Ideal Heel Height

[allheel]

Is there an ideal heel height - for an individual or their feet for an outpit for an occasion or is it a function of all these and other factors. I often wonder when we are trying to accustom to higher heel heights, might the ideal be exceeded? Any comments?

[hoverfly]

Just use some common sense. There are situations where you obviously want to conceder height. Also the other would be how well adjusted you are to a higher heel. You don't want to walk around like a duck!!!

[Nata]

The choice of heel heights is very subjective and it depends on individual. I personally feel that a young school girl at the age of say... 12 onwards can start wearing heels of 2 inches and slowly working their way up. Stiletto for a start should be worn moderately. I have worked my way to 4 - 5 inches and I am quite comfortable with that. Another factor would be the shoe size. If you have small feet, there would be restrictions to the max heel height.

[Firefox]

About 100mm I find to be a very walkable heel which is nice for looks and feel too. Anything less than 80mm I don't feel so it's not a proper heel for me. Anything more than 120mm affects my walk too much which I don't want to do, so I'd say 100+/-20mm is fine. I should add I'm a size 40/41 shoe size. _________________ Believe in your right to wear what you want <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Firefox on 2002-04-09 20:02 ]</font>

[Francis]

The ideal heel height is what you can comfortably walk in without causing distress to your feet. In my case between 3" and 4", any higher and I reduce the length of time that I can wear them to a few hours.

[Jeff]

I'd say for long walks (like shopping trips e.g.) 3,5-4" would be the ideal hight for me. I think I can easily move without affecting my way of walking (except for the steps getting smaller) up to 5,5" and 6" if they are stilettos. (For >= 5" heels I find stilettos easier to walk in the than block/blade heels.)

[Highluc]

Yes Jeff, I still remember how well you walked on those 6-inch heels when we had our little competition at Xaphod's place. Anything above 5-inch true lift is more than challenging for me but I don't care.

[ShockQueen]

It really depends....usually 4" for most of the time (without platforms), but sometimes I can do 5" stils for a short period. If it's in plats, then I like the 5" heel w/1.5" rise, or if I'm feeling really daring, I can do the 6" stiletto heel boot with 1.75" front rise - but those I can't wear for quite as long.

[Laurieheels]

There's no one hard, fast and true answer in this. Everyone is giving a different opinion. I think I am seeing four inches as part of a consensus, however. So maybe four inches is a good average for the do almost anything heel? I certainly can do more in four inch heels than five right now, even if I do wear five inch stilettos for work every day. Four is the answer.

[IHeels]

For me never less than 4 inches. My preferred height is 5 to 5½ inches. Inga

[Firefox]

Just to clarify, the competition we had a Xaphod's was in 5 1/4" not 6" heels. There were 6 of us, Me, Jeff, Xaphod, Calv, Beeblebrox, and Hiluc. We all could walk in them with no problem and gave each other marks out of 10. We all scored highly and Jeff won with 42/50, and I've no doubt we could all wear shoes like this all day. However, I think most of us do around 4 in day to day life.

[Beeblebrox]

Yes, the challange we had at Xaphod's was really interesting. Well, in 3.5" (real lift) heels I feel fully comfortable and can wear all day with no problems. With 4" is the heel hight no problem, but after a while my ball of the foot tends to get some feelings, I should say, I think it all depends of what kind of material and construction of the shoe or boot. For example, the cork sandals Highluc bought on the London heelmeeting 2002 was lovely to walk with due to a very nice shaped arch of the shoe, I think the heellift is about 4.5"-5" However, it felt like I could wear them all day long, I should have bought a pair of my self even if I normally dont like sandals, but this pair was awesome to walk with.

[Jeff]

On 2002-04-11 22:06, Beeblebrox wrote:

Well, in 3.5" (real lift) heels I feel fully comfortable and can wear all day with no problems. With 4" is the heel hight no problem, but after a while my ball of the foot tends to get some feelings, I should say, I think it all depends of what kind of material and construction of the shoe or boot.

It makes also a big difference what your day looks like. If your going to do a lot of walking - like a couple of ours shopping - 5" stiletto's (or even blocks for that matter) will be exhausting. 5" all day long at home will be no problem. (Speaking for myself here.)

[Beeblebrox]

Yes, thats true. I never tryed 5" out for a longer period, if I can get a good pair of boots with block heel and a true 5" lift I will try to see hong long I can be able to be out in them. Most likely not long, pehaps an hour or less, I dont know yet. Yes, it is always easier at home, I have noticed that more than once.

[Firefox]

Yes it depends. I've been shopping many times all day in 4 1/4" but only done 5" at the office on a quiet day or evenings social events with fair walking but not miles and miles! I'm not worried too much about absolute height, just what looks and feels right for the occasion. I do take time to tell people exactly what height shoes are, because I know from experience many people are very interested in this fact on boards like these, but generally the total look of the shoe is more important to me.

[Laurieheels]

Right now I am finding the same experience as you boys. I can do five inches at work with ease, but for heavy walking, I stick with four inches. Sure, this will change one day, but right now, I am much the same as all of you. I think that is kind of neat! Now to reach Inga and Debbie status and push those stilettos to more use.

[ShockQueen]

4 inches does seem to be the standard walking incline, and it works for me, whether I'm in stils or plats, so I just need to push from that point upwards.

[azraelle]

sit on a table or other platform too high for your feet to touch the floor. Relax, just let your legs hang. Have a friend put a ruler or other straightedge along the ball of your feet so that it extends backward toward your heel. measure from your heel to where the straightedge is--that is YOUR ideal heel height--for me about 3-1/2 to 4 inches.

[IHeels]

Hiya all, For heavy walking (I'm not to sure sure of what one means, but I think walking a couple of kilometres, mile and a half for the imperially inclined is what is meant) anything up to 5½ inch for me. Above that I'd start to struggle. Inga

[JeffB]

In my case, for regular, day to day wear, and I wear pumps at the office every day, I max out at three inches. I'd love to go to four which I can manage, but those are hard to find in my size. I'm a believer in comfort over height, that's why my standard is three inches.

[Arctic]

On 2002-04-09 15:49, allheel wrote:

Is there an ideal heel height -

for an individual or their feet

for an outpit

for an occasion

or is it a function of all these and other factors.

I often wonder when we are trying to accustom to higher heel heights, might the ideal be exceeded? Any comments?

Well, in my case it's something like this (all assuming a quality shoe):

- 90mm and below: unlimited periods of time

- 95mm: perfectly ok, but happy to get them of my feet in the evening if I have walked really a lot

- 100mm: perfectly ok for a normal day, but if there is more than, say 2-3 km of walking involved, I start to feel them before the end of the day

- 105mm: ok for a normal day, but tiring if there is any significant amount of walking involved

- 110mm: ok for short distances, >1km not practically possible

Higher is not practical at all. I'm a US W11/M9 or EUR42.

t:Bert

[Firefox]

What a difference an inch makes! (90mm = 3.5" to 115mm =4.5" for our non metric friends). I'm tolerant of 4.5" even for long walks shopping, but I'll certainly feel them. I've seen Xaphod walk 5+ miles in 4.5" boots with little problem, and he is size 39, 8 USA(f). I can also walk in 5 1/4", 130mm heels for about 1km before I'd really feel it. Like Bert, my ideal height is around the 100mm mark. I don't wear a certain height shoes to prove anything or knacker my feet up, but more for the style to suit the occasion. I don't think we do bad for guys though, considering we are't supposed to be able to wear heels

[JB]

Over the years, I've found that 3.5 ins. is the minimum that I like to wear, for the feel, and the maximum for all day wear is around 4 1/3 ins.; but that maximum is also influenced by the design of the heel, which influences the comfort. A 4.5 ins. heel can be more comfortable that a 4 ins. sometimes, depending on shoe and, especially, heel design. I think that if the back of the heel is curved inward a little bit, it makes for a smoother walk, and that, in turn, is less tiring in the long run. I once had a made-to-measure pair of knee boots of excellent quality with 4.5 ins. net heel height, and they never tired me, even after 8 hrs. wear. But I was in my early forties then; today it might be different, at age 61. So: on average, for myself, around 4 inches is a good compromise which will give feel and pleasure, and with good fit and quality will be wearable for hours if not whole days.

[Firefox]

Looks like another 4 inch fan. I suppose it's nice to have something higher than what you regularly wear for some days. My 4.5 and 5 fit that purpose, but others will be a notch higher or lower.

[JeffB]

I forgot to mention that I have a pair of 4 inch high ankle boots that I've worn to the office on occasion. I can go an entire day in them easily because I spend a majority of my time at my desk, so it's no problem. However, I'd never go higher than four inches. But that's just my preference.

[prettyboots]

well right now, I'm wearing my platform loafers with 4 inch heel, & they are VERY comfy to walk in all day long! I do have a pair of platform wedge ankle boots (from steve madden) that have 5 inches but they are also comfy to wear all long, because of the wedge platform design on them. I also have a 3 inch leather pair of knee high boots, but those are actually harder for me to walk in for any exented period of time so it seems to me that thicker platform types (wedge or regular) are easier to walk in for most of the day.