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you look great

Well, I wish I could jump on that time machine as well, not just for the great boots and styles.... More importantly, to accept my true self much earlier in life, would have had so many more years of enjoyment in boots. Oh well, at least I findally came around. I would do anything to help even one younger guy avoid the horrible emotional trauma I put myself through, wasted so many years of my life.

Just found this thread... I don't understand, why would anyone actually want shortened tendons? What possible benefit could they provide? A double edge sword for sure. True, you work from home so can wear nice heels whenever, but your boat and those paths make it near impossible! A bid downside to my recent retirement is not being away on layovers and enjoying my heels publicly. The best I can do right now is slip into my block heeled ankle boots while out do errands by myself. I have gotten to the point of leaving my boots in the car clearly visible to my better half, who is not happy about it. Oh well. I need to get to the point of just putting them on with him present, it will go badly, but needs to happen. It is like you say, wearing tall heels requires competence and confidence. Fumbling around, or trying to stay "hidden" while out in public will draw negative attention and lead to emtional set backs. So, it is super important that the heels you choose to wear fit well, and are relatively comfortable. I'm convinced that many tall heels were never meant to leave the insidde of your home. I was so happy when I found my nine west booties with 4.5-5" stiletto heels, fit well, comfortable, and fairly easy to walk in!

You look great, and I'm betting those tall heels were fairly comfortable

I definitely have different sets of shoes for walking vs. dressing up. There is some overlap, but not a lot. I rarely wear stilettos to walk in, but sometimes I do it just for the fun of it. Here are some recent examples of dress up shoes and walking shoes. I'm sure it will be obvious which is which. Neither of these are 12 cm height difference. Still workin' on that one.

Church outfit of the week, 10 August, 2025. Miu Miu strappy sandals in nude patent. 5 1/2" heel, 1" platform. I should wear these more often. As I was saving the photos to the folder entitled "HHPlace," I realized that I wore this exact same outfit to church about 2 years ago. Shame on me! 😆

@Shyheels Exactly, making it look effortless is what it comes to. @Cali Wearing heels to heal your pain is something different, glad to hear it works for you!

I got into higher heels to shorten my calf so that it could heal. A level 3 tear, they should have operated on it, but with a 65 cm circumference it was just too enflamed. I continue in heels for my hip. I will put my heels on at home and go to work, 8 to 16 hours continuously spent in 10 to 12 cm heels everyday I work. More hours in heels equates to less hip pain.

I think if you’re going to wear heels you really need to be able to wear them well, especially the loftier stilettos. It can be easy to look foolish or a little desperate. The trick is to make it look effortless. i can see where 12cm could be hard to pair up with something nice for the office. I’m fortunate in working from home, my boat, and can wear jeans and stilettos whenever

That's a good idea to change into your heels once you're off the boat, so you don't have to limit yourself by that. I know that feeling, I also always want to be sure that I can walk well enough in my heels before I wear them out. Probably I shouldn't worry too much, but I'm a bit vain when it comes to that 😉 No, actually I never wore any 12 cm heels to the office. The highest ones were 11 cm. 12 cm+ heels are way harder to combine with a outfit, not to stick out as overdressed I think. Also I sometimes have to walk quite a bit over the day. As I said, around 1,5 km sure is the minimum. 12 cm heels would be OK for that, but not as comfortable as something lower. Maybe after I fully managed 13 cm the 12 cm will be so comfortable that I'll wear them to the office as well, we'll see 😉

@higherheels - yes boat life can be challenging on many fronts and certainly isn’t for everyone ! It does make wearing heels problematic as the towpath and grassy banks are tricky in heels and can easily wreck a pair of stilettos. I can wear my chunky heeled ankle boots (8cms) and often do - but stilettos are tough. If I’m moored in a city I can do it - tied alongside a paved wharf. Otherwise the way to go is to change into stilettos once I’m off the towpath. It’s one of the reasons I’ve procrastinated about taking up my 12cm heels - it’s easier not to bother. But now that I’ve started this I’m going to make the extra effort! There is a park about 3kms away with nice paved footpaths for practicing, im rather shy about being seen in my 12cm stilettos - not because im embarrassed to wear them but because i am not good at walking in them yet, i need to boost the skill level. @mlroseplant - I am really impressed with your distances. Like you I like the athletic challenge of mastering heels - and if I can master my 12cm stilettos I shall be well pleased with myself! I know you walk quite long distances in 10cm - distances that would be beyond me. I can walk quite well in 10cm in pottering about but I’ve never attempted a long walk @higherheels - are you walking 1.5kms in 12cms? That’s a real accomplishment if you are! And inspirational. i might as part of my training take my 10cm as well as 12cm to train in the park. i really would love to master the art of 12cms …

Maybe I'll get into stretching a bit to avoid shortened tendons, can't be wrong. As you say I'm not full-time in heels anyways. Only in the winter there can be times when I only wear heels for a few weeks, but even then I'm barefoot at home. I also don't understand why anybody would want to have shortened tendons. Maybe it's the other way around - they want to wear extremely high heels all the time and therefor accept if their tendons shorten. @Shyheels Sounds like a rather difficult lifestyle for heels if getting in/out your home is already a challenge, but very interesting! @mlroseplant Heels as an athletic challenge is interesting, why not. Somehow I can relate to that, as working up to new heel heights is always an athletic challenge. Once mastered, it's not a challenge anymore but always a different style of walk compared to flats or lower heels, which I enjoy. And that's a lot of walking in heels! Now I'm curious on how much that would be for me. But with at least 1,5 km on office days probably something similar. I never used any specific tactics for high heel training. Only starting with short wearing times/distances and then increasing. Also pausing for a few days respectively going for the standard heels that I'm used to. Endurance then always came by itself. I'm sure that will also work for your 12 cm challenge.

For me it is very much the elegance and the aesthetic lines of the 12cm heels with the athleticism involved an attractive bonus. The degree of difficulty adds to the imperiousness and majesty of being able to walk gracefully in them. I agree - Anyone who wants to shorten their tendons is just an idiot in the end it’s just footwear - fun, stylish, chic and with skill attached. But that’s it

Haha, none of these shoes were meant for walking! On average, I break more shoes than most people buy in a year. However, in 2025 I don't think I've had any shoe failures so far (knock on wood). My interest in heels takes two different paths. Besides liking the way they look, I think of them as an athletic challenge, and most of my physical exercise consists of walking in heels. I have walked a documented total of about 4,000 km over the past decade in heels of at least 7 cm, and in recent years, I don't have anything lower than about 9 cm that I walk in. The 12 cm challenge proposed here will be something totally different for me, because now I will be going for sheer height/flexibility rather than endurance. And I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to accomplish that. As far as shortened tendons, I can really tell when I've slacked off on the foot exercises and calf stretches for several days. I have to be very careful of that because of the nature of my time in heels. On the other hand, I don't live full time in heels, either, because I can't. I think you'll probably be ok with just the slightest attention to stretching your achilles, because you are not in heels full time, all the time. Whoever wishes for shortened tendons (and in real life, that number has to be exceeding rare) is a complete moron.

I’m headed back to the 80’s,,,,,, BIG hair, awesome music, and definitely heels!!!!

Yes, welcome! I would like the 60s too. It was the era of the go-go boot and fun.

The outfit for today - simple with a timeless/classic feel to it.

Hi Luvmaryjanez! It appears that this is your first post and if so, I would like to welcome you to this forum! I agree with you that the heels of the 60's were so elegant. They were simple and always had a timeless design to them. Likewise, the simple black pump without any sort of embellishment will always have a timeless elegance to it.

I would like to get a time machine and go back 60 years. All those beautiful heels. The music and the cars too. No boring nude color but a pretty taupe. I watch Perry Mason and see all the greatest of the 20th century. In the last season Perry is sitting at a table where there is a party for the new newspaper president. Behind him is a woman in the most perfect 4" heels you could ever hope to see.

Definitely worth it! These will fit beautifully and last for many years - on that basis a bargain

For sure, someday I will have a pair for sure.

Interesting. I like it! Might just have to add something like that to my want list.

2 shop, both italian : gianrico mori https://www.gianricomori.com/ https://www.ebay.com/str/gianricomori 1969 italia (you can bid on new pairs on their ebay store) https://1969boutique.com/ https://www.ebay.fr/str/1969italiaboutique and one german: https://www.fuss-schuhe-shop.de/

Yes shortened tendons can become a problem - although I think you have to be pretty much living in high heels and over a fairly long period of time for it to become a significant problem. You’re doing a lot of hiking by the sounds of things so you should be fine but there are lots of Achilles tendon stretches one can do. I used to loads of stretching back in my marathon running and fencing days, something I really want to get back to - and not just for wearing heels. @higherheels I can totally sympathise about lack of opportunity to wear lofty heels. I live on a canal boat. Towpaths are usually muddy or stony and even getting off a narrowboat in heels can be a risky proposition - a great chance of breaking a stiletto heel or toppling over into the canal. I am probably one of the very few people living on the canal who owns high heels, let alone 12cm stilettos. And I’d be willing to bet almost anything nobody owns a pair of Hot Chick 130s!

Mirose, I don't wear my skorts to church. Shorts are not allowed for us ushers, so it's long pants but heels are a different case! Happy Heeling, bluejay