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Ten years I was at an indoor University's special division graduation (not the main campus graduation where it snowed). Many of the women wore high heels. It was clear, many of them had no idea how to walk in them.

Yes regular practice or wearing is crucial - even if your heels fit well and are nicely made, you still need to be wearing them reasonably often to develop or maintain the feel of wearing them.

Interesting that this conversation should come up once again, but in a slightly different way. Just yesterday I was setting up our tent at the farmer's market, and our neighbor vendor, a thin, fit-looking middle aged woman who sells fresh baked bread, said to me, "I just don't understand how you can do manual labor in heels. I could never do that!" By "manual labor," she meant setting up the tent and tables, &c. I told her that I'd been working at it for over 12 years, and maybe that had something to do with it. Full disclosure: What I was actually wearing was wedge sandals with a slight heel, effectively a 2 1/4". I wouldn't call them flats, but almost. As it turns out, this woman evidently used to wear heels all the time "for dress up occasions." Like all of us have heard a hundred times before. It doesn't explain everything, but it accounts for a good deal of it. Occasional wear is never going to get you the comfort and endurance you want, in the same way that picking up the guitar once a month is never going to make you a decent guitarist. In addition to this, you're tempted to buy a cheap instrument, which doesn't usually help your playing either. I never quite know how to respond to these kinds of things, because I am quite sure that I like to talk about all things high heel considerably more than most people. Since I don't want to seem like a crushing bore, I usually cut the conversation off short. In this case, I did not have to do so because at that very moment, the wind picked up suddenly, and I had to physically grab on to my tent to keep it from skating across the parking lot and blowing into the next county. This despite having double the usual amount of weight on each leg. Naturally, the conversation immediately shifted to whether this little squall was going to pass quickly, or should we just go home.

I think your take on the experience most people - women - have with high heels is accurate. Presented as occasional footwear, and with their sole initial experience likely to be something cheap and ill fitting, it’s not likely they would be drawn to trying new and better fitting pairs and styles. One and done. only those who are naturally drawn to them - aesthetically, emotionally or for whatever other reason - are likely to persist. As with anything, you tend to get what you pay for. Although I have heard of expensive shoes being duds, by and large you need to spend more, for better more stable designs, reliable and consistent fit, and better materials - high quality leather and suede. i am fortunate enough to gave a couple pair of custom made boots. The craftsmanship, fit and leathers are beautiful, well worth the money. I’d rather have fewer pair of heels, but comfortable, stylish and well fitting than a closet full of painful ones.

I got these the other day in a thrift store for less than $20. The brand is Aldo. And the heel is 4.5". The colour is a fine, almost tweed like grey. It reminds me of the snow that you use to get on your TV. They are very roomy and comfortable, but not loose.

While I'm not really a fan of mules, I have to say: Well done! I really like the style and it seems you put a lot of effort into also making them wearable. Even though I think I still wouldn't be able to properly walk in them 😉