PART 5 : Washington, D.C.

[HeelsWearer]

Going on the class trip to Washington, D.C. was really a make or break time in my life with regards to wearing stiletto heels daily. I had suffered through my 8th grade year in my stilettos. (I later learned that the Wild Pair shoes I was living in were really special occasion shoes and not meant to be worn all day, every day!! But I was inexperienced.) I had worn my shoes down pretty well and they had plenty of wear and tear on them. The top of the shoe wasn't scuffed too badly and a little black shoe polished worked wonders on them. But the soles of the shoes were wearing thin and the metal spike had probably lost 1/8 of an inch or so in height. I figured after Washington it would be time to buy some new shoes.

As we boarded the bus, the teacher who had complimented me on my heels the first day I wore them, asked me if I brought some lower heels or sneakers along. I told her no. She wasn't trying to be negative, but she told me the walking was continuos and she hoped I'd be okay. I told her I was used to them and I was sure I'd be fine. Little did I know when she meant a lot of walking, she meant a LOT of walking! We arrived late in the evening and went to dinner. I went to my room with my 3 roommates and we talked about the following day's activities. I was kind of a history buff and was looking forward to the sites.

 

I should point out that I was never a girly girl type person. I wore no makeup, still wore a polo type shirt, sweater, or tee-shirt and mostly jeans. My jeans I would roll up to my ankles to fully expose my high heels and I always wore nude knee-highs and they helped protect me from blisters. It may sound strange, but I didn't want to dress up any other parts of my body because I wanted any and all attention on my beautiful and sexy high heels. If you saw me from a distance, I would look like any other teenage girl. But when you would get up close to me you'd think, "Wow, look at her shoes!" And that's the way I wanted it.

 

We made our way around Washington on our first full day there. By lunch time, which was about 1 pm, I was ready to sit down. The sun was hot on the pavement and walking on hard, hot pavement was taking a toll on my feet. My legs and back were holding up pretty well. We finished that day and I was doing rather well. That night we went to a dinner theater. It felt great to sit in a soft chair with the air conditioning cooling things off. I slipped my heels off under the table during the show when the lights went down. I massaged my feet on the carpet on the floor. When arriving back to the hotel room I took some aspirin and reflected on how much fun the day had been.

 

The second day didn't go as well. The morning was spent standing on lines waiting to get into different sites. As any high heel wearer can testify to, standing in one spot is the worst. My feet were hurting so badly, but I didn't want to take off my heels and let everyone else see me admit defeat. The pain was radiating up my calves and into my knees. Once again I made it to lunch and was happy to sit down. At lunch I did take some aspirin to help take the edge off.

 

We went to the Lincoln Memorial that afternoon and I had the most embarrassing incident of my life there. We waited in line to get in and when we finally got in I was awed by the sight. I couldn't believe how large the statue of Lincoln was. It was awesome. When we left we had to go down the stairs in front of the monument.  On the way down, I caught my heel on a step and took a tumble down at least 5 or 6 steps. One of my stilettos went flying off and landed another 5 or 6 steps past me. I was mortified as the whole class stopped and stared!  I quickly got myself up as some adults came over to check on me. A boy picked up my shoe which landed right in front of him and brought it to me. He was embarrassed and I was embarrassed as he handed it to me. I had hit my wrist pretty hard and that evening I was taken to an out-patient clinic and had it X-Rayed. It was only a sprain and I ended up wearing a soft splint for the rest of the trip. Not one of my more graceful moments during my life.

 

The third day I experienced another embarrassing event. The day was very hot and it was predicted to possibly hit 100 degrees. I decided that jeans would be too hot. I pulled on a pair of nice khaki shorts and slid on my stilettos. I was making my way out to the bus stop where most of the class was waiting when the group leader spoke up. He yelled loud enough to be heard in Delaware! He looked right at me and pointed and said, "No way are you wearing shorts and high heels. Either lose the shorts or lose the high heels." I turned beat red. It was the first (but not last) time I was slut shamed in public. I returned to my room and pulled on my jeans as I didn't have any other shoes to change into. I was so stubborn that even if I had simple sandals to wear, I would have probably still stayed with my stilettos.

 

I made my way out to the bus and all the other kids were staring at me. I wanted to crawl under the sidewalk. I got on the bus and we were off for the day. This 3rd day of sight-seeing really did me in. My feet were killing me, my legs and hips were killing me and my lower back was aching.  I was struggling but didn't want to admit defeat. I went along acting as if nothing was wrong. Right after lunch, the teacher who had complimented my heels on the first day came up to me. She had gone out to a drug store and made a purchase. She told me to try these tomorrow. I was curious but didn't open the bag right away. When we got back to the hotel I went to the bathroom and peaked in the bag. She had purchased me gel pads to put in the bottom of my shoes. Wow, I thought, what a great idea... why didn't I think of that? I eventually became quite adept at learning how to make high heels more comfortable, but that first year I was clueless! 

 

That night after the girls fell to sleep, I snuck in the bathroom and took a warm bath to help get rid of the achiness. I also took turns massaging each foot and leg. After getting out I took some more aspirin and stretched a little bit. I was feeling remarkably better and ready for bed. Just before going to bed I put the gel pads in the bottom of my stilettos. I slipped them on and immediately could tell they would be so helpful. The next morning before boarding the bus I went to the teacher who bought me the gel pads and thanked her and told her they felt wonderful already. She told me she was very impressed with how I was handling it but figured I could use a little extra help. She was shod in her sneakers and said even her lower heels would be a disaster for her.

 

I did notice that many people who weren't with my group (men and women) would take a double-take or even stare at my shoes as we made our way around the city. I think they were amazed that such a young teen could be wearing such high shoes to tour Washington. I was flattered by the attention. One time a little old man made his way up to me and complimented me on my shoes and began asking me questions about them. How high are they? Don't they hurt? etc.  Within a minute of him asking me questions, one of the mother chaperones made a beeline for me and quickly put an end to the conversation. She scolded me for talking with strangers, which looking back was her job. She didn't know the guy from Adam and was only looking out for my well-being. 

 

I was so proud of myself as we boarded the bus for the trip home. I had made the whole week in my stilettos. I did it because I wanted to and I did it for myself. On the trip home my now favorite teacher came up to me and said, "You did it. I am impressed and even a little jealous."  Years later, I saw her while out shopping and, of course, I had a pair of stilettos on. We chatted and she said, "I see you're still up to the challenge of high heels." I responded, "Always!" and we laughed. I thanked her again for getting me through that week in Washington. 

 

The week in Washington taught me I could last through the grind of wearing stilettos daily. It really was a turning point for me, as wearing high heels for normal daily activity didn't seem as uncomfortable after the trip. I guess you could say I became "numb to the pain" (hahaha). On the day I got home from Washington, I noticed that Wild Pair was having a buy one, get one free sale. The next day I made my way to the mall and bought two more pairs of my exact shoes that got me through 8th grade; one pair in black and one pair in white. I was thrilled. I knew I would want to get some high heel sandals for the upcoming summer, but that would be another day. I finished out the last couple weeks of 8th grade and was looking forward to enjoying the summer before moving on to high school....

 

 

[RonC]

Wow, you sure put yourself through a lot to satisfy your desire to wear heels.  I have to admit that, as much as I would respect someone for wearing heels regularly, doing so on a sight-seeing tour of DC was a bit beyond.  I'm kind of surprised (but glad!) that the experience didn't turn you off to heels, and also that you didn't do some irreversible damage to your feet.  Those heels were obviously single soled, but I see your avatar is a thick platform.  Did you stick with the single sole look or have you gone to the platforms?

[HeelsWearer]

52 minutes ago, RonC said:

Wow, you sure put yourself through a lot to satisfy your desire to wear heels.  I have to admit that, as much as I would respect someone for wearing heels regularly, doing so on a sight-seeing tour of DC was a bit beyond.  I'm kind of surprised (but glad!) that the experience didn't turn you off to heels, and also that you didn't do some irreversible damage to your feet.  Those heels were obviously single soled, but I see your avatar is a thick platform.  Did you stick with the single sole look or have you gone to the platforms?

I think my mind was made up to conquer high heels no matter the consequences when I was a young girl and saw that performer. I can still remember that day as if it were yesterday. As for irreversible damage, I'll address that in later parts, but I think I began the damage at 13 and still continues to this day. All my heels are stilettos, the majority of them being single soled. I do have a few pairs with platforms in the front. I'll detail later when I wear them... hint, sight-seeing in Washington taught me a life-long lesson about single sole shoes when on vacation(LOL).  I don't want to give too much away....

[Shyheels]

I love your pluck and determination - and am so relieved on your behalf that you were surrounded by such kindly and wise adults such as your teacher and your mother. That’s a lovely part of the story too.

I also love the honesty and clarity with which you tell your story. And, yet again, you tell it very well in a highly readable style.

[Cali]

I too was introduced to gel insoles very early on. I was given gel pads by a woman who managed an Aldo store in my second week in 4 inch heels. They make a lot of difference.

I visited Bath and Avebury in 2019. After walking through the Bath site we stopped by Avebury and I walked the outer ring/hill around Avebury in 4 inch boots. Although they had block heels is was still not easy, stilettoes would have been impossible.  The chalk ring was hard to walk through with the chalk, stones, and sheep droppings. And it was drizzling.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Cali

[Chorlini]

I think if there is a lesson to be learned here its that if you want to become successful at something, having sheer dogged pigheaded determination plays no small factor.

[HeelsWearer]

2 hours ago, Chorlini said:

I think if there is a lesson to be learned here its that if you want to become successful at something, having sheer dogged pigheaded determination plays no small factor.

I can’t argue with you on that point! I’m not sure if it was pigheaded determination or pure stupidity! LOL

[RonC]

Looking forward to reading more!  So nice to hear some positive comments on heels from the ladies side, as heel bashing is so much more common these days.

[Chorlini]

14 hours ago, HeelsWearer said:

I can’t argue with you on that point! I’m not sure if it was pigheaded determination or pure stupidity! LOL

I don't know you well enough to comment on that. Like too but I'm not having any expectations in that regard. But I do get some serious determination vibe from your story, Maybe stupidity too, but that line is always kinda blurry. Is a child guitarist of age 11 who can shred like Steve Vai an example of fine determination to have reached that skill level at that age or stupid of not having done all the normal things that kids of that age do?

Love those wild thing heels though with the metal tip and heels. They were such a fun staple of the 80's and I get the impression there are a lot of people who would love to have a pair like that again, if only to relive their youth.