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@Shyheels That's great progress, and going to a cafe should be a good occasion for the first time. I think you're not that far away from it 🙂 @CrushedVamp I think such videos can help. But in my opinion the most important thing is to choose the right shoes, start low and keep practicing. The rest should basically come itself from practice. When I started, tutorials on Youtube weren't a thing yet like they are now. I just wore them. Later on i've watched such videos, but basically didn't learn anything new that I hadn't already found out myself.

I’ve seen the videos, read the articles and had advice from female friends who are extremely skilled in walking in heels and all of this is great, in the abstract, but nothing replaces the actual doing - practice, practice and practice.

Do members on here feel as if watching "how to walk in high heels' videos on Youtube helps? The reason I ask is, my wife will people-watch people at weddings and confide in me that this person or that does not know how to walk in high heels. It is not done in a nefarious way, just making a point. I have watched a few videos on youtube and they have stated what my wife has made comments about over the years like taking shorter steps, stepping with toe or heel down first when walking on certain surfaces, etc. So I know they and she seem to be lockstep on their pointers, if you will forgive the bad pun?

So true. I have made the effort recently to go to the park and practice on a paved and gently undulating footpath and straightaway noticed the difference! As you say 100 metres might as well be 1000. I did a couple hundred metres, I would guess, and very much needed a break. It was fun though. I need to go back.

Bringing us gently back on point, I managed to snag a photo of my friend in her bootcut jeans while I was tearing down my musical equipment on Sunday. I'm not entirely sure what this group of women was doing, but I think they were learning American Sign Language. Anyway, I took a picture of the whole group, then cropped it to show the relevant part, and to protect the identity(ies) of those involved. My friend doesn't wear super high heels, but she does wear heels almost every Sunday, and this style, though on the casual side for me, seems to suit her.

Backup shoes are totally fine! I don't use them myself because I know very well what I can handle in normal circumstances. If something unexpected gets in the way it of course can become uncomfortable or painful, but that's not the norm. Generally I'm also in team "if it hurts stop". I don't see any benefits in intentionally getting yourself into pain to become better. In my youth and beginnings with high heels I went this way, and yes I got better. But I'm sure I would've also gotten better the other way, and without pain. I really wouldn't do it like this again and also don't recommend it to anyone.

Oh, yes! I've said for years that I don't care how many floors you've swept, don't care how many loads of laundry you've done, once you step out on to the street it's a whole different world, and suddenly, 100 meters might as well be 1,000. But, these difficulties are not impossible to overcome.

I cannot think of anybody who has stuck around here saying to put up with the pain. This whole Beauty Is Pain thing is kind of a social media meme at best, and a fetish thing at worst. Having said that, I certainly have gained some experience and endurance over the years between walking thousands of miles in heels, and working farmer's markets with my wife in heels. That covers both the walking and the standing aspects. I have quit bringing backup shoes, because I've never needed to use them. Well, except that one time when I had catastrophic shoe failure. On the other hand, I certainly do not expect everyone to do what I have done, and I think backup shoes are just fine. I always joke that comfort is overrated, but when it comes to actual pain, that 's another story.

Yes. That’s what concerns me as I practice indoors with my 12cm boots. I love the idea of wearing them out to a cafe for coffee but have to find a way to get real world walking in before I even think about that. On the bright side, I continue to improve. I especially love cooking in heels.

It was because of the hockey game night @higherheels that we started doing something controversial, at least for some of the members on this site, and that was to always have a backup pair of comfortable shoes for my wife. Typically, they are a pair of Keds, which changes the whole formal/informal look I realize, but they are more comfortable for her to wear. It is controversial because some on here say, "just put up with the pain. By working through it you get better", and others say, "if it hurts stop". I am not sure which is best. These are Keds just so everyone knows what I am referring too...

I only slightly remember game shows from my childhood days, I can't even remember what the models wore. The concept alone sounds painful already. If we're talking about any serious heel height, it can only become painful by standing all the time. That's one of the good things about fashion generally going more towards comfortable footwear. I don't think anybody should be forced to wear something that's painful in their job. I think the key point is practice and routine. The second factor is of course the situation. Your described hockey game is a perfect example. I also kind of "live in my high heels", but walking, then standing for a long time, then walking again is also probably my worst-case scenario. In a comfortable pair with let's say up to a 9 cm heel I will be fine, but with a 12 cm heel or more this can get really uncomfortable, even painful.

There are some interesting ideas of using heels to make work easier. I have to admit I never thought of using them for such. Making dough is my favourite, I will definitely try that once. For me it was time to wear out the Hot Chicks again. It's been a while since the last time, and I was again surprised how big the difference between wearing them indoor and outdoor is. Indoor is always a good training, but outdoor with actually continuously walking is a different league. They are becoming easier, but still strain the feet and muscles very much. I think I'll have to wear them more frequently now before winter comes, so I can still make some progress this year.

Or us hockey fans where once and awhile we go to the on-ice fights and strangely a hockey game breaks out! 🙂

So true, which reminded me of the movie Father Goose where for half the movie the woman wore heeled shoes. At least in that case part of the plot was when she was jabbed by a stick and ended up taking them off for much of the rest of the movie, though to be fair its been years since I watched that movie and my memory is a little foggy on the details. But taking your expanded concept further, I always thought it was in poor costume design in the original show Silk Stalkings when you could always tell what was about to happen. Mitzi Kapture always wore high heels all through the show unless she was in a running/action scene, then the miniskirt and heels came off and in its place pants and sensible shoes worn so she could run or drop-kick the chased after perpetrator. Terrible foreshadowing even in a cheesy 1980's crime drama.

Many decades ago my daughter painted my toes red when my foot/angle was in a cast. Haven't worn red since. @CrushedVamp the doctors and the staff have seen hundreds of men in colored toes, it nothing new. I have had colored toes for 2 decades now, it's no big deal. Call your wife's bluff.

My mother had something called Munchhausen Syndrome By Proxy which means she gets this odd exhilaration from her kids generating her attention. Most times it is from others having sympathy for her kids problems. That meant when nothing occurred, she started something. For me, I was her third child with an older brother and sister. I was the result of a camping trip, 13 months after my sister was born. I heard it all. "You were not worth having child birth for". "I got a son and daughter and did not need you.". "I should have aborted you". Worse yet, I was allergic to milk, so it would make me stop breathing and I would turn blue until the paramedics came. But back in the 1970's only poor people gave their kids milk, and only hippies had goat milk. For some reason people allergic to milk can tolerate goat milk. My mother was not doing those things, AND she got attention for the ambulance showing up to treat me. I nearly died so many times but until I outgrew it around age two, she kept giving me milk. But what sent me into foster care was when I was four years old. My mom baked a birthday cake for my sister and told me it was hot. I was four so I poked it with my finger. My punishment? She turned the burner on the stove and put her hand over mine and pressed my palm on the hot stove. 47 Years later my right palm is still scarred by the burn I got from her doing that. I spent years in foster care but they did nothing to her for it. But axe handles given to the to the ribs breaking them, being beaten with garden hoses when my dad was tired and mad which was several times a week, put in the basement alone and without the lights on where there were rats. My mom does NOT get a mothers day card...

My wife always gets a Fire Engine Red color, seen in some pictures where she is wearing peep-toe heels on this site, but calls it by a name that is not good so I won't repeat it. She has been pretty good about me wearing leggings for warmth and comfort around the house, and has teased me a few times about getting red painted toes, but I would be so embarrassed if I was in a car or industrial accident. When I worked for the railroad in extreme cold, my foreman suggested wearing pantyhose to stay warm, and in warmer weather to defeat ticks, but for the same accident reasons, I could not do it. I did try it, and I think he is right as I did seem to stay warmer, and goodness knows the US Marines wear pantyhose for tick prevention while NFL Players wear pantyhose to stay warm under their uniforms, but again it would be tough to explain so I just opt for legging under my jeans and no color on my toes. But that is just me. I think its great others aren't as timid as I am. Life is indeed short, live it as anyone pleases.

I get both manis and pedis every 4-ish weeks. I damage my fingernails beds, so I need to have acrylic to hold the fingernails together and then gel on top. I also into material science, so I have magnetic gel this time. Toes are neon green, or as I like to call it, fishing lure green. I also use polish on my fishing lure. The glow-in-the-dark polishes add something different to your lures.

Now let's expand this, how about Ginger from Gilligan's Island always in high heels. Real practical on dirt.

Looking way back, I surely remember the "threat" of the belt or wooden spoon, but don't remember actually being punished with them. Granted, I was the last of four kids, so the parents were probably burned out on parenting...."Go out and play" was the rule of the day for me... I did my best to fly under parental radar as well...

Same with football with these vicious crunching tackles. I remember a particularly egregious one in an Australian Rules match once and the announcer saying, as they replayed it in loving slow motion at least a dozen times, “Boy, that’s something you never like to see …”

The runner up for the most miles on a single pair of high heels is my Nine West Sizzle oxfords. These have the distinction of being the only non-mule in the bunch, and also the only closed toe shoe in the high mileage bunch. Sporting a 4 3/4"(12 cm) heel with a 3/4"(2 cm) platform, they are a full 4 inch (10 cm) heel, and is among the oldest pairs of heels in my collection. Or was among the oldest. I wore them from January of 2013 until January of 2024 when one of the heels suddenly decided that after 11 years and 196.1 miles (316 km), enough was enough, and promptly snapped in half, a mile and a half from home. This was the first of three similar failures I was to have with Nine West shoes of this vintage and heel style. There is a reinforcing metal rod or tube inside the heel, but it only goes about two thirds of the way up, for some reason. Where it ends is where the plastic heel snaps in two, suddenly and cleanly. And naturally, just after I'd paid to have them resoled. I have been unable to find replacements for these in any color, and I believe they were made in 5 or 6 different colors.

A few years ago ABC News had a very early morning news segment, and for some reason part of the routine was to catch the news anchors walking to their seats to begin the broadcast. It was not difficult for the man, but you could see the angst on the woman news anchor's face as she treaded out. This was verbalized as several times she would say, "I am always so scared I am going to trip". I never saw her do that, but after about a year her protests must have been enough to stop the practice and the program started with them already seated. I am glad for her though as I am sure 75% of the viewing audience was like NASCAR fans and really just hoping she would trip, just as NASCAR fans are hoping race cars crash horrifically!

Ha, that was a new one on me and momentarily confused me. But then it took me until a few weeks ago to understand that "trainers" were just sneakers in UK Speak! 🙂 I am jealous of your wife making curtains though. My wife buys her's and renews them about every three months. Since there are 54 windows in this house it gets expensive! But she doesn't save the old ones, she throws them out. We are in the midst of selling this Victorian and bought a smaller house so to make it look good I asked her where all the matching curtains were for the room colors and whatnot that we had. "Oh, I threw them all out". Grrrrrr.... We like this house. It's right on a river and has a barn and all that, but it is just too big for the two of us now our children have grown up. Kind of scary to move to a much smaller house, but its out on an island, on a point of land so has the views but is much cheaper to heat and cool.

On TV last night, I saw part of a quiz programme with 'celebrity' parent and child teams. The attractive daughter (19) of her (equally attractive) TV sports reporter mother had long legs in long trousers (a little baggier than bootcut) which partially concealed her boots, with what looked like a close-to-4" slimmish block heel. It was good to see a pretty teenager wearing 'proper' heels but, alas, she did not walk that well in them when striding to and from the podium. I think that her mother (usually in 4" stilettos for formal appearances, as last night) needs to give her some lessons.