Earlier this year I wrote about shoe alterations. In the comments to that post, Lisa pointed out an option I had never considered before: shortening the heel.  Forum member Danja gave it a bash and the results were stellar. So I decided that I, too, would jump on the heel shortening bandwagon.

My favourite heel height is between one and two inches, but I have one pair of cream booties that measured more than three and a quarter inches, making them a mere 2-hour shoe. With a cushioning foot bed, sufficient support and a very stable stacked heel, they were comfortable in every other respect. If it weren’t for the towering heel height, we’d have been be a match made in heaven.

I took the two year old lovelies to Nordstrom’s footwear department, where I have all my shoes and handbags fixed and spruced up. I couldn’t have the heels cut down to two inches without distorting the entire shape of the shoe. A third of an inch was the most they could do. Not quite the reduction that I had hoped for, but I decided to take what I could get.

I was worried that the shoes would feel odd and imbalanced after the heels were trimmed, but they actually felt really good once I’d put them through their paces. The front of the shoe has lifted ever so slightly, but the balls of my feet are much relieved as a result of a less steep arch. Overall, this was a worthwhile exercise for $18 and I’ll definitely consider doing it again. I now have “new” 4-hour shoes. Fabulous.