Free A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style by Tim Gunn, Kate Maloney

the street. The most flat-bottomed among us tend to be those walking around with feet that are not parallel. Which came first, you might ask, the poorly placed feet or the pancake bottom? Does it matter? Why not be on the safe side and get those feet in line?
    2. Elephant Walk . The undisputed queen of the shoe jungle is the high, high heel. We associate it with statusand sex, and who doesn’t occasionally want a little of those? The problem is, if you walk like a pachyderm, even Christian Louboutin can do very little for you. Just spend a few minutes any weekday on a major avenue in Manhattan at lunchtime. Out come legions of women in the most delicate of shoes, clump, clump, clumping their way to pick up a salad. The brutal truth is that if you wear high heels you must adjust your stride. Unfortunately, that fabulous, long, liberated stride you take in sneakers must not be performed in heels. Note that this is not a matter of skill. Plenty of women do take those huge strides in the most delicate of heels. The issue is not whether it
can
be done, we know from observing all those clumpers on the way to lunch that it is only too easy. The issue is that it should
not
be done. It looks terrible. Wearing high heels comes with responsibility. You want those taut calf muscles and a nicely angled bottom? You must pay the shoe piper by taking smaller steps. If you need to get somewhere fast in heels, make sure you have a pair of ballet flats or slim sneakers in your bag. This will save wear and tear on you
and
your heels. Once you arrive at your destination, slip behind a potted palm, catch your breath, and change your shoes. Emerge from behind the palm taking steps appropriate to your new footwear. Small ones.
    3. The Terrible Tugs . Standing stock still in front of the mirror this morning, everything was just perfect. As long as you don’t move too fast, the skirt will stay down and the top will stay up. That is, until you have to pick up your purse, or lean over, or take a sip of coffee. Then it’sa viscious tug-of-war to keep yourself decent. Nothing ruins a nice time faster than clothing that demands more attention than your dinner companion. And how many times has a woman passed by whose pencil skirt, so demure on the hanger with its back slit to facilitate walking, is now revealing far more than its wearer seems to think? But she knows something is awry, and therefore has to stop every five paces or so to give it a good yank down. Clothing that must be tugged or yanked is either poorly constructed, doesn’t fit, or both. No matter how beautiful, these pieces must be shunned or else you’ll find yourself scuttling about looking and feeling uncomfortable. Nothing causes the shoulders to hunch faster than a top that seems on the brink of going AWOL. This is never chic or graceful.
THE WEIGHTLESS WALK
     
    Now that we have covered some common walking gaffes, how about some suggestions to keep in mind for the next time you stand up? One of the easiest things to do is focus on keeping your step light. Before you take a step, try lifting one foot. Can you do it without shifting all your weight to your other leg and listing to one side? If not, stop to check that you are in bistro position and try again. A few attempts and you should be ready to go. As you set out walking lightly, allow your upper body to stay loose and relaxed—your legs are in charge now. The length of your stride should depend on the shoes you are wearing, as discussed above. This is by no means a push toward mincing, but it is important to narrow thestride as your heel height grows. The stride, regardless of footwear, should never be so long that you must allow your weight to fall forward with each step to “catch up” with the leading leg. Another way to think of this is that your hip bones should remain pointing forward as you stride. If your strides cause the bones to alternately stick out, your stride is too long.
    We have all heard the advice that one