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There are no Deichmann branches near me and I rarely visit, but my impression is that it does (or did) have a limited range of women's footwear up to UK10. Maybe no longer. That said, most of the styles on offer (regardless of size) have always seemed to be pretty uninspiring, with few heels of any significance.

That’s so true - I find it funny to read where people speak of 3” (or 7,5cm) heels as being “high” and 10cm as virtually unmanageable. I’m no expert but I have no trouble with 10cm stilettos and find them quite fun to wear and 8cm heels are fine for long walks, almost unnoticeable as heels.

Wow! Congratulations! Well done! Walking 100 metres to a restaurant (and back again!) in those 13cm + boots is really impressive! And no doubt will help immensely with wearing your Hot Chicks. its interesting they were more comfortable than the Hot Chicks too. They are really nice boots and as you say, great for going out on occasions where you do more sitting than walking. Yes I was really pleased with my long walks in the 8cm heels. The heels themselves were really comfortable, it was just the uneven surface - almost like cobbles - that was the tricky part

@Shyheels I'm sure that helps! 5 km is quite a bit of walking, so even if it's "only" in 8 cm heels it will get you used to them very well. Yesterday I wore out my new boots for the first time 🙂 It was only a short walk from the car to the restaurant, about 100 m one way. But it was enough to feel the bit of extra height to the Hot Chicks again. Other than that, they're even more comfortable than the Hot Chicks, which is really nice. A very nice shoe for occasions with less walking and more sitting. I'll try them soon for my walk around the block. For further distances I still have to practice to make them more comfortable.

That's really nice! I can't say that about me. Maybe for them it's even more fascinating that you're a man wearing them, than if a woman wears them and it's still rather normal. I was never aware that I grew up in the era of super high heels, but as I've read a bit of your historic experience already it seems so. When I started wearing heels I liked platforms the most. Then when I started wearing them for everyday life I shifted towards non-platforms which I still prefer until today. But I still have a few with smaller platforms that I like to wear now and then. It's like a love of my youth that never really let me go 🙂 Haha yes, and for others it's "I could never walk in those"

Thanks! Yes, I've been for a couple of long walks - 5kms or so (three miles) in 8cm heeled boots. It was nice and yes, I do think it does help in building a good foundation of mileage in heels and simply being used to wearing them. I a making progress with my 12 cm boots.

Our snow is gone, also. Well, not gone, but the pavement is pretty much dry now. However, we're supposed to get more tonight. Don't despair, my friend. If you're now able to get out in 8 cm to actually walk, that will get you a long way toward your goal.

And yet, I still get approached regularly by teenaged girls, who usually say something to the effect of, "I really love your shoes. I wish I could wear them." This doesn't happen regularly, but it's happened enough times to mention. This is a big change from 10 years ago, when the worst group by far to heckle me in public was teenaged girls. @higherheels I guess you grew up in the era of the superhigh heel. Like Michael Jackson, I've come to appreciate the platform pump a lot more as I've gotten older. During my youth, in the mid 1980s, platforms weren't a thing. Stiletto pumps (often open-toed) were definitely a thing, but they all had this peculiar 1980s shape to the heel--they might look quite dated today. Also, they weren't really all that high. I used to think that 10 cm was some impossibly high heel that nobody would actually wear in public. Today, 10 cm is laughably tame. Well, to us anyway.

Answer is no. I was needing to get to my appointment at that time. They rarely have even a UK9/EU42. Have only seen it once for a pair of flat boots.

Indeed! I just had a long cold day at the tiller moving the boat. Now I've the fire stoked up and it is toasty warm on the boat and I'm wearing my 12cm heels and click-clicking bout the galley as I make my dinner.

This does seem to be a very hidebound generation - as you say heels used to be considered fun and exciting. Now everything g is very worthy and earnest and requires the approval of the Twitter mobs

I feel like most of the girls today who wear heels for such events don't really do it for joy but because "nicer clothes" as you say are expected. In my days of youth, for most girls in my area it was more that we were excited to be able/allowed to wear heels and looking for every possible occasion where we were allowed to do so. The classic black pump wasn't really a thing for us younger girls. Pumps yes, but almost everything had a platform 😄 this was mid-2000s.

I stopped off after work yesterday to pick up my son, who was auditioning for a regional honor band. There were hundreds of high school kids at this audition, along with hundreds of parents. It was one of those deals where they expected the kids to dress nicely. Maybe not formal concert black, but they needed to wear something a little nicer than normal. When I finally found the place, and was trying to figure out where to find my son, the first thing I noticed was a mom in 4 inch chunky-heeled boots. Then I saw another mom in 3 inch heeled boots. In the 15-20 minutes I was there, I saw many high school girls in heels, mostly sandals (in spite of the season), and all of them were this modern style of super chunky, big heels, most of them with platforms. The way I figure it, girls these days buy heels for a high school formal dance, and then recycle these for occasions such as yesterday. What one does not see much of at all these days is just a normal, conservative black pump, something every girl my age who had any occasion to dress up would have owned from age 15 on. Nowadays, it's either boots or sandals. We are in a strange time. "They" say that heels are dead with Gen Z. I can tell you that this is not strictly true. I'm hoping that this is like the 90s, and that shoes will eventually get less huge.

It's better to not take a risk if the conditions outside are bad. There will come a time when you can wear them out again.

Well done! that’s excellent news! I shifted my boat up the canal and thought I might be able to get a bit of real world practice in on a better conditioned towpath but a quick survey made me think better. I did go for a long stroll in my chunky heeled (8cm) boots which was nice. My 12cm practice is still all done indoors.

I can imagine that it must be hard for you to find heels in your size. I'm not very often at Deichmann, but their stock on high heels generally degraded, not speaking of size. I'm looking forward to wear out my new boots this weekend. All the snow is gone again, so this might be a good chance. I wore them indoors everyday now and also did stretching exercises. In difficulty they now feel similar as the Hot Chicks did before, so I made some progress 🙂

Your decision makes sense indeed. Slipping/falling/possible injury are things we all need to avoid indeed.... I'm looking forward to a little snow so I can wear my gloss black knee high Hunter refined rain boots.... A true compliment indeed! Sounds like a great shopping trip, sorry they didn't have your size. Did you have a chance to talk with the other man who did find a pair?

Decided to go into Deichmann in Glasgow on Monday. Was looking at a few heels myself, alas they had stock that was too small. However, there was another man trying on a pair or knee high boots with a 3-4 inch heel on it. Clearly in not the only guy here who is interested in heels. He must have had small enough feet as UK 8 was their largest.

Now that's a nice compliment you got 🙂

Nice story! I can well imagine block heels would work in snow. I find 8cm block heel boots very, very easy to walk in. I had a funny experience today when I was walking into the boatyard to buy some kindling. I was wearing a pair of grey suede OTK boots with 8cm heels and one of the women boaters jokingly told me she was going to be mug me one of these days for my boots. Apparently she loved boots and heels and likes the styles of mine very much.

Yes, winter can be a tough time for the higher heels. In snowy or icy conditions I also prefer something lower and a block heel, such conditions can even be difficult in flats. But boots with a low block heel can be just as good. It's been like 15 years ago that I last wore any flat boots for winter, and I never had any problems since. This reminds me of a funny story a few years ago. We were (once again 😉) out at a christmas market with friends. Because snow was everywhere I wore a pair of boots with a block heel, something around 8 cm. While at the christmas market, we saw that on a nearby mountain there was also a christmas market which looked nice, so we decided to visit this one too. It was only a small mountain, something like 150 meters of altitude from the bottom and only accessible via a footpath. My husband and friends asked me "are you sure you can handle this path in your heels?", but I had no doubt because they had a good sole, block heel and weren't that high. And I wasn't wrong, it was really easy. Uphill was pretty much the same as with flats, and downhill I even had a bit of an advantage when walking on the side of the footpath where the snow was a bit softer. Because my heels could grip into it. I sure got some funny looks when other people obviously struggled more in their Uggs and such than me in my heels 😀 So this is my proof that heels can be as good as flats or even better in snow.

I totally understand! It’s what I face all the time in the towpath. If I’m lucky and it’s frozen I can manage my chunky heeled boots on the frozen ruts and bumps. Otherwise it’s a slick mire. I do my challenge heels practicing indoors - at that I can get around 15 paces each way (maybe a bit more) so it’s not a total loss.

I may be in a holding pattern with my training for a while. I had planned to take a couple of days off from walking just because I needed some rest, but then the snow hit. On the last day of November, I had some extra time, so I thought I would walk a mile in something a little bit high, like 10 cm, just to keep myself from going downhill too much. The snow was over, and I wasn't in a hurry, so I thought, "Why not? It will be fun!" I thought I might even leave a few footprints here and there that would raise eyebrows. I pulled on my knee high boots, put on my coat and scarf, and headed outside. I got about 20 meters down the street and looked at the continuous sheet of packed snow and ice ahead of me, thought of my smooth, slick bottomed boots, thought of my less-than-youthful age, and then actually said out loud, "This is a BAD idea." I turned around and went back inside. I took the next day off, too. On the third day, I did walk, but I chose lugged rubber soled boots with 8 cm block heels. One never knows what the weather will bring, but at least for the next couple of weeks, I'm not going to be pushing any crazy steep heeled boundaries. Even the garage floor is kind of slick.

Me too! My “10cm” boots are scaled up for my size but are the equivalent of 10cm in standard size and are very easy to wear all day. My 12cm boots - my challenge heels - are also scaled up for size and are the equivalent of 12cm in the standard size 38

So they should be like a 10 cm heel in "standard size", I also like such a height for office days.