Shoe Confessions.

The term "kitten heel" is pure marketing genius. Having halved the heel that gave empowering height and lengthened legs, whoever coined the phrase still managed to make it lust-worthy by invoking the celebrated sex kitten of the 1950s. After a few seasons of orthopedic-defying five, six, and even twelve-inch (God rest Lee's soul) heels, style forecasters are predicting that women will come back down to earth and embrace the kitten.
Four years ago, I was on a frantic search for just such a shoe, the reason being an impending date with a, ahem, height-challenged fellow. Despite a closet full of gorgeous shoes, I was convinced wearing any of them, which would give me a one to two inch vertical advantage, would somehow insult his masculinity. Several stores and hours into the hunt that was only turning up low-heel styles appropriate for a church secretary, I finally stumbled upon the perfect solution: A BCBG pink satin slip-on, complete with black lace across the toe. They were lingerie for the feet, and heel-wise, came in at just under two inches.
That relationship lasted just under two months, as his Napoleon complex proved exhausting in more ways than planning my wardrobe around ballet flats and the BCBGs. Since then, I've continued to date men in all sizes, but I've decided to leave insecurity issues up to them; if anything, having a leg up in height on the first meeting helps to weed out anyone who may try to cut me down to size later on.
If your feet are ready to take it down a few notches in the coming months, I don't blame you, kittens, but I hope that your heels are the only demure things about you, and that you don't ever make yourself smaller for someone else.