Shyheels

On the flip side of this, when I first tried on heels I thoughtlessly bent over to pick up a piece of paper that had slipped to the floor, forgetting momentarily that I was in 10cm heels! I nearly face-planted on the floor - an early lesson that the world is a different place in heels and you need to do things a bit differently when you’re wearing them!

That is indeed a good idea! I do a lot of my practicing in my 12cm heels while cooking in my galley. I’d not considered the other advantages! Thanks!

Yes boot cut jeans would be a better idea with hiking boots, but with knee boots and certainly with OTK boots I much prefer skinny jeans. Trying to finagle jeans over the shafts of OTK boots doesn’t appeal. Too much hassle,

But we all wear something on our feet. Hosiery is an option but footwear is not. Boots, shoes, sandals, whatever, we all wear ‘em. Heels are a design element in that. One of those elements that fashions alter regularly. The buying public gets tired or bored, or designers decide they need to fire the market with something new, and there are changes. And so it goes. Heels will be back

I don’t think it will. Fashion has always been cyclical and I can’t see that changing. Heels, like skirt lengths, go up and down. The whole business model of fashion is one of near constant change although that change is more typically evolutionary rather than fast and sweeping. At the moment heels are in a lull, but the market and the people who move it will eventually become restless and start shaking things up.

Nope! Its like saying you want a sensible pair of stilettos

Thanks! Like you, I love the astonishing variety one can find in heels - even just within the category of boots! Colours, shapes, styles and heights. I've been looking at pumps, even thinking of being daring and picking out a pair in some pastel shade. Also trying to make up my mind - do I go for 10cm or do like what you did with your Hot Chicks and buy 12cm for the sheer elegance and worry about how the hell I walk in them later?

Hopefully that won't happen! I think there will always be a demand for stilettos - the worry is only the real cheap and nasty or the really expensive will continue to make them, with very slim pickings in that mid-range price and quality bracket

That was actually my first thought - that they were part of a clown costume

Neither of my grandmothers were exactly storybook characters either - unless you're thinking of a wicked witch. One was a psycho and the other was in the rackets.

Yes! Here in England, even in London, one seldom sees stilettos out and about. You're more likely to see them up north in Manchester, Leeds or York, but even so, not many. Knee boots with chunky 7-8cm heels are relatively common - although nowhere near as common as trainers - but stilettos or tall slender heels of 10cm and above are rare.

I’ve never worn pumps or sandals - I have to admit now that I am practicing so much in my 12cm boots, and hearing about you, @higherheels and @mlroseplant in your sandals and pumps and Hot Chicks I’ve become kind of curious to try lofty stilettos in these styles as well! I’ve even been looking at a few 12cm styles … I expect I'll find them a bit more challenging than boots, less ankle support for one thing, but I am kind of fascinated by the additional challenge ...

Yes! I grew up in boots! Hot summers aren’t a thing over here in Britain - 25°C is considered a hot summer day. But I used to wear hiking boots as a regular thing even when I lived for many years in Australia and I’ve often worn them on assignments in the tropics. (Knee boots not so much!) I guess hot weather just doesn’t bother me much. I still love proper boot season when I can bring out my more fashionable tall boots Thank you for the encouragement. I really love the lines and imperious elegance of 12cm stilettos and would love to be able to walk effortlessly in them. Our little high heel support club has been so helpful. Im starting to imagine it now

Well, that’s her. Fair enough. It may be the present trend, it may not be. There is nothing in that first person account, other than the title, to suggest that her experience is universal nor is her experience or story telling very compelling. It sounds like she got bored with heels and moved on - something that’s a matter of interest primarily to herself

Ah yes but I often wear skinny jeans as I like to wear my tall boots over them. Skinny jeans snd hiking or mountaineering boots looks a bit unbalanced

That’s nice that she’s supportive even while not wearing heels herself

Heels died out in the 1730s - early Georgian/Hanoverian. But they were big news before then, especially in the mid to late 17th century. I’ll have a look for Frank Moss Bennett’s paintings.

Those do indeed look big. I’d hate to imagine them in my size. One of the things I like about my stiletto knee boots is that they minimise rather than exaggerate my big feet - unlike my heavy Vibram soled hiking boots!

Those do look like great heels for walking distances in - sturdy and stable. And nice looking too!

I love boot season - although to be honest boot season for me extends year round. I’ve always preferred boots to shoes, ever since my childhood, growing up in the mountains. I much preferred the solitude of the mountains to my classmates in school and my hiking boots were a way of distinguishing myself from them and their natty street and town shoes. I’ve kept this bias all through adult life and have been fortunate enough to have a career that has allowed me to pretty much live in hiking boots or engineering boots. I’m the guy magazine editors send to the South Pole or Papua New Guinea, not the one they send to cover finance or politics! I’ve always envied the really cool selection of boot styles open to women and so when I finally decided to try wearing heels, it was always going to be boots. Aside from my stiletto knee boots, I’ve several pair of chunky heeled boots and a few pair of sturdy soled low heeled knee boots which I can and do wear daily along the towpath. I’ve become known for it. Hearing you describe your 12cm stiletto knee boots as easy and comfortable (compared to your Hot Chicks, admittedly) is both inspiring and dispiriting. I am so far from finding my 12cm boots easy and comfortable. On the bright side though, practicing in them has made my 10cm stilettos feel easy and comfortable! Thanks for the encouragement on walking in stilettos. I shall get myself a supply of heel tips and be a little more daring

I’m assuming this is AI. In any case it’s hideous

Wear quietly elegant heels with a quietly presentable top and they don’t notice you at all

They certainly don’t owe you anything! I’ve not logged the miles on any of my boots, but I certainly have pairs whose heels have worn very well and comfortably. My Jean Gaborit boots are especially good in this regard

Wow @mlroseplant that is truly impressive! I’m impressed with the durability of the heels too! That’s one of the things I worry about in terms of “real world” walking in stilettos. I’m acutely conscious of the slenderness and possible fragility of my stiletto heels and worry about breaking them. I have no reason to suspect the quality of my heels, none at all, but nevertheless I look at their needle thin slenderness and I worry. walking three kilometres in them is a serious accomplishment! Well done. With you going on such long strolls, and @higherheels walking hundreds of metres in 13cm Hot Chicks, I feel like I’m very much bringing up the rear.

Yes, heels are part of an overall look, which is one of the reasons I don’t care for exaggerated or extreme styles. It creates an unbalance, overemphasising the heels. They are a style element, and a fun one, that should suit the rest of your look and add to the whole.