Advice on the most comfortable heels, please?

[sm]

Having recently had a decent freelance windfall, I was thinking of ignoring the credit crunch and blowing my hardearned on a really nice pair of winter boots for my missus. Opinion seems to be reasonably divided between Christian Louboutin (good, but a shade tight on calves), Jimmy Choo or Blahnik. It needs to be something that she will go 'Blimey, these are like trainers' to convince her - especially at the price they seem to go for! She wears boots and is happy for me to do so too, but as a matter of course generally prefers a lower heel. Whatever it is needs to be spot on. Can anyone help, please? SM

[hoverfly]

First thing I would advise Keep in mind, that it's hard to recommend a comfortable shoe, a shoe may be comfortable to one person but may not be to another. Every one's feet are different so don't just go buy a recommendation with out tiring out the foot wear. The boots you mentioned to be tight around the calf, this is if they are leather. Could you not stretch them out, get some stretching fluid, spray it on it will loosen the leather up.

[Thighboots2]

An easy question to ask, but oh so hard to answer.

Seing as you will have a budget in mind, and probably a style or two as well, it would seem best to treat your wife to a day out in London, Bond Street in particular and take her shopping, and then onto Fortnums for a glass of bubbly. You'll be able to peruse all the designer shops and she can try on and tell you if they are comfortable to her. Whilst in Bond Street, pop into YSL and go to the 2nd floor (menswear) and try on a pair of Johnny boots. Its only shopping you know (see below).

She will love doing the shopping, unless she is a very strange woman, especially with you if you engage in the process. Shopping is something there should be courses for us guys in, but the first rule I learnt is that shopping does not necessarily mean buying anything.

One thing that is almost certain to fail is for you to purchase shoes/boots of your dreams for her to wear, because your chances of getting it right (when she has not said exactly what she wants) are close to zero.

Reading purchaser comments on Zappos about the shoes they bought, reminds me of the Stuart Weitzman Goliath Ankle Boot (see pic) whish has always attracted my eye. This is a quote from one of their customers

Outstanding boot! I've been a Stewart Weitzman gal for several years and have been looking for an eye catching high heeled bootie to go with jeans. I saw "Goliath" on Zappos and immediately placed my order. Zappos had it on my front door the next day and I couldn't be more pleased. This boot is classic Weitzman - soft leather, very well made, comfortable and very sexy. I wore them out to dinner that evening and received two compliments from envious ladies while my husband and I waited to be seated. After dinner we did some shopping and I had no problems navigating the shops in the four inch heel. I've had some boots with lower heels that wreaked havoc on my feet...not SW, I think it may be the quality of the workmanship. This boot seems balanced properly with good arch support and the buttery soft leather molds to your foot shape. Goliath has a very sleek, pointed toe and since my foot is slightly wider than average I ordered the C width. Girls, if you’re looking for an affordable, classic, comfortable high heeled bootie look no further! Now if they'll just carry Goliath in some different colors!

Yes they are USA based, but Weitzman is sold through Russell & Bromley (big store in Bond Street) so it would be worth a phone call to R&B to see if they carry this boot (if its the type of thing you are thinking of for your wife).

Simon.

[roniheels]

Depending on the price, including shipping and handling, these look so comfortable and don't have that high of a heel. This is something to look into.

[HappyFeat]

Wow I would love to offer advice, but the price range I typically shop in is well below "windfall." Congratulations on the cash and hope you are able to blow a hunk of it on comfortable, yet rockin' boots. Please share a picture of your purchase. I am dying to live vicariously.

[sm]

After all the offer of blowing a cash windfall on some boots, she turned down my offer of something extravagant. With the credit crunch now looming, probably not that bad an idea really. Oh well, can't fault the effort. In the meantime, I have just blown what remains of my budget before financial meltdown on a pair of thigh-high (or over the knee, as they've been rebranded these days) tan boots from Faith. They were out of black and I thought white might be going a bit far! £30 off in the sale. I guess tan goes fairly well with most stuff - and I can always return them if they're yucky. I started off my boot fascination with a pair my mum had in brown, so I've come full circle (no pun intended!).

http://www.faith.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=240376&language=en-GB&cid=boots_promotion

Whaddya reckon?

[at9]

They look good. Since they are leather they'll be easy to dye black if you don't like tan. I recently used "Punch" black dye on a pair of brown ankle boots and the results look fine. I think it was £3.75 from Woolworths.

[sm]

Really. Can't you tell at all. I'd have thought the dye would wear off, or show tell-tale signs. I remember once dying a pair of previously dark-brown courts to black, but you could see the original colour. Maybe I didn't put enough on. Thanks for the tip!

[at9]

If it's leather and you use a dye designed for leather then it soaks in and so can't rub off. Dyes for synthetics are a surface coating which has to cover the old colour and isn't as durable. I learnt all this from the real experts in this forum and thank them for their advice. When I did my boots recently it was amazing to see how the leather sucked the dye into itself. I did a second application on a few areas that I hadn't done properly the first time. My only gripe is that the nice leather smell goes and is replaced by a strange odour. Not too objectionable and it wears off.

[muddypaws]

Hello sm, this is difficult to answer. It is entirely up to you. Whatever you feel comfortable in. Cost is not the important thing. I just got a pair of heels from a local charity shop for £2.00. The lady in the shop said I would look good in them, then asked me if they were the right size, and fit. So I told her yes, I've just tried them on.They are good quality and new. Also Monday, another pair new with 5" heels for £20.00. I love them. Leopard spots. Pics of both in Three little words. Find something you like and go for that. Just as long as you enjoy what you have. Muddypaws

[vhighheels]

if you want true women shoes of high quality in sense of material and shoe form as well as sexy looking then buy shoes of Italian designers only, like casadei, vicini, loriblu, gr. lorenzi biondini etc. or spain, for example el dantes. good luck!