The Footloose, designed by Marte den Hollander, is a shoe with adjustable heels.

“Would it be possible to make a shoe having all [the] advantages of high heels, just as well as the comfort of flats[?] I designed a shoe with a high heel, which can be changed into a shoe with a low heel. No more extra pairs of shoes in your bag, no more trouble driving a car or walking stairs, no more painful feet, no more knee and ankle damage[.] For such a product to be a serious alternative for regular heels it has to be mechanically and ergonomical-ly sound, and moreover: it has to have allure!”

Oh dear god. No. She’s serious. The lady’s got a patent for it already.

First off, this design has no allure– the heel is aesthetically displeasing. Contrary to her claims, I feel like I would suffer knee and ankle damage anyways if I wore shoes with this mechanism– my feet would probably implode upon touch. They’re already starting to tingle.

…

Ok, they’re not that bad. It’s a noble cause with good intentions– their purpose is to make things easier and to keep us in balance in this fast moving world, but it’s kind of like riding a bicycle with training wheels in college.

My advice: Don’t go trekking around in ridiculously high-heeled shoes then if they hurt you so much. There is life before 3 inches.

Read more in length about the details of this mechanism here.