Shyheels

Wow congratulations! Mastering 13cm heels puts you in some pretty rarified company. Even among high heel aficionados very few can rock 13+cm boots or Hot Chicks! Well done!

I just don’t get as much real world practice as you and @higherheels. This past year I have been more or less stuck in this very rural - albeit very pretty - stretch of canal for various reasons and have no place to practice short of walking a mile along a towpath first, changing into my heels, practicing, then changing back and hiking home along the muddy towpath. Not impossible but the commitment in time to do all this has seen me duck out and confine my practice to home. I do plenty of standing and a reasonable amount of pacing (and much sitting at my desk) but that’s no substitute for your long walks or @higherheels visits to Christmas markets. I’m hope this year the canals will be a bit more navigable and I can get to places where practice is as easy as stepping off the boat

I suspect that women’s models may be made in narrower lasts but otherwise the size - length - would be the same, although like you I’ve notice odd conversions between UK and EU sizes

English shoe sizes are unisex.

Yes, doing this with @mlroseplant and @higherheels has really made a huge difference to me. They’ve become virtual colleagues and I think of them fondly whenever I am practicing, even if I am bringing up the rear in terms of my skill level. Their encouragement has been a great help

It’s funny how you can vary day to day in walking in our challenge heels. Some days I feel like I’m really getting there, and then a couple of days later and got no obvious reason feel like a little kid borrowing his mothers high heels. Maybe not quite that bad, but a long way from graceful. I think this is where your long walks and high mileage really comes into play - or @higherheels years of experience in lofty stilettos. You guys have built up a foundation that I lack.

No, I get it! I’d be worried too about that very thing.

I had a look at Fuss-Schuhe. I liked what I saw! Thanks for the tip. When I get a bit of money together - the magazine world is not great at the moment! - I think I shall buy some boots from them

I feel quite confident - even a bit cocky! - in my 10cm heels but at 12cm, although I’m improving, I’m still tottery and looking like a beginner in heels.

Wow! Congratulations on a great find! I would like to get another pair of 12cm boots but am a little stuck. Italian Heels was a good bet but they seem to have gone under and anyway, like you, cost is a consideration - the magazine world is not all it could be these days. yes, I aspire to look like I belong in my 12cm stilettos, as though wearing them was second nature, but I am well short of that goal. I confess to a bit of awe at @higherheels abilities as demonstrated in how quickly she was able to move up from her “easy” 12cm heels to being able to go out confidently in 13+cm boots. I’ve got such a long way to go

I think the thing that makes the most difference is that we all genuinely love to wear heels and want to wear them well, so we experiment with different methods of training and practicing and get the most out of them. We care. We want to do well.

Yes! I’ve noticed this! I come back from a long walk into town in my mid heel boots and put in my 12cm stilettos and they feel more manageable than when I just put them in at the start of the day.

Yes I would say it sounds as though the shank itself twisted. That’s a pity, they look like nice sandals. I'm actually starting to wonder if the left heel on my 12cm boots isn’t slightly off vertical - it just doesn’t feel quite right, yet it is fixed firmly to the boot. I hope it’s not off because these are my only 12cm heels

Not at all. The shoes are obviously classy but in an understated way that allows you to dress up a casual outfit - it’s a good look

I also went with mid-heel boots - warm suede OTK boots whose 8cm heels are easy to walk in. It was warmth more than heel height that was driving my choice. Our temperatures are not as cold as yours, but we have an insidious dampness that has a serious magnifier effect as far as discomfort goes. Once back in the boat with the fire going I was back into my 12cm boots - and yes, like you, I’m still not very good at them

I’ve never run into a situation like this where someone went off their rocker about my wearing boots or heels, but as a cyclist I have encountered a few crazies. It’s best just to keep going and ignore them

And they are comfortable - as long as you buy decently made, decently fitting heels there is no reason to be uncomfortable. My 12cm heels may be a challenge for me to walk in gracefully, but they are not uncomfortable, at least not in a painful sort of way.

I know what you mean! I’m tottering in my 12cm boots this morning, feeling very unpracticed. Utterly vile weather outside - horizontal rain, 80kmh (50mph) gusts, a temperature of 1°C (34°F) and a windchill of -13°C (8°F). Just had to go out - not in heels! - for a half mile walk up the flooded towpath with a dolly to a boatyard where I could buy a couple bags of coal. I was getting low and this was no day to run out. Now back aboard by the fire and feeling much more civilised in my heels - even if I totter about the galley as I make my coffee …

Well,I don’t know how your computer works but mine resets to the default American English at the drop of a hat. And although I turn it off, it seems to reboot itself as and when. And is any of this really worthy of our time?

Are you unaware that autocorrect does whatever it pleases

I sent Steve an email last night - no response as yet

Well, for starters my pyjamas are basically warm track suit bottoms and a T-shirt and I’m just not going to wear those with stiletto boots. My stilettos are for dressing smartly. That’s just part of the deal. Indeed wearing heels has boosted my game in terms of dressing well for the home office. It’s just that one these chilly mornings, until I get the fire built, I’ve lingered in my already warm clothes and then get too focussed on work and forget. i don't need hand warmers. Once the stove gets going I’m plenty warm enough! I just need to take the time to go get dressed in my jeans and boots and return to work I'm somewhat relieved to hear that @mlroseplant has been slack in his heel wearing too, but I’m clearly losing ground big time to @higherheels whose now rocking her 13+ cm boots!

Oh, I’m not. I’ve done some nice writing actually. It’s been really chilly and damp in the mornings and my focus has been more in hot coffee and building a fire, and staying in my still-warm pyjamas instead of putting on cold jeans and my stiletto boots!

That’s a good age to stop. I’ve never seen a 111 year old who could convincingly carry off short shorts. They try, but there’s just something missing …

I have been appallingly slack this past week and hardly practiced at all in my challenge heels - or indeed any heels at all. I’ve been getting up and building a fire and then plunging straight into my novel writing, not bothering to get dressed for work as I usually do. I keep telling myself I’ll just finish this section and put in my jeans and stiletto boots but somehow it just slips my mind. I really must get my focus back and out of these slovenly habits …