In an interesting story in Daily Finance, writer Barbara Thau says that the depressed economy is actually driving a trend towards flats and kitten heels. ”What might be happening is that prolonged bad news makes people feel like acting more demurely, so heel heights come down,” said Dr. Trevor Davis, a consumer products expert from IBM.

Where did IBM come up with this finding? By following shoe enthusiasts and serious fashion bloggers, who reflect the mood and trends echoing through the blogosphere. Yeah, it’s an interesting piece of research indeed. The article also notes that there hasn’t been an always absolute correlation between heel height and the economy. In the 1920s, high heels were very popular during the Great Depression, so go figure.

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Have you ever taken a look at an old photo album or your high school yearbook and become flooded with utter disbelief that you once thought butterfly clips and baby doll dresses were the epitome of style?  Fortunately somewhere along the way you picked up some sense of style, but you may find yourself stuck in a few bad habits that are holding you back from truly being your fiercest. If you find yourself following some of the fashion rules below you may be more like La Toya-Jackson-bad instead of Michael –Jackson-bad: