Giving Your Lonely High Heels the Attention They Deserve

Yes, this is a thing, and yes, you should do it. It’s a great excuse to (temporarily) break free from your sweats and dress up to lift your mood.

So before writing this, I wasn’t actually sure if dressing up during quarantine was an actual thing. I mean, it seems a little pointless right? We’re all at home, so why would we want to get out of our comfy PJs and dress up like before? But then I started to notice that my high heels felt a little lonely. I usually take a lot of care of my shoes, from coveted Jimmy Choo’s (a forever favorite of mine, and my previous workplace) to my Target heels and it felt like they had been abandoned. So, I figured, you know what, it’s time to give them the attention they deserve.

Dressing up to lift your mood

If you search around, you’ll see that this is a real phenomenon borne out of COVID times. There’s been a lot of articles around dressing up to lift your moods, such as this one from NBC News, Glamor, The Zoe Report, and way more. The overall message is the same: Dressing up can help break the monotony of quarantine and it’s a reminder that there was life before, and there will be life after.

I’m not denying that casual mode isn’t fun – I mean, who doesn’t love their sweats? But if you’re looking to boost your mood during the lockdown, why not break out those high heels and give them some love? This is the perfect time to wear heels and enjoy them…without worrying about someone spilling a drink on them at the bar, or getting them soiled or dirty at an outdoor event. It’s all the fun of wearing them…and none of the stress of damaging them!

A new normal

We’ve all had to adjust a new normal in a really short period of time, but that doesn’t have to totally impact our love for fashion. There are a lot of benefits of dressing up to help boost your mood and get you ready for the day. Even just putting on a pair of heels underneath your Zoom meeting outfit can help you switch from lounge mode to work mode faster. Pair it with your favorite outfit and enjoy the day even when you’re stuck working.

A good outfit and a great pair of heels is a confidence booster in pre-pandemic life, so why not let it have the same effect now? The act of dressing up and putting on heels is a way to give your brain a signal of normalcy and give your day a bit more structure so you can be poised, confident, and focused throughout the day. It’s a way to cope with this new normal while still getting use out of items that you may not normally reach for during this time.

There’s some scientific evidence behind this too. In an article by the Zoe Report, Paul Green, from the Manhattan Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy:  “Subconsciously, how we dress can be a conditioning cue for how we feel. If you’ve gotten dressed for work a thousand times and been productive, you associate dressing for work with getting things done.”

So, when you’re working from home and get dressed up, your brain gets excited and assumes it’s productivity time and starts to work that way. But if you’re constantly in sweats, it’s hard for your brain to switch gears and go from casual to work mode – it needs some cues along the way to make that happen.

Giving your heels the attention they need.

Stay at home has us in casual mode, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love our clothes and shoes. Even if you’ve largely abandoned your heels and fancy clothes like everyone else, take this time to start caring for them more. Whether it’s rethinking storage for them to get maximum wear once lockdowns are over, or even just cleaning them a bit, there’s a lot you can do to take care of your heels and make sure they last.

Here are a few tips on how to care for high heels and give them a little extra love during this time:

• Use baking soda to neutralize any odors from your heels.
• Use a sectioned rack for storage, rather than jamming them all together in your closet so that their shape is not distorted.
• Separate shoes that need to be repaired, rather than throwing them out. A good cobbler can restore the most common high heel issues, so there’s always hope that they can be fixed.
• If you have leather heels, you can invest in a water-repellent conditioner that will give your shoes protective cover against the elements and soften the material a little for added flexibility.
• Clean your shoes! There’s a lot of dirt and residue that gets stuck on shoes and can damage heels over time. So use this as an opportunity to give your shoes some TLC. All you’ll need to do is a light scrubbing with warm water and a microfiber cloth.

You might also be tempted to add more to the collection. It’s totally normal and retail therapy is one way to give yourself a quick happiness boost. Why not try out a new brand you’ve been eyeing but have never bought anything from or those high heels from your favorite brand that have been in your online shopping cart for way too long. Basically, you can use this as an excuse to treat yourself to a new pair of heels!

High heels are an investment and serve as statement pieces for your closet. Don’t let them gather too much dust right now, but instead, give them some attention. This is a great time to dress up for you – no expectations, no office pressure, none of that negative stuff. So why not use this time to get a little creative? Experiment with outfits, pair heels with dresses you wouldn’t otherwise, be free! It’s the perfect way to give your heels the attention they deserve while getting to wear the beautiful clothes you have hanging in your closet, begging to be worn. Truly a win-win!

Hope You Enjoyed the Read!