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Posted on 04/14/2025 2:02:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Jessica Canning often begins her day at a beach on the Central Coast, walking her Cavalier King Charles spaniel on pristine white sand. But when the second-generation Carmel resident ends the day strolling the village in high heels, she knows to pack her permit.
“I like to say that I am ‘Licensed to Heel,’” she told SFGATE via email.
Video above of another controversial Carmel law.
The reason for the formal license is due to a 1963 law that banned shoes with spiked heels more than 2 inches high and a base of less than 1 square inch.
At the time, the city said that prohibiting such footwear preserved the California city’s “urban forest character” since maintaining the Monterey pines and other native trees “involves some informality in the lighting, location and surfacing of street and sidewalk areas, which in turn involves greater risk to those wearing high heeled shoes more adaptable to formal city life.”
Carmel police Chief Paul Tomasi told SFGATE in an email that “high heels are particularly dangerous on our sidewalks as they can be uneven in many places.”
The trouble with this cryptic municipal code, although more lampooned than enforced, is that it targets a very specific group of individuals. Namely, anyone who wears high heels. And while it seems largely unenforced — Tomasi indicated that no citations have been issued for at least 40 years — there hasn’t been enough opposition to propose a reversal. “We don’t really take it seriously,” he wrote. “It is a fun thing for people to come and get a permit, though.”
The regulation is among other obscure fashion laws in California. Some remain on the books, while others have been overturned, but these rules expose a prejudice in the state’s past, such as a longstanding law that once banned anyone in San Francisco from wearing garb typical for the other sex.
Other laws are outright odd. In the small border town of Blythe, two hours from Palm Springs, a municipal code once barred people from wearing cowboy boots in the desert unless they met certain criteria. Mallory Crecelius, the city clerk, wrote in an email that the city law had required locals to “own at least two heads of cattle to wear boots.”
These laws seem insubstantial, if not arcane. Some have even grown into popular myths, such as an erroneous claim that one of California’s laws makes it illegal for women to drive a vehicle while wearing a housecoat. (Kimberly Sim, librarian at the Witkin State Law Library in Sacramento, confirmed it’s unsubstantiated.)
However, other prohibitions continue to exist and seem tailed toward discrimination, especially against women or marginalized groups.
Policing gender expression dates back to 19th-century San Francisco, where it was illegal to wear clothing “not belonging to or usually worn by persons of his or her sex,” as written in the San Francisco Police Code. In the book “Arresting Dress,” author Clare Sears shared the story of Eliza DeWolf, who was arrested in 1866 for the “tremendous sensation” she caused by wearing pants, men’s boots and a riding jacket while walking down the streets of San Francisco.
As Sears wrote in 2014, throughout the mid-20th century, city police departments across the country “used cross-dressing laws to harass queer and transgender communities.” It was only in 1974 that Thomas M. O’Connor, city attorney for San Francisco, amended the code to allow for wearing clothing more commonly worn by the opposite sex.
That means drag queen culture in San Francisco, which reverberates from the streets to the beach, has technically been legal for only about five decades.
Is it worth posting, talking, or writing about if it is never enforced?
I guess I’m a hypocrite because I responded
Outrageous? Who cares enough to be outraged?
A short time later, had to enact another ordinance; No Shooting Across The Streets.
High heels would be a benefit while navigating the sidewalks of San Francisco.
Don’t they say that high heels were created by men to oppress women?
High heels were first worn by men in history, and one of the reason was all the garbage in the streets.
Well it sounds like a stupid law, based on trying to enforce common sense. Nobody should wear high heels while hiking in the woods, or walking along the beach, among rocks, or on otherwise uneven surfaces. Maybe it’s just a way to protect the city from certain liabilities?
This is the city where Clint Eastwood was mayor.
I’ve heard that.. I suppose it’s akin to ‘hobbling’ or ‘binding’ their feet..
I never saw the appeal in high heels or any of the so-called glamour stuff.
The more beautiful a girl is, the less she needs to get all “dolled up”.
The really good-looking girls look best in sneakers, blue jeans and a flannel shirt.
It’s the age-old Ginger vs. Mary Anne question (which is really not a question).
In the 80’s, when he way mayor, they passes a law about eating ice cream on the side walk. A Carmel resident told me it was because there was so much dripping going on, but I don’t think it’s on the books anymore. I still love Carmel, though.
A lot like the old law in Texas about not carrying a pair of wire cutters with you.
https://www.distractify.com/p/why-are-pliers-illegal-in-texas
Things change and some things don’t. It might be a good law to distiguish clothing between the sexes. Might hurt the tranny business model.
The city is named Carmel-By-The-Sea in honor of the Carmelite monestary nearby. Beautiful place.
“Outrage” is one of the most mis- and over-used words in the English language.
It’s glorious, but you’re off by one click. It’s named for the Carmel Mission, founded in 1770.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmel-by-the-Sea,_California
Women doll up because some men prefer it. As a married lady, my husband prefers heels, so I’ll wear them until I’m unable 😂
Kind of funny, if you have somewhere you can stream it or watch it https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434124/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_kinky
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Indeed.
We all know how Clint feels about being “stylish “.
I’m sure that’s true of some men in some circles .. in my experience women are mostly dressing up for each other and the men couldn’t care less - or even dread it because it means they have to wear a suit.
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