Aiming High - Practicing in Heels

[higherheels]

Looking closer at the second method I can also see the imperfections with the measurement points. I measured (to be fair my husband did, because as mlroseplant also said it's difficult without assistance) as if I worn heels - from the sole to the end of the imaginary heel. That's the only way it makes sense to me.

 

I too am convinced that you can increase your perfect heel height with practice. Nobody was born in heels, and some might be more familiar with heels from the beginning than others. But if I think back of my days when I started wearing heels regularly (where I actually already had experience in some higher heels, but didn't wear them all the time), I went with lower ones like 6 or 7 cm for everyday wear. Now I'm as comfortable for everyday wear in 9 or 10 cm heels. And I'm also sure that if my first heels had a 13 cm heel, I would've not been able to properly walk in them 😉

 

It would be interesting to see if the resting angle as measured in the formula improved with wearing heels more and higher. I think it did.

 

@mlroseplant I understand your decision, I also don't like low stiletto heels that much, the proportions look off. All my lowest heels are block heels, a much more balanced look in my eyes.

 

@Shyheels That's great! Standing is a hard discipline. 

If I practice at home it's also often while standing and cooking, there I can always feel how the kitchen is too low.

 

@CrushedVamp I also think there's too much of these "hacks", which in my mind shouldn't be even called so. It feels like sometimes they're just made up for getting attention.

I can generally see that many people need the easiest way everywhere. They're probably the target of such things. I already seen people asking AI for such simple things that any kid could answer within seconds.

Maybe the fact alone that we like heels is what differs us from that. Because heels aren't the easiest way. But they're certainly more fun, and sometimes also challenging 😉

[mlroseplant]

Yeah, the "life hacks" have gotten out of hand, but it seems that we are more about clicks than substance these days. The thing is, there are so many "heel hack" videos out there, I'm just wondering who is watching them? I certainly don't see anybody attempting to wear heels much these days.

I know that we are in a kind of bubble, and even amongst people who like high heels, and maybe even wear them occasionally, we are a tiny minority. This point was driven home just a few days ago when I told one of my female friends that we had a challenge in our little group to work on wearing higher heels. I told her my personal goal was 5 inch (or the scaled equivalent of 12 cm). Her first reaction was "Oh my God, why?" The only thing that made any sense to her was an analogy to dance, and the athletic challenges that go along with that.

The other thing that surprised me is that nobody really thinks about heel height as specifically as we do. If it looks cute or aesthetically pleasing to them, exact heel height doesn't matter all that much. And then let's get into steepness--forget it! It took me a while to explain to my friend that I, a size 9, had to have a taller heel to maintain the same shape compared to a size 7, the standard. It is not something that had ever crossed her mind in 57 years. I didn't even dare bring up the fact that 4 inch heels don't actually make you 4 inches taller!

@Shyheels Standing for a whole hour in 12 cm! That is quite an accomplishment. I'm not sure I could do it. Maybe I'll have to try. I have a whole pile of shirts to iron.

Edited Friday at 11:10 AM by mlroseplant

[Shyheels]

8 hours ago, higherheels said:

If I practice at home it's also often while standing and cooking, there I can always feel how the kitchen is too low.

I like to cook too and tend to do it in my 12cm boots. I’m up and standing and moving around the galley so it feels more productive than simply pacing back and forth. Standing for an hour though, while working at my laptop, was challenging. I could really feel it in my calves. I felt like I’d been hill walking all afternoon!

4 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

know that we are in a kind of bubble, and even amongst people who like high heels, and maybe even wear them occasionally, we are a tiny minority. This point was driven home just a few days ago when I told one of my female friends that we had a challenge in our little group to work on wearing higher heels. I told her my personal goal was 5 inch (or the scaled equivalent of 12 cm). Her first reaction was "Oh my God, why?" The only thing that made any sense to her was an analogy to dance, and the athletic challenges that go along with that

I think of it like taking up ice skating - new athletic challenges. As to why, well we all wear something in our feet and high heels are elegant. I love the aesthetics of a 12cm stiletto boot and would like to be able to wear them with the kind of panache one needs to carry off heels that high. It’s one thing to admire the aesthetics but if you can’t walk in them well you might as well stay in the sidelines. To walk in them well requires a lot of practice and dedication - and if you’re as lucky as we are, friends to help and encourage you along the way. I feel very fortunate to be sharing this challenge with such experienced heel wearers as you and @higherheels

[higherheels]

@mlroseplant Sometimes it's hard to believe that what is the most normal thing for us, is something that other people don't know anything about.

The one thing most people know (or think to know) about heels is: They're painful! I get looks of disbelief everytime I tell someone that they're not painful if you do some things right.

 

Believe it or not, I'm actually also the type to who heel height (the number) doesn't matter that much 😉

For me it's just about the look and aesthetic, but over time with wearing, shopping and looking for heels you simply get an idea of the look a certain heel height has.

And of course here on hhplace you need some numbers to make clear what you're speaking of as it's all about heels, but a 5 cm heel just isn't the same as a 13 cm heel 😉

 

@Shyheels A little bit of movement really helps. It's funny how long standing time affects us differently: I feel it in the balls of my feet. I feel it in my calves when walking in my 13+ cm boots.

It's great to share the experiences with others who are just as "crazy" 😀

[Shyheels]

14 hours ago, higherheels said:

For me it's just about the look and aesthetic, but over time with wearing, shopping and looking for heels you simply get an idea of the look a certain heel height has.

Exactly! I don’t think in terms of numbers but in the aesthetic. What I see as stylish and wearable heels are probably going to be around 10cm and what I see as imperious and elegant are probably going to be around 12cm. Specific measurements don’t come into it. I want to learn to walk gracefully in 12cm boots because they’re imperious and elegant, not because they’re 12cm

[Puffer]

42 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Exactly! I don’t think in terms of numbers but in the aesthetic. What I see as stylish and wearable heels are probably going to be around 10cm and what I see as imperious and elegant are probably going to be around 12cm. Specific measurements don’t come into it. I want to learn to walk gracefully in 12cm boots because they’re imperious and elegant, not because they’re 12cm

I think you sum things up very well, especially given that 12cm (or any other 'desirable' height) will vary with one's shoe size, as has been discussed.   I would only add that some wearers will enjoy the challenge of a particular heel height because (a) it is physically demanding; and/or (b) it is 'daring' or stimulating, if a male, to wear what would normally be female footwear.   All in all, it is rather like considering why people would want to climb Everest - the exact measured height of which is of little importance compared with the effort and achievement of even an incomplete ascent. 

[CrushedVamp]

Sometimes it is just plain all-out angst against high heels.

The other day I found some high heels I made for my daughter when she was an infant. It was just a fun, silly thing to do. Her mother wears and loves high heels so I thought it would be fun to make a little pair for my infant daughter and take her to church so mother and daughter “matched”, so to speak.

I was shocked at how angry people were about it, saying it was weird and just plain wrong to put high heels on an infant. This even came from some women that typically wear high heels at church. Not to mention either; this was twelve years ago when wearing heels was more accepted. The only thing I can think of is that THEY somehow correlated high-heel wearing to “relations” type of things? That makes no sense though since toddlers wear kitten heels, tights and dresses to church all the time so what is wrong with tiny heels for an infant? It was not like we were promoting bad posture: she was three months old and could not even walk!

Maybe it is me? I realize I think counter to a lot of people of this world anyway. But for me and her mother, it was just a fun thing to dress our daughter in. We were both surprised at how angry people were about it though. You can be the judge though.

[higherheels]

@CrushedVamp I can totally imagine the people's reactions.

Sure it's not common for a baby to wear heels, but as you say they were just for fun and she couldn't walk anyway. There are so many other things that parents put on their babys just for their own fun and why not, as long as it doesn't hurt the baby it's fine in my opinion.

[Shyheels]

People should really mind their own business. 

[Cali]

I love it!  People dress their infants up al the time in outfits, especially "mommy $ me". You just took it to another (artistic) level. These should be prized photos in her baby book.

[CrotchHigh]

On 1/4/2026 at 3:32 PM, mlroseplant said:

Trying to wick it up this morning, can I walk a mile (1.6 km) in these pumps? Evidently, I can. They are the size 38 equivalent of 11.3 cm. However, I won't be able to walk a second mile in them until and unless I get them reheeled. Look at the wear after only one mile!

These are smoking hot heels…..  You look great in them….  Would have loved to see you walk in them!!

[CrushedVamp]

Yeah, we are guilty of dressing-up-our-infant thing. We dressed her up as a turtle and took her to the local lake and snapped a few pictures. She never turned her head towards the camera, but photographing infants can be like that.

Sadly with her infant heels, we never got a picture of her wearing them and she outgrew them quickly.

It is funny though because she is now twelve and still loves her blanket. She takes it everywhere, it always being in her backpack. But having lost an infant once, I don't care. I don't care if she lugs her blanket down the aisle as she is getting married. If it makes her feel secure, what do I care. There are a lot worse things in the world she could always want. 

 

[mlroseplant]

I think I can say that I'm making progress toward getting to 12 cm. Although I am not there yet, I have decided to take a different tack towards getting there. Instead of going for long distance in lower shoes, I have found that wearing higher shoes for shorter distances has gotten me somewhere. I put on a pair of 10.5 cm pumps yesterday morning and walked a mere 1.6 km, same as I did last week. After about 400 m, I found that I got into a rhythm and they felt much more natural.

After that, I put on these mauve patent 10.5 cm pumps for church, and I wound up wearing them the entire day with no problems. I didn't get a chance to snap my usual picture with the tripod and the remote, so I had my son take this photo in the garage after we came back from grocery shopping. Now I know why I keep the tripod about half a meter tall for taking these shoe photos. You can't really see my shoes when he's standing up full height, can you?

[Shyheels]

A trick to photographing interiors so your perspective looks right is to crouch down a bit and have the camera lens at what would be about mid-chest level instead of standing fully upright and holding the camera up to your face 

[Cali]

Also the shoes are in a shadow, better lighting would go a long way too.

[mlroseplant]

That was a true snapshot--no planning, took all of 10 seconds. In fact, I think we set down the grocery bags right there in the garage in order to take this. Typically, I set the camera, which in my case is a phone, on a tripod and use a remote activator to do my "selfies." Since they are shoe-centric, I go even one more than @Shyheels suggests, and set it up about belt height or so. And I don't know, I often pose in a rather stilted manner, so that a person can better see the contour of various angle of the shoes. But then again, these photos are targeted at a very specific audience!

So, back on point, I need to decide if I'm going to start breaking my own rule with this higher heels challenge. My rule is that I don't take walks in stilettos. The problem is, all my highest heels are stilettos. You see my dilemma?

[Shyheels]

I see your dilemma perfectly! I’m muddling along in my own fashion trying to lift my abilities in 12cm stilettos but going for long walks - while it would no doubt lift my skill level - just doesn’t seem workable 

[CrushedVamp]

I fully understand what your situation was @mlroseplant, especially in light of the photo being for an entirely different reason than showing the high heels you happened to be wearing. I must say, most of your photos of you in heels come out really, really well. Your pictures often show your great heels, but also your overall outfit well with quality photos most of the time on here.

But photography is interesting… sometimes taking lots of time in setting up the perfect photo works really well and a stunning photo is made, and sometimes just turning around and snapping a quick picture captures the moment in time just perfectly. Of course, the opposite is true as well and especially so for candid photos, there are twenty poor ones taken for every great photo made.

I tend to like candid photos. It can be fun to set up the camera for the perfect shot, but also fun when stunning pictures come from the spur of the moment.

I have plenty of examples of quick shots being surprisingly stunning, but being a high heel site, my wife and I were doing a themed photoshoot, and while most of the pictures were taken with her painstaking posed, as she sat on a bridge for a break, I saw her seated, turned around and snapped a quick picture. It came out extremely well, really the best picture of the seventy or so we had set up that day. So, it just shows you never know, some of the best pictures cannot be planned.

This is a photo of her on the bridge with some high heel knee boots.

 

 

[mlroseplant]

I solved the dilemma yesterday by choosing my big and ugly (but steep) chunky heeled mules (pictured somewhere above), but we are in the midst of a January thaw, and within a few days, if not hours, those open toed shoes will not be an option, even for me.

@CrushedVamp, very nice photo that turned out well from a mere snapshot! I also like candid photos, but generally of OTHER PEOPLE, haha.

[Puffer]

1 hour ago, CrushedVamp said:

...

This is a photo of her on the bridge with some high heel knee boots.

Beware of meeting the big, bad wolf!

[higherheels]

On 1/12/2026 at 12:41 PM, mlroseplant said:

Instead of going for long distance in lower shoes, I have found that wearing higher shoes for shorter distances has gotten me somewhere.

I can confirm this. You only really get better with higher ones if you wear this height or something above it.

All the usual everyday walks in 10 or 11 cm heels don't make me any better in 13 cm heels, but short walks in my 13+ cm boots sure do.

By now they feel way easier already.

 

On 1/13/2026 at 11:36 AM, mlroseplant said:

So, back on point, I need to decide if I'm going to start breaking my own rule with this higher heels challenge. My rule is that I don't take walks in stilettos. The problem is, all my highest heels are stilettos. You see my dilemma?

I see your dilemma 😀

I would break the rule, otherwise you won't have that many chances to practice in higher ones.

I also walk a lot in stilettos, and of course have to change the heel tips more often but it's a quick routine work.