Why are certain shoe/ colors or styles not in style anymore

[Footsiefreak]

I was thinking today more women just wear black shoes than previous decades when they wore all sorts of colors like red, baby blue, tan beige etc why the change? Women ear different colored outfits and need different color shoes to match. I know black goes with everthing but its getting boring. I wish the colorful shoes would return

Also remember when white hose were worn by women a lot? Not that it was a sexy look only for nurses but it has been years since I seen a woman in white hose

[paradigm88]

I think it's just part of an ebb and flow in fashion. Certain trends pop in and make themselves known, and then they're either embraced or nudged away.

As far as shoe color, even in the last ten years or so I've seen changes in popularity and availability. Maybe nine or ten years back, I knew of a lot of women with white-and-black houndstooth ballet flats with a black cap toe. Payless sold a variant of them on the low end; you had others by nicer designers for ladies who wanted something more quality. Similarly, Payless had a cute pink-and-gray argyle ballet flat in their arsenal, and plenty of women had that shoe or something similar to wear. Now you don't see that design at all. Twenty years ago, it was loafers; every girl in high school in the late '90s had a pair or two of black chunky loafers with a two-inch heel. Five years before that, it was the black-fabric-and-red-soled "Chinese slipper" Mary Jane flat that paired with jeans and socks as easily as a skirt and white tights.

My wife and I have noticed that, in recent years, Payless (which is notably not doing the best as a company) has streamlined their options. Maybe they used to offer six or eight colors in a basic ballet flat; now there are four. Or in another style, maybe there are only two. The more intricate patterns/fabrics have fallen out of favor, like the tweed heels a girl I knew in college fell for. Similarly, look at the big discount stores like Off Broadway or DSW; they seem to alternate in their major promotions from Sandal Season (flip-flops and strappy shoes of every color as long as that color is black, bronze, silver, or gold) to Boot Season (where it's black, brown, or whatever pattern you might find in a rain boot - boots are very inflexible for color). Boots have pretty much taken over fall and winter; it's black ankle-high booties, or knee-high black and brown leather, or the few who still get fooled into thinking Uggs look good.

Fashion has also latched onto monochromatic looks as "trendy." I love when my wife color-blocks and contrasts, and I like when women match and accessorize, but black accessorizes with everything, not to mention it's slimming and flattering for most. Hence black tights are in style over sheer nylons, and black shoes or boots pair well with black tights. (I also love white hose and tights, but similarly, I've learned that white is not the most flattering color, and in practical use it dirties VERY easily. I rarely wear light pants to work because it takes about 30 seconds to find something that'll mark them up for the day; I imagine women feel the same with white hosiery. My wife knows I love white tights for the look of innocence, but she still won't wear them 99 out of 100 times.

And from a practical standpoint, you only need one or two pairs of shoes to work with a range of outfits. (My wife teaches, and school is the last place she'll wear any of her "cute" or nicer flats; even when she worked retail, she kept a pair of two of black flats just for those jobs where they'd take more wear and abuse than a pair of mint-green lace flats.) I think plenty of women still love shoes and want options, but they also need to maintain a variety of styles, from dress shoes to sneakers (for fitness) to sandals (for summer/beach/pool) to boots (both fashion and functional). And I've mentioned in the past how fashion is far more casual today, and a good pair of black boots (or flats, even) can work with a skirt as effectively as a pair of jeans or leggings.

It's a shame, but that's where we are.

[Footsiefreak]

I think it's just part of an ebb and flow in fashion. Certain trends pop in and make themselves known, and then they're either embraced or nudged away.

As far as shoe color, even in the last ten years or so I've seen changes in popularity and availability. Maybe nine or ten years back, I knew of a lot of women with white-and-black houndstooth ballet flats with a black cap toe. Payless sold a variant of them on the low end; you had others by nicer designers for ladies who wanted something more quality. Similarly, Payless had a cute pink-and-gray argyle ballet flat in their arsenal, and plenty of women had that shoe or something similar to wear. Now you don't see that design at all. Twenty years ago, it was loafers; every girl in high school in the late '90s had a pair or two of black chunky loafers with a two-inch heel. Five years before that, it was the black-fabric-and-red-soled "Chinese slipper" Mary Jane flat that paired with jeans and socks as easily as a skirt and white tights.

My wife and I have noticed that, in recent years, Payless (which is notably not doing the best as a company) has streamlined their options. Maybe they used to offer six or eight colors in a basic ballet flat; now there are four. Or in another style, maybe there are only two. The more intricate patterns/fabrics have fallen out of favor, like the tweed heels a girl I knew in college fell for. Similarly, look at the big discount stores like Off Broadway or DSW; they seem to alternate in their major promotions from Sandal Season (flip-flops and strappy shoes of every color as long as that color is black, bronze, silver, or gold) to Boot Season (where it's black, brown, or whatever pattern you might find in a rain boot - boots are very inflexible for color). Boots have pretty much taken over fall and winter; it's black ankle-high booties, or knee-high black and brown leather, or the few who still get fooled into thinking Uggs look good.

Fashion has also latched onto monochromatic looks as "trendy." I love when my wife color-blocks and contrasts, and I like when women match and accessorize, but black accessorizes with everything, not to mention it's slimming and flattering for most. Hence black tights are in style over sheer nylons, and black shoes or boots pair well with black tights. (I also love white hose and tights, but similarly, I've learned that white is not the most flattering color, and in practical use it dirties VERY easily. I rarely wear light pants to work because it takes about 30 seconds to find something that'll mark them up for the day; I imagine women feel the same with white hosiery. My wife knows I love white tights for the look of innocence, but she still won't wear them 99 out of 100 times.

And from a practical standpoint, you only need one or two pairs of shoes to work with a range of outfits. (My wife teaches, and school is the last place she'll wear any of her "cute" or nicer flats; even when she worked retail, she kept a pair of two of black flats just for those jobs where they'd take more wear and abuse than a pair of mint-green lace flats.) I think plenty of women still love shoes and want options, but they also need to maintain a variety of styles, from dress shoes to sneakers (for fitness) to sandals (for summer/beach/pool) to boots (both fashion and functional). And I've mentioned in the past how fashion is far more casual today, and a good pair of black boots (or flats, even) can work with a skirt as effectively as a pair of jeans or leggings.

It's a shame, but that's where we are.

Great informative analogy Paradigm. I am shocked that Payless is still in business. I used to shop there a lot but they stopped making mens shoes that made no sense we buy shoes too

y

I really LOVE the tan, beige brown natural color look with hose. It reminds me of my Spanish teacher in the 80s who used to wear them all the time. It continued in the 90s but disappeared in the 2000s unfortuneately.

[Feeture Feature]

I think it is a matter of availability and practicality (black is most available and goes with most outfits). Also a matter of age, mature women are more likely to wear colors other than black because they grew up with the colors. Younger women want to fit in with everyone else and go with mostly boots, sneakers, and sandals with a couple of pairs of basic black pumps, flats or loafers.

[Dangling Fan]

The fashion industry changes styles and colours all the time in order to force women to buy new clothes every year. This is a basic rule since the age of Coco Chanel. As a result of that the styles change just for the sake of it and women don't really care if the clothes are stylish or not. All they want is to follow the trend. Some times the trend is good and some times is ugly. When it comes to shoes I think that they were pretty from about 2002 until about 2012. From 2012 the shoe styles started to become more and more ugly and this season are just awful!
From what I see the young women until the age of 35 are no longer wearing pumps and ballerinas as part of their casual style and this is devastating for all the shoeplay fans! They are usually wearing masculine shoes and boots in the winter and flat strappy sandals in the summer. The colours and animal prints have disappeared indeed and we only see basic colours. The fashion usually does a circle every 10 years so I expect to see pretty shoes again from about 2022! I hope I will be wrong!

[paradigm88]

Dangling Fan, that's exactly it, and you just about nailed the timeline. Hard to believe most of my wife's patterned shoes are about that old now. You rarely see animal-print, or houndstooth, or tweed, or other patterns; it's very monochromatic.

And among my female friends, you're right on about the popular shoe styles. A solid eighty percent of the year is occupied by flip-flops/sandals or knee-high boots. I went to a baby shower not too long ago; most of the women were well-dressed but opted for boots, not flats. A couple favored sneakers or casual laced shoes. At least a few (my wife included) prefer ballet flats, even if barefoot.

[Footsiefreak]

I also think that fashion designers are bribed by companies to promote their wear

[Footsiefreak]

The fashion industry changes styles and colours all the time in order to force women to buy new clothes every year. This is a basic rule since the age of Coco Chanel. As a result of that the styles change just for the sake of it and women don't really care if the clothes are stylish or not. All they want is to follow the trend. Some times the trend is good and some times is ugly. When it comes to shoes I think that they were pretty from about 2002 until about 2012. From 2012 the shoe styles started to become more and more ugly and this season are just awful!
From what I see the young women until the age of 35 are no longer wearing pumps and ballerinas as part of their casual style and this is devastating for all the shoeplay fans! They are usually wearing masculine shoes and boots in the winter and flat strappy sandals in the summer. The colours and animal prints have disappeared indeed and we only see basic colours. The fashion usually does a circle every 10 years so I expect to see pretty shoes again from about 2022! I hope I will be wrong!

Unfortuneately I think the boots in fall/ winter are here to stay. Its just common sense to wear boots in the winter with the snow and slush. Of course I hate it but boots can be made to be fashionable like our favorite dippable shoes

[Footsiefreak]

I wished more women would get their own sense of fashion and stop being following sheep. Some places in my city the women have do have their own style but its like 5% in my opinion.

I did compliment a cute lady one time she was wearing a long skirt with with blue stockings and pretty blue suede flats. I just started a conversation with her to hopefully see a shoeplay show. I told her she looked nice and liked her style of clothes. She thanked me and we started talking. Just said to her Im tired of women wearing boots and wish they were more feminine like you.

I just think the majority of women wearing black shoes is boring. Look at all the boots and sneakers in all kinds of different colors but women wear them more than a more feminine shoe