Books on the Psychological Aspect of High Heels

[fox317]

Hi everyone.

I'm interested in exploring the psychological side of wearing high heels. Does anyone know of any good books or research studies on this topic? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[CrushedVamp]

I do not know of any books on the topic unfortunately, but there may be some studies out there on why they are so popular, or the history of them and why some four hundred years later high heels are still around. You also might find what you are looking for in searching fashion magazines for magazine or online articles that delve into the phycological aspect of heel wearing that you are looking for.

I write novels, and it has cropped up in my fiction Thriller type novels to some degree. My wife's first husband was very short and so she was forbidden to wear high heels because in them she would have been taller than him by several inches. Since I am tall anyway, her wearing high heels does not bother me, and while she has kind of run with that by having over 200 pairs of shoes, many high heeled, that is phycological in nature. For a friend of ours, she was born with a 6th toe, and while it was surgically removed, it left a scar. She is VERY conscientious of being barefoot, and to overcompensate has some 600 pairs of shoes, some being high heels.

In the interest of characterization both of these situations have cropped up in my novels. I also had an unscrupulous attorney in one of my books who was a vile, greedy ambulance chaser type attorney trying to sway the jury with how she dressed, and chose higher heels than what was typically allowed in court to look imposing. And in the current novel I am working on, a legal thriller, a mother is a high heel wearing attorney that is highly contrasted against her daughter who is into organic farming. The shoes the two wears are really symbolism for how different the mother/daughter are.

While I know these are not exactly what you are looking for, with no responses for awhile on this question, I thought it might help to show that the phycology of high heel wearing is really in many places... subtly.

But as a writer I have to finish with this suggestion too. If it is something you like, and it is not available, write a book yourself on the topic. The world needs more books!

[Shyheels]

Interesting post. High heels certainly can be interesting devices in books or films for establishing a character - the worldly sophisticate, the arch villainess, the ambitious and empowered. The ingenue is never in stilettos or heels of any sort. I always thought it was interesting in The Devil Wears Prada how nice girl Andie is so scornful of the clackers, as she calls her stiletto wearing coworkers at the fashion magazine when  she first starts her job. She mocks them to her friends but then, in fine morality okay style, is quickly seduced and becomes one if the clackers herself. This being hHollywood she sees the error of her ways, quits the fashion magazine job in favour of a job at a gritty newspaper on the other side of the tracks -real journalism - and as a final act of catharsis gives away all her high fashion clothes she scored at her old job.

But not quite. In the final scene as she strides confidently through the city, having learned a valuable life lesson, she is still wearing her stiletto boots - one aspect of her time in the dark side nice girl Andie is not willing to give up.

I’m a writer myself, albeit magazine writing. I’ve a few min fiction books to me credit but am about to take the plunge into fiction. I should explore more if the psychology of heels. 

 

 

[pebblesf]

On 12/1/2024 at 12:43 PM, Shyheels said:

Interesting post. High heels certainly can be interesting devices in books or films for establishing a character - the worldly sophisticate, the arch villainess, the ambitious and empowered. The ingenue is never in stilettos or heels of any sort. I always thought it was interesting in The Devil Wears Prada how nice girl Andie is so scornful of the clackers, as she calls her stiletto wearing coworkers at the fashion magazine when  she first starts her job. She mocks them to her friends but then, in fine morality okay style, is quickly seduced and becomes one if the clackers herself. This being hHollywood she sees the error of her ways, quits the fashion magazine job in favour of a job at a gritty newspaper on the other side of the tracks -real journalism - and as a final act of catharsis gives away all her high fashion clothes she scored at her old job.

But not quite. In the final scene as she strides confidently through the city, having learned a valuable life lesson, she is still wearing her stiletto boots - one aspect of her time in the dark side nice girl Andie is not willing to give up.

I’m a writer myself, albeit magazine writing. I’ve a few min fiction books to me credit but am about to take the plunge into fiction. I should explore more if the psychology of heels. 

 

 

That was a good movie!

This is a great topic, one that I wonder about all the time.  I often wonder if my love of high heeled tall boots is something I was pre programmed with at birth, or something I "learned" early on in my life.  My mother was not an influence, she wore regular/mild heels to work, but never boots.  My initial fascination began with my sister's red go go boots.  After that, it was my teacher and fellow student in the fourth grade that totally capture my "interest" in tall heeled boots.  

[Shyheels]

We were very similar - white go-go boots got me. Loved them and really wished I could have and wear them. I’ve no sisters and my mother didn’t wear heels but she did have a pair of brown knee boots (low heels) that I liked. I broke a toe one winter doing something stupid and those boots fit my swollen foot, and so I wore knee boots all that winter - long after my toe heeled, Looking back I should have simply declared that I liked wearing them - I doubt my mother would have cared, I could have worn them the next winter too. That winter - or the few weeks left of it when I wore knee boots - nobody that I recall said a thing about my wearing women’s boots, I wish I had built off that!

[pebblesf]

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

We were very similar - white go-go boots got me. Loved them and really wished I could have and wear them. I’ve no sisters and my mother didn’t wear heels but she did have a pair of brown knee boots (low heels) that I liked. I broke a toe one winter doing something stupid and those boots fit my swollen foot, and so I wore knee boots all that winter - long after my toe heeled, Looking back I should have simply declared that I liked wearing them - I doubt my mother would have cared, I could have worn them the next winter too. That winter - or the few weeks left of it when I wore knee boots - nobody that I recall said a thing about my wearing women’s boots, I wish I had built off that!

No one in school/friends said anything/made any dumb comments?   I hear ya for sure.  Back in the day, idiotic social norms had a strong hold on me for sure, preventing me from ever wearing the boots I loved publicly.  I wasted so many years of my life away, with self loathing, insecurity, and wondering what the heck was wrong with me.  I would feel great if I could help even one young man avoid wasting years of his life away like I did.  

[Shyheels]

Nobody said a word as far as I can recall. There’s picture of me wearing those knee boots, quite happily. I guess I was about 12. I can’t think of a single comment that anybody made - and I’m sure I’d have noticed and remembered. They weren’t quite as cool as go-go boots but they certainly made me happy. I wish I had been a bit bolder and declared that this was my style, but I didn’t. Decades would pass before I’d dare out in a pair of feminine knee boots again

[fox317]

CrushedVamp, Shyheels, pebblesf -
thank you for your answers. I do not know why i have not received any notifications about your replies. I noticed it yesterday totally by accident.

It's really a little disappointing that not a lot of people are interested in the question "why" in this topic about themselves.

Heels in fiction and movies are certainly interesting, but they don't provide any scientific answers, unfortunately. I spent quite a lot of time looking into this issue about myself and achieved certain results, and i wanted to move to a more serious level.

CrushedVamp, Shyheels - unlike you, i'm not a writer. If anyone is going to write a book about heels and psychology, it's definitely not me.

[mlroseplant]

I had my own experience with the neighbor girl's go-go boots, but for some reason it never took hold. I was always drawn to girls in sandals. But it couldn't be just any old sandal--most girls were wearing rubber thongs during those days, which have always been awful. Dr. Scholl's wooden slides started to become popular, and I always liked those but couldn't wear them. I look at it philosophically--it just wasn't my time, and in fact, it probably wasn't the time. Looking back, I think it would have been almost impossible to live life as a normal guy wearing heels during that time. I think it would have been a constant barrage of insult and ridicule, and quite probably physical violence.

My own personal feeling of well being while wearing heels did not start happening until well into my public heeling period, about 12 years ago. I would say it took me about a year. The sense of satisfaction that I now get when I'm walking well, and four inch heels feel completely natural, wasn't always there. I felt compelled to go down this road, but I didn't feel physically comfortable for quite some time, even wearing lower heels. I guess all those thousands of miles walking in heels has done something for me.

[bluejay]

Mirose, Funny that you bring up the subject of Dr. Scholl's wooden slides. I remember back then, that I had  a girlfriend of mine at the time, that bought me a matching pair of her Dr. Scholl's, in navy blue. We wore them out together. That's when she decided that I needed a colored pedicure on my toes. From that time on I have gotten regular pedi's on my toes, which is mainly red except in October when I get them in bright pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

[Shyheels]

This is quite an interesting book that somewhat fits the description in the thread title - along with a lot of history, culture and personal observation 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/High-Heel/dp/B07VCGJR2P/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QZ4XHHHJ0NMA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-tICVooyZd-4BbXPcu6UrQ.XxBMCpCrWsr7S149MQoVFO34-_yNQaTRqlVM1aveHqE&dib_tag=se&keywords=High+heel+object+lessons&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1734012644&sprefix=high+heel+object+lessons%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-1

[CrushedVamp]

I always felt a Coffee Table book on high heels might be received well.

I could kind of envision an oversized book, teeming with big high-definition glossy photos of high heels, starting with a chapter on the history of high heels, then progressing up through the various kinds. I am not sure how the layout of the book would go exactly, but a chapter on pumps, boots, mules, etc might be in order. That way in some trendy urban apartment, as apartment guests arrive for a cocktail party, they can kick up their feet on the coffee table and there is a Coffee Table book about high heels. 

Its kind of hard to describe what I envision I know, but not a fetish book, but not a history of high heel book either. A coffee table book. Lots of photos. Some information on the history of particular types of heels, but really a coffee table book.