girls alike, and run the gamut from the flat, sand-between-your-toes variety to strappy, Marmont-ready stilettos. To see how this warm-weather classic has transformed over time, here’s a look at sandals in the Vogue archives.

Featuring covers, advertisements, articles, photographs, and illustrations in their original context, the Vogue Archive offers a glimpse of Vogue’s unparalleled record of fashion, social, and cultural ideas.

Vogue.com registered users have access to a selection of editor-chosen issues from the Vogue Archive. Vogue magazine subscribers have access to a selection of 36 issues, including the very first issue of the magazine from 1892. To access the Vogue Archive, go to voguearchive.com and use the Archive Login in the upper-right-hand corner.