Shyheels

I’m quite certain one’s ideal heel height can be increased - I think we are all proof of that! While I’ve not mastered 12cm stilettos, practicing in them has made walking in 10cm stilettos feel easy and natural. The difference is noticeable. Likewise @higherheels is now able to get around in her Hot Chicks and her new 13+cm boots through practice. Speaking of practice my walk into town for groceries was an adventure - one I took in low/standard heel knee boots because of all the ice. The towpath and sidewalks were like skating rinks. And so I tottered feebly in my low heeled knee boots and pretended to myself I was in 12cm stilettos. I’m not so sure it’s going to help in terms of actual practice in them, but it made the mental journey into town more fun and engaging

My best effort for walking in heels is just under 20k steps while I was wearing a pair of grey suede OTK boots with 7 to 8cm heels. The boots are very well made, fit beautifully and logging that number of steps was easy. I pretty much forgot I was in heels

I found the same with the first equation. Kind of nonsensical. For the second I can see some logic. I have very flexible ankles and so my ideal heel height for that formula was something over 12cm, but I won’t be ordering any Hot Chicks anytime soon. I would love to master 12cm heels and hopefully will eventually do so, but I would have to say my ideal heel height in terms of intuitive use and ease would be nearer 10cms - even if I prefer the aesthetics of a 12cm stiletto

The tips on my stiletto booths - both 10cm and 12cm are plastic. The tips on my 9cm black suede OTK boots (beautiful custom made boots) - are much better, rubber I think. They are beautiful to walk in.

They look very nice! And well done for walking a mile in them! But I think that’s the drawback with lofty stilettos - the quick wear! Bitter cold and snow has been making my suede chunky heeled OTK boots a much more attractive option than my 12cm stilettos these days. Getting up in the cold and dark - sunrise here is at 8:30 - and building a fire with frost on the inside of the windows calls for warm boots rather than lofty ones!

That’s really nice. Fun to have a friend with whom you can chat about heels

Carrying a heavy camera bag is likewise a bad idea in heels. It’s doable, and not too bad in fact, in chunky heels of 7cms or so, but no higher or thinner …

Sounds like you had quite a time shopping. The staff at these places sound helpful and non-judgemental. which is nice. You're fortunate that you can go shopping. My feet are much too large for that. I can buy nice heels - very nice ones in fact - but ether custom or special order.

Men's fashions tend to be puritanical - sombre tones in office wear, plain blocky colours in anything else, and absolutely devoid of any sort of personal theatre. Conformity is the overriding theme, not self expression. And certainly not 'fun'. And as far as footwear goes, sensible shoes only. We're supposed to admire heels on the feet of women while scorning such frippery for ourselves as somehow beneath our masculine dignity. There is so much wrong with that thinking I scarcely know where to begin ...

I’ll third the motion. I love knee boots, with or without heels and those are very nice

No, not at all. Wearing heels, at least for me, and I think for @mlroseplant and @higherheels as well, it’s a matter of style and fashion and I think it’s fair to say that we like stiletto heels in the 10 to 13cm range. And to be able to walk well in lofty stilettos you need a lot of practice. In my case I had a pair of 12cm stiletto knee boots I bought for their aesthetics but had never learned to walk well in them. @higherheels has a pair of imperious Louboutin Hot Chicks with 13cm heels which very few people can wear with panache, while @mlroseplant walks marathon distances in lower heels but also likes the aesthetics of higher ones. But other people will have entirely different aesthetics and personal styles. It’s by no means a given that everybody wants to move up into ever higher heels.

Thank you! I felt pretty chuffed! And yes, 10cm is like a magic border! 8cm chunky heels are fun but proper high heels start at 10cm - and (for me) the perfect aesthetic is 12cm stiletto boots

Deep freeze along the canal - the frozen lumpy towpaths not at all inviting for anyone in heels, but a good day to be puttering about inside, putting extra lumps of coal on the fire and click-click-clicking about the galley making coffee and a hot breakfast! So the year seems off to a good start

Indeed! A nice bit of recognition and acceptance

Wow, @higherheels I’m impressed! A New Years Eve in 13cm boots is quite an accomplishment! My new years was fairly quiet, but nice to stand outside on the boat in the frosty air and watch the fireworks over town (in the distance) in my 12cm boots - which were also pleasingly warm too. Starting the year as I mean to continue! And yes, once you get to 10cms our heels are viewed as insanely high by most people’s standards, yet aesthetically the heights between 10 and 13cm seem to me the most elegant - not at all freakish, just challenging to wear with the grace and fluidity this elegance requires.