Anne_Louise

Thank you, Fred for your welcome. I've already posted quite a lot elsewhere about my addiction so you can find out some more about me there if you want to. Best wishes, Anne Louise

Thanks for the warm welcomes. I only found this site a few days ago, and already I seem to have posted lots of messages. Everyone sems so friendly and interesting. The secret to wearing high shoes is to work up gradually. In my teens I wore my sister's shoes as she decided to follow fashion and discarded her stilettos. I expect they would have been about 3.5'' to 4'', but I don't remember now. I scoured shoe shops for older stock - there were quite a few privately owned shops in those days and kept a lot of stock in storage. I even bought secondhand if they looked respectable and little-worn. Then the shopping catalogues tended to have some every season for a few years with 4.5'' or 4.75'', and I would stock up each time. Many years ago in a discount store I found some 5'', bought 2 pairs, and was well and truly hooked. Then I saw an edition of Vogue where these unbelievable shoes were featured - that must have been about 1992 I think - and sent for a catalogue. All a bit fetishy, I'm afraid, but addicts overlook such things! They have needle-thin 5.5''+ heels and are almost too beautiful to wear. In fact I almost sent back the first pair as being too impractical, but I persevered, and bought ever increasing numbers. Now my cupboards bulge with shoe boxes. So now, 6'' heels don't seem excessively high. Some of this has I'm afraid already been posted elsewhere, so sorry if I bore you.

I've posted elsewhere that I wear 5.5'' heels daily. I don't usually have to walk great distances, but sometimes, as for most of last week last week, I have to be on my feet, walking from room to room, up and down stairs, to and from the car-park and up and down slopes. I have no ill-effects and even forgot to take my shoes off for a while after I got home.Two factors help - I have large (u.k. size feet, and the design and balance of the shoe has to be right for the wearer. I get most of mine from 'Leatherworks' (they are sold as 6'' and vary a little according to style, I find, but never lower than 5.5''), and for me they are perfect - although they might not suit everyone, so shop around until you find a maker that suits you, and stay with them. I have a few pairs of genuine 6'' which I will wear if I only have to walk short distances, and some of my very old shoes are 4.5'' to 4.75'' - most of them are getting very worn though as I've had some for twenty years or more. I've a few 5'' which for me is a good height for medium shopping and generally dashing about. The 6'' I have are thicker heels than Leatherworks, and to me less attractive. One or two of you have mentioned 7'' - as someone who likes to push things to the limit, those I would love to try. The problem is, I can't afford to buy things which I shall hardly ever wear, so unless I can mange to walk elegantly and naturally, I might have to resist the temptation. I never wear platforms - that's cheating! Are 7'' impossible for size 8 feet? One of the best things that's been said to me is that I look 'comfortable' in my shoes - which means that I am often unconscious of them a lot of the time.

Anita, you and I share a similar outlook on life! Maybe you carry your love of glitz further than I do - stretch lmos aren't really my thing - but much of what you say I could have written for myself. Like you, I wear my heels everywhere when I need to be properly dressed (long walks are a necessary exception - I sink down to my hiking boots then!), and most people who know me have given up commenting. I used sometimes to have comments about wearing such shoes to church - I've also been told I shouldn't wear leather to church - but provided the outfit is smart and the shoes not too eycatching apart from the heels, I can see nothing wrong. I don't wear ultra-short skirts to church or anywhere else where others could be embarrassed or distracted - I try to dress appropriately for the occasion but in a way that suits me and expresses my personality. I ignore the dictates of fashion and whether my clothes are ankle length or thigh high, slinky or flowing there is one constant - the highest stilettos that I can manage, which is, for me, five and a half inch daily, going up to six inch when I don't have to walk too far. These are NOT hookers' shoes, C.F.M. (horrible term) or fetish-wear. I wear them because they look beautiful, they make a wonderful sound, they improve my posture, they make me stand out in the crowd, they show I care and, above all, because they make me feel GREAT! Keep up the good work Anita, and I shall do my bit this side of the 'pond'.

Lucy, hello. So glad there is another of the 'older generation' here - and your mother even more so! I'm always in high stilettos and on the receiving end of the usual questions. The thing is, I hardly ever see anyone else wearing anything higher than about 4'' in my bit of rural s.w., so I do tend to look a bit exceptional in my skyscrapers - not that I mind too much, it is nice to be different, but just occasionally to know that I'm not completely mad would be reassuring! I just can't stop myself wearing them now so I shall have to go on til I drop!

I don't think I have ever NOT worn stilettos of some kind when properly dressed for work or occasions. I did try a couple of platforms in the seventies, but one of those had a very (for the time) thin heel. Even in the first mini-skirt era, I always thought heels looked better, so managed to buy old stock, or even second-hand, to make sure I always had some. I have never slavishly followed fashion. The heels in those days were probably no higher than four inches, though I did later on find four-and-a-half inch heels appearing in the shopping catalogues, and always bought some to ensure I had them when fashions changed. I've had no trouble in the past fiteen years or so getting five inch heels and as my lower ones are now wearing out, I rarely wear anything lower. As someone has said, there will always be specialists to keep the style going through the bad times. I just love stilettos, the higher the better - they make me feel good and, yes, sexy. For me, five-and-a-half inch are best, although I have some six inch for when I don't have to walk far. I haven't changed my opinion about skirt lengths - heels look good with any length, but short clothes always look best with heels!

People I know are used to my eccentric shoe styles, but strangers often come up and ask some or all of those same questions. To the most usual 'how do you walk?' my reply is 'Walk - I can RUN in them!' - which is true, if I have to! I nearly always wear five and a half inch heels, and often have to be on my feet most of the day. If they are well made, they are as comfortable as lower heels. I too miss the wolf-whistles - political correctness has spoilt so much fun!