Mileage

[Cali]

I'm relatively new to high heel wearing so I am still learning some of the parameters. First note that I might wear a pair of shoe for 8 to 16 hours a day. I was saying that I had some shoes on yesterday that I got in 2015 and had worn maybe 60 to 70 times (or 800 to 900 hours) and the woman I was talking with was surprise I had gotten so much use out of them. So how much use (mileage) do you expect to get out of a pair of heels?  If you wear heels to work everyday, aka a serious wearer, how many pairs do you wear out a year?

[Thighbootguy]

I think a lot will depend on the area of the footprint.  A stiletto heel pump has a fairly small footprint over which all the weight is distributed, where as a running shoe has a large footprint where the weight is evenly distributed.  With any material, the more you concentrate the area of wear, the shorter the lifetime of the material.  I haven't kept statistics on this but I have replaced a lot of stiletto heel tips but have only resoled two pair of boots.

[Cali]

I get about 15 months from a pair of running shoes/walking shoes and then they are just too worn out. But it's not about wearing out the sole, but wearing out the shoe. I hope to get many miles from my Freebird boots and since they are leather, they can be resoled. What I am talking about are fashion heels, like a pair of <$40 heels.

[Jkrenzer]

I routinely replace heel taps just as the nail is exposed. This makes the toe tip the primary wear spot that ultimately kills my heels. Long pointy toed heels are short lived compared to almond shaped toes.

[Thighbootguy]

1 hour ago, Jkrenzer said:

This makes the toe tip the primary wear spot that ultimately kills my heels.

I have had a toe plate (tap) attached to most of my boots to prevent that wear.  The first trip to the cobbler is heel tip and toe plate.

[Jkrenzer]

Good  idea. I have a boxes of heel tips and a proper tool to pull the old ones, saves a lot of $'s and time. Like the toe tap idea.

[mlroseplant]

I have had experiences that run the gamut. I've had expensive shoes that have failed catastrophically fairly quickly, and I've had cheap shoes (I'm thinking of my Vera Wang boots from Kohl's) that I can't seem to wear out. 

As far as shoes being ruined, it's usually straps that break on sandals that can't be successfully repaired. I did bend a shank on a pair of pumps that I'd had for several years with no problems up to that point, and I don't remember any specific event (e.g. tripping over a door threshold or something like that) that would have caused it to bend like that. 

I can't wear heels to work (construction), but I do walk a lot in my heels, and often record the mileage. Typically, I get at most 10 miles out of a hard rubber toplift (heel tip) on a stiletto heel, usually more like 8. On slightly thicker heels (3/4"), that figure increases to more like 40 or 50 miles. I usually walk pretty fast, and I weigh about 135 pounds, or about 62 kg. As they say, your mileage may vary!

[Thighbootguy]

One additional thought... My cobbler flairs new heel tips (Δ) which enlarges the ground contacting surface area about 50%, and greatly increases the lifetime of the heel tip.  Unless your closely looking at the heel tip the flair is not noticeable.

[nzfreestyler]

I walk in heels everywhere, I wear heels for work and I would hazard an estimate of 2 weeks continuous wearing to wear out a metal stiletto heel tip.

I rotate my work heels (I have to wear uniform) but I would have a pair in every 4 weeks just from work time wear and tear.

It will depend on a couple of factors, weight (I'm 76kg), size of heel (mine are approx 6mm diameter, thickest would be 8mm diameter), where you're walking - its really only crossing roads, asphalt/concrete pavements that wear metal heels, all others surfaces are pretty much not doing a lot to a metal heel tip( I walk everywhere in heels), how far down you want to wear the heel tips (I don't wear mine right down as I want to avoid damage to the heel itself).

One of the significant factors I've found with wearing heels is that I walk further than I would in flat shoes because I will often take a long route, if that route is clear of high heel obstacles (eg an angled pavement, steep pavement vs steps on another route, or a path that has uneven cobbles vs flat concrete). Also my footsteps are smaller and faster so I am actually walking more steps, which equates to a lot more wear!

The advice on heel and toe taps is good, from experience I do this, pointy toes will always be a weaker point on the shoe sole.

If I wore mens dress shoes and walked solidly in them for 2 weeks I wouldn't be surprised if I wore the heels out in that time! High Heels are dress shoes. Mind you I have to replace running shoes every 3-4 weeks because I run 110+ k per week, and the shoes are worn out mechanically - so its all relative.

Cheers

Craig