And on the first day of the 119th Congress, Rep. Nancy Pelosi wore flats.

The former speaker arrived in the House chamber on Friday morning for the first time since she fractured her hip in a fall on a marble staircase at a palace in Luxembourg and underwent emergency hip replacement surgery.

Gone were her signature 10-inch stilettos that Ms. Pelosi, 84, wore religiously for decades after most women abandoned uncomfortable footwear for more forgiving, if less fashionable, footwear.

Instead she wore comfortable loafers.

The sight of Ms. Pelosi, otherwise perfectly coiffed, a periwinkle sweater draped over her shoulders over a matching pantsuit, in a shoe that looked a little orthopedic, was jarring. High heels were such a staple for the house’s master tactician that it seemed as if she had permanently arched feet like Barbie.

“Nancy Pelosi is 84 and wears stilettos and I refuse to go to a concert unless there are chairs since I was 26,” comedian Jill Twiss wrote on social media last summer.

Flat shoes may only be a temporary solution: In a text message, her daughter Alexandra Pelosi said that Ms. Pelosi’s doctor actually told the family that it was better for her to stand on the ball of her foot and that it wasn’t necessary for her be give up heels for good.

Ms. Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, has long been her personal shopper, and her elegant designer suits and high heels have long been her trademark and exude feminine strength. “He has Armani on speed dial,” Alexandra Pelosi said in an earlier interview. “He’s the full-service husband.”

As members gathered to vote for a speaker on Friday, Ms. Pelosi was greeted with applause and hugs from her colleagues and chatted with the admiring children and grandchildren of members in the House. When she cast her vote for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democratic leader, as speaker, she received a standing ovation.

For Ms. Pelosi, heels have long been part of her self-portrayal as a superhuman. In 2018, when she was House Democratic leader, she took the floor on the House floor to discuss young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers,” and spoke on the House floor for eight hours and seven minutes, obviating a filibuster equaled.

The fact that she did it in four-inch heels only added to the drama.

“She likes to wear high heels – very high heels,” recalls Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas, who was standing next to her when she recently fell on one of the last steps of the marble staircase, which had no railing. Even after the fall, Ms. Pelosi stood and posed for a group photo with the rest of the congressional delegation, still in her sleek black stilettos.

For Ms. Pelosi, the blockages could be a short-term measure. But one day there will be no more high heels for everyone, and Ms. Pelosi has already set something of a world record with her spikes.