Shoe Size and High Heels

[Chalice]

I was just reading a UK article profiling a fashion writer exclaiming about the discomfort of her week wearing 4-5" heels each day during fashion week.

One of the comments was very interesting.

If you are a fashion model 6 foot high with feet like canoes the angle is not so acute therefore less uncomfortable. A little lady with a small foot would require a walking frame just to stay upright. The health and safety will ban them.

That makes complete sense. If you are very tall with proportionately longer feet, those same 5" heels to flex the calf muscle are manageable. A size six foot is risking more physical damage.

So perhaps this is part of why runway models are 5'11" in the first place. They look fabulous in looks that regular people can strive for, but never achieve -- retail heaven!

 

[benno]

My girlfriend is 6 foot tall with uk size 7 feet. My flatmate is 5 foot tall with uk size 3 feet. GF has some shoes with 6 inch heels. Flatmate has some shoes with 4.5 inch heels. The angle of their feet in their respective shoes is roughly the same. Good shoe designers/makers adjust the height of the heels across the size range to stay in proportion to the original design. My girlfriend used to model and is an expert in heels. Flatmate falls over lots!

 

[pavement]

Thank god I have big feet.

 

[lola belle]

Okay, that explains why I always look drunk in heels. I'm tall(ish) and I'm a 7.5, but I make toe room in heels and usually get an 8.5 or 9, which I guess is almost the same thing? It helps, anyway.

I wish I didn't have kiddie hands and feet!

 

[Feline]

I'm a size 4 (37) and heels over 4" make the balls of feet ache (but of course I still wear them!)

 

[Meg]

yeah I've said this in other threads as well and actually just said it last night (because the gay club I was at there was a 6 foot drag queen prancing around in heels meanwhile my feet were aching). It's a lot worse if you have smaller feet but it doesn't stop a lot of short women from wearing them.

 

[Dego]

Most heel heights vary with shoe size, so that the angle will be the same for a size 36 as a 41.

 

[Chalice]

A 4" heel is a 4" heel. A sz 6 foot in a 4" heel is risking more injury than a much larger foot. (Yikes, sz 4!!) It is often shorter girls who wear the higher heels.

On the runway, the sz.9-11 feet of the taller models are not risking as much in a 4-5" heel.

 

[Dego]

A 4" heel is a 4" heel. A sz 6 foot in a 4" heel is risking more injury than a much larger foot. (Yikes, sz 4!!) It is often shorter girls who wear the higher heels.

On the runway, the sz.9-11 feet of the taller models are not risking as much in a 4-5" heel.

As I wrote: heel heights vary with shoe size: If the shoe is too have the same basic proportions in all sizes, the heel on a size 9 will be higher than on a size 5. Heel heights are commonly advertised based on how high they are in the "medium" size range, sz 7(US) for example. So a heel advertised as 4" will most likely actually be lower on the smaller sizes, and higher on the larger sizes.

 

[Gincat]

I'm 5'2" and wear a size 6, and four inch heels kill. I get cramps in my arches and my ankles feel strained. 2 to 3 inches are perfectly comfortable for me though.

 

[BlkLadyLaw]

Wow for once having big feet is a good thing
I am 6ft, sz 11 and 42 shoe and typically wear between a 3.5 to 4.5 inch heel.

 

[L0VE]

HM, interesting. I always wondered why some people ache in heels and can't wear them. And then I can practically run in them, lol. I'm 5'9 1/2 and a size 9, 9 1/2 sometimes can even fit into a 10 with 5 inch and above heels. I can wear them all day and it doesn't bother my feet.

 

[MichelleYue]

I've always somewhat known this, but I still can't resist the 4 in. + heels. Curse my size 5-5.5 feet! D:

 

[Dego]

To you with small feet: Have you actually measured your heels that are claimed to be 4 inches?

 

[MichelleYue]

To you with small feet: Have you actually measured your heels that are claimed to be 4 inches?

Just went off and measured three random pairs - one is 4.5" and the other two are 4"

 

[Meg]

I have. My pairs all match their supposed heel heights. 5" and 4" respectively. I don't know why you keep saying this Dego. When you go into a shoe store (whether it's Aldo or the Shoe Boudoir at Harrods) I never see heels with mismatching heights (ie the big shoes have higher heels heights than the smaller ones) if you line the same style up (when they have several out) the heel heights are all the same. At least of the shoes I've encountered

 

[Dego]

Then your experience differs from mine.
Take these shoes for example:
http://www.fuss-schuhe.de/hhfc/pu-432-518-Anero.htm

The text says:
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-1]Absatz (heels height von 10,5 cm [SIZE=-2](size 33)[/SIZE] bis (to) 12 cm [SIZE=-2](size 41)[/SIZE][/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[luckyme]

Meg, I'm with you, I've never had that experience but I guess there are shoe types out there that do and Dego has found them.

 

[ms-nietzsche]

So the secret to wearing heels safely is to be 6 ft tall and proportionally longer feet. For the rest of us not so fortunate people is it better to have big feet or to have proportionate feet?

 

[L0VE]

I'm not sure, but I have really long arms and I heard your feet match up with the bottom half of your arm (and my legs are really long) I guess meaning they are proportioned (sp) but I'm not sure if my arm and leg ratio would mean I should have bigger feet or small ? I mean I guess at my height, 9 to 10 in shoes is about right. My feet have a wierd curve and are really skinny and I guess counting my height and the way my feet curve, heels are more comfy than wearing flats, to me. I love heels, I usually (as a joke) walk on just the heels across the room completely balanced, lots of people say heels hurt so they look at me like I have 4 heads when I do this. I could seriously run a marathon in a pair of 5inch heels and laugh the whole time. How ironic too, because most tall people don't like anything that gives them more height. I don't mind it though I love my heels.