How to walk in stiletto / high heels?

[freestyle75]

Hi everyone,

you will probably laugh at me for asking this question, but I am serious. This question came up when I had a discussion with my cobbler on heels and how they are produced, especially the high heels (> 12 cm / 4.7 in).

So... let me start at the beginning. Two years ago, I ordered a pair of Ermanno Scervino heels priced at a little over 900 Euros (1.000 USD), so not necessarily "cheap" boots. I already liked how they looked on the picture, but when they arrived, I offcially declared them my most beloved pair - they fit like they were made for me, are easy to walk in (because of the hidden platform), have a beautiful leather, I constantly get compliments on them... I digress. They are my MOST favorite pair.

During the Vogue Fashion Night three weeks ago, I considered this night the right moment to put on my favorite pair of boots again, walking around Düsseldorf, probably not more than 800 meters (0.5 miles) or so. While walking, I suddenly discovered that the right heel was kind of "wobbly". While trying on different shoes in a store, I looked at the boot and discovered that the right heel had become lose at the rear of the boot, shown with an arrow here (didn't take a picture, sorry):

I immediately bagged this pair and put on shoes that I bought in the store. This week, I went to my cobbler (who really is a genius when it comes to modifying and repairing shoes), but even he couldn't provide me with much hope. He said:

"First, the heel on these boots has just been nailed / glued onto the boot, not screwed. Considering the height of the boot, the attachment therefore is not strong enough. It will be very difficult to fix this, as there is no way to attach the heel in a way that will be strong enough that this doesn't happen again soon. I can try to put in a screw, but even then the whole boot is not built in a way that it will support it. The heel & screw may hold, but the leather may break. It's always the weakest part that breaks first. The boots they produce nowadays are not built for walking long distance, but rather the typical 'red carpet' situation where you take mini steps, are extra cautious and don't walk long distances. That's what these boots are for. If you wanted to build them with enough support so you could walk miles and miles in it, you would have to use totally different materials which could easily double or triple the price of the boot."

Okay, that for me already was a bummer. But then he added:

"So... how did you walk in these heels? Heel first and then ball of the foot? Or basically ball of the foot at the same time as the heel? -- these types of heels must be walked by placing your main weight onto the ball of the foot first, so not placing your weight onto the heel first, otherwise the heel will break sooner or later"

Next bummer for me. I am now at 140+ pairs of shoes but my cobbler basically told me that I am walking wrong in heels. I always thought I would walk "right" in heels.

Just like any shoe,

• I place e.g. the right heel first,
• then put weight on the right heel and in a (in a lack of a better word) rolling motion, place down the ball of the right foot,
• then shift weight from the right heel to the right ball,
• put up the left shoe
• and then put weight onto the left heel, repeating the above steps, just for the left.

According to my cobbler, this works with thicker block heels that aren't too high, but with high heels, this is most likely a guarantee to damage the heel at some point in time. As I remember funny youtube videos where girls walk in heels the first time, they always place down the full shoe (heel + ball of foot) at the same time (taking mini steps), which looks as if they cannot walk in heels.

So... do I need to rethink how I walk in my high heels ? -- please do not laugh at me, I never gave a thought to how I walk till this happened, and I am quite sad at the moment that I am probably about to lose my favorite pair...

[Steve63130]

Before you despair, go to a different cobbler and get a second opinion. Like surgeons, they don't all agree on every fix. You might be pleasantly surprised if you find a cobbler who is more clever than the first one and can offer a better repair job.

The thing that strikes me about those boots is that the heel is positioned far back, not centered under your heel. A lot of people on here report that it makes a difference in where the heel is positioned, and it's a lot easier to walk in heels that are more forward than on those boots. My suggestion is to take a video of yourself walking (outdoors) or get someone else to take a video of you and post it on youtube and then give us the link. Then we can see how you walk and tell you if it looks natural and elegant or otherwise.

Steve

[LovesHiHeels]

I,m no expert in how long a pair of heels should last but I would expect a pair costing over 800 euros to last longer then 1 night out. I have worn a pair heels with a 7"  heels with a 2" platform out night out and not have a problem with the heels.

From what I,ve learnt on here is that you walk heel to toe.  Also go to another cobber and get a second opinion.

Edited October 3, 2015 by LovesHiHeels

[robbiehhw]

I've learned heel to toe as well. A big key is relaxed hips and thights

[freestyle75]

Hmm... thanks for your answers so far. The "heel to toe" answer doesn't come unexpected, anything different would look quite bizarre

BUT: You can walk heel-to-toe without actually putting much weight on the heel (similar to walking on your toes only), so the "heel-to" part is only for show, the weight actually pretty much only resides on the ball of the foot, which is then the "toe" part. Imagine walking in one of Zanotti's heel-less boots - this is the way you would have to balance your weight.

My question therefore is: If you walk in (extremely high) high heels, do you put the weight only on the toe / ball of foot, so the heel as such pretty much doesn't have to bear much of your body weight?

This is how it is described in many online sites on "how to wear high heels" (especially the stiletto ones), so I just wonder whether there is a big difference between how you balance your weight when walking in 2 inch block heels vs. 4" stiletto ones...

[Heelster]

First off - What kind of warranty does 800 Euros come with - - 

Get another cobbler to look them over. No way they should fail that fast.

 

Heel to toe seems to work for me, Heel under heels seems to work better. Not at the back - - at least for me. Your mileage may vary.

 

[stealhers]

I think you're right in what you say of heel toe but you don't transfer your weight till the toes are firm easiest way to explain is it feels like your tip toeing around but in reality the heel is touching first then rolling down to the ball of your foot then shifting your weight to that foot.

[Thighbootguy]

How you walk on heels depends a lot on the geometry of the shoe/boot and the issue tends to be exaggerated when walking in an incline.  I have several pairs of boots with 5" stilettos that are very easy to walk in and another pair with a 4" stiletto that are hard to walk in.

I let my heel hit the ground and let it force my ankle to pitch down until the ball of my foot hits the ground and take my weight.  However, on a slick floor this won't work, as the heel slides on the floor, and you have to make sure the foot is in position to accept your weight.

This technique works with my boots with 5" heels on almost any surface pitch, but the pair with 4" heels force me to place my whole foot on the ground whenever I'm on even a slight incline.

I think Heelster has the right idea - I'd let Ermanno Scervino know about the failure.  Their reputation should be worth fixing the heel.

[Thighmax]

I haven't given the "walk" a really deep thought, but now that I stop and think about it, when long strides are involved it is extremely hard (it may be impossible, physically) to set the ball of the foot first.  I think that because the back part of the foot is way longer (including the size of the heel) it will always land first.  

Now thinking about laying the ball first with heels.  I haven't really seen this approach but I do think it would look unnatural.  The back part of the foot will always be longer, and if you set the ball part first it would look like your tip-toeing, which by no means looks graceful or natural.  

Even with loafers, we are waking forward so that means that the weight is on the back part of the foot, this part should land first.  

That's my humble point of view.

[Heelster]

There are a ton of YouTube video's out there that aim to teach folks how to walk in heels - - - Might be worth a look.

[freestyle75]

Thanks for all of your replies guys!

Couple of answers: True, a pair which is so expensive should last much longer, on the other hand even IF Ermanno Scervino would replace me the money, I wouldn't be able to get this pair again, as I bought it two years ago. I haven't walked extensively in those boots, but - judging from what all of you are describing in terms of weight shift - I did indeed walk wrongly in those boots. Of course I first put down the heel, and then the toe, but I don't do it much different to putting down heel-toe compared to walking in sneakers when it comes to shifting my weight. Once the heel hits the ground, my weight shift starts. This seemed to work for all of my other (lower) heels, but that's what probably killed these (high) heels, not how they are made -- very much to my dismay.

Don't laugh at me, but I am actually considering taking a personal "high heel trainer" lesson. They offer classes for women around where I live, and they also seem to offer personal lessons (but didn't state the price on their website), so it might help me to have someone take a look how I walk and give me some tips. This way, I may even become a totally stiletto fan (which I haven't walked in outside of my home so far. I liked the Ermanno Scervino boots very much as they were no stilettos, but also no thick block heels - just something in the middle).

Regarding my cobbler: Well, I left the boots with him. I know that he has strong opinions about "how bad" everyone nowadays produces shoes, and that "quality has gone down dramatically" in the last years, etc. etc., but despite all of what he says, he also makes tailor made boots (I got two pairs of him), and he has become a good friend in the recent years. Probably also because I am one of his best customers .... anyway.... I told him that these are my absolute favorite boots, and that he really, really needs to restore them back to their original shape. He promised me to do his very best, and I am certain that he will invest extra time in getting the heel attached as best as humanly possible. For any other cobbler, I would just be "yet another customer" - and probably even a strange guy wanting to get "his" heels restored... I am probably going to drive down to my cobbler in 2 - 3 weeks from now and will let you know the outcome then.

 

[petey86]

As for what others have said, the heel-toe stride is the way to do it however the trade off is the wear on the heels and flex it can induce. I know that some block heels have more of a tendency to become lose at the back and start to "wiggle" compared to stilettos and placing too much weight on the heel.

For example, one of my block heel boots had this wiggle in the right boot as I suspect the previous owner drove in them often (heel flexing inwards while resting on the pedal) and another better quality pre-owned stiletto ankle boots is permanently angled in as well but not loose at all.

Hope your boots come back better and ready to wear again

[Thighbootguy]

 

Don't laugh at me, but I am actually considering taking a personal "high heel trainer" lesson. They offer classes for women around where I live, and they also seem to offer personal lessons (but didn't state the price on their website), so it might help me to have someone take a look how I walk and give me some tips. This way, I may even become a totally stiletto fan (which I haven't walked in outside of my home so far. I liked the Ermanno Scervino boots very much as they were no stilettos, but also no thick block heels - just something in the middle).

 

 

Laugh???  This sounds like a great idea and a lot of fun, especially if it opens up the world of stilettos for your enjoyment.  Let us know how it goes (and if any of the advice we ave is right).

Edited October 7, 2015 by Thighbootguy

[Steve63130]

I agree with TBG (again, of course!) and think a class is a great idea. I hope they take videos of your walking so you can see yourself as others see you, and then you can judge whether you like the look or want to improve it somehow. Let us know what they do in the class and what you learn. It could help all of us.

Steve

[freestyle75]

I contacted the teacher and she replied today that she is not available anymore in October, but that I may send her possible dates in November for a personal training which lasts 1 1/2 hours (priced at 160 EUR = 180 USD). Her normal classes are priced at around half that price (but you have a group of people), so it's not too bad in terms of pricing, as she has to rent a studio space in a dance studio where you have enough room. 

She also replied that she has had a number of men visiting her classes for various reasons (she didn't go into detail), so it's not a big deal to her.

I just sent her a number of dates in November - I will let you know how this went.

 

[Gudulitooo]

The "how to walk in heels" I watched said

1) land on the ball of your feet (the heel has to hit the ground first)

2) Use your thigh muscle.

I find it helps. But I can't walk more than a few 100 meters like this. After that, back to the old weight on heels, as other women do in mid heels.

[mlroseplant]

Oh yes, my favorite subject--the business of actually walking in heels. First, let me tell you, there is no way that a person can possibly walk naturally without putting the heel down first. Any other way would just look stupid. Second, I can tell you from experience that a lot of high heeled shoes are simply not designed with durability in mind. After all, who actually walks in high heels? 

 

Having said that, as you can see from the picture below, I do not take mincing steps, and I haven't ever had a problem with heel breakage. I've had a strap break on a sandal before, but I'm sure it was just defective. Shame, too. Perhaps it is because I weigh only 138 lbs/63 kg, or perhaps it is because I have a smooth, measured stride (I practice walking every day with a book balanced on the top of my head. I know--but try it! You'll like it!), but my heels do not seem to flex at all. I think your boots are defective, not your walk. 

[Thighbootguy]

Miroseplant - Although I haven't worn a suit for over 30 years, you do make it look good.  I love the heels.  They look like they belong there as part of the suited look. 

Well gone!

[mlroseplant]

Miroseplant - Although I haven't worn a suit for over 30 years, you do make it look good.  I love the heels.  They look like they belong there as part of the suited look. 

Well gone!

Thanks for the compliment!

[Histiletto]

Why not take some dance classes in heels. Certainly there should be some awareness that guys are dancing in heels these days and hopefully, the instructor has been keeping up with the entertainment scene where a number of guys and/or groups of guys have worn fairly high heels while performing.

[bss]

One thing to keep in mind is women are much lighter than men, so they can put more of their weight on the heel.  I noticed when I gain some weight I had to walk differently, because I could feel the heel flexing.

[robbiehhw]

Some women are lighter than men. Yes weight matters - if you have ever compared a heavy woman's walk to a skinny woman, they are different.  I'm working really hard to get down to my wife's weight, even though i have three inches height on her. Not sure if i will get there, but there are many women that are heavier than me.

[pebblesf]

I wish heeling classes were offered in my area, dream of attending such a class.

I know how upsetting it is to have a favorite pair of boots fail that way.  No expert here, but always heard/thought that walking heel to toe is the proper way.  Perhaps your cobbler is just thinking just of the longevity of the boots, obviously the boots would be stressed less if you could walk landing on the ball of your foot first, then landing on the heel.  But, this method seems impractical and perhaps dangerous. 

I would definitely contact the manufacturer of the boots, you paid a lot, and they should be interesting in helping you out. 

[booty lover]

hey guys/gals

some advice really about walking in heels, my walk seems to end up being one foot in front of the other most of the time, am i doing this correct??

your advice is needed...

[Thighbootguy]

Very nicely done. 

Real smoothness comes with practice to the point that you no longer realize that your wearing heels.  My guess is that is a 5 1/2" - 6" heel and that takes a LOT of getting used to.  After I have been wearing 5" heels for an hour or so I no longer notice the heel, but I have been wearing them for 10 years. I still have to remember to put one foot in front of the other, lest I wind up walking like a guy (in heels).

[booty lover]

thanks, i try to practice every day, not always possible due to work.  they are 5 1/2 inch high and only had them 3 years. will carry on as i am!

 

[TXGuy]

Thinking this from a mechanical point of view, heel to toe makes sense, but as the person’s weight increases, that means walking heel to toe in a perfect mechanical motion.  By this I mean that as you put your heel down and touch the floor, you rock the shoe forward to put the ball of the foot on the floor in such a way that you induce no twisting/bending motion.  All the force on the heel is directed straight down through the heel so that it does not bend. Any bending will affect the weakest point of the heel, which is probably where it attaches to the bottom of the shoe. There are two obvious factors that will impact the life of the joint of the heel to the shoe if that is not done. The person’s weight, and the length of the heel.  More weight of the person, more force on the twisting.  Same with the length, the longer the heel, the more force at the joint, for the same reason you use pry bars to use length to get more power at the point of the bar.
 
Thinking about how much force is concentrated on the small point of a stiletto, or even the high heel at the point it touches the ground, that is a lot of force to maintain.  With leather and materials that go into a shoe?  I’m not sure it can be done without adding more metal to the shoe, such as the steel rods in the center of the stiletto to prevent the heel from buckling on some heels.

I remember a scene from an old Kung Fu show with David Carradine where he had to prove he was a master by walking across rice paper without tearing it. If you want those tall heels / shoes to last years, you need to become the Master of Walking in High Heels. 

This past week in walking about, sometimes walking a little quicker, I noticed on the 3.5 inch heel, that when I put the ball of my foot down, there was tension in the heel when I lifted the heel up in walking forward. In my walk, I bent the heel slightly forward as I put my weight down on the heel and put the ball of my foot down.  When lifting up, I felt the heel slightly rub against the ground releasing the tension as it was able to spring back slightly.  Obviously, I am not a master.  Has any else noticed that with stiletto heels?  I do not have that much experience with these smaller heels. 
 

[Ynotme]

Yes I do have that also the heel moves after you start off 

I think I can walk ok in heels but do women that have done this since grade school  have the same effect ? I know for some of us its only been a few years or so since we have really been out in heels outside so its an interesting thought

[robbiehhw]

Many women struggle with heels because they either wear them infrequently, or wear them because they feel obligated in some situations. I've been wearing over 20 years and to me it feels pretty natural. 

I was getting some makeup samples at a Macy's counter yesterday and the SA was like...wow you walk really well in heels. I said thanks - i wear them a lot. She said i can tell you do :)

[freestyle75]

So... I just was at the high heel training. In a nutshell: The main advantage is that

1. you have got ample space to walk along a "catwalk" (not comparable to one's living room)
2. you have got someone watching you and giving you instructions on how to improve your walking style

The training was setup as a personal training, meaning that I had full 2 hours of undivided attention of a teacher who has studied sports & dancing. She also wore heels and had an amazing walk - it looked quite effortless.

Me... well... I wanted to learn how to walk in my most difficult boots/shoes, so I took about 10 pairs of those shoes/boots that I either haven't worn yet at all, or have worn them, but had some difficulty. The whole meeting took place at a community center where they also teach dance classes, so there was ample space to walk.

We started off by me walking with the boots that I came with, which were quite easy to walk in - just for the teacher to take a look at how I normally walk. We then did some "warmup" exercises, which is something like standing up on your toes, then bending your knees, then getting up again, etc., so your muscles (especially the calf muscles) get warmed up.

The whole exercise part makes sense if you go for higher heels than you normally wear, as you can train your calf and ankle muscles, so they can deal with the higher height of the heel. Anyway.... it was then that I switched to a pair of stiletto heels that I haven't worn so far for various reasons. First, "stiletto" still feels felt a bit too feminine for me to wear outside, second, I so far lacked the stability of my trusted block heels and wasn't sure whether my walk would be "clumsy" at best.

First thing (and also the question that I started this thread with): You walk in heels as you would walk in flats. No different shift of weight. This heel-to-toe thing also works weight-shift-wise, so you do NOT go heel - toe - shift weight to toe. Rather you go heel, partial shift of weight, toe, full shift of weight, just as you would normally do.

As I have walked quite a lot in block heels, it only took a few times walking up and down the room to "get" the way I have to walk in stiletto boots. Nice. The teacher said that weight-shift wise and how I would walk, this would be great already, but that it would look nicer to walk in a line, and to keep the posture more "up".

Meaning (posture): I tend to look down when I am walking. To see where I am going, but also to avoid stepping into dog excrements This way, my whole posture is more downward-bent, which doesn't look nice. So the teacher first worked on the posture, meaning keeping (mostly) a straight back, and also looking more towards the horizon instead of the next 50 inches of where you are going.

Regarding the virtual line, I just finished a drawing to explain:

 

Naturally, we walk like the leftmost illustration shows. Once people start to hear that in heels they should "walk across a virtual line", it often happens that the left foot is a bit skewed to the right, and the right foot to the left (second left illustration). This is also heavily dependend on the shoe that you are walking with.

This happened at first quite a lot with my stiletto boot, but not at all with my block heels (we tried several pairs to see the difference).

There are two different textbook-approaches or "schools" (opinions) on how the ideal walk-along-a-line walk should be done: The Berlin and the London school.

The Berlin school keeps the foot straight when walking the line, whereas in the London school, the left foot is skewed a bit to the left, whereas the right foot is a bit skewed to the right. Both ways are "right", and it depends on what feels more natural to you when walking.

Personally, I felt that with the London school type of walk, it became more difficult to balance the weight onto the full foot, and not only on the side of the foot.

Finally, there is the exaggerated walk that you see on the runways. The trainer paid close attention that this was NOT happening, as it looks a bit strange if you are walking this way along a street.

 

Another thing that she corrected was the length of stride and the speed of walk. Yes, often they say that with heels, your stride "naturally" becomes shorter. But the effect that happens is that you are only taking baby steps which you then try to offset by walking faster. The better way is to consciously take (a bit) longer strides, but walk slower. There is a fine balance between too short and too long strides, so these cannot be explained in a text, but it was great having a trainer who could give me that guidance.

After some boots with a short shaft, we also switched to some very short ankle boots (the right pair in this picture) that were the most difficult to walk in, as there is not much stability in the whole shoe. I wouldn't have managed to walk in that shoe for longer periods, but once the trainer noticed that I had some difficulty, she took an extra half an hour to do some practices in this pair. Yes, we also did the exercise where you place a book onto your head and walk the catwalk up and down - without the book falling off your head. I managed to do this even with the most difficult pair. They are still the most difficult, but manageable now.

When switching back to my ankle boot Pradas after this extremely difficult pair (Pradas, which I had considered "difficult" cause of the nearly non-existent platform before), it felt like I would switch to sneakers. When I did the walk then, she trainer was in awe at how I walked.

We ended the training with some relaxation movements for your feet. Get one of these to do the same at home.

To summarize: If you have the chance to visit such a training (preferably a personal training), I can wholeheartedly recommend it. For me, my most difficult to walk in boots/shoes became either enjoyable or at least manageable, and the way I walk has changed considerably. I am certain that from now on my stilettos won't be sitting in their boxes as they did before.