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I attended a neighborhood block party a couple of days ago. Yes, one of those stereotypical American events where they block off the street for an evening and all the neighbors have a get together, usually involving lots of food. Anyway, when I was about to leave, somebody finally commented on my shoes, which were tan Alaia sandals with broad straps and 4 1/2" block heels. It turned into one of those "How in the world?" kind of things. I said that I'd been working at it for 12 years, and I almost know what I'm doing now. What I should do from now on is ask something like, "Just exactly how interested are you in the subject, because I could go on at some length telling stories and explaining my methodology." I always feel like I give very unsatisfying answers because I am quite sure nobody wants to talk about the subject for more than about 30 seconds. Here is an old and very bad quality picture, just so you get a vague idea of the shoes I was wearing.

Hurrah! The more the merrier! I did in fact get out my very elegant chocolate-brown 12cm stiletto knee boots yesterday afternoon and tried them on - for the first time I well over a year. Well! Those extra two centimetres do many a difference! I'd forgotten! I tottered about a bit, as a means of reacquainting myself with this loftier height. I love their imperious aesthetic and was pleased to be wearing them - and with the benefit of this little support group that seems to be forming, I'm going to stick to it!

If I may, perhaps I'll join you guys as well. My problem is not necessarily laziness (though I'm definitely lazy about other things, like cleaning out the garage), but the fact that I don't want anyone to see me until I have gained a certain amount of skill.

You guys all know that I like to wear skorts with my heels. I just bought a faux black leather skort on Amazon. I really like it very much. It fits me to the T. It felt great first time wearing it with my white women's tunic top and a pair of white double band sandals. I felt totally confident wearing this ensemble. I think that I may get other colors of the skort, like white and hot pink. I'll put a link to the skort I bought on Amazon.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3PP7P3X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1&psc=1 Happy Heeling, bluejay

That’s a good idea. I would love to be able to walk well in 12cm stilettos. I really like the aesthetics of them. An 11cm heel would make a good compromise as I work my way up. I have 9cm and 10cm stilettos both of which I am quite comfortable in - to manage 12cm would be a nice accomplishment. Speaking of accomplishments, good luck with the 13cm heels! That will be very impressive to master the art of walking gracefully in those.

@Shyheels: If you're doing fine in 10 cm heels I'm sure you can also make the 12 cm work. But as you said, it sure would require some effort. A 11 cm heel would make a good training shoe. I'm also thinking about putting some effort into getting more comfortable in my 13 cm heels as I really like them, but don't wear them often.

Got another pair of shoes off of Poshmark. My first "bad" experience there. The two weeks to ship should've been the only red flag I needed. But I loved the look of them and thought it was worth the wait for less than $20. Then they arrived. The tops were flawless. The soles were atrocious. It looked like they had been removed and reattached with a hot glue gun with glue oozing out the sides. None of this was visible from the angles that the half dozen images were taken from. I almost rejected them, but for the price I'll just keep them for around the house. They fit well, and from my perspective while wearing them, it's not visible. Lesson learned... I hope.

Nope! It startled me how intensely my calf muscles cramped up in 12cm stilettos! It seemed almost unfair! I'm a cyclist. I ride hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometres every year. If anyone had fit calves surely it was me! But wearing stilettos, as I quickly discovered, is a lot different than cycling! Because you can do one doesn't mean you can do the other ...

One of these days I'm going to drag out the story (again) for those who haven't heard about the time I wore way too high of a heel too early in my high heel journey. I'm not surprised you faded pretty early if 12 cm was your first pair. People point to the 1980s as being a good time for heels, but looking back through my old photos and watching old music videos, it was and it wasn't. Yeah, elevated heels were much more common back then, but I don't think I actually saw in person anybody wearing what I would call actual high heels. Taller mid heels, for sure, but 4 inch + was just not a thing in real life around here. Not even in college. The heels I thought were so tall at the time just weren't all that high compared to what I wear every day. I actually went shoe shopping with this girl one time, and she bought some black patent leather pumps which were about the highest heels I'd ever seen somebody actually wear. I never got the chance to actually measure them, but I'd estimate them to be right at 4"/10 cm. She wore them somewhat regularly, but then the next year she chose to study in Europe and I never saw her again after that. That is not 100% true, but close enough for this story. Here is something similar in style and height to what the girl bought when I was with her. As I said, hers were black patent rather than suede.

Even though our town streets and sidewalks are in more of a state of disrepair than in years past, they are still quite acceptable. However, it's much better if one sticks to routes one knows well when the days grow short and it's dark during the walk. As far as rain, here are my favorite rain shoes. They keep my feet out of the puddles. Not much good for mud, though.

They are quite soulless - pardon the pun. My first heels were altogether more memorable - a very elegant pair of chocolate brown stiletto knee boots with 12cm heels. I’d always fancied a pair of boots like that. Trying them on was exhilarating - until my calves seized up in knots! Welcome to the world of high heels!