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Exactly. I agree, I do think there is community out there who would happily join and contribute if they knew about us, and understood that we simply wear heels as a point of fashion.

It certainly is! I’m back on my boat, unpacked and practicing!

For me it's also helpful and if I didn't have the conversation with you I probably wouldn't even have started this, or sometime later in the future. Oh yeah that would be so nice, to meet in the challenge heels! But talking about our experiences online is also nice 🙂

What a great day that you encountered two who realized your shoes and even almost correctly knew the model! I have the Hot Chicks and am starting to wear them out more. They absolutely turn heads, but so far no one approached me about them. The Hot Wave are absolutely gorgeous too 🙂

Yes, the challenge is very much about personal goals. Speaking for myself it has been quite helpful knowing both of you @mlroseplant and @higherheels are doing it too, in different styles and in different countries! What a pity we don't live closer - what fun it would be to meet up over coffee in our respective challenge heels!! I know I've definitely benefitted from all this - gaining skill in my 12cm boots and really moving fluidly in my 10cm ones!

For sure you're not that far off. I'd also guess this translates to 11,3 cm or so. I think the challenge isn't that much about absolute numbers anyways but more about the personal goals from each of us 🙂 Don't restrict yourself because of the price tag, the heels you already have are absolutely fine. I wouldn't buy the Hot Chicks for practicing either, it's more of an coincidence that I can use them now because I already have them. When I bought them I didn't even really think about wearing them, I just bought them for the looks. And for that it was hell a lot of money!

I just hope they fit. I'll write more once I get them. One feature I really like is a full inside zipper.

I like those!

Tease Hopeful coming to my feet this weekend. I do hope it fits. Jessica Simpson Mixtesa Slouch Bootie in Dark Cherry

Absolutely! And given your mileage you’re way ahead of me in any case! Im en route back to my boat at last! Freedom!

It would seem unlikely without an invite, but who knows? I believe that there are any number of people who might like to join our community if only they knew that we actually wear heels instead of just fantasizing about them. We've had our dress-up-in-front-of-the-mirror people also, but I think they tend to find us very boring (and vice versa).

Ah yes, but were we rich enough for such luxuries. I'm talking about Italian Heels as if I'm going to buy some. Not until I procure the Next Big Job. I will certainly be laid off from the one I'm on right now, it's only a question of whether it will be in a couple of weeks or a couple of months. So for now, I'll have to participate in the challenge with slightly low heels. I'm not THAT far off. 12 cm on size 40 still translates to what? 11.3 or 4? What's a few millimeters among friends?

Mlroseplant, I must say any previous fear you may have has apparently passed. 5.5” heels is an achievement indeed. You coordinate it all well. I get heels selectively now usually to match a pair of pants, dress, or skirt I have. Keep making that corner of Iowa a stylish place. HinH

I stand corrected - at least one of my group wears heels apparently. And when I think about it she was the one most likely, a southern lady. I didn’t see her heels but she referenced them in a conversation we had while attempting to do a walk around one of the lakes only to find it was flooded. She was not happy about getting her hiking boots wet as they are going back to America tomorrow and she’d planned to wear them in the plane, saying that she didn’t want to wear her heels in the airport and on the plane. From which I deduced she had brought heels and presumably wore them after hours. And now that I think of it she was also the only one in the group that was familiar with the story about men in heels back in the 17th century …

Thank you mlroseplant for the history lesson, the 80s were before my time. In the 90s and 2000s high heels weren't worn that much for tours/trips I would say. I still like to wear my heels for city trips and such. It's mostly only strolling around anyways so I find a low heel very suitable.

That was also my first thought - why these sandals? Who knows, maybe she'll end up here on HHP one day and we can ask her this question 🙂

Yes, quality makes such a difference in terms of walkability. I have a pair of Jean Gaborit OTK boots with 9cm near-stiletto heel and they are a dream to walk in. They are fully custom so the fit is perfect, and the leather is extremely high quality - a very luxurious Nubuck suede - and they are beautifully designed not such in looks but in the fundamentals. I wish I was rich enough to afford to buy boots from them in 10 and 12 cm heights. I feel certain I would find both of thos heights much easier to wear.

Yes, walking downhill for some time almost feels the same as wearing a higher heel than you actually are. That's definitely a progress! I feel that too. Quality and fit is very important, especially in these heights. I can understand that you don't really have motivation to wear these. Yes they're very well made, for sure can't complain about that. The downside is that they're very sturdy and take a long break-in period, and the toebox is very tight. So not a very comfortable shoe in general, and if you add the 130 mm heel even less 😉 But I'd always choose them over some lower quality ones with a looser, more comfortable fit. They might feel more comfortable on the first try-on, but definitely not while walking.

I like purple and I know what you mean about four inch heels feeling all of a sudden so much easier! The challenge is certainly bringing benefits

Italian Heels are nice, well made and of real leather. They come in a huge range of sizes and colours and have charts to help you pick out the correct size. I have two pair of their Tina knee boots - in 10cm and 12cm. I like them. They fit well and are comfortable even if the 12cm ones are a bit challenging. My Jean Gaborit boots are much nicer - buttery soft leather and fully custom fit - but then they cost four or five times as much.

I did manage to get a photo taken this week of my church outfit. I can tell you this: While I am caught up on the laundry, I am WAY behind on the ironing. I am to the point where I have to scroll through my camera and see whether I'm repeating an outfit from two weeks ago. I decided that it had been a while since I'd worn purple, and it had been a long while since I'd worn my Michael Kors black and tan sandals. One thing about doing this steep heel challenge, it makes shoes like these effectively 4 1/8" heels seem like a little bit of nothing (5 1/8" heel, 1" platform).

I have been looking pretty seriously at Italian Heels. I hear they are nice. @Jkrenzer says they tend to stretch out fast, but perhaps that is not a concern for me. My biggest concern is that a size 40 is a size 40. And should I elect to get sandals, as I am wont to do, do I go with 39? 39.5? One thing about buying cheap stuff on ebay is, if it doesn't work out, there is very little remorse.

Yes I’m fortunate in that regard in having a nice pair of Italian Heels knee boots (their Tina model) in 12cm stiletto heels, scaled up to my size. They fit well and are well made. I think it would be quite difficult to try to master 12cm stilettos that were poorly made. It’s hard enough to master these! Let alone imagine mastering @higherheels 13cm Hot Chicks - which are obviously also well made

Funnily enough last night after one of my talks one of the group asked if I knew any interesting little known facts about British Royalty. I launched into the story of Charles II and his coronation portrait where he’s wearing four inch heels. And I told the broader story of men in heels in the 17th and early 18th century. A few were interested but two of the couples glared like I was telling some kind of dirty story. It was unsettling

While I haven't led any tours, I've participated in a few over the years, and it does seem like heels have gradually gone away. In particular, my first trip to Chicago as a tourist was in the 1980s as a high school student. We did many of the tourist-y things, and I can remember many heels being worn by tourists during that trip. I can specifically remember a group from Germany in which several of the women chose to wear 3 to 4" stiletto pumps to do their walking tour. No heels in our particular group, but we were kids. On the last trip I made, seven years ago, I was the only one wearing high heels that I saw. There were a very few pairs of mid-to-low heeled wedges, but nothing to write home about.