These shoes aren't made for walking
I admit it's not the smartest move, but I do it every year, and I'll do it again next year. I spend the two media days at the Chicago Auto Show walking around the show floor in 2- to 3-inch heels. Men can complain about suits and neckties, but women get the shorter end of the stick with the high heels.
People ask why I don't wear flat shoes or tennis shoes for the media days, and the answer is simple. The event for a writer is business attire. That means a suit or something similar. My Brooks running shoes don't quite match up, and I don't own any flat-soled dress shoes. Not to mention the fact that all of my trousers are tailored for 2-inch heels.
So, for the time being I'm stuck in heels, and two days after the last media day, my feet still hurt.
On the first media day I walked more than 14,400 steps. On the second day, including the First Look for Charity, I walked 18,500 steps. I don't know what the mile translation is, but to give perspective, on a normal work day, I walk 5,000 to 6,000 steps.
Thus, my point (bringing it back to the show): Go early, but wear your tennis shoes. Trust me, when you have 1.3 million square-feet to cover, tennis shoes are the way forward if possible.
Comments
Ms. Ciminillo,
Do you wear heels when you are test driving vehicles? Or do you switch into flats, or even kick off the heels and drive barefoot?
Dan Ashley, Chicago
Posted by: Dan Ashley | February 10, 2008 06:23 PM
Hi, Dan: Unless I'm heading to the lake for a run, I pretty much always wear high-heeled shoes to do my test drives. They are mostly to-and-from work drives ... and again, my pants are tailored for those shoes. Besides ... I think driving barefoot might just be illegal. At any rate, you find out some interesting things while wearing high heels during a test drive, like the fact that BMW, VW and Audi all have gas pedals that go down to the floor and hit the heel of the shoe as you switch from brake to gas pedal.
Posted by: Jill Ciminillo | February 10, 2008 07:48 PM