Paris to Beijing

[Pierre1961]

Yes. Horror is the right word. Some people saw my heels as I left the plane. Looked at me as I was walking in front of us,trying to reach as fast as possible the passports control. Suddenly the noise of the breaking heel. 50 meters away was the first chair.Seems to be so far!  I sat and opened my case to grab the sneakers I had inside it. As I was working on that change I clearly eared a couple saying " ah! The crazy guy with the stupid shoes finally had to make a change".My feeling wasn't: what a shame for me. No. But just : f..k you ! 

Now i have to learn from all these things. I won't give up. No worry. 

Pierre 

[Shyheels]

If you were a woman wearing very high heels they would probably have said the same thing, though. They undoubtedly think high heels are “stupid” shoes full stop.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Shyheels

[Henri1942]

3 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

Hello! 

I am back now. I nearly did it! Again a heel problem. The heel itself broke in Paris airport! Broken right in the middle,in 2 parts. 

10 minutes more and the success would have been total. What a shit. 

I was brave,bold ,no calf pain,no ball pain,no walking trouble. 

Now i have to wonder why. It happened twice. Once at the arrival in Beijing. And also at arrival in Paris. Always on the right shoe. 

Does it mean the shoes are not strong enough,or/ and  i don't walk  properly ( i walk really fast and with no special care) ?

is 5,5(15,5 cm in my size) too high? Less than 5", I don't feel as good  

your opinion would be very appreciated. Help!! 

because i won't give up now. I catched that virus and feel so good with ( very) high heels. 

Pierre 

When I travel, I wear a 4.5" or 5" heel.  That way I can walk fast and do not worry about breakage.  I have never had the breakage you have experienced.  Best of luck.

[Pierre1961]

Your are probably right Henri. I may have put the bar too high. 5" should be enough 

[jeremy1986]

Sorry to hear, @Pierre1961. 

Don't give it, just take more sensible shoes. like only a 5"

 

[Cali]

Did you take you heels off while on the plane. You could have stressed the heel while on the plane by how you were seated.

[Pierre1961]

Yes. I took the shoes off in the plane. Unfortunately I think my feet don't reach the floor properly when walking really fast. 

I may accept to walk a little slower. But I really wanted to reach the passport control as soon as possible. 

 

Yes Jeremy. You are right. I mean for thin heels. As I don't want to give up so easily,I will try again with Cuban heels 5,5". 

Am i stubborn? I hope so. Narrow minded? I hope not. Crazy? For sure. 

[Shyheels]

Yes indeed! The rush to hit passport control ahead of the pack is pretty intense. I do some of my best power walking between the air bridge and passport control. It is where you want light fast trainers...

[pebblesf]

On ‎4‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 6:22 AM, ice19023 said:

You did't failed, your Heels failed, I think this is the horror for every Heeler in public ! 

Absolutely correct.  You were completely successful, sorry the heels let you down...

Did you get any compliments/reactions?  Sure hope you find more durable heels worthy of your confidence and stamina....

[Pierre1961]

Thank you @ice19023 and @pebblesf. You are too kind. 

 I somehow succeeded. But in the other hand I wonder if that  2 times heel break isn't due to how I walk. Not to my weight because I am 69 kg 

Could be the angle of the heel when it touches the ground. A few weeks ago someone here was wondering if the heel or the toes must reach the ground first. We all agree : the heel first. But we didn't talk about the angle. 

I will go on trying different angles. So far ,I would think 30* is a maximum. Walking fast increase the angle and the risk  

And then the maximum walkable heel height could be when that critical angle is reached. 

Your opinions would be very helpful for that " scientific research " 

[Shyheels]

I would imagine it comes down to the angle at which your heel hits the floor and the impact force of a brisk stride. While 69kg is not heavy for a human being, that weight coming down on an angled heel would easily be enough to break it. Think about the leverage there. A long thin heel at the angle at which you must be coming down - it would be a cinch to break. I really do not think high heels are designed for walking swiftly, or probably not as swiftly as you are walking en route to passport control. And while 69kg is not heavy at all for a guy, most high heels would still be designed for women, who will probably be a good 10kg lighter or more and move with shorter strides.  

[Pierre1961]

Absolutely right. 

I will try block or Cuban heels for that purpose 

then ,also improve how my feet touch the ground. Smaller steps. Not too much weight on the heel at first and be closer to a right angle. 

 

[Shyheels]

I am off to Brazil tomorrow - wearing sturdy hiking boots for those powerwalking efforts to get to passport control ahead of the pack!

[jeremy1986]

1 hour ago, Pierre1961 said:

Absolutely right. 

I will try block or Cuban heels for that purpose 

then ,also improve how my feet touch the ground. Smaller steps. Not too much weight on the heel at first and be closer to a right angle. 

 

You are right - heels definitely make me take smaller steps. Makes perfect "scientific" sense too ...  so keep it natural! 

38 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

I am off to Brazil tomorrow - wearing sturdy hiking boots for those powerwalking efforts to get to passport control ahead of the pack!

Safe Travels! 

[Cali]

A friend of mine's daughter can run in her stilettos (a goal of mine). But you come down on your toes and don't touch the heel. I can run or jog in many of my boots and some of my wedges.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Cali

[Shyheels]

But what really is the point? Surely it’s best to wear the appropriate footwear for what you are doing. Stilettos were never designed for the 100 metre sprint. Or the marathon. 

[pebblesf]

No scientific data to share for sure....All I know is that I have replaced the heel tips on my 4" RL stiletto boots at least four times since last fall when I got them...I have accepted the fact that walking on lousy sidewalks, especially with brick/paver surfaces kills my heel tips real quickly, ripped one right off the second time out after the last repair.  I really enjoy wearing these boots because I love the way they look, and they are easy to walk in.  My four inch Frye cowgirl boots are much better suited for long walks in city areas. 

Today, while walking in my RL boots, I noticed that a woman pushing a stroller passed me up quite easily.  I felt like I was walking at a normal step/rate, but I guess I was not.  Trying to exceed the normal step distance in heels only causes pain and I'm thinking it adds strain to the heels as well....

[Pierre1961]

It seems I have been a little pretentious and too anthoisiastic. I had  a look to some videos showing some experts women  in extreme heels walking The way they walk is obviously perfect.Heel first,not so much weight on,then toes,small steps,smooth  

 I have  to work on the basics again. Same as in sport competition.You are successful once or twice and then the result  becomes desapointing. That's means your basics are not strong enough. Back to work  

I was happy because 6" at home without any problem. As well 5" outside.

But the way I walk isn't the perfect one. That's why I broke my heels twice.A real amateur mistake  

i have to crawl before I can walk  

First master 4" or 4.5" outside perfectly and on a long run. Then adapt the height and which type of shoes,depending of the situation. 

The only good thing I learned is that I don't care what people could think and say. 

So the future will be brilliant! 

Thanks everyone for the support 

Pierre 

[Jkrenzer]

8 hours ago, Cali said:

A friend of mine's daughter can run in her stilettos (a goal of mine). But you come down on your toes and don't touch the heel. I can run or jog in many of my boots and some of my wedges.

 the faster you run the more you run on the tips of your toes anyway if the heels are not too high running in stilettos actually is not a difficult

[Shyheels]

Prompted by this thread I made an bit of a survey of fellow travellers when I flew London (Heathrow) to Sao Paulo Brazil yesterday and I did not see a single person, male or female wearing stilettos. The overwhelming footwear choice for both sexes was trainers. There were plimsolls, sandals (flat), loafers, hiking boots, brogues, but nothing, or virtually nothing with any sort of a heel. A couple - literally only a couple - of women had ankle boots with 1-2" block heels. Trainers were the overwhelming favoured shoe by travellers of both sexes.   

[Pierre1961]

Unfortunately the time when people were wearing nice outfits and shoes for traveling is over. Traveling was something in itself,not just the fastest way to go from one point to another.

I have noticed the same things. Sneakers and a lot of flat shoes. Even flip flops,my nightmare. 

I fully understand that comfort could come first .It is the desire of being different that pushes me to wear 5''5 heels for traveling .Plus the love for hight heels of course  

For sure ,I put the bar too high!

Anyway  I don't want to surrender 

 

[Shyheels]

Yes, I remember the days when flying was classy and something one actually looked forward to. Nice days. However, even in business class and in the lounges these days it is not unusual to see people wearing shorts and flip flops or track suit bottoms. I am certainly no fashion plate but I like to think I do have some sense of decorum. And one can achieve comfort well short of resorting to tracksuit bottoms, me thinks

Edited April 21, 2018 by Shyheels

[Puffer]

On 21/04/2018 at 7:14 AM, Shyheels said:

Yes, I remember the days when flying was classy and something one actually looked forward to. Nice days. However, even in business class and in the lounges these days it is not unusual to see people wearing shorts and flip flops or track suit bottoms. I am certainly no fashion plate but I like to think I do have some sense of decorum. And one can achieve comfort well short of resorting to tracksuit bottoms, me thinks

Quire right, Shyheels!   Last month, I flew Gatwick - Barbados (on holiday) and return.   The weather was very cold on leaving the UK (snow a day or so beforehand) and almost everyone was in warm clothing (depending on how they have travelled to the airport) and sturdy footwear.   A few women waiting for their flights had made an effort and wore boots with modest heels, but nothing really exciting.   Barbados was another matter - the temperature (high 20s) 'required' shorts/skirts and flip-flops/sandals throughout for almost everyone (locals and tourists, including me), with almost no sightings of heels of any sort.   But I was not really surprised to see that about half of the passengers (of both sexes) waiting to board my return plane remained similarly dressed, in various degrees of casual-to-sloppy holiday wear.   More fools them - the temperature at Gatwick at 7am was less than 10c and some very under-dressed individuals looked distinctly chilly as they made their way home.   (I wore lightweight long trousers, a long-sleeved shirt, a cotton jacket and loafers both ways - a good comfortable compromise for the two climates.)

[Shyheels]

Yes, it's very funny when you see these guys get off flights from the tropics and step into the chill English dawn with their beach shorts and flip-flops. No matter how hot it might be where I board my plane back to England, I always show up at the airport with a jumper in hand, and easy access to the coat I will have in my checked luggage. Packed on top, ready to put on when I board the Heathrow Express...  

[pebblesf]

On ‎4‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 6:13 PM, Shyheels said:

Yes, it's very funny when you see these guys get off flights from the tropics and step into the chill English dawn with their beach shorts and flip-flops. No matter how hot it might be where I board my plane back to England, I always show up at the airport with a jumper in hand, and easy access to the coat I will have in my checked luggage. Packed on top, ready to put on when I board the Heathrow Express...  

Yes, I am often amused when we return to Boston late at night in winter months. only to find men in shorts and flip flops roaming around the terminal or waiting outside....Did they get on the wrong flight??