hh_pe 31 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 I've been fascinated by women walking in ballet heels / boots and have always wanted a pair of knee high boots for myself. Realizing these would be more of a novelty purchase, for years I passed on purchasing them due to the price. Last week I found a pair of Devious ankle height boots at a reasonable price and purchased them. Earlier today, I had some "me" time and got the boots out. It felt amazing as I laced the boots and my foot was forced into a pointed position. As I attempted to stand for the first time, I realized I needed to tighten the laces even more than I had already done. I was using a door jam to steady myself as I attempted to go from a crawling position to standing. As I placed my right foot down and put some weight on it, it immediately started to roll. As I re-laced the boots, I was pulling so hard on the laces I gave myself a blister on both little fingers. For the second attempt, I crawled to the edge of our bed and used the footboard as leverage. I was able to get into a crouching position without any issues. Then I attempted to stand as straight as possible, but didn't get very erect. I took five hobbling steps over to the mirror to take the photo of me standing in the heels and my calves were screaming. After taking the photo, I quickly fell to the floor, heart beating from "pain" in my calves but loving the look of my feet in this pointed position. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
at9 177 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 (edited) The heels of Devious ballet boots are about 1cm too high and push the ankle too far forward. This has been detailed in various places online. When I had a pair I cut about 1cm off each heel which made it possible for me to stand straight fairly easily and walk short distances with some difficulty. Pull out the heel tip. Then carefully peel back the black material that wraps the heel. Clamp the end of the heel in a vice (so that you don't damage the wanted part) and cut with a hacksaw or dremel. Smooth off the cut edges, glue the wrap back and replace the tip. You may need to drill the hole for the pin a little deeper. Evenutally I decided that I wasn't sufficiently keen on mastering ballet heels to keep them, so I got rid of them. PS: It's important that ballet boots are not too big. The idea is to lace them tightly so that most of your weight is on the instep, not on the toes. If this isn't the case, try thicker socks. I never tried toe protectors (as used by ballet dancer) as some recommend. Edited March 15 by at9 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Chorlini 160 Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 I've tried ballet heels in the past but I just can't get my feet or ankles straight. I see some people with feet in incredible arches and I think OMG what mutants are you? Then again maybe I'm the mutant? Link to post Share on other sites
Pumped 262 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 I know what you mean. I see pictures of women in extremely high heels and the front of their leg and the top of their foot in a straight line. All I can do is about a 45 degree angle. I have been wearing 4 inch heels for a few years and I believe I have reached the end on my flexibility in my ankles. To get any more range of movement to wear taller heels would require surgery! Link to post Share on other sites
Bubba136 344 Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 30 years ago, 5” heels were my normal everyday wear with 6” heels for occasional wear. When I got my first pair of 7” heels, I found it difficult put them on my feet because of the extreme angle my ankles had to bend. Although I eventually got to where I could wear them for a short time I found them very uncomfortable. I still have several pairs it haven’t worn them in years. Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public. Link to post Share on other sites
PolarSun 44 Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 Nice looking ones! Ballet heels are one of my ultimate dreams as well, personally I would prefer to go for knee high ones like these on the picture. Lockable version would be even a bigger fun, just to have them locked on without holding the keys and not knowing when they will be unlocked 🙂 Link to post Share on other sites
Rockpup 616 Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 It took me a few years to be able to move around without issue wearing ballet boots. As others have said, it’s best to level out the heel so it is vertical when standing. I also used a pointe shoe inside to fortify the toe box of the boot with hood success. Even at my best walking was a bit clumsy. 2 (formerly known as "JimC") Link to post Share on other sites
Jkrenzer 1,012 Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 I couldn't do that. Link to post Share on other sites
spikesmike 478 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Rockpup : If and when you are out and about in those ballets, Do you get a different reaction from people than when you wear five (5) or (6) inch high heels ? Mike Link to post Share on other sites
Rockpup 616 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 5 hours ago, spikesmike said: Rockpup : If and when you are out and about in those ballets, Do you get a different reaction from people than when you wear five (5) or (6) inch high heels ? Mike The only time I get interaction about heels are when I wear heels 3-3.75”. If I wear 4” or higher I just seem to get odd side eye looks. (formerly known as "JimC") Link to post Share on other sites
hh_pe 31 Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 Rockpup, you're my hero. I can only hope to be able to walk like that some day. And thanks everyone for the recommendation to shorten the heel. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Pumped 262 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 On 3/22/2021 at 10:24 AM, Jkrenzer said: I couldn't do that. Same here, my ankles don't have that much range of motion to point nearly straight down. Link to post Share on other sites
p1ng74 1,061 Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 It's impressive. I used to think that men just have different anatomy that prevents their ankles from having the kind of range of motion to be on pointe, but the other day on one of our walks my wife very positively pointed out (haha) that for most of ballet history (which started as a male-only artform, incidentally) men danced on pointe. Time for me to restart the ballet exercises... 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Pumped 262 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 It probably has to do with your own personal anatomy, and when you start wearing heels. Start young and you body has a easier time adjusting. Start at 50 years old, like me and there is not much hope! I started out with 3" heels and I thought they were going to kill me. I wear 4" heels now with no issue, but it takes a minute to get thee tendons stretched before I can walk gracefully. I have a pair of 5" heels and no matter what I do I can not wear them comfortably. I can not stand up straight and lock my knees, not enough range of motion in my ankles. It feels like I have simply reached the end of how far my ankles can flex, like there is bones in the way. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Pierre1961 920 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Have you tried some stretching as the dancers do? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
pebblesf 1,156 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 14 hours ago, Pumped said: It probably has to do with your own personal anatomy, and when you start wearing heels. Start young and you body has a easier time adjusting. Start at 50 years old, like me and there is not much hope! I started out with 3" heels and I thought they were going to kill me. I wear 4" heels now with no issue, but it takes a minute to get thee tendons stretched before I can walk gracefully. I have a pair of 5" heels and no matter what I do I can not wear them comfortably. I can not stand up straight and lock my knees, not enough range of motion in my ankles. It feels like I have simply reached the end of how far my ankles can flex, like there is bones in the way. I'm with you buddy, so damn frustrating...I can wear my 4" Sam Edelmans all day, very comfortable. But, my latest boots, that I love, with 5-5.5" heels are near impossible for long journeys. Yeah, I can wear them around inside on carpeting, but venturing out is a fail.... Link to post Share on other sites
mlroseplant 1,872 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 On 4/1/2021 at 5:25 PM, Pumped said: It probably has to do with your own personal anatomy, and when you start wearing heels. Start young and you body has a easier time adjusting. Start at 50 years old, like me and there is not much hope! I started out with 3" heels and I thought they were going to kill me. I wear 4" heels now with no issue, but it takes a minute to get thee tendons stretched before I can walk gracefully. I have a pair of 5" heels and no matter what I do I can not wear them comfortably. I can not stand up straight and lock my knees, not enough range of motion in my ankles. It feels like I have simply reached the end of how far my ankles can flex, like there is bones in the way. I think it is possible to become quite a bit more flexible at an older age like we are, but the sheer dedication and the amount of time it would take is probably not worth it for the sake of achieving such a narrowly focused skill. Yes, it might be kind of fun to learn to walk en pointe, but am I going to spend years training to be able to do it? That's what it would take for me. So, no. Probably not. My friends will simply have to remain unamazed. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 1,480 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 I used to do lots of stretching and am still reasonably flexible. I very much want to get back into that amount of stretching and I am sure I could reach the required level of flexibility. Actually buying a pair of ballet boots, on the other hand... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now