What's the highest heel you can wear? - YouLookFab Forum

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What's the highest heel you can wear?

ironkurtin

Veteran

I picked up these Elizabeth and James platform heels for $25 at a boutique sidewalk sale. They called to my inner sex bomb, I guess. With the plats, they're actually fairly easy to walk in, if I don't walk much. So far they remain safely in their box because I am a little bit afraid of them. I'm told the way to walk in heels is to clench your butt and take small, measured strides. Anyone routinely wear (or have worn) crazy heels? Have any tips?

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31 replies

Latest reply was from Laura

rabbit

Veteran

I have not tried crazy heels. (Well I've tried them on, but they haven't come home with me because I couldn't walk even a little bit).

I do have one higher heel ankle strap shoe right now that I always feel a bit awkward walking in, so I'm going to lurk this thread...

My highest heeled shoes are boots. They let me put insoles in if I need to, and they hold my ankle firmly (they are all over the ankle styles and fit closely just above the foot) so I think they take the balancing part out of the equation and act more like part of my body. My feet can still tire of the position though.

Those shoes are pretty hot, and like you say, the platform should help.

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

Wow! Those are some CUTE shoes! Fierce!

My heels are usually 3.5-4 inches. With a platform, it can be higher, but generally around 4" net height is about my limit.

The best way to walk in any pair of heels, is to practice practice practice at home in them before you step outside. Wear them around the house, get used to sitting down, standing up, moving around and doing normal stuff in them.

This is a fun tutorial video. A little silly, but some good points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6XZXC12fDI

The best way I can describe how I walk in heels is that the movement comes from the core and the quads and I try and keep 'lifted', and not sink down into my feet or shoes. If I have just taken a pilates or ballet class, or done a Tracy Anderson workout, heels are easy-peasy.

ma342

I used to rock 4" heels in my early twenties, but 2.5 is my limit now--though I can do higher with a platform. Small, careful steps are key. I still love the look of super high heels, though--enjoy!

deb

Veteran

Three inches was the highest I was comfortable with. Now it is 1 1/2 if it is a wedge. I guess I am officially old.

Anonymous

I'm with Deb. The highest heels I've ever worn were on my wedding day, 4". I needed the height so my Mom's wedding dress wouldn't drag. I only wanted to wear one petticoat and one hoop skirt under it, so I could get through a single-wide door.
Those shoes rank right up there with stunt wear! Be careful!

Echo

Veteran

A LOT of it has to do with the pitch, which surprisingly isn't strictly related to heel height. There have been 3-1/2" heels that seemed very easy to walk in, while others with the same height were so painful I couldn't make it halfway across a room. So sometimes platforms really help and sometimes they don't.

So I can never go strictly by heel height; I need to try them on in order to know. I wore 6" heels with substantial platforms for my wedding, but that was because I am just under 5'3" and DH is 6'8"! When I took those boots off, my toes were completely numb!

These days, though, my lifestyle doesn't really call much for heels. I can still wear 3-1/2" heels for dinner out with DH or a special occasion, but otherwise I have very little use for them.

Diana

Veteran

What size are your feet? My friend with size 12 feet finds high heels a lot easier to walk in than I do with my 7.5 feet. We decided it was because the angle is a lot shallower with a longer foot.

My limit is 2.5" for dress, 2" for every day. I can go a bit higher with a platform. Assuming the upper fits and doesn't fall off, my problem is not that I can't walk. It's that there's too much pressure on my toes and the balls of my feet. I have basically no fat pads on the balls of my feet though.

ironkurtin

Veteran

I'm a 8.5 - 9. I guess the only way to find out if they're death shoes is to wear them! My husband isn't much taller than I am, so maybe girls' night some time.

Missey

Veteran

Comfortably? About 2-2.5". The rest I call "perching heels". Sure I can wear them! Right to the tall chair/bar stool where I will perch and dangle my legs and heels gloriously for the rest of the night.

Missey

Veteran

PS, those pretty babies are definitely perching heels in my book, but it feels awesome being 6'2" in heels!

Gigi

Veteran

I'd love to see a pic of you in those shoes!

The highest heel I can wear is 3.25", but after an hour or two on my feet (shopping, for example), I've had it and have to take them off. I more regularly wear 3" and am trying to cut that back to 2" if possible, but I can't find any 2"-heel shoes that I want to wear, so that is a work in progress.

I've tried 4" heels around the house, but it's really really difficult not to trip over the heel because it's so long. I'm scared to wear those anywhere, even just to church!

I don't wear heels all day. If I did, I don't know what my heel height limit would be. Maybe 1". LOL.

I agree with Diana that if you have a larger foot, heels can be easier to walk in because the angle of the foot is not as extreme. I have only a 6.5 foot, so the angle gets pretty steep pretty fast. And like Diana, I have hardly any fat on the bottoms of my feet, which creates painful pressure points.

Sara L.

Veteran

4" is my limit and I try to keep mine slightly below that, say 3.75". I agree with LBD that the trick is to just practice. Also I like to hold DH's hand for extra balance if I'm feeling especially wobbly (broken pavement or one drink too many).

abc

Veteran

I would say my tolerance is quickly becoming less with age. I agree. I wanna see those babies on. How can you not feel hot wearing those babies? How will you style them?

Beth Ann

Veteran

I have two pairs of 4" pumps, but I'm favoring 3" for dress up shoes these days -- mostly because I want to be able to pretty shoes for a long time, and I sense I'd better be taking better care of my feet.

I will say that it helps to, despite the pitch, continue to walk heel first, then roll through. Keeping a strong core makes a difference, as well.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I go to work in 2.5 to 3" ... I have a pair of dress heels at 4", but that's about it for me; I returned a pair of 4.5" - I would have been a bit too tall for The Boy to handle

Joy

Veteran

I'm with Deb, but I really am old :). I try for 1.5 inches but sometimes go 2". I love the look of higher heels but can't wear them any more.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Three inches are my absolute maximum and even 2.5 can be iffy if the shoe isn't well constructed. Good luck with those babies!

Joyce B

Veteran

How high are those heels? The platform does not look stable to me but of course ymmv. They are pretty but you will need to train to manage them safely.
I am comfortable in 3.5" heels and I can manage up to 4" but I am not very good with platforms because they make my ankles twist.
Take a WIW when you wear them.

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

My highest are 3 1/4" and they took a little practice walking in. They are pretty much what Angie calls "sitting shoes" for me. Great for out to dinner or something like that.

Vince 'Claire' Pump

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pastrygirl

(website)

Veteran

Goodness, not even two inches. For me, the problem isn't the ability to actually take steps, it's that the ball of my foot hurts instantly, even if I'm standing still. If my only issue was being wobbly, I'd practice walking. I really would love to be able to wear heels...

K. Period.

Veteran

Wasn't there a post lately on the wobble test? I think that is a huge contributor! Shoes are designed with aesthetics in mind, but rarely with practical engineering in mind. I can almost hear the (non)converstation around the shoe designer table: Stability? Who cares! It looks HOT!

With that said, I usually wear 3" heels, and I consider any platform that nets out to 3" heel height (e.g. a 4" heel with a 1" platform) to be pretty equivalent so long as the platform has a good solid base in contact with the ground.

I agree that the only real way to walk in heels is to practice, which builds up the muscles you need and develops your balance. It's like a yoga pose. You wouldn't expect to do the "stretched hand holds big toe" pose without practicing, and you need to practice walking with high heels too. I've even kinda decided that it doesn't make much sense to depart too significantly from a heel height that you normally wear when you buy fancy heels since a person's training time (including training maintenance) invested in them is so little.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Diana is right... at 5'4" and a size 9-9.5 foot, I can walk easiest in. 2-3" heel, higher if platformed. I just stomp around like normal? Less heel-toe movement maybe?

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

The highest I can do comfortably is 3.5". Or 3.75" if there's a 1/4" platform. I don't care for a platform higher than that because they're not stable enough for me. Most of my day-to-day shoes have a 3" heel.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I stop at 3" now. I have (and can wear) 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 but am more comfortable at 2 1/2 or 2 3/4. And, yes, angle of pitch matters. A size 6 foot is going to be steeper than a size 9 in the same heel height. Simple mathematics.

cciele

Veteran

Let's see those shoes on Dana!

2.5" is about my max these days, although the Okalas I think are a bit higher and I can manage them for a fair amount of time. My main issue is stress on my poor old knees.

Anonymous

Probably 2 1/2"-2 3/4" without platforms is about as high as I go. I think I have a slightly smaller shoe size than you. UK size 4.

Gigi

Veteran

K. Period, I did post a video on the rocking test. Here is the thread: http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....high-heels

Note that you have to watch the video all the way through. There's some kind of break in the middle, where "Goddess in High Heels" or something is seen on the screen, but that's not the end of the video—the examples of testing come after that.

What I sometimes do is just take the heels out and put them on a hard table or floor, not carefully, but just kind of plopping them down. And then I see if they wobble badly before coming to a stop. The last pair of heels I bought I returned because when I did this, the one shoe wobbled around so bad that it almost fell over. That told me that the shoes were not very stable and that it wouldn't be good to walk in them. Most of my heels just wobble a little bit and then settle down within a second. But I do have a pair of VS stilettos that just keep wobbling and wobbling and wobbling... And those I have never worn outside of the house, so the wobbling cannot be due to the heel being worn down.

doubleh

Veteran

I remember seeing a hot bombshell type in Tokyo years ago. She had beautiful long hair , tons of makeup, a little leopard mini, and thigh high boots with a ridiculous heel. They were so high that she had to pitch her knees forward and her top half backward to balance and walk. If you have to walk like that then I think you are defeating the entire purpose of a sexy shoe. So, that's my tip: sexy is as sexy does.

Anonymous

2.5" and I have to be able to walk some distance in them so they have to be ultra comfortable.

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