Fredericks Catalogue - 5In Heels 1960's

[mlroseplant]

Also, there are few enough people who can walk well in 12 cm, much less 15. I have never seen anybody in real life walk well in 12 cm. There are a few on the internet who do a amazing job.

[Shyheels]

Yes a friend of mine who is quite expert in heels says she’s never seen anybody who can walk gracefully in 12cm heels. In her words there’s always some little hitch, some kind of concession 

And with the point of heels being being grace and style and an easy imperiousness you can’t have it looking like the heel is wearing you instead of the other way around.

[higherheels]

I also found that above 13 cm there are almost no visually appealing heels for me, now I know why! It really seems that there's a gap where almost nothing exists. I really like the mules shown by mlroseplant, but 14 cm is very rare. And 15 cm and up just doesn't look good to me.

It makes sense that 12 cm are like a cutoff point. I'd say of myself that I can walk fine in 12 cm heels, but 13 cm are much more difficult. I bought the Christian Louboutin Hot Chick 130 early when they came out and didn't expect them to be that difficult. I still only wear them rarely.

They even discontinued the Hot Chick 130 and changed it to a 100, I can understand why. But the 130 version is a very special shoe for me and I'd never change them for the 100s.

[Shyheels]

I’m impressed that you can walk well in 12cm. A friend of mine can also walk well in 12cm - in fact they are her favourite height. She too bought a pair of Louboutin Hot Chick 13cm and while she loved them, aesthetically, she said she rarely wears them. She said she can walk in them but not to the standard she sets herself.

As for me my calf muscles go into intense cramps when I try on my 12cm knee boots 

[Cali]

@Shyheels try magnesium for leg cramps,

[Shyheels]

1 hour ago, Cali said:

@Shyheels try magnesium for leg cramps,

I tried 10cm heels. Worked a treat! 😀

[mlroseplant]

I will admit to having a couple of pairs of  extreme-type shoes, which I bought because I wanted to see if I could actually walk in them. The answer is no, and the problem is two-fold: 1) They are made so cheaply that they're not even nice to put on, much less walk in, and 2) I do not enjoy the experience like I thought I would. Even though no one has ever seen me in these shoes, I walk so badly and awkwardly that I feel silly. If I make myself practice, I do get a little bit better after a short time of warmup, but on the whole I do not like wearing them. And yet still I aspire to wear them. I cannot explain this paradox.

I will say one thing for practicing in 13+ cm heels. After wearing them for 15 minutes, your 11-12 cm heels feel like butter! I wish I had some evidence to actually prove it, but I feel like I walk so much better in normal height high heels after spending a quarter of an hour in extreme heels.

[Shyheels]

I can understand why walking or trying to walk in something extreme would then make 12cm seem relatively easy, but I’ll never try them. I really dislike the extreme heel heights. To me they just look ugly, obsessive, raunchy - not at all the sort of thing that attracts me to high heels.

To me it’s all about the aesthetics with the heel forming apart of the overall look. I love the lines of 12cm heels with 10cm seeming to be a nice compromise between the imperious elegance of 12cm and real world walkability

if it were possible I’d be interested in trying the 13cm Louboutins, just to see what it was like, but the extreme 14cm and up heels have no appeal to me at all. Same with platforms 

[CAT]

I am good with 12 and 13 single soles with is +/- the 5" height.  I have some 6" singles that are still ok.   Really depends on the fit  but the 5's are my sweet spot.  I know some don't like platforms but I do have some that are 1/2" to an 1' and some concealed but I think that some platforms don't look good to depending on the shoe or boot