A pro-Kremlin lawmaker is seeking to introduce official standards in Russia that would limit a person’s shoe height, essentially banning women from wearing sky-high heels.
Oleg Mikheyev, a lawmaker with the pro-Kremlin A Just Russia party, says high heels, as well as trainers, ballet flats and men’s loafers, are bad for people’s health, and it’s time to take action, the Agence France-Presse reported.
“Footwear should have heels that are two to four centimeters high, five centimeters high at the most,” Mr. Mikheyev said in a proposal to the Customs Union, which also includes ex-Soviet states Belarus and Kazakhstan, AFP reported.
“The harmful effects of wearing extremely high heels and flat shoes have now been recognized by experts of the entire world,” it read. “It’s necessary to change this trend.”
Mr. Mikheyev said that some 40 percent of Russians suffered from flat feet.
He told AFP that his goal was more to raise awareness than issue an outright ban.
“My female colleagues have not spoken to me for half a day now,” he quipped.
Source: Washington Times