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Minimum height for a high heel


Guy N. Heels

What is the minimum height for a high heel?  

518 members have voted

  1. 1. What is the minimum height for a high heel?



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dr1819: Brilliant analysis! I couldn't agree with you more if I had written your words myself. I've always felt heel height is a subjective topic and dependent solely on the wearer's point of view or comfort level. One person might consider two inches high while another looks at five inches in the same way. Height is in the eye of the beholder. Back when I regularly wore four inchers at work, I've co-workers, women, marvel at how I wore heels that high, saying they'd break their ankles if they wore shoes like mine. To hear women say that always amazed me. I also had a particular prejudice in that I wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything lower than four inches which I'm most comfortable with on a day to day basis. While I can walk in five inchers easily, I find four most suitable for long outings where I'm doing lots of walking, like at the mall. In the end, each person has to make his (or her) determination as to what they consider a minimum or maximum height for heels.

I don't want to LOOK like a woman, I just want to DRESS like a woman!

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In the end, each person has to make his (or her) determination as to what they consider a minimum or maximum height for heels.

Thanks for the thanks, JeffB!

Right you are.

I was surprised to find that the results were bimodal, with nearly equal, very distinguished peaks at 3 inches and 4 inches.

I'd expected a more of a broader, normal distribution centered around 3.5 inches.

Personally, I can't explain it, as we've a lot more guys here than women, so it must be something else.

Any guesses?

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I was surprised to find that the results were bimodal, with nearly equal, very distinguished peaks at 3 inches and 4 inches.

I'd expected a more of a broader, normal distribution centered around 3.5 inches.

Personally, I can't explain it, as we've a lot more guys here than women, so it must be something else.

Any guesses?

Well, this is hardly a scientific explanation, but perhaps that has something to do with the fact that so few shoes come in half-inch denominations, everything seems to be in whole numbers only these days. Maybe I don't get out enough, but I don't see much in the way of 3 1/2 heel heights, or anything else with a 1/2 on the end. But that's just my uninformed opinion.

I don't want to LOOK like a woman, I just want to DRESS like a woman!

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For anybody thats interested, I have now made this into an official survey from the surveys section of the website, just so this thread doesnt get buried in the thousands of threads here... :academic:

Heels for Men // Legwear Fashion // HHPlace Guidelines

If something doesn't look right, please report the content ASAP!

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For anybody thats interested, I have now made this into an official survey from the surveys section of the website, just so this thread doesnt get buried in the thousands of threads here... :academic:

RIGHT ON!:biggrin::rocker: For some reason, this one refuses to die a natural death.

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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  • 3 weeks later...

The following is a table that my wife and I use when buying her new shoes. 0 – 1.5 inches are flats 1.5 – 3.0 inches are low heels 3.0 – 4.5 inches are regular heels 4.5 – 6.0 inches are high heels 6.0 and up are extreme heels. We know it is not "official" but it made it easier for us to swap out old flats, low and regular heels for high heels and occasionally extreme heels.

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The following is a table that my wife and I use when buying her new shoes.

0 – 1.5 inches are flats

1.5 – 3.0 inches are low heels

3.0 – 4.5 inches are regular heels

4.5 – 6.0 inches are high heels

6.0 and up are extreme heels.

We know it is not "official" but it made it easier for us to swap out old flats, low and regular heels for high heels and occasionally extreme heels.

Well, at least yer not calling 5 inch stilettoes the minimum height for a high heel. But the original question had to do with the minimum height to qualify as a high heel over an an ordinary heel without regard to medium, extreme, stratospheric, or ionospheric heels. For crying out loud, does anybody want to go for AU heels while we're into all kinds of ridiculous discriptions here? (For the neophites out there, 1 AU = approx. 98 million miles)

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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I say 3.5 inches, because i have never worn heels higher than 4.25 inches. They were stilettos and i loved them. Under 3.75 isnt really a high heel. I love heels, i hope i wear 5 inches & higher one day.

banned for not sticking to website rules or guidelines

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I say 3.5 inches, because i have never worn heels higher than 4.25 inches. They were stilettos and i loved them. Under 3.75 isnt really a high heel. I love heels, i hope i wear 5 inches & higher one day.

Got that! Next time I'll be sure to include AU as one category.

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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  • 2 weeks later...

As of the 123 voters point, the geometric mean height that people consider to be the minimum height for a high heel is 3.474329428 inches. Round that to 3.5 inches (8.8 cm). However, since most voters are male, most males have larger feet than women, and considering the nature of this website, I believe Zappos' definition of 2.75 inches is probably closer to reality, particularly given the conversion factor between your average male foot length and your average female foot length, which places the average at 3.09 inches. However, the mean for all sexes is around 3.25 inches, so I'll go with that!

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As of the 123 voters point, the geometric mean height that people consider to be the minimum height for a high heel is 3.474329428 inches. . .

Darn! Missed pi by 0.332736774410206761537 (or thereabouts).

Have a happy time!

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True...

And given just 123 voters, it's only statistically significant to the tenth's digit, anyway, hence my rounding it to 3.5.

Tenth digit, no less. Hummm, that 3.5 inches is holding much more solid than I ever anticipated! So I guess I'm really a heeler after all!

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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  • 4 weeks later...

I say 3, cause nothing lower feels high. They feel medium, until you get low enough you can't tell your wearing heels. That's about 1-3/4inches for me.

Thank you for your response, as I was afraid this thread was going to die of old age.

Interestingly enough, your vote for 3" is exactly where I thought this poll would go. But then votes started coming in from the boys from Brazil, and other sundry places, where they think that 5" heels are the minimum, and that rather drastically skewed the numbers upward. Nevertheless, the matematical model seems to be tenaciously clinging to 3.5". Not my notion, but hey, that's what polls are all about.:wink:

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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  • 1 month later...

I'd say that about 3 inches would be it (@ least to my knowlege) it all depends on what a person feels what makes a "high heel"

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I'd say that about 3 inches would be it (@ least to my knowlege) it all depends on what a person feels what makes a "high heel"

You know, my mother was 5'2" (exactly the same height as Elizabeth Taylor) and the vast majority of her shoes were about 3" at the heel. She did have some higher ones and I have worn some of her 5" plats (in my pre-teen years). So to my notion, a 3" heel is every bit a high heel.

Now I've never disputed the fact that higher heels exist. Right here on this forum, we have pics of people wearing much higher heels. But whenever some tries to claim that a shoe must have a 5" heel to be considered a high heel - well that rather begs the question of that individual's grip on reality. There are any number of experienced high heel wearers who simply couldn't manage a 5" heel.

So when I started this poll, I expected a short but firm survey that would pretty much establish 2.5" to 3" as the minimum height for a high heel. What happened was anything but what I expected. Of a sudden, we had all manner of people claiming heels of such preposterous heights that no manufacturer would dare make shoes in that range and expect to stay in business. For a while it began to look like a "can you top this?" contest - which was not what the poll is about.

But perhaps equally bewildering, was the notion that the minimum height is some subjective value - ergo, what's high for me ain't high for you; or what I wear in the daytime is different from the minimum I wear in the evening. Again, that's not what the poll was intended to establish. All I wanted to find out was what size heel would be the minimun you'd expect to find in the high heels section of your shoe store. Again, I expected a number somewhere around 3". What I got was a roller-coaster ride with more twists and turns than a barrel of fishhooks.;):smile::o

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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  • 2 weeks later...

oh gawd ive got the answer right again. Didnt look b4 voting. Anything 3" or below is ordinary, i said 3 3/4" as the minimum height but ive only tiny feet and for me 5" is hard work for no gain. 4" pointy feels right and is an all day height. It all depends on yr size, 4" on size 11 must be like a flea bite.

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oh gawd ive got the answer right again. Didnt look b4 voting. Anything 3" or below is ordinary, i said 3 3/4" as the minimum height but ive only tiny feet and for me 5" is hard work for no gain. 4" pointy feels right and is an all day height. It all depends on yr size, 4" on size 11 must be like a flea bite.

;) Well, there really is no "right" answer. There really isn't any wrong answer either, except those that are so preposterous as to beg the question of what the guy's been smoking these days? :smile::o

Keep on stepping,

Guy N. Heels

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  • 1 month later...

I'd say anything above 3" could be considered high heel, but my wife considers 2" and above high. I guess it's a subjective thing, and each individual will have their own idea of what they consider to be a high heel. But this poll does seem to have brought out a oneupmanship style contest. I guess there's a lot of testosterone around despite the high heels being discussed:lmao:

He was so narrow minded he could see through a keyhole with both eyes.

Brown's Law: If the shoe fits, it's ugly

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