Shyheels

As I sit in a hotel in Scotland this morning, where I have come on assignment (and yes I brought me 12cm stiletto boots!) I am wondering is we oughtn't to start a separate thread to support each other in our effects to aim high? I thought I would start one in the For Everybody column if that's all right?

Up early and into my stilettos to make coffee and breakfast - but not so successfully. The breakfast was great! The practice in 12cm heels not so much. I was simply clumsy this morning - no other word for it. I wasn’t wearing my heels they were wearing me! I do have some excuse. Those who know me know I live aboard a narrowboat and this morning for whatever reason the boat was shifting a little even thought the canal was smooth. It was very subtle but when you’re perched atop 12cm stilettos and you’re not used to it having the floor shifting even slightly can have an exaggerated effect! still I put in a couple of hours in them - mainly sitting and writing it must be said - but keeping to my vow to practice a little every day!

Great minds think alike! I wore my 12cm stiletto boots while cooking too! It’s the perfect way to practice. You move around and stand and start to develop a feel for them. My calf muscles did all right. A bit of cramping when I first stood up, but not too bad. i get up very early to write (I’m a writer as well as a photographer) and I put on my boots to make coffee and then wore them just while I wrote. It was just nice wearing them. And then made breakfast in them - after that I needed a break! Well done on the Hot Chick 130s! I hope you made a nice meal while wearing them.

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!

Absolutely! I might even give mine a try this afternoon … small doses and start building up! No time like the present! I’ve been meaning to do this for some time! Let’s see how we do

I shall do the same! Except 12cm in my case. I just had a birthday so it makes it easier to sound like a New Year’s resolution! Train to walk gracefully in lofty 12cm stilettos …

I totally get the laziness and routine when it comes to taking the easy way and choosing heels you know are easy to wear. I have some chunky heel ankle boots (8cm) that I wear a lot - they look nice, and I like them, and wearing them is easy. And for stilettos, the 9 and 10cm are again the easy option. Moving up to 12cm - possibly via 11cm - requires commitment and effort. As with the 13cm ones for you. I’m sure it will be worth the effort - in both of our cases. But actually summoning the energy to do it …?

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.

I wonder if maybe the initial cramps I suffered were because my calves were strong as @higherheels originally suggested - I’ve always done a lot of sports that require strong calves, to the point where if I was going to the gym I would actually have a hard time finding an exercise that would really work my calves - until I tried wearing 12cm stilettos! The 10cm would do it a bit but the 12cm heels were the killers. I suspect it was the combination of strong calf muscles and the unaccustomed isometric exercise of wearing lofty stiletto heels that was the cause. i seldom wear my 12cm heels much as i like the appearance. I’ve never developed the skill to wear them gracefully and so I always opt for other boots. I should make a concerted effort - although I expect at the start I’d experience those savage cramps again

There are definitely benefits to wearing stilettos - balance, muscle tone, posture, strong ankles It ought to be better known!

Yes they are extremely good value - especially for a full custom boot maker! Plus their styles are really classy and the leathers and workmanship are first rate.

I’ve done lots of running, cycling and fencing in my time - so my calves are strong and flexible. I think the difference is that wearing heels is an isometric exercise instead of an isotonic one like, say, doing toe raises at the gym. My calves were not used to being flexed and then held in this one tippy-toe position for extended periods of time. And when they were asked to do so they cramped up after a few minutes until I gradually got used to it. i know what you mean though about how wearing heels can help with strength and flexibility for hiking, and vice versa. I sometimes think that if more guys knew how good a workout you can get from an hour in stilettos, there would be a rack of them at the gym!

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 ...

Sounds like a great place for a nighttime stroll in 12cm stilettos! My university was very much east coast preppy/boho/hippy vibe depending on your social set - and none of these demographics were particularly likely to be seen in heels, especially not in the mid-Seventies. And yes, my university was also located on a hill. No mountain lions though …

I think it depends too on where in the 1980s you’re talking about. The early eighties was still in the shadows of the seventies, but by the end of the decade fashions had changed considerably. When I was in college I don’t remember anyone wearing heels - clogs were a big thing, but not heels

I woukdn’t fancy wearing them on the towpath

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!

Yes indeed. Living along a towpath as I do, going for a stroll in stilettos is just not sensible. Even chunky heels are at risk and in the rain ..,

Seven inch heels are well into fetish territory - if that’s the message your character is meant to convey, by all means but it would be decidedly creepy. He sounds a bit creepy anyway but if he’s hoping to disguise it then definitely lower the heels to no more than 12cm or just under five inches. Even so in real life such a guy would make women uneasy - and understandably so

If they were red they could be emoji heels 👠

Jean Gaborit boots are lovely - well worth the expense

What are those called? Cat heels? Very dowdy, nothing like the dangerous glamour of true stilettos

They are an offence. One of our former prime ministers used to wear them - no, not Boris Johnson, but Theresa May. It was not a great look.

Totally agree! An abomination!

Yes! Tried but failed! Exactly the feelings these stubby stilettos conjure up.