In my thirties, wearing a tee, jeans, and sneakers became less suitable. I upgraded my tees to button up shirts and blouses, my jeans to wool trousers and skirts, and my sneakers to high heels. I needed high heels that I could wear all day. Shoes that hurt do not work well anymore. Here's what I learned about wearing and buying high heels.
My process to walk well in high heels are:
- Define requirements. Know my personality, my body, and my preference. That took the longest time with the most trial and error. There are two requirements: a) high heel's requirements on me, and b) my requirements on high heels. As I age and my body changes, my requirements will continue to evolve.
- Research and evaluate solutions. Know my options, brands, price, and where to buy what.
- Select solutions. Functional performance or aesthetics, or both? At what price?
- Improve on the selected solutions. Accept the imperfection of the products and buy all kinds of shoe inserts and shoe stretchers.
- Maintain my weight, and the lighter I am the better. I weigh 115 pounds, so in heels, each inclined foot carries 115 / 2 = 57.5 pounds. When I weighed 120 lbs, the 2.5 additional pounds per foot made wearing my pumps very painful. When I weighed 112 pounds, I could wear heels longer without discomfort.
- Maintain strong abdominal muscles and strong hip flexors to maintain proper posture. I need this for balance or I tip forward, backward, left, and right.
- When I stand or walk, I need to suck in my gut, tuck in my butt, straighten my back, and slightly bend my knees. I learned this proper posture from ballroom dancing, where women are dancing beautifully in heels. The proper posture moves the center of gravity of my body to above the arch of my foot. When I slouch I put too much weight on the ball of my foot, and although I can walk, I look terrible. If I lock my knees straight, I put too much weight on my heel and it is difficult to walk. Yes, walking in heels is like dancing in a tiny scale. Looking pretty certainly is not easy.
- Walk lightly and quietly like a cat. This keeps my abs engaged so I have better balance, and I'm easier on my joints. Remember that high heels are not as padded as sneakers. My heel pads last longer, too.
- Never run in pumps because it goes against #4. Instead I walk as fast as I can.
- Keep my toenails trimmed short, and filed smooth so that I do not dig holes into my shoes.
- Keep band-aids in my purse. The clear colorless kinds are the best. I usually only use the sticky part on the pre-blisters, and not the gauze part.
- Maintain shoes by waxing, moisturizing, etc. I had to buy all the shoe care stuff like brushes, different color waxes, water repellant sprays, etc.
- Exercise that practice balancing: ballroom dancing, yoga, pilates, BOSU balancing.
Basically, to wear heels gracefully, I have to be somewhat physically fit. Some things like blisters and shoe care are unavoidable.
Define requirements. My requirements on high heels will come later.
Define requirements. My requirements on high heels will come later.
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