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Sounds like a nice pair of boots for work. In a bigger size they won't be that steep and comfortable for a whole workday.

So today I pulled out my Nine West leather knee high boots and measured the heel, 4.75 inches, just over 12 cm, no platform. Small block heel. I have these in two colors, wearing the dark red/brown ones today. Haven't worn these in many months but plan on at least 8 hours in them today at work. Don't plan on having any troubles in them.

My best to all for a healthy/happy holiday season

Yes, the dress code rules for the asian airlines are usually very rigid, so heels are required. I always felt badly for my female crewmembers. Policy required them to wear heels in the terminal, then they could change to flats on the plane. Needless to say, some folks are comfortable wearing heels all the time, many are not. This policy was rarely enforced at my airline, except for new hires. I was always amazed/envious of a few women that wore great heels all the time, and made it look comfortable and effortless.

Like everyone says, start of with lower block heels. It is unreasonable to expect to be able to step into 5" stilettos and enjoy walkiung. Fumbling around in ill fitting heels that are too tall is a confidence killer. Being confident is just as important as being skilled.

Indeed, I had the electrical system on my boat installed by a guy who turned out to be utterly incompetent, although he was working for a guy with a long and very good reputation in the boat building world. Because of the builders reputation, I never saw this screwball for what he was until it was too late and it ended up being a complete mess.

Perhaps so, but one still hears accounts of petty job demarcation and restrictive practices that interrupt progress, or worse. I should have added to my last note that, although the tradesmen working at my stepson's house seem competent and generally efficient, there are many such people offering their services who carry out shoddy, over-priced and sometimes dangerous work, especially for naiive householders. My wife may complain about me being a slow and maybe fussy worker, but at least I get a decent job done at minimal cost.

I went from 2 inch to 4 inch in one minute, BUT I had done years of toe raiser on inclines to recover from multiple ankle reconstructions. Men's shoes were the problem for destroying my ankles and knees.

I only know our german christmas markets, so I also have no comparison. From your descriptions it may be better that I don't know others 😀

Them days are over, friend. You can't afford to be too much of a lazy ass these days, or you'll probably be the subject of a one-man layoff pretty quick!

I saw the report in the Grauniad (the name was given by Private Eye in the days when that paper was famous for its typos). I went to the Birmingham market a few years ago (2019 I think) and it looked pretty good. It was certainly big. After a while I realised that the same stalls seemed to be occurring multiple times which wasn't so good. I've not been to a genuine German market so i don't have a reference point.

A lot of it depends upon what you wish to do in heels. As is the experience with most here, I started low and went gradually higher. I spent a lot of time wearing 3 - 3 1/2" before I got to where I was truly ready for anything higher. Not that I didn't go higher sooner, but it's always a shock to catch a glimpse of yourself in a storefront window, and think, "Who is that idiot, and why is he walking so funny?" "Oh, that's me." We would rather avoid those moments, so practice in lower heels is advisable. It also depends upon how durable you want to be. Do you want to wear 5 inch heels to Disney World, on multiple days? I'm sure there is somebody out there who can do it, but it would be a select few in the world, kind of like there's only a few Olympic caliber athletes in the world. Do you care what you look like when you walk? I can "walk" just fine in 5 inch heels, but I wouldn't want anybody to see me. I am living proof that it is possible to be able to wear heels that are quite steep for long periods of time, and over long distances, but I didn't get there very quickly at all. It took years. Some people can do it in much less time that me, but that's been my own personal experience.

Yes, I’m looking forward to it! Yes, you’d be surprised and probably amused by our “German” Christmas markets. There was a story about them in the Guardian a few days ago. Apparently the one in Birmingham is the closest to a genuine German Christmas market. The descriptions of yours sounded wonderful - and a lovely evening to go around in stiletto boots.

I didn't know that our markets are object to a bad imitation, crazy. Yes that's the issue with stilettos. At our christmas market were paths and places with cobblestones and my heels were stilettos, that's really not the best combination. Your idea with bringing your 12 cm boots with you sounds great!

Yes. They imitate German Christmas markets here - badly! I would have liked to have worn my stilettos to the town fete but the walk along the towpath is just too rough. I am thinking of packing my 12cm boots in a knapsack and walking into town, and changing there. Or maybe taking the bus and the train and trying my stilettos at the imitation Christmas market in Leeds

I have no real idea of the corresponding 'union' position in the UK, but doubtless it will impede work and increase costs and time on a major construction project. Fortunately, a great deal of new-build and renovation work is done by non-union businesses and individual tradesmen, who are usually fairly adaptable and often multi-skilled. I can fairly claim to be too, in my 'amateur' way - and am currently doing some work (alas, unpaid!) on my middle stepson's rebuilt and extended house, alongside 'professional' builders, plasterers, plumbers and sparkies - none of whom seem to upset the others or object to my input - which has necessarily included some reworking of what they have done, e.g. moving a wrongly-placed socket outlet and altering skirting boards to accommodate fitted wardrobes. So much for my retirement ...!

Indeed they are very nice. Oh, so in britain they try to imitate the german christmas markets? Yes, it's really great to try something new from time to time. And I'm sure it would've not been as comfortable if I didn't have the recent training from our challenge! Your experience sounds great too 🙂

As I've understood you never wore any heels before, right? I know it's tempting to start off with the desired heel, like a 5 inch heel for you, but you can save yourself a lot of pain and trouble by starting with a lower heel and taking your time. Trust me, I'm speaking of experience 😉 I would recommend to start with something like a 2,5 - 3 inch heel and wear these until they feel normal for you. Then slowly proceed to higher ones until these feel normal as well. The higher the heel gets, the more a small increasement will make a big difference. For example (sorry for speaking in centimeters) the difference between a 7 cm and a 8 cm heel will be barely noticable, but the difference between a 12 cm and a 13 cm heel is huge! Also, as already said by the others a good fit and quality is important. Especially with less supportive forms like pumps or sandals it's very important that they have a tight fit, otherwise you'll be bothered too much with slipping around in them/out of them. Also it would be easier to start with block heels than stilettos. Good luck 🙂

Your Christmas markets in Germany sound lovely - and from all I’ve heard they really are, too. We have imitations of them here in Britain but they are not very nice - expensive, very fake and shoddy. I'm impressed with your going out to a market in 11cm boots for three hours. That’s great. We did have the town Christmas tree lighting event here where I am moored, and with the towpath frozen - instead of muddy - I wore some nice suede OTK boots with 8cm heels. It was about a 5km walk there and back plus standing around - nothing I fancied attempting in stilettos. It was a nice evening. Friendly little town. I think I was probably the only one in heels

@mlroseplant I only know strip clubs from movies or tv series, and am probably even too young to have recognized that "normal" heels were used in the 90s. Interesting indeed, I only have huge platforms in my mind when I think about stripper heels. It makes sense for manufacturers to use the same heel height for a few sizes to save costs. There probably will be many models out there which are manufactured that way. Wow, as if the height challenge is not enough you're also making a distance challenge! 60 miles in a month sounds a lot. I wonder how much I would make in a normal month. For the christmas market on the weekend I chose a pair of 11 cm boots. Up to now I've always chosen some lower heels like 7-10 cm for christmas markets, so it was really nice to wear something different this time. We were there for about 3 hours, so with all the standing it was not as comfortable as with lower heels, but it was OK. I now definitely want to wear 12 cm boots to a christmas market too, but therefor I will pick a smaller one where we won't stay as long.

Make sure they fit, also start at the 65mm to 85mm range. If it’s boots or a closed pair of shoes, a thin pair of non pinching socks. No one likes a pinch at the toes from material being dragged down to your toes. Good luck.

Same here. I wear knee boots and invariably have to remove them.

Yes. Make sure they fit well and are well made.

I have too take my heels off to go through security at airports. And I fly in knee highs on the outside.

But make sure whatever you buy fit WITHOUT pain. Life is too short for shoes that hurt.