Babies in Stilettos? It's Heelarious!
Some say "How JonBenet," but novelty baby spikes are selling like "wildfire."
June 20, 2008 — -- "Put on your high-heel sneakers, child/ Wear your wig-hat on your head/ Ya know you're looking mighty fine, baby/ I'm pretty sure you're gonna knock 'em dead."
Tommy Tucker's hit song resonated with fashion-conscious teenie boppers across America in 1964, but these days the height of infantile madness is "Heelarious."
It's high heels for babies. And in the two weeks since they hit the market, the shoes are selling like "wildfire" in 22 US states and overseas, according to co-creators Britta Bacon and Hayden Porter.
The soft shoe is actually a bootie that comes in five styles, each with a name: "Brooke" is a leopard print, "Elle" is pink, "Kate" is black satin, "Kayla" is zebra satin, "She's a Little Lady" is black patent leather and "Sophie" is hot pink satin.
"They're not for any other reason in the whole world than for the child you don't know what to give to," said Helen Wright, owner of Pitti Bimi, one of her three high-end children's stores in Deal, N.J.
"It's for the cool, trendier mom, the city mom," she told ABCNEWS.com. "It's not pedestrian — excuse the pun — it's edgy."
The shoes — in sizes 0 to 6 months — sell for $35 a pair. They were created, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, by Bacon and Porter, who describe "her first high heels" as "extremely funny, completely soft, fully functional high-heel crib shoes for babies."
They are not intended for walking, but "may cause extreme smiling and hysterical laughter when in use (this is completely normal)," the Seattle 31-year-olds report on www.heelarious.com.
Childhood friends from Seattle, the pair — both mothers — became business partners, first operating a candy store and then an event planning business. They say their baby stilettos are the "first in the world."
En route to a children's birthday party, thinking about her longtime friend's spike collection, Bacon thought, "Wouldn't it be hilarious to bring my daughter to a party in high heels?"
Reaction has been mixed, from "You've come a long way baby!" to "Sex and the City" for kids.
Or, on the other hand, how JonBenet!