Aiming High - Practicing in Heels

[mlroseplant]

Being as my "training" shoes are in the shop, I was looking for alternatives, and I settled upon a pair of Bakers oxfords, model name Reissa, that I've had for a very long time. I won't say that I forgot about them, but I haven't worn them in years because I don't love the way they look, and I've always had trouble walking in them. I've always thought of them as having 13.5 cm heels with 2 cm platform, but they somehow feel steeper than those numbers would suggest. Now that I've kicked it up a notch (aiming high), I decided to put them on for a short walk. Much to my shagrin, I still have trouble walking in them, and I decided to cancel my walk, for fear of somebody seeing me struggling in these ridiculous shoes. Why are they so hard to walk in?

I went back to the basement, took the shoes off, and pulled out a tape measure. Surely there had to be more to the story. There was. The platform, as you can see, is hidden, and there's no way to determine its thickness except to feel where the footbed is on the inside of the shoe, then transfer that mark to the outside. When I first measured them, I failed to do this at the heel as well, which in this case turns out to be significant.  On this particular shoe, the footbed maintains its thickness all the way up to the top of the heel. In fact, the wearer's heel rests a good 1/2 inch higher than the point where the top of the shoe's heel is attached on the outside. Effectively, the shoe's steepness slightly exceeds 13 cm. That accounts for a good deal. No wonder.

Edited yesterday at 09:24 AM by mlroseplant

[Shyheels]

They certainly look steeper than my 12cm heels - quite a bit steeper in fact. You’ve probably got something as steep as @higherheels Hot Chicks but with absolutely none of the chic or the cachet

[higherheels]

That's a cool pair, I somehow like the style. 

Yes, they seem to be as steep as my Hot Chicks.

Glad I'm not the only one feeling a big difference between 12 and 13 cm 😉

[Shyheels]

Sometimes when I’m wearing my 12cm boots I think of your Hot Chicks and try to imagine that extra centimetre of elevation. It would certainly defeat me

[mlroseplant]

@higherheels, do you find with your Hot Chicks that you need to warm up extensively before actually walking anywhere? I find that with my higher heels that I have to sort of pace around the house or the garage for about 10 minutes before my ankles limber up enough to take on the real world. I failed to do any of this preliminary warmup (preflight? 😆) the other day when I tried out the Bakers oxfords. I think I might give it another go this weekend.

[Shyheels]

Speaking for myself, I find that walking around for a few minutes in my 10cm heels is a good warm up for wearing my 12cm ones - although if I do I have a way of becoming distracted and forgetting to change boots.

[higherheels]

@mlroseplant No, I don't do any warm-up before going outside. But I put them on first before the rest of the clothes, so there's already a bit of standing in them before walking.

What makes a difference is weither I been at home barefeet all day or already been out in heels all day. Even if I only wore lower heels like 8 cm all day, the transition is easier.