kanye2020

It really feels like heels are a dying trend, like the corset before it. Because fundamentally, heels are not pleasurable to wear for most people, and given the choice, most people go with flats.

Take a look at what the kids wear these days, it's all athleisure/streetwear, skaters shoes and sneakers. The internet casual-fied everything and that includes clothing. Those computer companies that have taken over most major metropolitan areas in North America have people going to work in jeans and t-shirt (hell I've seen people going to interviews at computer companies wearing a hoodie and jeans, and getting the job), and who's going to wear heels with that combo? Nowadays as more women enter traditionally masculine fields, there is no expectation for them to dress feminine, so they don't, they dress utilitarian.

Additionally, more than the practicality concerns, heels represent female oppression (again, like the corset before it). Why did women wear high heels along with hosiery and skirts and all that to work? I would bet, for a vast number of women, it's because of the dress code that is expected of them. Nowadays all that is dying in business settings as well: flats are replacing heels, pants are replacing the skirt/pantyhose combo. Whenever heels are in the news nowadays, it's somebody protesting their inclusion as a part of some mandatory dress code, vilifying them to the public.

Finally, high heels is very much a western tradition, and as more immigrants come in to western countries, more and more of the population won't have that familiarity with wearing heels.

I'm in post-secondary education right now and I can say I rarely see those black mid-heel booties at school and during commutes, and proper high heels are once-per-two-weeks sightings. What might have been skirts and heels a decade ago is now leggings and chuck taylors. I try to savour what heels I do see because they are going away. I don't have any agendas against these social trends, but I do feel sad that heels are going away as a side effect.

My local thrift store's selection of female footwear ends at size 10 Female and I'm size 12 Female. Sad.

Thanks @m1super90, you opened my eyes to the differences between these generic Chinese knot sandal heels Domina-108 knock-offs. At 14 cm, the arch has the greatest angle, and as the heel height increase, the angle at the arch increase to allow more heel height. It makes total sense, but I didn't realize it before your comment. Now I really wonder how the 14 cm model it looks my shoe size.

• At 14 cm, we can clearly see the 2 bends, 90-degrees at the ball-of-foot and a noticeable bend at the arch. 
• At 16 cm, the bend at the ball-of-foot becomes less severe, and the bend at the arch similarly becomes less severe. For the lack of better words, I see the angles are more "dull" and not as "sharp" as they were on the 14 cm model. 
• At 18 cm, the bend at the ball-of-foot return to a near 90-degrees, but the bend at the arch is becomes even more vertical than the 16 cm model. 

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Mike, High Heels generally can bend the feet at 2 positions right? At the base of the toes, and at the arch under the feet, between the heel and the ball of the foot. This 90-degree I'm talking about refers to the angle that the arch of the foot would take when wearing heels. In the picture in the original post, you can see on the left, a shoe with a 130-degree arch, where the arch is relatively straight. On the right, you can see an arch of 90-degrees, where there's a right angle, making the heel horizontal, and the rest of the foot (excluding toes) vertical. I'm wondering if shoes like the one shown on the right with this right angle in the arch exist currently. To put it in another way, I'm looking for a shoe that bends significantly at 2 spots: the toes, and the arch; whereas the usual heels bend at one place: the toes, and have a somewhat straight arch area.

Freestyler, I see, thank you for your post. What angle does your arch bend to at the underside of the foot?

As title, who even makes Ballet Heels for sale these days? Here's what I know:

estresmodes, which someone here said was too soft: http://extremehighheels.net/en/

Ilia's Little Shoe Box, which is supposedly inherited from the original Little Shoe Box : http://iliaslittleshoebox.co.uk

Chinese Stuff, also on ebay and alibaba: http://www.milanoo.com/search?type=search&keyword=ballet+boots

Punitive Shoes, which some people said had inconsistent quality: http://www.punitiveshoes.com/index_en.shtml

RTBU, which looks a lot like the brandless Chinese stuff you find on alibaba: https://www.refusetobeusual.com/

Kassiopeya, which also seems Chinese: http://www.kassiopeya.de/

Bedheels, Thai shoemakers: http://www.bedheels.com/shoes-and-boots/

Australian Shoecraft, the unknown one to me, have heard of any reviews: http://www.shoecraft.com.au/

Pleaser/Devious, the obvious one: http://www.pleaserusa.com/

Are there any more manufacturers that I missed?

After a round of research, I found the "Creating a Highheeled Woman" website that was mentioned around years ago. Here: http://web.archive.org/web/20070221191449/http://newagequest.com:80/hh/highheels.html

In particular, this image intrigued me:

I searched around and found that even the highest heels these days have an obtuse angle of over 90 degrees, even the "fetish" heels. Which leads to the question, does 90-degree angle arch heels exist anymore, and if so, are there even any for sale?

Hi all, I've been lurking for a while as a guest, and now that I actually bought a pair or two of proper heels, I'm registering this account to better understand this hobby of mine. I'm new to high heel wearing and the scene in general and would be grateful for your help.

Don't mind the username, I'm neither serious nor affiliated.

Kanye2020

I bought a pair of Devious 1020's and they come with those wads of paper for toe padding. After a while, I found them satisfactorily functional but was wondering if more experienced people generally use something else, like some gel pads or wads of cotton, or bunched up old fabrics or, as real ballerinas use, wads of merino wool.