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I’m so looking forward to being able to say the same about 12cm heels!

Pretty much the same for me except I don't do kayaking. @Shyheels Yes that's the great thing about it. I never had a problem with 12 cm heels, but now they become even more comfortable. Now I'm even more confused about units in the UK, it probably can't get more complicated 😀

I often find myself doing sketches at a scale of 1mm represents 1". Just seems convenient for all sorts of things that I do. In the UK we also have metric feet (300mm).

@Puffer I'm a 16ths of an inch guy myself. Sometimes I catch some flack for it, because most guys round to 8ths of an inch. I think this is part of the reason why my stuff tends to look better than average. But see, if we just went to millimeters, that's even a little bit finer than 16ths, but doesn't give you a headache like looking at a rule that's marked in 32nds. Then everybody's work might look a little better.

UK anachronisms also include: milk bought in either pints or litres (according to the seller); beer on draught in pints but when in cans or bottles it is metric (330, 440 or 500 ml etc). Timber sold in length increments of 300mm (the 'metric foot') and plasterboard which was 8' x 4' now 'shrunk' to 2400 x 1200mm, but most other sheet material (e.g. MDF, plywood) still 2440 x 1220mm (equivalent to 8' x 4')! And model railways, for example, are commonly built to a scale of 4mm:1 foot (UK) or 3.5mm:1 foot (US and Europe), both using a track gauge of 16.5mm (which is therefore too narrow to represent standard gauge of 4' 8.5" in the UK but almost spot-on for US/Europe models). You need your wits about you when doing construction work or model-making, but we are used to the mixture. I still 'think better' in imperial when doing joinery or plumbing etc but will often use millimetres when dealing with small measurements, as working in, say, 64ths of an inch is rather tiresome.

One thing I have been so pleased about as a result of this high heel challenge is the ease with which I now get about in my 10cm stilettos. While I am slowly getting better in my 12cm ones, the improvement at the 10cm height is really gratifying and noticeable - so much so that I find myself tempted simply to wear my 10cm boots for the sheer joy of it, at the expense of practicing with my 12cm ones. The past two days I’ve been wearing them 12 hours a day - admittedly not walking much, just puttering about, making meals and coffee and writing at my desk, but being in 10cm stilettos is starting to feel natural and intuitive. I like it

I wear my heels 12 hours on most days and sometimes 16 hours. Only time I'm in flats is when I'm barefooted or working in my garden or kayaking or skiing. Today its my Nine West Samreno suede block heeled knee highs, 10 cm.

The only way I’d ever manage 20cm is if I added together the heels on my 10cm boots …

Haha, now that came quickly! No longer practicing in these low 12 cm boots, 20 cm is the new thing 😄

Nah, I’ve just gotten incredibly gifted at high heels! 😂 That’s what I like about heels! They are always fun, never boring and there are so many interesting styles and heights - even if you just wear boots like I do!

I somehow thought since you're walking so many miles in heels you usually wear them all day. As this is what I do most of the time, I can tell you: Like everything else it becomes standard. For me it would rather be exciting to spend a normal day in flats, but as I don't like them I won't try that 😉 And the good thing about heels is that I can still vary between so many styles, so it never gets boring. You mean 10 cm, right? 😉

I did the same, in my 19cm stiletto knee boots, but I wasn’t walking around much, just puttering around - writing, cleaning, making meals. It was really quite nice. I felt very much at ease in them

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in a long time--I spent the entire day in 10 cm heels. Stilettos, at that. I put them on for church, and never bothered to change out of my Sunday clothes until about 7 p.m., so I was in the heels for about 9 hours. I didn't do anything particularly impressive in them, but it's been a very long time since I've had the chance to wear heels all day. What if every day were like that?

Yes four inch heels does have a ring to it. Here in Britain we use both measurements regularly. Our speed limit signs are in mph, but we guy our food in grams and kilos. We measure our height in feet and inches and talk about our weight in pounds and stone. Screws and bolts are metric, as are most tools. We buy petrol in litres but talk of miles per gallon. It can be weird. a mile walk in 10cm heels - to continue our mixed use if measurements - is impressive. The weather was vile out today so I went nowhere but wore my 10cm heels indoors all day. I should have worn my 12cm but I was lazy and the 10cm are so easy to walk in. It felt really odd, deflating, to take them off at the end of the day.

@mlroseplant Wow you really studied walking a lot. I never thought about it that much, which makes it interesting for me to read. And I know exactly what you mean. Speaking of myself I'd say I have the "right" walk. I don't feel like I have excessive heel tip wear, but of course I recognize it way more with stilettos than with other heels.

I haven't been practicing in my super high heels much this month, but I did wear what are effectively 100 mm stiletto boots for a 1,6 km walk yesterday. @Shyheels, though I will probably use both systems of measurement for my own thread, I've pretty much decided to go ahead and use SI units for general discussion. It's just easier that way, though I admit, "four inch heel" has a ring to it, but that's obviously my upbringing.

It is now time to reveal my most durable shoes. They hold this title by a wide margin. I would never have guessed that these would hold the record, especially given their shaky start in history. They are True Religion brand, model name unknown. I got them in June of 2019, and have walked a total of 314 miles (506 km) in them, and counting. The last time I wore them was 5 days ago, when I walked 2.1 miles. They have been reheeled 5 times, and resoled once. The heel is 4 1/2 inches (114 mm) tall, with a 1/2 inch (13 mm) platform. The heel is 3/4" (19mm) wide at the base. How I got here is a complete mystery. I bought an orange pair of these back in 2013, the first year I really started heeling in public. I soon got rid of them because a) I couldn't imagine a situation where I would ever dare to wear orange shoes, much less orange high heeled sandals, in public, and b) they were very tight, and once I got them on, were super high to me at the time. I think I made it once around the block in them, and decided they weren't for me. Much much later, I found a brown pair, and decided to give them another go. By this time, I was much more experienced, and I really liked them. Then I lost a heel tip on a walk one day, didn't notice it right away, and it completely ruined the heel. Then I bought this black pair to replace the ruined pair. I actually lost the OEM heel tip on this pair also, but I noticed it before any damage occurred. Fast forward a few years, and I began to notice that although I don't feel they are the most attractive shoes in the world, I often picked them over others to walk in, and I've also done several farmer's markets in them, which involves a minimum of 5 hours of standing. When I got to 200 miles, I figured they were not long for this world, so when I had the chance, I bought a brown pair and an orange pair to eventually replace them. I've put about 50 miles on the brown pair and just a few miles on the orange pair, but the black pair refuses to wear out. Whatever composite wood material these soles and heels are made of is evidently very stiff, but is not at all resistant to abrasion should you lose a heel tip. Without the rubber heel tip, they're done in a matter of a few blocks. I believe that the inherent stiffness of the material has allowed them to be so durable, coupled with the fact that the upper is 100% leather, including the liner and the sock. There is wear, to be sure, but not complete deterioration like you get with man made liners and socks. I do not believe that there is a metal shank, nor is there need for one. I suppose if they do fail someday, the whole shoe is going to crack in half. I am really curious to see if they'll make it to 500 miles.

I understand what you mean. I used to do a lot of long distance running and heel strike there is very much that - a hard strike. Whereas when you’re wearing heels, as you say, the heel acts more like a guide than point of impact. Subtle bit important difference. i think that is one of the mistakes I make with my 12cm heels - because of their extra length they strike that bit earlier than I am expecting.

Well y'all @Shyheels @higherheels, I think about this stuff way too much. For the purposes of this thread at this time, I will pare it down to the bare minimum. Since childhood, I have always been hard on heels, whether it was athletic shoes, work boots, or dress shoes. I would always wear the heels out in the middle (indicating that my weight is balanced in the middle of my feet as it should be), but they would wear out very quickly. As I began to wear higher and higher heels, this natural tendency continued, causing a lot of wear to heel tips, and in the worst case, causing shanks to break, turning the shoes into landfill material. A few years ago I started to study walking, specifically in heels, in an attempt to make myself look more presentable and more graceful. I have amalgamated knowledge from many different places, but the one thing that seems to be universal among those who can (by my estimation) walk in heels well, but is often unspoken is this: Yes, you want to walk heel-to-toe (of course), but you don't want to "heel strike." This is a runner's term that I've borrowed to describe what I believe is a mistake that some people make in heels. The heel is meant to be nothing more than a guide to get you smoothly through the next step for that instant until the forefoot can touch down. It is not meant to bear the whole force of your stride. In other words, think of placing the heel down, rather than slamming it down aggressively. Then, it's just a glide to the forefoot, and hopefully in that millisecond the tall heel will deform very little, stress to the shank will be greatly reduced, and yes, the heel tips will last substantially longer. This is more difficult to explain in written words than I thought it would be. Please let me know if something needs clarification.

Those JS boots are amazing, I had a similar pair. Love the chains, great accessory

Is anyone interested in a "Best Dressed" contest for 2026? If so, respond and I will be happy to organize it all! I'm in with an intent to give others (i.e. @CAT) a run for his stilettos! The photo is a picture of some new pumps from this past summer.

It just so happens that Halloween is my wedding anniversary and this year, I wore a pair of faux suede, just OTK boots with a leather skirt to dinner.

I, too, love wedges. To me, however, they seem to be more of a summer shoe but I do have a pair of wedge knee-high boots that I love. I tend to think that when worn "properly" wedges can be just as alluring as a pair of stilettos, as illustrated by my photo.

Hi Heelguypa! I think any of the "regular" members can appreciate your feelings. First, those Larina heels are wickedly gorgeous! If did not have seemingly 300 pairs of shoes and boots, you better believe that I would pick-up a pair! When it comes to wearing heels out in public, there is "a lot" of advice on this forum about how to approach doing so - all of it good. Any man/male who has ever worn a pair of heels out in public knows exactly how you feel, and any one of them will tell you that the first time doing so is always the hardest. Trust me when I say that it gets easier the more you do it. I recommend that you read through those posts on the "for the guys" part of it as there are many great stories and encouragement about doing so. If it was not for this forum and the stories of others I read some time ago, I probably would have never summoned the courage to take that first step - literally. Now, rarely can I head out in a pair of heels without receiving a compliment. I have said this in many previous posts but it is always worth repeating - "Those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind." The photo included is the outfit I wore to work to day. So yes - it can be done and doing so is one step at a time. The outfit: Boots/Jessica Simpson Tulip; Boot chains from Shoebidoo (out of Utrecht).

We’ve had light flurries and a hard frost - enough for the towpath to harden even if the puddles are now iced over. There’s no way anyone would risk their heels or their ankles trying to walk on that surface in stilettos, but it was nice to be able to go for a stroll in my blocky heeled knee boots! @higherheels I’m impressed that you’re making progress in those lofty new boots of yours. I can see how the progression in heights - normal heels, Hot Chicks and then the new boots would help. Because if my time practicing in my 12cm boots my 10cm feel wonderfully easy. I’m really pleased by that.