Many women will empathise with the scenario of struggling home in high heels that, after a night of dancing, are torture to walk in. Now, however, a new flat shoes vending machine presents an ingenious solution.
Ashley Ross, 25, and Lindsay Klimitz, 26 have bought the rights to manufacture and distribute Rollasole flats in clubs across the U.S.
Soft and squishy, the shoes come out of the vending machine rolled up in a plastic cup and they’re also recyclable to ensure no one clutters up U.S. landfills with too many disposable shoes.
The entrepreneurial pair are working on more diverse style choices, with an array of flats that feature gold studs, rhinestones, polka dots and leopard print, ensuring all outfits are catered for.
Miss Klimitz said: ‘Both of us are not really people that would walk barefoot. I know a lot of girls are into walking barefoot – when they’re in just too much pain, they can’t take it. But we would literally suffer through the pain.’
Club girl or not, high heels are synonymous with sore feet, a universal truth among women. How long a girl can go before chucking them in for a comfier option varies, but Miss Ross concedes it’s about a couple of hours.
She explained: ‘Two hours is the limit for a lot of girls. If you put a few drinks in them, probably one hour.’
Discipline, peer pressure and band aids have been the answer until now, and it appears that it’s not just girls who are happy about the introduction of the Rollasole vending machines.
Club owners approve because girls who wear them stay out an average of 40 minutes later, according to a survey Miss Ross and Miss Klimitz commissioned.
Guys like the shoes because it keeps girls out partying for the night.
So far there are three Rollasole vending machines in Las Vegas, one in the Venetian Hotel in front of Tao nightclub, one in Vanity at the Hard Rock casino, and one at the Tropicana.
Selling for $19.95 per pair, they beat having to bring a pair of flip-flops to a club, which one of the girls’ friends often does. Apparently other girls look at her with envy.
Not wearing heels in the first place for a night of dancing would seem like an obvious answer, but as Miss Ross and Miss Klimitz both declare a ‘No’ in unison at the option, Rollasoles are clearly a better one.