All Activity

If they’d been living in 12cm heels they’d be straightening their knees. It’s part of learning to walk well in heels - something I’m still working on in my 12cm stiletto boots

Maybe I was mistaken. They looked like models to be honest. Looked like they had spent the last decade wearing 120mm heels.

I was thinking that too - bent knees is not a good sign.

@VirginHeels Wow I'm very surprised about your sights! I can't even remember when I last seen something in the range of 12 cm heels worn out, even on events. Did you mean without bent knees? Because if they'd walk with bent knees it probably won't be fluidly and elegant 😉

Festival of Remembrance too. That’s later on, there will be heels there. It’s funny as when you say Ascot, it’s similar here for Ayr Races. Glasgow Central to Ayr is full of people dressed up to the nines going to have a good time. Theres about a mile walk from the train station at Ayr to the Racecourse. On such occasions, its nice to hear the click click on the hard floor in Central.

I passed through London one day last year - via Kings Cross and Waterloo stations - and was startled to see many women in towering stilettos - so many that I began wondering what was going on. I found out it was Ascot. Only time I’ve ever seen anywhere near that many heels in London - or anyplace else for that matter.

This is exactly this. I think anywhere north of say Manchester women want to get a little dressier, a little classier to feel good. They want to let their hair down, they want to feel special. Im not sure about Birmingham, that’s an area where the culture clashes a bit. London, it’s different from my limited observations. They only want to go out when it’s a gala ball, go out with a gown on, or go out to get something to eat and show all their “drip” as the youth will say. Show their designer clothes. Up here, it’s common for women to wear a pair of red soles or ankle boots with a pair of Primark or H&M jeans and a white or black t shirt for going for “a girls lunch” or even to their workplace for one of their office days when they are meeting someone at night for dinner. Not going to lie, the amount of flat shoes is the non noisy majority. I think there’s a socio-economic reason too, the people who are in traditional areas where how much people earn to what they wear to be studded too. The people who are less well off areas just want to dress nice to escape and have some fun. It’s why I like to go to concerts, go to the Theatre and see a musical or see something different. It’s a chance to dress up a little, and escape what was my home life. My home situation has now changed now and want to go out more and dress up more.

My observations about 'northern women' particularly relate to the Tyneside and Glasgow areas. It was certainly more obvious there that shorter (but not necessarily slimmer!) women prefer heels and that 'dressing up' was more common, and likely more traditional/expected, even for fairly routine activity such as work or shopping. The current observations of VirginHeels bear this out. Frankly, I get the distinct impression that few women in the south can be bothered to make an effort unless they are attending a really dressy event, in which case expensive designer clothes will often be present, but not necessarily an improvement on high street fashions.

The two women in 120mm were in Red Sole So Kate’s. They were tall to start with, they were probably 178cm to start with, before heels. They walked fluidly, elegant and with bent knees. They had an old money vibe to them. The road outside the venue is closed right now for works. So they had to walk a fair bit to get to a taxi or their transportation. And the venue is on a hill. They were women in their 30s. I parked about a mile away, in a car park quite a distance away, the 6 flights of stairs were very long too. Only good thing is it was a clean car park. Didn’t smell of bodily fluids or a green plant. The one thing I did find encouraging is that there was 16-18 two sisters with their mum, asking to go shopping for their first heels. They liked the looks of the pointy toe ankle boots on a woman. The mum said, you will have to wear heels at least 4 days a week to get used to them. That means, go to your college in them. Tonight will be my longest time in heels, maybe 5 or 6 hours.

Sounds like an interesting evening. I'm surprised there were some in 120mm heels - that's a very elegant, and challenging, height and not often seen, at least not worn around and about town. I suppose an event is different. As someone who is trying to master the art of walking fluidly in 120mm stilettos, I'm wondering how well the people you saw wearing them were able to walk? Straight knees? Bent? Gliding or tottering? I can definitely see why having to climb and later descend 6 flights of stairs would be a disincentive to wearing heels. Did these others go up and down all those stairs to the venue? If so they must have been very dedicated.

Well, night one was interesting. Lots of heels in the generations to millennials. Generation Z isn’t really interested. There was lots of high heeled boots and ankle boots, all in the 85-120mm range. It’s true that the appearance of the men to women is stark. One woman clearly had put at least two hours into getting ready and into 105mm sparkly pumps her man clearly had spent the grand total of 20 minutes getting ready. Probably about 20% of women were in heels in the above 85mm-120mm range. There, I’d recon was another 20% in low heels in the up to 55mm range, this includes Chelsea and Cowboy boots. There was enough in Stilettos too. Probably about half of the heeled women were in a stiletto heel. I didn’t partake last night because of many reasons, such as the car park being up on the 6th floor and only being accessible via stairs. Tonight, it’s a different story. The car park and venue are only 400m away. The only daunting thing is walking up to the counter to pay for my parking. The counter is manned. Now, do I go with a chunky heeled Onlymaker cowboy boot or my stiletto heeled Missy Rockz?

Well done! I’m curious to hear what they’re like. As I say, they look really nice! And, yes, a challenge!

Alright I did it, I bought them 🙂 I just couldn't resist and am so curious how they turn out to be. Somehow they'll be manageable, even if it is the beginning of the next challenge 😂

Let us know what you decide! Those are really nice

Thanks @mlroseplant for your detailed analysis! The Hot Chicks also make make about a 90 degree angle of the foot, that's a good indicator. I also recognized the sligthly bent knee on the photos. I'm sure that I'd be able to straighten my knees in them, only walking flawlessly might be a different thing... Regarding the calves, I apparently have a very standard size, because I almost always had a good fit in any pair of boots. @Shyheels 12 cm definitely is also the sweet spot for me! I'm surprised how much I like these boots the more I look at them and think about them. Probably I should just buy them and see how it goes. Maybe sleep over it another night, we'll see. That would be awesome!

I know what you mean about skinny calves - I have the same but have been able to find boots that fit nicely and having skinny calves works well with stilettos! I too like to boots @higherheels has found, and I don’t usually like the lines of boots with heels over 12cm high. For me 12cm is kind of a sweet spot aesthetically - it projects the full imperiousness of a proper stiletto heel but without verging into fetish. The boots she has found don’t look fetishy at all, merely high - nice find! I hope you do get over to England sometime! We could catch up for a coffee in our challenge heels!

They are very nice looking, which is unusual for something this steep. If the photo accurately depicts the product, they are not fetish-y looking at all. But yeah, they sure look steeper than 13 cm. The front of the model's foot is pretty much the same as 90º with the floor--that's always a good indicator that you're approaching Very Difficult Territory. The other thing that scares me a bit is that the model's knee is not 100% straight. If you do wind up getting them, I hope the shafts fit your calves similar to what the photo shows. Perhaps hat is one of the reasons why I don't care for boots all that much. I have yet to find a pair that truly fit my calves well. Evidently I have skinnier legs than the average person who wears size 40. I've often said the same thing about Hanoi winters. Theoretically, at 10 or 15 degrees, I should certainly be comfortable without a jacket. But Hanoi is so damp, even I am cold at that temperature. I don't blame people for wearing winter coats inside the house. I imagine England is the same. Someday I hope to find out for myself.

While I agree there is a north-South divide in terms of people wearing heels, I’ve not noticed any of the other characteristics you describe - at least not in Yorkshire or Lancashire, not in height, build or dress sense. Outlook may be more traditional, which is why you will likely see more women smartly turned out in heels in Leeds say than in London, but otherwise it’s all much the same. Unless you were looking for heels, and noticing that you saw more up here than down south, I doubt you’d notice any difference.

There is certainly such a divide. Women in the north of England and Scotland are often shorter, hardier and more inclined to make a statement with their appearance and demeanour (not always attractively). Altogether, those factors tend to promote high heels - and bare legs/sandals/no coat, even in cold weather. From my own observations, men in the north tend to dress in a much more casual and often sloppy manner - unless at a formal event, such as a wedding, when the waistcoats and ties - albeit typically left undone as soon as possible (ugh!) - will be seen. I suspect that this male contrast and discomfort stems from a working-class background: a miner or shipwright for example would tend to dress in rather shabby clothes but have a 'Sunday best' suit in which he was never really comfortable - and which was often in the pawnshop when not immediately needed.

@HappyinHeels the Aldo store downtown Montreal is friendly to me trying on shoes? I might be traveling there in a month or so.

Yes, it's always the lower heels that are around, anything higher can be hard to find (that also applies to shopping for heels). I'm looking forward to your report.

Thanks for your opinion! I feel like I keep making myself believe that hopefully they're below 13,5 cm so I can buy them... I also really like the look of them.

It kinda is, in my opinion for Glasgow. We have lots of hills, challenging surfaces with the cobbles in some areas and the slate surfaces of the most common shopping streets. The lower heels are out in force, it’s the mid and higher heels that are, unfortunately, in a need of numbers being boosted. Im out the next two nights, hopefully in heels, so I’ll report back on how many wear heels to an event. I’m hoping to wear for both nights, if I can.

I agree - about 13.5 to 14cm. They look very high and very steep. Nice looking boots though. I'm not sure I could stand upright in them!

I agree on that 🙂 I keep thinking about the height on my boots candidate, could you guys give me your opinion? I don't believe the advertised heights and rather go by the visual appearance. I'd guess them to about 13,5 cm. What are your guesses? They might be tolerable, but also might be a bit too far away from the Hot Chicks, I'm really unsure...