Aiming High - Practicing in Heels

[Shyheels]

For the longest time I've wanted to master the art of wearing 12cm stilettos. I've always loved the asthetics and lines of that height a heel and wished  could manage them - although without ever really putting in the necessary time and effort  to accomplish this. I own a pair of elegant  chocolate-brown 12cm stiletto knee boots, which I try on wistfully every now and then, but take off when my calves start cramping up and because I feel too teetery in them.  In the course of breezy exchanges with @higherheels who wanted to master her 13cm Hot Chicks and @mlroseplant who wanted to improve his already formidable skills (both of these members are way beyond me) I've been making a concerted effort to put in some time in my 12cm stilettos every day, even if its just sitting down to write and getting up every now and then to make coffee or fix myself a snal, or take another fascinated turn around the room. It's not going badly - and it's certainly fun. 

Today I'm in Scotland on assignment, and have brought along my 12cm knee boots - for hotel room practice Even if I ws competent in them, they're not exactly suitable for waling in the heather!

[higherheels]

Thanks Shyheels for creating this thread, that was a good idea!

Alright, so let's start with my reply to your posts in the other thread:

@ShyheelsWow, you're practicing a lot already. Good to hear that your calves are doing rather fine so far.

You're living on a boat, wow that's cool! But sure can make your practice more difficult sometimes 😉

@mlroseplantNice that you're joining us too!

 

I have nothing new to tell you so far. 

I'm planning on wearing them indoors for at least once a week. I'll also try to wear them out more, but they don't fit every occasion and I wanna make sure that I don't have to walk/stand too much.

My goal is that I don't have to think too much about how much walking/standing there will be, because I can handle it anyways 🙂

[mlroseplant]

I didn't get in any 12+ cm time yesterday, but I did get a lot of 11 cm time in. I got in 5 km of walking between rainstorms yesterday, which was accomplished in the below pictured Prada mules. They are actually 15 cm, but with a 4 cm platform. They are freshly reheeled, as well. I call them my rain shoes, because they keep my feet out of the puddles!

For church, I wore my Miu Miu sandals, which are 14 cm with 3 cm platform. I spent the majority of the day in those. It is amazing how much difference an extra centimeter makes. I am fairly competent and comfortable at 11 cm, but 12 cm is really pushing it for me.

@higherheels I am glad that somebody is working on learning to walk in Hot Chicks. I have never actually seen anybody walk very well in them before, even on social media. I know that in my size, which is 40, the heel height of Hot Chicks is more like 137 mm, so that is indeed an accomplishment!

[higherheels]

While looking through the forum about training for higher heels I repeatedly came across the topic of shortened tendons. Is this something we should take care of?

I remember even in my earlier days of getting more into heels this was already a topic, but I never had any problems so far.

Apparently some even want to achieve shortened tendons so they can wear only a certain minimum heel height, but I want to stay flexible. On one hand I'd like to wear my 12 + 13 cm heels out more and maybe even try some higher ones. On the other hand I go hiking a lot, where of course I want to continue wearing my hiking shoes 😉

I'm worried that the high heels part might become too much (especially in winter when there's not much hiking going on) and my tendons might shorten. Any opinions/tips are welcome!

 

@mlroseplant That's absolutely true, 1 cm makes a big difference in higher heights. 11 to 12 cm is still alright for me, but 12 to 13 cm is very noticable.

I think the Hot Chick 130 weren't designed for walking in the first place, more for sitting/posing. But hey, that's part of the challenge!

I'd say that I can already walk kind of well in them, but there's sure room for improvement. My bigger problem is that they get uncomfortable quickly and so I'm very limited with the occasions where I can wear them.

[Shyheels]

Yes shortened tendons can become a problem - although I think you have to be pretty much living in high heels and over a fairly long period of time for it to become a significant problem. You’re doing a lot of hiking by the sounds of things so you should be fine but there are lots of Achilles tendon stretches one can do.

I used to loads of stretching back in my marathon running and fencing days, something I really want to get back to - and not just for wearing heels.

@higherheels I can totally sympathise about lack of opportunity to wear lofty heels. I live on a canal boat. Towpaths are usually muddy or stony and even getting off a narrowboat in heels can be a risky proposition - a great chance of breaking a stiletto heel or toppling over into the canal. I am probably one of the very few people living on the canal who owns high heels, let alone 12cm stilettos. And I’d be willing to bet almost anything nobody owns a pair of Hot Chick 130s!

[mlroseplant]

On 8/11/2025 at 8:01 AM, higherheels said:

While looking through the forum about training for higher heels I repeatedly came across the topic of shortened tendons. Is this something we should take care of?

I remember even in my earlier days of getting more into heels this was already a topic, but I never had any problems so far.

Apparently some even want to achieve shortened tendons so they can wear only a certain minimum heel height, but I want to stay flexible. On one hand I'd like to wear my 12 + 13 cm heels out more and maybe even try some higher ones. On the other hand I go hiking a lot, where of course I want to continue wearing my hiking shoes 😉

I'm worried that the high heels part might become too much (especially in winter when there's not much hiking going on) and my tendons might shorten. Any opinions/tips are welcome!

 

@mlroseplant That's absolutely true, 1 cm makes a big difference in higher heights. 11 to 12 cm is still alright for me, but 12 to 13 cm is very noticable.

I think the Hot Chick 130 weren't designed for walking in the first place, more for sitting/posing. But hey, that's part of the challenge!

I'd say that I can already walk kind of well in them, but there's sure room for improvement. My bigger problem is that they get uncomfortable quickly and so I'm very limited with the occasions where I can wear them.

Haha, none of these shoes were meant for walking! On average, I break more shoes than most people buy in a year. However, in 2025 I don't think I've had any shoe failures so far (knock on wood). My interest in heels takes two different paths. Besides liking the way they look, I think of them as an athletic challenge, and most of my physical exercise consists of walking in heels. I have walked a documented total of about 4,000 km over the past decade in heels of at least 7 cm, and in recent years, I don't have anything lower than about 9 cm that I walk in. The 12 cm challenge proposed here will be something totally different for me, because now I will be going for sheer height/flexibility rather than endurance. And I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to accomplish that.

As far as shortened tendons, I can really tell when I've slacked off on the foot exercises and calf stretches for several days. I have to be very careful of that because of the nature of my time in heels. On the other hand, I don't live full time in heels, either, because I can't. I think you'll probably be ok with just the slightest attention to stretching your achilles, because you are not in heels full time, all the time. Whoever wishes for shortened tendons (and in real life, that number has to be exceeding rare) is a complete moron.

[Shyheels]

For me it is very much the elegance and the aesthetic lines of the 12cm heels with the athleticism involved an attractive bonus. The degree of difficulty adds to the imperiousness and majesty of being able to walk gracefully in them.

I agree - Anyone who wants to shorten their tendons is just an idiot in the end it’s just footwear - fun, stylish, chic and with skill attached. But that’s it