Viola Davis: A Fight for Freedom of Footwear
While Dinklage flouted an official Emmys rule about profanity, Davis flouted an unwritten one about how women “should” look at such events. You might think that focusing on what a woman has on her feet over the achievements of two great actors is stupid, even sexist. It is...but at the same time, it’s rather important. The conversation about Viola Davis’ trainers has two sides. The side that is just shocked, and the side that discusses the background to Davis’ repeated decision and why it matters. This article aims to focus on the latter.
But, you might say, aren’t there bigger problems facing women right now than shoes? Also, isn’t wearing trainers at an award show in poor taste regardless of gender? Yes, women do indeed have bigger problems. Social politics surrounding shoes are merely a symbol of one of them, the lack of control which women have over their self-presentation. As for what Davis did being in poor taste, it is important to consider her intention. She did not intend to be disrespectful; she intended to make a point. As for her choice of trainers over, say, embellished flats, take Dinklage’s subversion of the “pomp and circumstance” of award shows. His speech, favouring honest emotion over rehearsed good manners, wouldn’t have made such an impact if he had stayed in the Emmys’ desired register of “very polite”. Davis did the same with her shoes – nothing could be further from stilettos than trainers. What makes her approach particularly ingenious, though, is that the pairs she wore, both metallic and worth hundreds of pounds, kept in line with the Oscars’ and Emmys’ expectation that outfits be “designer and fancy”. In other words, Davis played the award show dress code at its own game. She made clever use of the power of fashion, like that of acting, to push boundaries and promote conversation, an ability that is often forgotten amongst dismissals of the fashion industry as a frivolous distraction for frivolous people, usually women.
“I knew I had to present, so I thought I was gonna hobble on stage to the podium and just announce the supporting actor. Then I found out I had to walk through the presentation, I say, ‘Hell no. Oh hell no.’ I say, ‘I will only do it if I can wear my sneakers.’...I was ready to fight.”
A Saint Laurent ad campaign showing the modern ‘Le Smoking’ paired with sky-high heels.
Davis’ act of wearing trainers with a ballgown, like YSL’s creation of the now-iconic, then-shocking ‘Le Smoking’suit (and the suits of Marlene Dietrich that preceded it), was a smart, stylish, and subtly courageous step away from the idea that a woman must wear certain things to be fashionable, to be beautiful, to be accepted, and all without weakening the position of women who feel most themselves when wearing said things. It promoted the concept that an outfit should not and does not make a woman, that its true purpose is to express who she already is. Perhaps someday the internet won’t be shocked when Davis inevitably forgoes heels again. Until then, we can but admire her for asserting that the path towards success truly can be walked in any pair of shoes. Even trainers.
Marlene Dietrich in the film Morocco, wearing a tuxedo with flats.