Tips For Wearing High Heels

[Anonymous]

Disclaimer: Let me just start out by saying high heels are not for everyone and this is perfectly fine. Never let a job, friend, or significant other pressure you into wearing them if you feel you absolutely don't want to, have medical issues that prevent you from wearing them, or you know you just cannot function or walk in them. Remember, as cute as they may be, at the end of the day, you are the only one wearing them and dealing with whatever consequences, good or bad, that they may bring. Just please know there are sooo sooo many cute flats and kitten heels out there, so don't be discouraged that you can't find something equally cute!
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Okay, so lets say you do want to give heels a crack or want to find solutions to issues while wearing them. Let's have a chat then...

1. Get fitted

Know that your shoe size and foot width can change even as an adult. Things like pregnancy, weight gain, weight loss, medical issues...these things can alter your foot by typically up to an inch in either direction. It is important to actually have someone correctly measure your foot as this may alleviate some issues with sizing. And omg, don't get hung up on the sizing. You need to find a shoe that FITS YOU and will ultimately lead to better foot health.

2. Shoe Shop in the Afternoon

Yep, speaking of sizing, your foot expands later in the day. You do absolutely want to go shopping later to accommodate for this. When you try on a pair of heels, if you are instantly in pain, slipping around, feeling unsteady, you feel the straps are too tight or the shoe too narrow, STOP and throw those back on the shelf. Just like trying on a dress that is way too tight, putting on a heel that feels awful at first go is probably not going to help improve your mood after 4 hours in them if you can't stand 1 minute in them.

3. Quality, Quality, Quality

Yes, buying some cheap heels from Shein or Walmart may cut it for one night, for a few hours, but for everyday work heels, and your go-tos for events, please spend some coin to get a good quality heel. Quality heels are made of leathers/vegan leathers that expand more easily. Look for a heel that has nice cushion soft lining, and not something hard and block like that causes you instant pain. Check the seams, linings, flexibility, and read online reviews that will help fill in the story of whether these heels you want are likely to last you/feel comfortable.

4. Don't Baby Giraffe It

If you look like a new born giraffe on ice skates in a pair of thin heels, look for something with a wedge, chunkier platform, and at least a wider heel. You need to be able to be stable in your heels so that you can walk normally. Floundering around all day or night long is only going to lead to severe pains and blisters, or worse a fall that may snap an ankle.

5. Be cute and then sit your @$$ down

Let. Your. Ego. Go. when it comes to wearing and walking in heels. There are very few people who feel super comfortable walking/standing for hours and hours in a pair of high heels. When you go to an event/party, get all the pictures with the guests straight away. Get shots with all your friends, and then go have a seat. Rest your feet. If you're in a more professional setting, see if you can go to a back room or the bathroom, take your heels off and give your feet a nice massage and some rest. AND ABSOLUTELY BRING FLATS! My 80 year old great aunt loved stilletos till the day she died, but she would always bring a pair of flats to any and everything to change into once she'd hugged everybody and made her speeches, and danced a bit. You do not need to suffer all night long.

6. Always break them in

Never wear a fresh pair of heels to anything. You need to break them in at home or elsewhere. If your shoes are particularly stiff, hit them up with a blow dryer on a low setting to help loosen up the shoe. Walk around in your heels, work the fronts of them back and fourth. You may want to even slightly scuff up your bottoms walking on some concrete so that they aren't slippery (caution that if you do pre-scuff and you're still falling and slipping, do not wear those heels as they are a literal danger to you!)

7. Tape your 3rd + 4th toes

Yep, use some athletes tape to specifically tape your 3rd and 4th toes together. This literally will take the pressure off the bottom of your feet and help numb them to a bit of pain. Weird...yes....works...yup.

8. Take care of your feet

You need to give your feet some love after an event or a long work day spent in them. Use a foot massager/bath, soak in Epsom salts, give yourself a massage or have someone else massage your feet, get regular pedicures, and make sure when you workout to also do calf exercises and foot stretches to further ensure your feet are healthy enough for consistent or even short term heel wear. If you feel any extended pains lasting longer than a few hours, or you are feeling pain in other areas of the body, like up the leg or in your back after a night in heels, see your doctor as you may have other issues that need medical attention.

9. Talcum, Moleskin, Band-aids, Anti-Blister, Padded Inserts, Heel Protectors

-If you're slipping around in your heels, put some talcum powder in them.
-Use moleskin on backs of ankles and tops of toes to prevent friction with the shoe.
-Band-aids can also help with cutting down on friction.
-Anti-blister stick (dry, not gel deodorant will do the same thing) will do just that, prevent blisters
-Padded inserts will add a bit of cushion to the shoe especially if there is a lot of pressure placed on the front of the foot as you're walking for hard heels
-You CAN walk in heels in the grass with heel protectors which prevent your heel from sinking into the earth itself. You stick these plastic covers on your heels and they will allow you to walk perfectly as opposed to getting jammed up and falling awkwardly because your heel is stuck

10. Learn to walk correctly in heels + practice, practice, practice

The day before your event is not the time. If you are no pro at heel walking, give yourself a good amount of time to practice and progress to the heels of your dreams.

[RavVid]

OK I'll weigh in as a guy and give my tips.

First of all one of the charms of girls-in-heels is it is totally impractical footwear that requires obvious dexterity not to fall over. Dexterity is one of the physical attributes that distinguish guys and gals. The least dexterous girl is more dexterous than the most dexterous guy. So it is sensuously sexy wearing heels.

It is the female equivalent of the peacock tail - a handicap that the right girl supremely overcomes. My brother-in-law has never forgotten watching a girl run down stairs in high heels. My #1 memory is watching a girl get on a tram - I think you call them street cars in the US, think San Francisco anyway. This particular tram had a grating as the floor on a subfloor. That is a length of wood half an inch wide then a half an inch gap to the next half half inch wide strip all the way down the tram. I was sure she would fall over. No. The points of her stilettos hit each of the grates fair smack in the middle all the way down the tram.

Impressive. If you would like a guy to remember your dexterity in heels forever, do follow rec #10. When heels became popular again, my gym ran classes for the girls and they certainly got a lot better quickly ( yes I was taking note) - give classes a thought.

You can just take your heels off without losing any points. There is something Cinderellary Pixie cute in a suddenly shorter girl running around barefoot carrying her heels. The contrast enhances in a way that flats won't. I could end up with a foot fetish if I saw this more often.

I think all the pics show badly fitted heels. Everyone carries their weight through their bones but some people use their muscles more than they should which end up hurting you. If the heel is too far back from your ankle there is going to be a twisting moment between the heel and the point where your weight is being borne. Just basic mechanics. I known this because I like partner dancing and when I go up to ask a girl for a dance I'll have a quick look at the heels she has on to get and idea of how stable she'll be in them. I may not whip her around as much if the heel is further back cause reduced stability seems to be case from my experience of girls-in-heels.

I do understand high heels are the penultimate transcendence of form over function and no real girl is going to reject beautiful heels just for stability. Only a thought - see #2 placement of heel in this link.

https://the-well-heeled.com/the-science-of-a-well-designed-heel/#:~:text=This%20is%20something%20that%20most,line%20with%20the%20ankle%20joint.

Enjoy your beautiful heels girls!

[dragoblack]

Or just don't, because years of wearing them will fuck up your feet by deforming the bone structure. Look up "foot binding" and you will see the result.

[slatyb]

Foot binding is quite another thing from wearing heels. Wearing properly fitting heels occasionally will not damage a woman's feet. Wearing shoes with a toe box that is too small will.

[myTake Owner]

Foot binding is definitely not the same thing. That was the systematic unrelenting torture of young girls to achieve deformed baby sized feet. I will agree however, that consistently wearing stilettos is a terrible idea even if you can walk in them quite well because the height puts a lot of undo pressure on the feet, and you add to that a narrow show, and you can have issues, but the average woman isn't wearing stilettos every single day or for anything outside of a few events here and there. Most are wearing the more comfortable options if they do wear them to work in the lower 1-3 range with far more comfort and cushion built into them.

[dragoblack]

I used foot binding as an example of how deformed feet can become when put into a shape for a long period of time. My grandmother used to wear raised heel shoes that come to a point like high heels, because ever since her youth in the 1940s, that was the style, but over time it deformed her feet into that shape to where she could only wear those style of shoes.

[nastyb]

@slatyb

I would have to agree. Most women who wear heels all the time have pretty ugly feet. Unless you pay for foot massages and treatments a lot

[nastyb]

my own personal tips for heels:

- platforms makes walking easier and its way better for the feet.
- avoid high heel sandals for long distance walks. these are absolutely terrible and painful for the feet
- wear thick heels if walking on the street / pavement.
- wear flats walking to the occasion, put on your heels at the bathroom, come out looking like a fashionista
- avoid wearing pointy toe shoes. Unless you have really slim feet, its only a matter of time these shoes will give you bunions which can look really nasty.

[nastyb]

just because heels feel good within the first few minutes of trying them on, it doesn't mean it will feel good after wearing them for an hour. wear the shoe for a while to get the real feel.

[susie22]

Some good advice for "newbies". I love my high heels, I do get professionally fitted when I buy them, so I've never had any issues. I walk and do stairs just fine in them, and drive a manual transmission sports car in them without issue. I know some have trouble with high heels, so I think I'm fortunate to not have problems.

[myTake Owner]

I tried driving in heels once, but that's the one place where I refuse (well that and cobblestones). I'm not quite ready to die because of a heel getting stuck or not being able to get a feel for the pedals.

[susie22]

I guess it's practice makes perfect. I learned how to drive on a manual transmission and that's what I like to drive. I have a 2 seater sports car with a 6 speed manual, and I drive it quite well, in fact most guys I know can't even drive a manual, lol.

[CallyKat89]

This is very informative! I like the tip about taping. I’ll have to try that. Some things I’d like to add to your take:

Pay attention to the brand of the shoe. Different shoe brands have different signature styles. I personally prefer wearing Madden Girl, Steven Madden, and Jessica Simpson heels because I find them to be sturdier, easier to walk in, and more comfortable than other brands. I also find that heels with straps are more painful to break in than pumps:

The poster also mentioned how you should look at your heel type. Both of these heels are 4 inches. Platform heels with a small arch:

Are significantly easier on your feet and legs than non-platform heels. Most platforms that I have seen have a stable square heel. Square-heeled shoes are shoes you can strut in. That height mainly comes from the platform rather than the shoe forcing you onto the balls of your feet.

An alternative to the square platform is the stiletto:

Which as the poster pointed out, can be exhausting to walk in.

I also suggest examining your heel height. These:

Are very versatile and casual 2.5-inch heels. These can be worn with dresses, jeans, slacks, skirts, etc. I think that low heels (1-2ish inches) are just as if not cuter than medium heels (2-3ish inches). High (3-4ish inches) and ultra-high (>4ish inches) narrow heels are beautiful but extremely painful by the end of the workday.

[EmmaMary]

Excellent and truly thought inspiring.

But it beats me why the hell you've gone anonymous.

[strateguy632]

i think they are too fake and women should stop pretending they are taller.

[LeeannaDD]

Walking heel to toe is a must!!! I see so many girls tip toeing and not pivoting on their heels

[SnowedIn]

This was brilliant. Wow. Well written and well said.

[laly520]

they shouldn't be put daily or for too long hours, not healthy

[Christoff92]

Walk in a pace where you can feel comfortable in wearing them. Or they'll hurt your feet like ouch 😬

[Massageman]

Nice - Biden can't even walk on stairs in flats.

[KrakenAttackin]

I never understood the appeal of high heels. These shoes look painful to wear and can be downright dangerous in poor traction.

[Joker_]

thanks for the tips

[Buglem_The_Star]

Thank for the this post♡

[Minahh]

Very well written