Michelle Obama’s Latest White House Rule: Shoes Are Not Mandatory

Michelle Obama totally understands the struggles of being a woman — mostly because she is one, and has two daughters of her own. But it’s not just the hard hitting topics like girls’ education and wage equality that she’s here for. According to Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Obama sympathizes with the pure torture that comes with wearing high heels, and has made it clear that no one has to suffer in her own home — which just happens to he White House.

Blakely tells Footwear News of her visit with Obama, “I stood in line at an event, and they allowed us to get a one-on-one photo with Michelle Obama.” Blakely adds, “I waited in the line so long that by the time I finally got up to Michelle Obama, I literally burst out, ‘My feet are killing me,’ and she goes, ‘Girl, my feet are killing me, too.’

But Obama’s response wasn’t simply sympathetic — she went one step further, making sure Blakely didn’t have to suffer for the rest of the night. “I asked if I can take my shoes off and she said, ‘Yes, and you can tell anyone who tells you to put them back on that Mrs. Obama said you can take them off.’ ”

Though we’d sooner be wheeled out of the White House in blister-inducing shoes than expose our pedicures to the First Family, we fully appreciate FLOTUS’ commitment to making American women’s feet not ache again.