Aiming High - Practicing in Heels

[Puffer]

Some interesting discussion about these different heel heights and wearability.   But I'm confused - mlroseplant says that Hot Chicks in size 40 have a measured 13.7cm heel, but higherheels says that hers (apparently also size 40) measure 12.7cm, which sounds a little low.   Which is right, please?

Nearly 30 years ago, I had a GF who had not been a regular wearer of significantly high heels and had probably not gone above about 3.5" (9cm).   She was not a particularly nimble or athletic person either.  But she was perfectly willing to go higher and was soon wearing 4 - 4.5" stiletto heels (UK 7 = Eu40) regularly - and when she acquired a pair of 5.5" (14cm) courts she had little difficulty in wearing them from the outset (unless on very slippery/uneven ground, understandably).   Alas, the relationship did not last but the memory of her high stilettos did!

[Shyheels]

That would be extremely unusual. I can only think that the bar to success in 14cm was set quite low - simply being able to walk without falling - or that there was a platform involved somewhere. Or that she is or was a ballet dancer.

Hot Chicks at 13cm are famously difficult to master even by very experienced high heel wearers - so much so that Louboutin stopped making them. @higherheels is the only person with whom I’ve had any contact who feels confident walking in them, at least to go out for dinner. And I have a sense that she sets the bar pretty high, can walk easily in 12cm and even then she finds the need to work hard and practice with the 13cm Hot Chicks and her new and slightly higher boots.

i have a couple of friends who are serious high heel aficionados and their limit is 12cm, and one of them has quite a collection of Louboutins too. But nothing over 12cm. So I’m just finding it hard to picture someone slipping on a pair of 14cm court shoes and striding out of the shop unless there is some very unusual circumstance 

Edited 16 hours ago by Shyheels

[mlroseplant]

1 hour ago, Puffer said:

Some interesting discussion about these different heel heights and wearability.   But I'm confused - mlroseplant says that Hot Chicks in size 40 have a measured 13.7cm heel, but higherheels says that hers (apparently also size 40) measure 12.7cm, which sounds a little low.   Which is right, please?

Higherheels wears size 37. I am the one who wears size 40.

[higherheels]

@Puffer I have a size 37.

We found out that apparently most manufacturers rate their heel height at size 38 or so. This means that if you have a smaller size you'll get a lower heel and if you have a bigger size a higher heel, so the steepness is the same. 

The Hot Chicks are a good example - advertised as a 130 mm heel (probably in size 38). In my size 37 with a 12,7 cm heel and in mlroseplant's size 40 a 13,7 cm heel.

 

I think your girlfriend was an exceptional talent in heels.

Her 14 cm heels would mean something like 13 cm in standard size, so like the Louboutin Hot Chick again. I was well used to high heels when I got mine, and yes I was able to walk in them from the very beginning. But it was not an elegant/comfortable walk in a way that I would've worn them out immediately 😉

And I've seen so many other women struggling to walk in something like a 7 cm heel.

So I think there is some kind of natural talent for walking in heels, and your girlfriend definitely had it!

 

Generally we here are already on the top end with anything of 12 cm+, considering that most people don't wear heels at all or only low heels.

There's also the other extreme - I remember a women modeling for Fuss-Schuhe (a german shoe brand/seller), and there were videos of her walking even in the most extreme heels. This was a big motivation when I got my Hot Chicks - if she can walk in 15 cm (?) heels I sure should be able to walk in 13 cm 😀

[Puffer]

1 hour ago, higherheels said:

@Puffer I have a size 37.

...

I think your girlfriend was an exceptional talent in heels.

Her 14 cm heels would mean something like 13 cm in standard size, so like the Louboutin Hot Chick again. I was well used to high heels when I got mine, and yes I was able to walk in them from the very beginning. But it was not an elegant/comfortable walk in a way that I would've worn them out immediately 😉

And I've seen so many other women struggling to walk in something like a 7 cm heel.

So I think there is some kind of natural talent for walking in heels, and your girlfriend definitely had it!

...

Thanks for clarifying your shoe size; I now see why the heel height varied.

 

9 hours ago, Shyheels said:

That would be extremely unusual. I can only think that the bar to success in 14cm was set quite low - simply being able to walk without falling - or that there was a platform involved somewhere. Or that she is or was a ballet dancer.

...

So I’m just finding it hard to picture someone slipping on a pair of 14cm court shoes and striding out of the shop unless there is some very unusual circumstance.

My former GF had no obvious experience in ballet or any other activity that might have helped with high heel wearing.   (Her occupation was a maternity assistant in hospital - so on her feet most of the time and in 'sensible shoes' too!)  The 5.5" stilettos were slingback courts from Honour in London and had no platform.  She didn't go 'striding out of the shop' after they were bought, but wore them for a few hours at home before going out in public with little difficulty.  She did say that she doubted that she could dance in them; that was never really attempted.   I wish that I had taken a pic or two!

Edited 11 hours ago by Puffer

[mlroseplant]

1 hour ago, higherheels said:

@Puffer I have a size 37.

We found out that apparently most manufacturers rate their heel height at size 38 or so. This means that if you have a smaller size you'll get a lower heel and if you have a bigger size a higher heel, so the steepness is the same. 

The Hot Chicks are a good example - advertised as a 130 mm heel (probably in size 38). In my size 37 with a 12,7 cm heel and in mlroseplant's size 40 a 13,7 cm heel.

 

I think your girlfriend was an exceptional talent in heels.

Her 14 cm heels would mean something like 13 cm in standard size, so like the Louboutin Hot Chick again. I was well used to high heels when I got mine, and yes I was able to walk in them from the very beginning. But it was not an elegant/comfortable walk in a way that I would've worn them out immediately 😉

And I've seen so many other women struggling to walk in something like a 7 cm heel.

So I think there is some kind of natural talent for walking in heels, and your girlfriend definitely had it!

 

Generally we here are already on the top end with anything of 12 cm+, considering that most people don't wear heels at all or only low heels.

There's also the other extreme - I remember a women modeling for Fuss-Schuhe (a german shoe brand/seller), and there were videos of her walking even in the most extreme heels. This was a big motivation when I got my Hot Chicks - if she can walk in 15 cm (?) heels I sure should be able to walk in 13 cm 😀

Are you talking about that woman from the Netherlands who paints shoes and makes jewelry? She does all right in 15 cm! For what it is.

[higherheels]

Unfortunately I don't know anything about her. Always suspected she's from Germany, but just because Fuss-Schuhe is from Germany too.

But I just had a look at the Fuss-Schuhe Shop and found the videos, one for example:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KrykbpYnDJ8&pp=0gcJCR4Bo7VqN5tD

[pebblesf]

22 hours ago, Shyheels said:

What I really need is to find a place where I can go for meaningful walks in my boots. I know I could improve quickly. I’m pretty good at sports. But honestly you guys should see the towpath - chalky muddy clays, puddles, rocks etc. very frustrating. 

I agree, just walking around a bit inside your boat is probably not going to help much.  You really need to get out where you can take a decent walk, develop a stride, and adapt to the heels.  It seem like your only choice here is to place your boots in a back pack until you get somewhere that is suitable for a decent walk.  The other issue is what to do with the back pack once you find a decent spot.   

I have wrestled with a similar dilemma with some of my more challenging boots/heel heights.  Sure, I can walk around the carpeted hotel room fairly well, but hitting the open sidewalks was another story.  I would quickly tire and get soar, and I'm sure all this was showing in my strides/steps, which ultimately attracted just the type of attention I did not want.   One way I have realized when I am comfortable/confident with a particular pair is when I almost forget I'm wearing them while out and about.  One of my biggest issues is self confidence, so once I am proficient enough to almost forget I'm wearing them, I stop "overthinking it".  

[Shyheels]

Yes you’re right. I definitely need real world walking experience and longer, more open walking areas. Putting my boots in a backpack and hiking off to a park in town - about a mile and a half away - is the best bet. The trouble then becomes time and commitment - finding the hour and a half minimum it will take to walk to the park and back and put in a bit of practice time. To say nothing of short days up here and foul weather. It becomes so easy to decide to practice in my boat 

[Cali]

Take your boat on a trip to a location with better (concrete) towpath. Otherwise it's only when you do a tour for a group.