Is it possible to reduce the heel height..

[Maximilian]

of a shoe/boot without ruining them?

I have a pair of 4 inch knee high boots with an indent heel. (1,2)

I really like these boots and would love to wear them in public. The problem is that the heel is too darn high for me and I cannot walk in them properly.

Will a cobbler be able to "shave off" 1-2 cm from the heel without ruining or extensively modifying the boots?

[Dr. Shoe]

Some cobblers will do this quite easily. The only problem is that it does change the whole geometry of the boot and the heel might start to "kick under".

[Maximilian]

Kick under?

[HH_addicted]

What Doc shoe wants to tell us that if you take too much of the heel the angle between heel and ground is not 90° anymore and it is getting under the sole... with danger of breaking, etc. But I think a good cobbler can prevent/fix that.

[hoverfly]

of a shoe/boot without ruining them?

I have a pair of 4 inch knee high boots with an indent heel. (1,2)

I really like these boots and would love to wear them in public. The problem is that the heel is too darn high for me and I cannot walk in them properly.

Will a cobbler be able to "shave off" 1-2 cm from the heel without ruining or extensively modifying the boots?

Why not just save your money and just practice, practice practice?

[jmc]

I would suggest getting something else with a little bit lower heel and wearing them to become acclimated to that heel. Then graduate to the boots in question. It would be an awful shame to risk ruining such a nice pair of boots.

[Dr. Shoe]

I would suggest getting something else with a little bit lower heel and wearing them to become acclimated to that heel. Then graduate to the boots in question.

It would be an awful shame to risk ruining such a nice pair of boots.

Not neccesarily ruined as you could always get new heels put on to restore them. The process to lower heels is like increasing them but in reverse, you will need to bend the shank to make the pitch OK. A cobbler will take off 1.5 cm at the most but it'll make a huge difference.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS YOURSELF.

[micha]

Hi Maximilian, I would never reduce the heel height! Because of several reasons: 1. My own experience is that the heels of my boots often tend a little bit to bend forward ("kicking under"). Especially if guys are wearing them on the street. May be because we aren't walking like female cat-walk models who are putting their heels and the foot balls simultanously onto ground. 2. In street walking the heels have usually the first contact to the ground. The normal walking style with rolling foot steps. Therefore my block heels are always worn-up at the rear side. Reducing the height of the heels would make the problem only worse. 3. I agree to the others. Four inches aren't the ultimate challenge. It's my favourite height for alldays street heeling. Practise a little more and later you will be glad to have never misshapened these wonderful boots micha PS If they should be simply too high for you and bigger than EU 43 rsp. UK 9 send me an offer - I'll buy them at once for any reasonable price!

[crotchboots-m]

my boot repair dude once told me that you can alter the heel height up to 1/4 to 1/2 inch,depending on the boot/shoe. Anything more will cause the geometry to get screwed up...i.e. "kickback"

[shoeman1]

Just like to back up what has been said already, most but not all cobblers will take some height off your heel, again this depends on the boot itself, but tell the cobbler how much you want and he/she will probably meet you halfway!

[Guy N. Heels]

Not neccesarily ruined as you could always get new heels put on to restore them. The process to lower heels is like increasing them but in reverse, you will need to bend the shank to make the pitch OK. A cobbler will take off 1.5 cm at the most but it'll make a huge difference.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO THIS YOURSELF.

You will need an expert cobbler to do the job. Downsizing the heel by 1-2 cm will make a big difference. Another alternative is to add a platform of 1-2 cm to the boot (don't raise the bridge - lower the river), but you will still have a geometry problem that will need professional attention. Best of luck to you.

[flavio]

Going totally contrary to the tendency of this thread, I did it myself. I always self-studied how shoes are made, I'm not a pro like Dr. Shoe. Since I have some hand tools and like to work with wood and make things in my own house, I decided to do that with my beloved 5 inches. They were 5.5 before the job. 5.5 was to high for me. I did a lot of trainning in then and never was able to walk gracefully since my calf didn't stretch the way I can do a step without pain when the foot goes forward. I waited more then an year to decide what to do. Since I'm very busy lately, I didn't have time to go to a cobbler. I started studying my boots. First step, simulation. I putted the boots on a corner of a table and saw the angle of the original heel and how it would be after the job. I realised that 1cm (0.5 inch approx.) would do a very small angle to the verticallity of the heel. Little or no problem. The point of the toebox would be a little more springed, no trouble at all. Second step, removing heeltips. WARNING! these boots have wood heels and they are not regular stilletos, they are a bit chunkier then stilletos. They don't have the inner metal where the heeltip fits. Don't do this in your boots if they have regular plastic or inner metal heels or if you don't know what you're doing! To remove the heeltips, since they were glued, was just a matter of carefully taking them with a sharp tool. Then, unglue the leather around the area I want to remove. Perfect, no damage 'till here. After that, was to mark and cautiously saw the heels. Perfect. A little finishing so the wood was plain. With a sharp knife I cutted out the excess of leather. Finishing with superglue. Superglue did the job to the tips after cautious cleaning and plainning them. PERFECT. Walking in them was a pleasure I never had before! I was capable of confortably walk in them and spend a lot of time without hurt! The angle was a bit bad looking. I solved that holding the boots firmly with my hand (no tools here please) and with the other hand firmly and cautiously pushing the arch of the boot to make a new shape to the inner steel shank. Since the difference was minimum, there was no risk to ruin the boots. The results? Are on my feet now. I love them and will wear them forever. They are the greatest shoe I ever had. Beautiful, warm, sexy, practical and more comfortable then any "men's" or "women's" shoe I have. A lesson: now I know exactly my limit of 5 inches heels.

[shoerepairer]

What you are “technically” talking about is the Balance of the footwear. The biggest problem’s with altering the balance of any footwear are in fact the uppers (the part your foot goes in!) design & shape, this can not be easily altered! So if you have a boot (in this case) with a 4 inch heel, the upper would have been designed around this height & your foot will sit in it with bent toes accordingly.

If you was to take off say 2” you would find them almost impossible to walk in as you would “feel” as if you was falling back with each step taken.

The second issue here is the part that makes the boot rigid at the point where the heel is attached to the upper, called the shank. This would be placed under tremendous strain & would after a short period of time break causing the “Kick under” as mentioned.

As a rule of thumb you should be able to place your finger under the toe for correct balancing, most footwear has a “tolerance” (see pictures)

Picture one shows the shoes correctly balanced.

http://www.brilee.co.uk/hhplace/001.jpg

Picture two, shows how the same shoes would sit with a 1cm lowering, which would be within acceptable limits

http://www.brilee.co.uk/hhplace/002.jpg

As a rule of thumb most stilettos can be altered about this amount. & boots as shown in the images can be lowered between ¼ & a ½ inch, any more & you risk breakages.

Lee

[flavio]

Thanks for the info shoerepairer! That was exactly the experience I did before lowering 1cm my boot's heels.

[atsumivn]

Hi guys, these are weird terms since I am not a native English Just wonder - if you can lower your heels, then can we do it the other way? I wanna heighten my heels - about 2cm more. Can we make it happen?

[shoerepairer]

yes you can go the other way, but as with the previous post, only by 6 - 12mm (¼ & a ½ inch) or you will feel as if you are stumbling forward all the time. the strain on the shank is in the other direction & the heel could collapse outwards. On a stiletto type heel you will in almost all case's have to replace the entire heel block to achieve this safely & this more often than not out ways the cost of simply buying shoes the correct height. On other heels this can be achieved in various ways with few problems. Its also worth remembering that any footwear design is based around the height of the heel block being put on it, this is often the starting point of the design. Altering this will always be a compromise between design, comfort & strength altering the height of your heels should always be given considerable consideration as it can be a fruitless exercise. Lee

[atsumivn]

Well, so can you tell me how to have this done. By myself would be the best way then.

[shoerepairer]

Well, so can you tell me how to have this done. By myself would be the best way then.

Sorry atsumivn, quite understand this question. Could you re-phrase it for me:wavey:

[Amanda]

He says he wants to fix them himself, can you help him?.

Sorry atsumivn, quite understand this question. Could you re-phrase it for me:wavey:

[atsumivn]

Hi shoerepairer, I mean - Can you tell me how to increase my heel height up to 12mm as you said before? I tend to do it by myself.

[atsumivn]

He says he wants to fix them himself, can you help him?.

BTW, Amanda, I am not a "he".

[shoerepairer]

Hi shoerepairer,

I mean - Can you tell me how to increase my heel height up to 12mm as you said before?

I tend to do it by myself.

Can you post up or Email me a picture? as this job would very much depend on the construction of the heel block.

***edit***

Lee

[atsumivn]

Here it is! If you want more detail pics, let me know then. Thanks a ton,.

[Amanda]

BTW, Amanda, I am not a "he".

Oh my god, hey, i'm really sorry.

I'm just so used to this being a guy oriented site.

Please forgive me.

Amanda xx

[atsumivn]

Here it is!

If you want more detail pics, let me know then. Thanks a ton,.

One more thing that I forgot to mention.

I tried once to bend the sole and it seem to stay the way it is, no returning to its previous state. That's why I think of making it higher.

@Amanda, no problem then. I'm easy!

[shoerepairer]

With the shoe shown I would well recommend NOT altering them, the toe is already touching the floor without the recommended “thumb” space

As a rule of thumb you should be able to place your finger under the toe for correct balancing,

(see my previous reply in this topic)

The heel block placed on these shoes is by design, slightly to high, not to low! Hence the “odd” shape.

If you lowered them then the sole would site on the floor roughly where the ball of the foot is.

As for raising these, this is one of those shoes I couldn’t give you any DIY advice on as the only way I would do them is by replacing the heel block completely, something which you probably couldn't buy easily.

Lowering them I could give some advice but the other way round its not a diy job, sorry.

I think you would find that lowering them is actually the answer.

Lee

[atsumivn]

Well, with your professional advise, I can not give it a go since it will be a risky thing. Since I wear this pair of slides daily - for the time being. I might have to look for another pair then, which would be much easier. Thanks a lot. muahhhhhhhh BTW, my understading about the "thumb rule" is still vague, even after a long time looking at the pics. Can you somehow reprhase - if that is not an inconvenience thing for you.

[shoerepairer]

BTW, my understading about the "thumb rule" is still vague, even after a long time looking at the pics. Can you somehow reprhase - if that is not an inconvenience thing for you.

Sorry atsumivn, I tried to explain this as best I could! not really sure how else to word it!

Lee

[onyourtoes]

The first photo shows the desired thumb space under the toe of a boot with the correct heel height. The next is what happens if you raise the heel too high. If you bend the shank to make the heel vertical, the toe will still be flat. The last shows lowering the heel too much, now the toe is curled up too far. I hope that explains it.

[happysglife]

Well, with your professional advise, I can not give it a go since it will be a risky thing. Since I wear this pair of slides daily - for the time being.

I might have to look for another pair then, which would be much easier.

Thanks a lot. muahhhhhhhh

BTW, my understading about the "thumb rule" is still vague, even after a long time looking at the pics. Can you somehow reprhase - if that is not an inconvenience thing for you.

Hi atsumivn,

I try a few times increasing heel height.

1) You need to find the heel. I can only found them in HK, it is very cheap, but hard to find. I manage to find 4.5" (after adding the sole, it is around 5")

2) Take out the original heel - this is the hardest part.

3) Spray paint the heel with the matching color. (It works very well with black heel.)

4) Screw the new heel back. (drill a small hole first before use screw)

You may possible to find the shoe repair people help you to fix it. It may be quite difficult for you to DIY, but it is fun. Attached are the picture. I manage to increase the height from 3.5" to 5".

happysglife