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I understand what you mean. I used to do a lot of long distance running and heel strike there is very much that - a hard strike. Whereas when you’re wearing heels, as you say, the heel acts more like a guide than point of impact. Subtle bit important difference. i think that is one of the mistakes I make with my 12cm heels - because of their extra length they strike that bit earlier than I am expecting.

Well y'all @Shyheels @higherheels, I think about this stuff way too much. For the purposes of this thread at this time, I will pare it down to the bare minimum. Since childhood, I have always been hard on heels, whether it was athletic shoes, work boots, or dress shoes. I would always wear the heels out in the middle (indicating that my weight is balanced in the middle of my feet as it should be), but they would wear out very quickly. As I began to wear higher and higher heels, this natural tendency continued, causing a lot of wear to heel tips, and in the worst case, causing shanks to break, turning the shoes into landfill material. A few years ago I started to study walking, specifically in heels, in an attempt to make myself look more presentable and more graceful. I have amalgamated knowledge from many different places, but the one thing that seems to be universal among those who can (by my estimation) walk in heels well, but is often unspoken is this: Yes, you want to walk heel-to-toe (of course), but you don't want to "heel strike." This is a runner's term that I've borrowed to describe what I believe is a mistake that some people make in heels. The heel is meant to be nothing more than a guide to get you smoothly through the next step for that instant until the forefoot can touch down. It is not meant to bear the whole force of your stride. In other words, think of placing the heel down, rather than slamming it down aggressively. Then, it's just a glide to the forefoot, and hopefully in that millisecond the tall heel will deform very little, stress to the shank will be greatly reduced, and yes, the heel tips will last substantially longer. This is more difficult to explain in written words than I thought it would be. Please let me know if something needs clarification.

Those JS boots are amazing, I had a similar pair. Love the chains, great accessory

Is anyone interested in a "Best Dressed" contest for 2026? If so, respond and I will be happy to organize it all! I'm in with an intent to give others (i.e. @CAT) a run for his stilettos! The photo is a picture of some new pumps from this past summer.

It just so happens that Halloween is my wedding anniversary and this year, I wore a pair of faux suede, just OTK boots with a leather skirt to dinner.

I, too, love wedges. To me, however, they seem to be more of a summer shoe but I do have a pair of wedge knee-high boots that I love. I tend to think that when worn "properly" wedges can be just as alluring as a pair of stilettos, as illustrated by my photo.

Hi Heelguypa! I think any of the "regular" members can appreciate your feelings. First, those Larina heels are wickedly gorgeous! If did not have seemingly 300 pairs of shoes and boots, you better believe that I would pick-up a pair! When it comes to wearing heels out in public, there is "a lot" of advice on this forum about how to approach doing so - all of it good. Any man/male who has ever worn a pair of heels out in public knows exactly how you feel, and any one of them will tell you that the first time doing so is always the hardest. Trust me when I say that it gets easier the more you do it. I recommend that you read through those posts on the "for the guys" part of it as there are many great stories and encouragement about doing so. If it was not for this forum and the stories of others I read some time ago, I probably would have never summoned the courage to take that first step - literally. Now, rarely can I head out in a pair of heels without receiving a compliment. I have said this in many previous posts but it is always worth repeating - "Those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind." The photo included is the outfit I wore to work to day. So yes - it can be done and doing so is one step at a time. The outfit: Boots/Jessica Simpson Tulip; Boot chains from Shoebidoo (out of Utrecht).

We’ve had light flurries and a hard frost - enough for the towpath to harden even if the puddles are now iced over. There’s no way anyone would risk their heels or their ankles trying to walk on that surface in stilettos, but it was nice to be able to go for a stroll in my blocky heeled knee boots! @higherheels I’m impressed that you’re making progress in those lofty new boots of yours. I can see how the progression in heights - normal heels, Hot Chicks and then the new boots would help. Because if my time practicing in my 12cm boots my 10cm feel wonderfully easy. I’m really pleased by that.

You have certainly acquired a lot of practical knowledge and skills in the course of your research!

What exactly did you do for a more gentle walk? I also run through a lot of heel tips on my stilettos, but never thought about "walking style"

Great video, I can absolutely agree to what she says about the Hot Chicks. I'm impressed that she says she walked like a mile in them, that's crazy! Seems she's very used to such heels, but even then it must hurt like hell in the end. @mlroseplant That's funny, I thought you're a warm person because you always wear sandals - I didn't know it's just your feet 😀 We've had our first snow now. This was probably it this year for the Hot Chicks. But I'm not ready yet to wear out my new boots. It's getting better, but mostly because they're already broken in a bit. The height is still a challenge. Only if I wear normal heels for the day, then wear the Hot Chicks for my evening walk, and then directly change into the boots they feel easier.

I’m hoping those temperatures you’re citing are in °C because if 6-8°F and windy is still fine for you in sandals you are truly heroic

At least you've got firewood now. Except for a few days when we had a bit of a cold snap, the weather has been on the warmer side for here. It is supposed to become more seasonal next week, just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The temperature as I write this at 4 a.m. is 5º. In a week, it will be more like -5 at this time. My body has aged strangely. I am pretty much colder than all of my colleagues, who are 99% male. I wear long johns from October to April, albeit it capri length cotton leggings for most of that time. Though I love to wear shorts, the season where I can comfortably do so is pretty short. [rim shot]. This has its advantages come summer, when I handle the heat much more easily than almost everybody. Evidently, my feet did not get the memo that I'm a cold person. Today, much like yesterday, and the day before, my walking outfit will consist of jeans, t-shirt, long sleeved t-shirt, capri length leggings under the jeans, medium weight jacket, hat, lightweight gloves, and sandals. The dog walkers I usually encounter at that hour are dressed less warmly than me, but I'm the only one in sandals at that temperature, the range of which goes down to 0º, as long as it's not very windy. If it is windy, 6-8º is just fine. Below 0º, I will go to clogs if there's no snow on the ground. I would gladly trade some of my foot warmth for some extra body warmth, but I don't really have a choice in the matter.

This in no way relates to what many of you are seeing in scale, but I was talking with a doctor; a woman who told me she was 29 years old. When she found out where I lived, she mentioned she had been there to hike the many trails. Since I walk the 4.5 mile loop every day, we got talking about the difficulty of it, to which she said, "it's not a difficult hike. Not one I would do wearing my high heels though..." It just surprised me as she looked a bit more earth-based and yet used high heels to make a point on the trail's difficulty. In the office she was wearing high heeled knee-high boots so I guess it should not have been a surprise. I was glad to see and hear the younger generation at least has some in their closets!

I thought I must include my most durable stilettos in this thread, even though the total mileage is not all that impressive. My Shoedazzle rainbow mules are among the most comfortable truly high heels that I own. Even though they measure every bit of 4 5/8" without a platform, they feel very natural to walk in, and I have caught myself walking further than I intended more than once. As I have said on several occasions in the past, I don't normally wear stilettos for actual walking because I don't really find it all that fun, having to watch out exactly where I'm stepping every second. Nevertheless, I've managed 32 miles in these particular stilettos, and at some point I'll probably put a few more on. Part of the reason why I chose these for longer distance walking is because I wanted to do an experiment a couple of years ago to see if in fact I could make a pair of heel tips last a decent amount of time with a gentler style of walking. The answer to the question was yes. I was able to squeeze 16 miles out of a set of tips when my previous average was 8. For comparison, a thicker heel will last me four times that distance. While these shoes are easy to walk in, they do have their drawbacks. The nylon mesh fabric that the uppers are made of does tend to rub the feet raw if you're walking any real distance, so I need to make sure I use bandaids if I'm going for an actual walk. With a little bit of forethought and preparation, these are two mile shoes.

I had a similar experience with a pair of boots I’d not worn in ages. The fit felt awkward for no obvious reason.

Very impressive to walk in those! I think I’d be lucky to stand upright! im back to my block heeled OTK boots as the cold weather has settled in here. Down to -4°C at night. Getting up in the morning it’s very nice to be able to put on heavy suede OTK boots. My stilettos are thinner and not so warm!

I am familiar with that video, though I haven't followed her in years. She also did a review of the Louboutin Merci Allen 130, which is the model I would buy if I could. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they make any of that stuff anymore. There is another video where Ms. Winter walks for an extended distance in Hot Chicks as an experiment. I don't know if any of these videos are still up, but I distinctly remember those two for sure.

Interesting review. I’m even more impressed with @higherheels efforts to master these.

Getting back to the Hot Chicks discussion, this lady ('Engineering in Heels') has a number of videos showing her wearing, and analysing in detail, some very high stilettos - 13cm and above. Well worth a viewing. Link to one of the Hot Chick 130 appraisals:

Stilettos and rounded toes is indeed a rare combination. I think they were more popular in the past.

I much prefer almond toes, but they are so hard to find with stilettos. Italian Heels makes a very nice pump with rounded/almond toes and 12cm stiletto heels that I like the look of. I’ve never worn pumps, only boots. I’m curious and a bit tempted

Ah, yes I've also seen her on the Fuss-Schuhe Shop when I looked for the older videos I remembered. She's also very skilled! I agree with you that this isn't a typical "walk" anymore, but it's still impressive. Such extreme heels are probably made for photoshootings only and to show what's possible, I don't think anyone uses them for normal things like we use our heels. I'm a big fan of pointed toes, but I also don't like the super long ones. Despite the extreme height I actually like both heels from the videos, the peeptoes even a bit more.

Different lady. Here is some video of of the Dutch woman on Instagram. They are much shorter videos, and tend to be centered around artwork. I'm not sure what kind of a deal she's got going with Fuss shoes, but she does occasionally show up on their promotional material, and ver1astyle does seem to own a lot of Fuss shoes lately. I rather like the shoes in the video from your example. Almost round toed. It seems like a lot of extreme heeled shoes have a super long pointy toe, which I find objectionable. With both women, what they do is rather amazing, but certainly stretches the definition of the word "walk." I personally would like to be able to get across the street before several hours pass. And I would like to eventually be able to do it in 12 cm, maybe 13. I think 15 may be impossible. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DND-eA_IJzv/?igsh=cjhxZ2tpdGU5NmQ4

I’m a continuous cruiser, although the 14 day rule was suspended because of the long term closures this summer and into the autumn. I’m on a mooring now though. It just made sense. Winter is nearly upon us. There are more closures planned for winter repairs and the reservoirs are still low. Here I’ve ready access to coal, wood, diesel, gas etc - just no good place to practice in 12cm stiletto boots!