Small feet / High Heels

[High Surprise]

Other threads on the hhplace have been discussing this subject. Are smaller feet in a pair of high heels more attractive? Would be interesting to see if everyone agrees....

[Joak]

I've voted for don't care - the full answer is: The proportion of the feet size, heel height, leg lenght, etc must be right than it really doesn't matter! Well anyway, I've to say that many small sized high heel styles tend to be not as steep in the larger sizes - so they often look better then the larger ones, but this don't have much to do with the size itself... best wishes Joak

[girl from mars]

I prefer the look of a larger foot in high heels. Say, UK 7 or 8. A natural consequence of maintaining the asthetics of the shoe design is that the heel must be higher for a larger size. I prefer fashion rather than fetish styles. A shoe that looks good in an 8 with a 4 inch heel, is simply not high enough in small sizes. With a higher heel, the look becomes a little less fashion and a little more fetish. I am also very keen on long ultra pointed toes. This is very much the current look in London and SE England, much to my delight. Small feet, high heels and short toes kind of adds up to Miss Piggy / Minnie Mouse to me. Now I like the Muppets, Disney and all that as much as the next guy. But not in that way, no. Sorry.

[wez]

Armed with a calculator and very rusty trig, I've done some stats on shoe size and heels based on some rather enjoyable measuring! To maintain the same angle / arch as 4" heels in a size UK 4 1/2 the heel height would need to be: Size 5 10.2cm Size 6 10.6cm Size 7 11.2cm Size 8 11.6cm Size 9 12.1cm Size 10 12.5cm So for going from size 4 to size 10 you need to add an inch in heel height to have the same proportion, and equally working backwards a 6" on a size 10 shoe would be equivilent to a 5" in size 4 (so I can consider my wife's 5" heels as 6" heels relatively!)

[High Surprise]

Wez - that is fantastic! Thank you for taking the time. Brilliant work. Interesting huh? I've learnt something.

[wez]

This is the kind of maths I like! Can't see it ever getting to the national cirriculum, but it is a practical application of trig! Also, I don't need much of an excuse to get out some items from our heel collection.

[micha]

Hi wez, I agree to your trigonometry. Heels have to be higher for bigger feet. To presereve the proportions of the shoes. That's the reason why I don't like to wear modest heels. I'm a 6.3'' tall heels wearer. Compared to my my body size and to my feet size the heels should be at least 4'' high. I don't care about the 6.7'' result. micha (*the 2 meter man who never cared for electricity or water meters*)

[wez]

Put another way, if the heel stays the same the angle of the shoe changes: size 4 1/2 45.5 degrees size 5 44.5 size 6 42.2 size 7 39.4 size 8 37.8 size 9 36.2 Roughly its going from 1 in 2 to 1 in 3, enough to be visaully different.

[Sit]

Smaller feet look better because it's all about the arch.

[jim]

Thanks for the heads up Wez ! If my old high school math teacher had come up with these types of problems my interest in trig would never have wained..

[Robert]

Hi Wez, I've seen your results of the calculations you made, we discussed it also here what the best heel height for men is.

Can you put the formulas online please so we can make our own calculations with several shoesizes, heelheights and inclines/angles/arches.

[Spikey Dan]

Usually the person with smaller feet is a small person and heels will this person an extra boost of height. Dan ps I agreed to the poll.

[wez]

Here comes the science bit......... The pair of shoes I used have the following stats needed for the calculations: overall length of sole 25cm, the arch (sole not on the ground) is 14cm, the heel height is 10cm. The arch is not straight, but I have measured the curve length, so all my figures are based on the assumption that larger sizes will have the same curve. So, with these figures the angle of the arch to the ground is: sinx=10/14, or x=sin!-1 10/14 or 45.58 degrees. From some table the extra length a size up add is as follows: Size 5 +0.5cm 6 +1.5 7 +2.5 8 +3.5 9 +4.5 Assuming that this increase in length is distributed in the same proportion as the size 4 1/2 shoe, it increase the H in the sin equation. For size 5: sinx=10/(14+(14/25*0.5)) or sin!-1(10/(14+(14/25*0.5))) = 44.4 degrees. and so on to find how the angle decreases as the shoe gets larger. To find out the heel height needed to keep the same angle, then the following needs to be used: For size 5, sin 45.58 = x/(14+(14/25*0.5)) or x=(14+(14/25*0.5))sin 45.58 or a height of 10.2 cm. As the big size increase occurs at size 7 to 8, that's where the most difference is in angle / or heel height. As to other heel heights - the same formulas could apply, but I'd imagine with the very high heels it starts to fail as the arch is so curved and the foot fits in it differently. :morning:

[Robert]

Wez, Thank you very much! I'll make an Excel file with it and it looks like the Basic language to me, so I make a Basic file too. Robert

[BabeinHeels]

Sorry, dno't agree. I wear a size 9 in US, and there is no way you are going to tell me my legs and feet don't look as good in heels as a woman who wears a size 5. Why do you think fashion models are tall girls? Ever see a foot model who wears really small shoes? Babe in Heels

[High Surprise]

Hey Babe in Heels - Show us some pics and then we can judge for ourselves! he he

[Bubba136]

Babe in heels wrote:

Ever see a foot model who wears really small shoes?

Here in the USA, size 7½ is the size foot models wear.

[High Surprise]

I think it's UK size 5 1/2 here in the UK

[BabeinHeels]

Nope............here in the USA foot models wear a 9 or a 10. I quote:

"The average mall-crawler's one thing; what about all those leggy models with long limbs and feet to match? Roman Young, an agent at Elite Model Management in Manhattan, confirms that the average shoe size for models has climbed to a 9 or a 10, matching their statuesque height (the average is 5 feet 9 inches or 5 feet 10 inches). I felt a little better when he told me that even high-paid lovelies face foot discrimination; if a model wears a size 11 or 12 shoe, she may find herself cooling her heels instead of strutting them on the catwalk. Young recalls a Gucci show a while back where the models were hired on the basis of who could squeeze, Cinderella-like, into a certain shoe: "You had the most beautiful girls in the world trying to cram their feet into this handmade boot that was like a size 8."

That comes from this link:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2065546/

Babe in Heels

[Firefox]

I voted don't know/don't care. Unless you have a fetish for small feet as I know some people do, this question is completely irrelevant. So long as the proportions of the shoe including the relative heel height remain constant, the foot looks exactly the same in whatever size. I have noticed that many small sizes of shoe have a realtively high heel and they don't increase the heel height in the proportions they should, so in the larger sizes, the heel looks tame. Presumably this is because smaller women want to gain more height, while taller woman with larger feet want to buy a heeled shoe but aren't so concerned about the height gain. Hence they sell more shoes by not increasing the heel size in proportion.

[High Surprise]

Hi Firefox. I don't have a fetish for small feet. Honest! Just think they look better in high heels that's all (just personal taste!)

[Laurieheels]

Regular fashion models are going to have large feet, but shoe models, meaning those who model shoes, and don't show anything else but feet and legs, may be chosen based on smaller feet. Just like hand models are chosen based on the hands, and not the face.

[Julietta]

I voted don't know and don't care because I just think different shoes/boots suit different people. I personally like wearing heels because I am a uk size 7 - 7.5 and at only 5'4" it makes my feet look more in proportion to the rest of me.

[raccoon]

I voted NO. I mainly agree with Firefox argueing it's the aspect ratio that matters. But I feel large (women's) feet are less attractive, so they are more to benefit from high heels that conceal their largeness.

[HHfanatic]

Yes, small feet in high heels look better than big feet, but with size 5 feet the heels are not so high. What a shame

[High Surprise]

Looking like more and more people agree with me. Sorry (for those who don't), looks like small is beautiful

[BabeinHeels]

Only 2 more people answered Yes than No or Don't Care. Just remember, Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beholder Your eyes and my eyes see the world differently. If someone is happy in their heels, big feet or small feet, then I am a happy camper. Babe in Heels

[High Surprise]

Good answer Babe in Heels.

[BabeinHeels]

I can't help but drool at the avatar everytime I see it HighSurprise

[High Surprise]

Thanks Babeinheels - I thought long and hard about the picture to use for the avatar. I believe the picture should be a reflection of who I am and what I appreciate (and wear of course...) Thanks!!