Shyheels

A tougher drive to Morocco though! 🙂

Yes the heel height all seem to be based on a size 38.

Europe is better than Britain, but we are far ahead of the US in terms of public transport. I am in a very rural part of Britain, a mile from the nearest (small) town. But I can walk in there and do my shopping - all small local shops - and if I want to go to a supermarket I can catch a bus to a bigger town half an hour away. The busses run regularly. They are clean and pleasant, with WiFi and charging points for phones. And gorgeous scenery out the window. At this larger town I can catch a train and go anywhere. Although it makes for a long day, I can and have made day trips to London and Manchester. Day trips to York and Leeds are easy. i really don’t need a car and don’t feel the least bit inconvenienced by not having one.

I’ve not owned a car in decades. I get around on foot, or by bike, boat, bus or train

Well my boots were purchased from Italian Heels and were sold as 12cm heels in their standard size, with the heels being incrementally higher or lower depending on however much bigger or smaller your foot size is. It is what it is. Whether it looks accurate in the photo or not. Whatever the actual measurement of the heels on my boots, I regard them as 12cm heels since that is what they are billed as. its sensible to figure things this way as there can be a general talking point - when @mlroseplant or @higherheels says they’re in 12cm heels we know we are talking about roughly the same angle and degrees of difficulty, allowing for slight variations in the designs of the shoe or boot.

They look nice. Very wearable - I love ankle boots myself.

I think too that with stilettos, the higher the heel the more fragile it is likely to be

Yes, there are other aspects beside heel height that contribute to a shoe or boot's ease of wear. I have a pair of lovely side OTK boots custom made by Jean Gaborit with slender - nearly but not quite true stiletto - heels that measure about 9.5cms. They are so incredibly easy to walk in, not much different than walking in chunky mid-heels really. If I had the money I would love to get some more of their boots.

Working from home as I do, I have no commute. If I go out shopping it’s a minimum of about 8000 steps, most of that on a badly rutted or muddy towpath. If it’s dry or frozen I’ll do it in chunky mid heels but for wearing stilettos I need to take them with me and change at a park bench or bus stop in town. I do sometimes but the time and hassle factor is a disincentive

Yes. I suspect that single extra centimetre makes a whopping difference. When I was tottering about in my 12cm boots I tried imagining what that extra centimetre’s height in your Hot Chicks would be like. Definitely too high for me even to attempt. That said, I think when I either fix my present boots or buy some new 12cm heels I will start making decent progress. Seeing the tilt on that left heel when I was examining the boot on the tabletop explained a lot of my difficulties so far. I’m really looking forward now to giving 12cm a proper try. until then I’m getting plenty of time in my 10cm heels

Here’s a case where appearances are deceiving. The actual height of those heels is 14.7cm as per Italian Heels chart on heel height relative to size - the height based on a standard 12cm heel for size 38. The photo was taken in August in a hotel room while I was on assignment, and shot with an iPhone so perhaps the angle from which it was shot - the phone was propped on a chair - might have skewed the perspective. i have a pair of 10cm heels in that same model, which I am wearing right now. i can tell you as fact that 12cm heels are plenty challenging for me, and that I feel no need to up the ante to 13cm - nor is there much likelihood of my finding decent quality 13cm heels in my size even if I wanted to.

I’m very impressed!

Wow! What height heels were you wearing for most of that. Surely not 12cm or 13cm! I’m guessing mostly 10cm - which is hugely impressive.

Thank you. They are Italian Heels’ Tina model. I have a pair of these with 10cm heels that I am wearing right now. I don’t think it was anything I did which caused the problem - not my walking style or anything - I think it is just a materials failure. A pity because I really like these boots. I was really hoping to master 12cm stilettos - and I have had such good support from @mlroseplant and @higherheels At least I can see that my lack of progress was t just down to ineptitude! For the time being I shall work on becoming very polished and graceful in 10cm heels

Here for the record are my challenge heels - my 12cm knee boots

I’ve just been researching the possibility of repairing my boot and it seems it is possible if you take it to a good cobbler - so I’m taking a bit of heart. It’s worth a shot!

Yes, they can’t read a map or tell time on a traditional clock. If we brought those two things back, plus stick shifts on cars and cursive writing we could take down the whole western world

This morning I was back in my 12cm stilettos and as I was tottering about making breakfast I realised that something just wasn't right with the left boot. It's not just lack of practice or an inability to make the jump from 10cm to 12 cm, but something wrong with the heel itself. I took the boots off and gave the left boot a thorough examination. When I placed the sole flat on my table, so I could crouch down and see how the heel met the surface, it was obvious that the shank has twisted slightly. The heel is definitely a few degrees off vertical. It wasn't just my imagination or lack of talent. It's a relief in some way, I've been feeling frustrated, thinking how @mlroseplant and @higherheels have made such splendid progress while I seem to be getting nowhere. It's depressing too. This is my only pair of 12cm heels. I've been looking at the offerings of Fuss-Schuhe as recommended by @higherheels in another thread, and I like some of their boots very much, but alas the magazine world is not so brilliant at the moment and it might be a while before I can afford to buy myself some nice new 12cm stiletto boots. In the meantime I am going for immersive practice in my 10cm heels - hoping to maintain my abilities!

My first was a Minolta then a Canon AE-1. I loved film and could disappear into a darkroom for hours. I studied photography at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque back in the day when Route 66 still ran through the heart of the city (Central Ave). Lots of cool stuff to shoot. Much as I loved my hours in the darkroom I wouldn’t go back to that - I like digital. i want to try some shots in heels, but I want them to be stylish - artistically speaking even if the subject is not stylish at all!

I am the same. I use a laptop for writing and editing my photos, but I’ve skipped the whole GPS thing entirely - I use paper maps exclusively.

I do that often enough with my professional work! I’ve been very remiss with my challenge heels this week. We’ve had some truly vile weather here and my nice warm heavy suede OTK boots with mid heels have been calling to me when I get up!

Very nice! I like that style

I'm afraid I went in the opposite direction - long Covid was not good to me and I need to lose about 7kgs and it doesn't seem to want to shift....

My collection is far more modest: 1 pair stiletto knee boots with 12cm heels 1 pair stiletto knee boots with 10cm heels 1 pair suede OTK boots with slender 9cm heels 1 pair suede OTK boots with chunky mid-heels 2 pair leather knee boots with chunky mid heels 1 pair ankle boots with chunky mid heels and because I like tall boots of all descriptions, 4 pair of low-heeled knee and OTK boots

I actually have a fair bit of professional expertise is self captures with camera, tripod and programmable timers, but I’ve never tried photographing or videoing myself in heels. My stuff is more expedition oriented. I’m kind of interested in trying. It would be an interesting challenge