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Yes indeed. Living along a towpath as I do, going for a stroll in stilettos is just not sensible. Even chunky heels are at risk and in the rain ..,

Seven inch heels are well into fetish territory - if that’s the message your character is meant to convey, by all means but it would be decidedly creepy. He sounds a bit creepy anyway but if he’s hoping to disguise it then definitely lower the heels to no more than 12cm or just under five inches. Even so in real life such a guy would make women uneasy - and understandably so

So, I am asking for help. I am writing my latest fictional novel and I am looking for a pair of heels to be described in my book that is being given as a gift. A little background here is this. The woman is a real estate agent and dressed fashionably all the time. Early in the book she converses with a code enforcement officer where a little mild innuendo banter takes place. She asks for a favor, and he says he will do it, but only if she wears her highest high heels for him. Older than her by 20 years, as time marches on in the book, he gets creepier and begins to show his affection for her. Except she has feelings for a client now. He gives her an unexpected gift which is high heels, but what should the gift consist of? What would be an ideal heel height? What would be a good price point? In other words what sort of shoes would someone want to buy for a lady he was interested in. Something a bit suggestive, but not overly slutty. The more details you can give will be better, like color and style such as peep-toed or sling backs, etc. I am really not sure what would work in this situation. There are no bad answers here, just asking for some expert help. I struggle to correlate centimeter heel height to inches, so if it can be stated inches, all the better. I was thinking 7 inch heels, but wonder if those are over the top as a gift in this situation?

Even though it was a pretty thin month on walking (I managed only 25 miles in July), I realized that pretty much all of my walking shoes needed reheeling. I took half a dozen pairs up to the cobbler all at once. For the next week, I will have to make more careful choices about what to wear on walks. I have definitely changed my tune about wearing and keeping heels in the last 12 years. Before, I always said that if I can't walk two miles in reasonable comfort, I won't keep the shoes. Now, although I will not accept uncomfortable heels, I do not put every pair I own through that particular rigor, particularly if they are really meant for dressier occasions. What I did not take into account at first is the fact that although I may be able to walk in stilettos for two miles at a clip, the shoes might not be up to the challenge for too many cycles of that. Even if they are, it is so easy to put your heel down a crack in the sidewalk, thereby pretty much ruining them. Replacing heel tips every 10 miles or so is irritating as well.

My very first pair of heels was pretty similar to those. It was 1984, after all. Even back then, I never thought of them as high. I have no nostalgia for them at all.

If they were red they could be emoji heels 👠

That's an accurate description 😀

They really scream 80s. Not my style, I'd even rather choose some flats than such pumps.

Jean Gaborit boots are lovely - well worth the expense

Fernando Berlin makes all kinds of awesome boots in tall sizes too: www.fernandoberlinboots.com Arollo has some of their boots available in big sizes: www.arolloboots.com Nice italian heels are sold by Shoebidoo Shoes: www.shoebidooshoes.com Be advised that Italian shoes and boots tend to run large. Typically you could fit one size smaller than your normal (non-italian) fit. For more customized heels: www.sanctumshoes.com If you like real designer boots (expensive!) then have a look at Jean Gaborit: www.jean-gaborit.com Happy shopping!!

What are those called? Cat heels? Very dowdy, nothing like the dangerous glamour of true stilettos

I did a little image search, and found these pumps from the 1980s. So many women/girls used to wear these, and now they seem very unimpressive. Not quite kitten heels, but too close to it. To be sure, they are far better than Adidas rubber slides worn with socks.

They are an offence. One of our former prime ministers used to wear them - no, not Boris Johnson, but Theresa May. It was not a great look.

Over the years I have done an about-face on my opinion of many things, but my hatred of kitten heels is not one of them!

I never though they were all that great in the first place. It's not that they are chunky looking, per se, but to me it looks like somebody took a normal stiletto heel, chopped it off, and then pressed this bent metal piece in behind where the regular heel was supposed to be. Having said that, I much prefer Blades to anything I've seen for sale in 2025.

Totally agree! An abomination!

Glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. Now that kitten heels seem to be popular, which is the absolute worst case when it comes to stilettos.

Yes! Tried but failed! Exactly the feelings these stubby stilettos conjure up.

In the early 2010s or so I really liked the Casadei Blade, I even thought of buying them. But now they look sort of chunky, not so sleek to me. Does anyone else feel the same or am I just getting old and boring 😂?

I have the same experience. Not only short-term, but also long-term. When I started wearing my Hot Chick 130 (and felt like not proceeding so much), any 12 cm heel felt much easier. It makes sense because it's basically a training thing, and when you got to the next level the previous one becomes easier. It's also somewhat like a selfmade challenge to me. I bought them, like them, so I also want to wear them 😄 I also agree with you on the height of stilettos. While I have many heels with around 8 cm, they're almost exclusively block or wedge heels. Stilettos require a certain height not to look like "tried but failed".

I agree with you - 8cm is a nice height for chunky heels but too low for the aesthetic of a stiletto.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, 8 cm stilettos, which used to be the gold standard when I was a kid, now look weirdly stumpy to me. I think if I could go back in time I would probably be rather disappointed by the shoes I remember so fondly. This probably has nothing to do with the shoes themselves, but rather my constant exposure to 11-12 cm shoes that makes 8 cm shoes look funny to me. I suppose this effect happens in other ways also. As an electrician, if I run large conduit for a few days or a few weeks, e.g., 3 inch, "normal" size conduit like 3/4 or 1 inch looks absolutely tiny and ridiculous.

For me platforms spoil the lines of a stiletto - not so much with block heels, but stilettos have a slender elegance that seem so much at odds, aesthetically, with a platform. It seems like fitting a bull-bar to a Ferrari.

I have a hard enough time giving my seven pair of heels a regular enough rotation!

I am good with 12 and 13 single soles with is +/- the 5" height. I have some 6" singles that are still ok. Really depends on the fit but the 5's are my sweet spot. I know some don't like platforms but I do have some that are 1/2" to an 1' and some concealed but I think that some platforms don't look good to depending on the shoe or boot