Dreary folks have long predicted the demise of sky-high heels as a fashion trend, but now it seems they have a powerful ally in their doomsday pronouncements: the computer nerds agree with them.
Computer geeks at IBM claim that heel heights are set to tumble in coming seasons. They base this prediction on an analysis of social media, as analyst John Buscemi explains:
We used IBM software to identify those who are the influencers online by searching the web for blogs about shoes.
We found tens of thousands and narrowed it down to those who were linked to a lot and who in turn linked to a lot of other people… if you had a map they would sit at the center of the social network.
Consumer expert Trevor Davis continued:
Key trend-watching bloggers between 2008 and 2009 wrote consistently about heels from five to eight inches, but by mid 2011 they were writing about the return of the kitten heel and the perfect flat from Jimmy Choo and Louboutin.
Hmmm… we’re not entirely convinced. Heel height, shapes and sizes have always fluctuated as fashions change – many associate higher heel heights with a falling economy – but we’re not sure that just because shoe bloggers are discussing flats too it means we’ll all be in brogues next season.
Or does it? Could this be the ultimate revenge of the nerds?!
(Update 2023: this article was written in 2011 based on a YouTube video which is no longer available)