5" heels and only three inches taller?

[ScoobyHH]

Hi all I measured how tall I was today wearing some of my heels and the results surprised me.All the shoes are courts and I measured the heel height vertically down from the back of the heel Bare feet 5'9 1/2" 4" heels....... 6' 3/8"........... gain in height 2 7/8" 5" heels....... 6' 5/8"........... gain in height 3 1/8" 5.5" heels.....6' 7/8"........... gain in height 3 3/8" 7" heels ......6' 3/4"........... gain in height 3 1/4":mecry: I'll have to say I thought I would have been much taller so I did it twice and got the same results.I can't understand how I can go from a 4" heel to a five" and only get 1/4" taller ? I thought I would be about 6'4" with the 7" heels but to be fair I can't get my legs straight so that will probably have affected the results,I can with all the others heels though. Anybody else been geeky enough to try this LOL ,or can explain it for that matter ? ScoobyHH

[Tom-NL]

Take a look at this picture:

http://users.powernet.co.uk/wingett/images/talons.jpg

It illustrates that when the heels get higher, the ankle joint is "absorbing" part of the extra height of the heel, so that the increase in your body height will be less than the height of the heel.

I also must have somewhere a short article that describes this in more mathematical terms - I will try to find it back. It is an English translation from part of the former Italian website "Tacchi a Spillo".

[jmc]

Well, I'm geeky enough to get into this. Actually I'm borrowing from another member who posted a more detailed analysis somewhere around here. I'm going to simplify it a little by leaving out the math. You don't actually have to do all of this, just conduct it as a "thought experiment".

Stand up straight, barefooted on a level floor. Place a mirror at your side so you can see your leg and foot in profile. You will notice that your ankle is somewhere between 1 and 2 inches higher than the ball of your foot. That's standard human physiology, that's how we're put together. If you draw a line through your ankle joint and the ball of your foot, that line will make an angle with the floor and the line rises from your toes to your heel. Now there are two major joints in our feet -- the ankle and the ball of the foot. (There are many other joints as well but for the sake of simplicity let's just consider the two.)

Now put on a low heel -- say a one incher and observe your foot in the mirror again. Your heel and ankle are an inch higher and your gain in height is about an inch. That line between the ball of your foot and your ankle is steeper now -- effectively you have rotated your foot upward about the ball by some angle.

Now put on a mid heel -- like a 2.5" and try it again. You have rotated your foot upward even more. 4" heels, 5" heels and above just increase the effect. But as the heel height increases your foot gets closer and closer to vertical and the actual gain in height is less pronounced. As the angle of that imaginary line between the ball of your foot and your ankle goes from 75 degrees to 90 (full vertical) and possibly beyond, your gain in height is actually very little -- probably less than 1/4". If the angle goes past vertical (extremely high heels) you will actually lose height -- even if you can fully straighten your legs.

We probably get the most height increase with the first 2" of heel height. After that every increase in heel height gives us less total height. (But they still look better.)

That's what economists call the "law of diminishing returns".

[r1g0r]

simply stated from an engineering & physiology viewpoint... your ankle pivot point is not at the rear of your foot. if it were, then heel height on the shoe would be an ABSOLUTE indicator of your increase in height when wearing them. the larger the foot, the further forward the pivot point is from the back of the foot/shoe. therefore: your ACTUAL heel height should be measured at the point where your ankle pivots. the heel height is an illusion. manufacturers cannot account for the variances of individuals, so they state the heel height without concern to how much actual height is gained.

[Dr. Shoe]

It's irrelevant anyway. The height of the heel is a constant, you put a 4" heel on a shoe you have 4" heels, whether this makes a person 4" taller or not is besides the point.

[lorriette]

hello scoobyhh, we did this subject at the end of last year, and several members pooh poohed it. Your findings bear out my findings, and that is probably why most members voted heels in the 4"/5" range best for normal use. that is not to say 7" heels don't have a place, but some of us oldies are too frail to risk them.

[Firefox]

Yes, it's true, wearing 4 inch heels you only get 2.5 to 3 inches taller. Not many people realise that especially in the casual fashion magazines where they often talk about people being "4 inches taller in their heels". It's due to the rotation of the foot forward as well as up. If you look at some of these fetish 6-7 heels, the heels is actually going up behind the foot. The heel bone is not going any higher. It can't because of physical limitations. This does have an advantage though. If you are looking for a height increase with shoes, then wearing 2-3 inch block heels gives you almost as much elevation as 4-5 inch heels. And 2-3 inch heels are much more practical for continuous wear.

[ScoobyHH]

cheers for the explanations,they make perfect sense when you think about it:smile: .I'm still a bit disapointed I wasn't 6'4" though. After looking at the picture in Toms post I like to see women in heels that look the same height as the 12 cm heels in that pic, because they can usually still walk gracefully. With the higher heels like those 16cm or higher the ankle joint has no movement left and the wearer starts to look like they are about to s**t themselves,if you know what I mean.Just look at half the videos on youtube for examples LOL I admit some people can still walk well,that height does look good in photos and in the bedroom though. Scooby

[roniheels]

And thank you all for turning the art of wearing high heels into an intricate science study. LOL:lmao: Excuse me while I go for my nightly walk in my stilettos.