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I love replies like this, and have used them a few times as well!

How about a lift in the floor?

Very impressive! Long, long ago when I was running marathons - way back when Pheidippides was still running for the Athens Under-9s Track Club - I used to keep track of the mileage on my running shoes. I was running between 70 and 100 miles a week so it was a matter of interest to me to know how long they’d last. Clocking over 100 miles in a pair of mules seems like pretty decent mileage. Happily with boots i don’t need to worry about the flapping sound, or at least not usually. Last year the front part of the Vibram soles on my old mountaineering boots came loose and I had to listen to the flip flop sound all the way back to my boat. Fortunately some epoxy glue sorted out the issue

At No. 3 we have. . . BCBGirls Bonny beaded wooden mules. . . Wait, didn't I just list that two posts ago? Yes, I did, but this is pair No. 4. The above was pair No. 2. Pair No. 4 has somehow managed to survive and squeak by pair No. 2 at 117.3 miles (189 km). I honestly didn't think they would make it, because pair No. 4 has had what I perceive to be weak shanks from Day 1. The heels on this particular example of the breed have always been more flexible than what I would like. I would never have guessed that they would last longer than pair No. 2. However, since 2022 when pair No. 2 yielded up the ghost, I have changed my walk significantly, and I do believe I am much easier on heels than I used to be. But wait, there's more! In the very last miles, right before I was to surpass my previous Bonny record, I tripped on an uneven part of the pavement, and both shoes went flying. Somehow, I managed to stay upright, but I lost both shoes rather violently. I thought to myself, "Well, that's the end of those, and right before I broke the record, too!" Amazingly, there was no damage to either the shoes or to me. I do not know if anybody actually saw this happen, so it may be that my pride managed to escape damage as well. A word about mules in general, as @higherheels alluded to elsewhere. To me, there are two broad categories, and I'm not talking about open toe vs. closed toe, stiletto vs. block heel. I'm talking about flappy vs. non-flappy, categories that I am claiming creation of, because I've never heard anybody else refer to them that way before. To me, it's THE most important distinction. The Bonnys are flappy mules and have but a fairly thin leather band across the toes, which means that with every step, the insole of the shoe comes away from the bottom of the back half of your foot (similar to the much-hated flip-flop), then returns with a flapping sound. We'll save sound preferences and dislikes for another time, that being an intrinsic part of the flappy mule experience. Non-flappy mules typically come up much higher on the instep, and in this way, full contact between the bottom of your foot and the insole of the shoe is maintained at all times. Non-flappy mules have a sound that is indistinguishable from any other high heel with the same heel type. Despite being flappy mules, and being very easy to kick off (and put back on) at will, they are very good walking shoes. Don't ask me to explain it, but among four pairs so far, I've got 350 miles of walking experience, and I still enjoy them for that purpose. They've even been to Chicago on vacation! Stay tuned for the runner-up spot, and the winner, coming to a forum near you.

Oh dear, that doesn’t sound good! I’ve been some good indoors practice this week. On the subject of height in heels, I fielded a funny question this week from a passer-by (those of us who live in narrowboats are objects of great curiosity to non-canal folk) who wanted to know if it wasn’t rather tiresome having to crawl around inside all the time! He thought that the height of the cabin was what he could see above the gunwales and that living aboard was like living in a tent. I explained that the ceilings were quite high and that even a six-footer such as I could stand upright in high heels. He believed me about the ceiling height, but assumed I was kidding about the heels.

I have recently been doing a great deal of work in my middle stepson's rebuilt and extended house. My wife has also been there, doing painting. I have lost count of the times she has taken away from me my short stepladder or hop-up platform because her painting target was just - only just - out of reach. My suggestion that a pair of comfy 4" wedge heels would have been her more convenient option was not well-received, alas.

The other day as I was doomscrolling, somehow an old clip of The Price is Right came along, and in watching it this contestant took forever to do the task she was required to do. It was not that which grabbed my attention, but rather the model who, after standing for so long in her high heels, you could tell was having serious foot pain. She tried to wait until the camera was not on her, but several times she could be seen wincing and trying to ease her foot pain in all matter of ways. Certainly, my heart went out to her, but that amount of standing in heels was not typical of that show. I remember when Deal or No Deal came out really feeling for the models. They had to stand perfectly still, and not walking around at all, for almost the whole show. If you watch closely you can see where the models really struggled with this. The first time I saw that show I thought it was model cruelty. For that reason alone, I could not dare to ever watch the show. Has anyone else watched Game Shows on television and felt sympathy/empathy for the models who endured so much while required to wear high heels?

I have to admit that I grossly overthought this part of the kitchen. Like where I was going to put this lowered countertop area? The exact height it should be? How much kitchen area this should take up? What countertop material to use? Nope… no thought needed. Just keep a pair of easy to slip on high heels nearby. She had a pair of pumps, but a pair of mules would be easier to put on I think. Alternatively, a person considering a dough rolling area in their kitchen, could also make a pull-out step at the bottom of the cabinets. Just pull it out and step on it to gain a few inches taller to make rolling dough easier. Or… just keep a pair of easy to slip on high heels nearby. 😊

Welcome! What a great heeling story you have, I am so envious of your courage and honesty

I am so sorry I never got back to this post, but as promised here are a few pictures...

For taller people there are also concussion heels. The ones that allow you to bang your head hard on door frames🤣 I once wore some high platform boots (5" heel, 3" platform) and a top hat to a party. I'm under 6ft so only the hat hit the door frames😁 I once stayed at a lovely holiday cottage that had a low beam halfway along the main living area. I knew I had to duck every time, heels or no. My wife, who is about 5'5" and rarely has to duck, had a few hits and many near misses.

On the flip side of this, when I first tried on heels I thoughtlessly bent over to pick up a piece of paper that had slipped to the floor, forgetting momentarily that I was in 10cm heels! I nearly face-planted on the floor - an early lesson that the world is a different place in heels and you need to do things a bit differently when you’re wearing them!

I had a pair I called my 'refrigerator heels', I could see and clean the top of my refrigerator with them on.

That is indeed a good idea! I do a lot of my practicing in my 12cm heels while cooking in my galley. I’d not considered the other advantages! Thanks!

Impressive that you tracked all the walking! They held up well.

@CrushedVamp yeah it's really funny, but cooking simply is the task I do most at home while being on my feet. The story about your wife is actually a great idea! I'll think of that when I have to make dough or something like that.

Coming in at No. 4 are my BCBGirls Bonny beaded wooden mules (pair No. 2). I often say that these are my favorite pair of shoes ever. I don't know in my heart of hearts if that's really true, but at least in a certain category, it is true. The downside to loving these shoes is that they're not super durable. I've owned six pairs of this exact model and color (I don't know if it came in any other color), and so far I've been through four, with two in reserve. What happens is that after about 100 miles or so, the shanks break. I managed to coax 115.6 miles (186 km) out of pair No. 2 before that happened. Ironically, I was feeling energetic one evening back in 2022, and I decided to take the Bonnys out for a 5 mile spin, which I'd never done before. The route I chose was largely on a bicycle path, so the plan was to walk 2.5 miles linearly, then simply about face, and come back home. Unfortunately, about 1.5 miles into the journey, something began to feel quite mushy and strange. Yes, the right shank had snapped in half, allowing the heel to flex radically. I had to limp home very slowly, and that was the end of Bonny No. 2. I posted about it if you want to scroll back in my "Ruminations" thread far enough. I love wooden heeled mules, and I have quite a number in my collection. Why this should be my favorite, I don't know. They aren't super tall, effective steepness being less than 4 inches (10 cm), and they tend to get worn looking fairly rapidly if you wear them like I do, but they've always had a appeal for me.

Haha, I do the same thing! In my case, it's for kneading bread dough. Better in every way when you can get your body weight into it. Your wife's idea is not so strange, it's practical.

Kind of a funny story about high heels and cooking, though I admit compared to other people's stories on here, this is quite mild. But in making a new kitchen for my wife, she wanted a spot that was a bit lower than the rest of the counters so that in having a marble top, she could toss flour on it and have a place where she could roll out pie crusts and cookies. I was fine with that except there was no good place to put one, and even if I did, it would be a place dedicated to just that. It did not make sense in such a small kitchen. But what she did instead was, keep a pair of her high heeled shoes in the cabinet underneath. When she needed to roll dough, she would slip them on and really be taller that way she could press down from above more and make rolling out dough easier for her. She got a lot of grief for this, but it really worked well for her and did not tie up her kitchen by having a countertop lower in one spot for something she only did a few times a month. The high heels worked perfect for rolling out dough.

Yes boot cut jeans would be a better idea with hiking boots, but with knee boots and certainly with OTK boots I much prefer skinny jeans. Trying to finagle jeans over the shafts of OTK boots doesn’t appeal. Too much hassle,

When I started to wear knee high, I would hide them under my jeans. Now it skinny jeans and the knee highs on the outside. When you wear with confidence, embarrassment is not an option. And when you wear those boots with leather pants, your confidence is off the chart.

I quite agree! Although I like the look of skinny jeans, I would not expect to pair them with very chunky footwear (not that I normally wear such) nor any with long pointed toes (which I do like to wear). One could easily look somewhat cartoonish with seemingly big/heavy feet (whatever their actual size) sticking out from spindly legs. Boot-cut jeans are (as one would expect) usually a good companion to high-heeled boots, with the advantage of concealing at least part of the heel height if its detection in public wearing would be an embarassment, as many of us have to admit is a concern.

You have a semi-valid point. We do wear something on our feet but also wear something on our legs too. Just as flats are the go-to now, in legwear it tends to be leggings. I know all it took was a few episodes of Sex and the City and high heels were back in fashion, but that was 20 years ago. Hosiery had its heyday in the 1980's; 40 years ago, and never bounced back. I am not saying I like it, I am just not convinced it is a given. I have a wife. I have five daughters, and I can tell you they are not following their mother in heel choice. They wear heels to the prom and swear they never will wear them again.

But we all wear something on our feet. Hosiery is an option but footwear is not. Boots, shoes, sandals, whatever, we all wear ‘em. Heels are a design element in that. One of those elements that fashions alter regularly. The buying public gets tired or bored, or designers decide they need to fire the market with something new, and there are changes. And so it goes. Heels will be back

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, the apple did not fall far from the tree. I spent a lot of years in a foster home growing up because of my mother. But it was the best thing that happened to me. Everybody's mother loves them, but since mine did not, it set the bar really low. So when people say, "I don't like you Crushed Vamp", I just nod and say, "My own mother didn't either. So what's your point?" " 🙂 It doesn't get any worse than your own mother not loving you, so now; nothing bothers me!