higherheels

I can confirm this. You only really get better with higher ones if you wear this height or something above it. All the usual everyday walks in 10 or 11 cm heels don't make me any better in 13 cm heels, but short walks in my 13+ cm boots sure do. By now they feel way easier already. I see your dilemma 😀 I would break the rule, otherwise you won't have that many chances to practice in higher ones. I also walk a lot in stilettos, and of course have to change the heel tips more often but it's a quick routine work.

Apparently nobody here likes the modern block heel, I wonder who does. Maybe the ones who usually don't like heels? 😀 @mlroseplant I didn't even realize that all/most of the well known Louboutin models have a setback heel until you mentioned it! I think all styles have their own beauty, but my favorite is the one with a little curve. In regards to walking I also can't feel a difference. Maybe in a direct comparison of two identical models with a different heel.

@CrushedVamp I can totally imagine the people's reactions. Sure it's not common for a baby to wear heels, but as you say they were just for fun and she couldn't walk anyway. There are so many other things that parents put on their babys just for their own fun and why not, as long as it doesn't hurt the baby it's fine in my opinion.

I actually like this type of stiletto heel on some models. The modern block heels that are getting thicker towards the bottom are absolutely not my thing if you're speaking about those.

@mlroseplant Sometimes it's hard to believe that what is the most normal thing for us, is something that other people don't know anything about. The one thing most people know (or think to know) about heels is: They're painful! I get looks of disbelief everytime I tell someone that they're not painful if you do some things right. Believe it or not, I'm actually also the type to who heel height (the number) doesn't matter that much 😉 For me it's just about the look and aesthetic, but over time with wearing, shopping and looking for heels you simply get an idea of the look a certain heel height has. And of course here on hhplace you need some numbers to make clear what you're speaking of as it's all about heels, but a 5 cm heel just isn't the same as a 13 cm heel 😉 @Shyheels A little bit of movement really helps. It's funny how long standing time affects us differently: I feel it in the balls of my feet. I feel it in my calves when walking in my 13+ cm boots. It's great to share the experiences with others who are just as "crazy" 😀

Looking closer at the second method I can also see the imperfections with the measurement points. I measured (to be fair my husband did, because as mlroseplant also said it's difficult without assistance) as if I worn heels - from the sole to the end of the imaginary heel. That's the only way it makes sense to me. I too am convinced that you can increase your perfect heel height with practice. Nobody was born in heels, and some might be more familiar with heels from the beginning than others. But if I think back of my days when I started wearing heels regularly (where I actually already had experience in some higher heels, but didn't wear them all the time), I went with lower ones like 6 or 7 cm for everyday wear. Now I'm as comfortable for everyday wear in 9 or 10 cm heels. And I'm also sure that if my first heels had a 13 cm heel, I would've not been able to properly walk in them 😉 It would be interesting to see if the resting angle as measured in the formula improved with wearing heels more and higher. I think it did. @mlroseplant I understand your decision, I also don't like low stiletto heels that much, the proportions look off. All my lowest heels are block heels, a much more balanced look in my eyes. @Shyheels That's great! Standing is a hard discipline. If I practice at home it's also often while standing and cooking, there I can always feel how the kitchen is too low. @CrushedVamp I also think there's too much of these "hacks", which in my mind shouldn't be even called so. It feels like sometimes they're just made up for getting attention. I can generally see that many people need the easiest way everywhere. They're probably the target of such things. I already seen people asking AI for such simple things that any kid could answer within seconds. Maybe the fact alone that we like heels is what differs us from that. Because heels aren't the easiest way. But they're certainly more fun, and sometimes also challenging 😉

It really sums up! 8-10 km everyday is also quite a lot. I really have to track one week with my phone to get an idea of hos much I walk. But nowhere close to you, that's for sure 😀

@mlroseplant Good job, 1,6 km in these pumps is great! @CrushedVamp That's interesting, I immediately had to try this out. With the first formula my heel height is 4,3 cm. With the second one it's around 11,7 cm. I don't really get how the first formula could make sense, it's all about the proportions between body length and feet length. The second one makes more sense to me. If I convert my result of 11,7 cm to standard size that would be like 11,9 cm or so. That's a height that I can walk perfectly fine in, but a lower heel is definitely more comfortable. If you interpret your perfect heel height as what you can wear well, but not for everyday and 5 km walks, this formula could give you an idea I think.

In our schools we weren't even allowed to wear shoes at all 😀 You had to directly head to the wardrobe and change your shoes for slippers. I think it's the same until today. Other than that, there were no general outfit rules. The most outrageous outfits probably were in a phase when I often wore corsets to school. But they were still normal, nothing too extreme or revealing, so I never had any problems with it.

Yes, that's absolutely true for me 🙂

@Shyheels oh, you wore your 12 cm boots too, not bad either 🙂 10 cm really is like a magic border where it gets interesting. I mean I also like lower ones, but the asthetics are just perfect and cannot be beat. @mlroseplant Yes, sometimes it can be difficult to put it in the right words. I don't know yet who you're talking about but I may find out 😉

On your last post I somehow already had the feeling that this won't be the end of 4"+ heels for you 😉 I know that feeling. Even if i was sometimes demotivated with a pair that was higher than what I usually wear, it never let me go! The higher it gets, the more small increasements in heel height will already make a big difference. I'm sure you felt that.

Congratulations, 740 km in heels is insanely much! You always get me curious on how much I walk in heels, but not curious enough to make the effort of tracking it and making a statistic 😉 Maybe I'll once do it for one typical week and then see how that would sum up for one year, to get an idea.

First, Happy new year to all 🙂 Haha I had to laugh so hard on this, but it's true! Everytime I think that I almost live in heels, you guys come along and prove me wrong 😀 Whenever I have some manual work to do, I'm always in sneakers. Impressive that you wear heels for that! For me the only thing that makes me feel a bit awkward about it is that I'm only out for practice, and not going anywhere. It's a different feeling than if I'm actually doing something or going somewhere. Other than that, I have the impression that people don't really care. I mean, some people seem to generally have a look as soon as they hear or see heels, no matter how high or low. But wether it's a 11, 12 or 13 cm heel all seems to be in the "insanely high" category and draw the same attention. @Shyheels and @mlroseplant you have some great New Year's resolutions already! I'll take it a bit easier without a strict time/distance plan, but I'll definitely proceed with wearing out my 13+ cm boots and the Hot Chicks regularly. Despite the predictable standing time I chose my 13+ cm boots for New Year's Eve, so I already started high into 2026 🙂

Absolutely, I can't imagine wearing flats all the time

Incredible to see that hhplace and some of it's members exists for so long! I was still a child at that time and the Internet wasn't even really a thing for me until the early 2000s. However I do remember that when first looking for information about high heels I found hhplace 🙂

So regularly wearing heels might compensate this growth so they stay the same size. So far I couldn't realize any change in size on my own feet. Maybe they would've grown if I never wore heels. Who knows, interesting thought at least.

Nothing wrong with combining a dress with a pair of flats, the particular one of your wife is a good combination in my eyes. And I totally agree on how it gives more of a formal or informal look. My personal view on this is that flats make a look more boring, and heels more exciting. And for myself it would somehow just feel wrong to wear a dress with flats. But for me it would generally feel wrong to wear flats for anything that isn't a sports or working activity 😉

Same for me. I wore my 13 cm boots at home a few times, but only out once. There was a lot going on before Christmas, so I didn't have quite the time to practice a lot. Naturally there were also many partys and events where I wore some 12 cm boots, so I'm not totally out of routine 🙂

It sure doesn't get better with time. Hopefully we can enjoy our heels for a long time to come, even if there are some drawbacks. I thankfully don't have any issues so far.

I think you did great! For not being used to them, spending a day in them with all the walks you had is quite an accomplishment 🙂 I'm not surprised that you felt it all over your body. I'm fine in 13 cm heels, but I never wore anything higher than a 11 cm heel to the office. Sure I could wear 12 cm heels, but with all the walking before, meanwhile, and after the office I definitely also would feel it! I'm sure with just a little more practice you'll be fine in your 5" boots. You can join us in the "aiming high" topic 🙂 If you'd rather stick to the "normal" heels that's also fine, there's no need to push the limits all the time.

Starting later with wearing heels and skipping the youth's foolishness has it's upsides as I can read from you both. Otherwise, muscular fatigue wasn't really a topic for me, maybe that's an upside for adapting quicker at a younger age. Standing for a long time in heels really is the worst, it still gets me until today. In 10 cm heels I can stand for a few hours with a little bit of movement in between, but in 12 or 13 cm heels that's a different story... Merry christmas to everyone 🙂

I almost forgot about muscle pain/soreness as a factor. For me it was mostly pain in the balls of the feet and blisters everywhere which caused me the most troubles. I also think it's better to start low and slowly get into higher ones. But as I did it the other way around, I can say that it also works to start high and therefor limit the walking time (which I unfortunately didn't!). It's just not the most comfortable way. The good thing is, when I then started looking for well made and well fitting heels, everything with up to a 10 cm heel was immediately comfortable for everyday wear.

Deflated is a good description!

Yes, well made, well fitting heels are most important. @mlroseplant So you meant that heels are intended to hurt for beginners? That could be the case. I guess mostly due to beginner's mistakes like bad fit, too high of a heel and so on. For me it's the same, I also prefer to walk in heels. If I'm in flats I feel more like strolling around than actually walking.