My Most Durable Heels

[mlroseplant]

Recently, I have set some mileage records for a couple of pairs of my shoes. I have decided to start a separate thread about this subject, and furthermore, I'm splitting up my top six mileage shoes into separate posts in the hopes that this will generate more traffic in general on the site. I'm always looking at ways to attract new members and more comments, not for my own sake, but for the good of the community.

First up is my sixth place pair of shoes, mileage-wise. Bebe wooden mules, model name unknown. I would definitely place these squarely in the mid-heel category, as they sport 4 3/4" heels with a 1" platform, for  a total steepness of 3 3/4", or about 9 cm. I have walked about 80 miles in these shoes, or nearly 130 km, over about two years' time. While they haven't caused me any trouble to speak of, they have become so worn and beat up looking in that time that I wouldn't actually wear them out in public.

The stock top lifts (heel tips) lasted only about 15 miles, but their Vibram replacements have 65 miles on them, and while quite worn, still have a few miles left in them before needing replacement. Actually, they look pretty terrible, but since the rest of the shoe looks terrible as well, I have little incentive to replace them until they're worn to the wood. I guess you could say these are my version of trainers, not to be worn outside of exercise activities.

[Shyheels]

They certainly don’t owe you anything! I’ve not logged the miles on any of my boots, but I certainly have pairs whose heels have worn very well and comfortably. My Jean Gaborit boots are especially good in this regard 

[mlroseplant]

I don't suppose anybody but me keeps track of their mileage in shoes, with the possible exception of running shoes. I'm not even 100% sure how or why I thought of the idea, but it stemmed from my loops that I used to walk in regular walking shoes, and somehow evolved to high heels. This was after the super painful experience in the mall that I recounted elsewhere. Maybe I got sensible and realized I needed to build up to my goals slowly.

Next up, coming in at No. 5 are shoes that are so old that not only do I not have them anymore, I don't even have any pictures of them. If I ever did, they must be on some computer with a blown-up hard drive. So I had to screenshot a picture from the internet. They are, or were, my Söfft Belicia mules. I walked 107.5 miles (173 km) in them. Most of this was in 2013 and 2014. I think I'd probably gotten rid of them not too long after that. I remember that the thin straps had gotten so stretched out after that many miles that my little toes would easily escape to the outside of straps, which is not exactly a good look. Another factor was that at 3 7/8" high with 5/8" mini platform (really just an extra thick sole), these are barely heels at all by my modern standards. 8 cm barely makes it into the mid-heel category for me. Nevertheless, they did serve their purpose of training me for higher heels. I spent many enjoyable hours tooling around the neighborhood in them.

They do have a couple of distinctions--they were the first heels I ever walked a total of five 2 mile loops in, and the first heels I ever did a 5 miler in. They also have the distinction of having never been reheeled for their entire service life. I have no idea what these top lifts were made of, but they were still good when I had to throw the shoes out. Other Söfft models' heels wear out normally like everything else, maybe even a little bit faster, but these are different for some reason.

[Shyheels]

Those do look like great heels for walking distances in - sturdy and stable. And nice looking too!