Coco Chanel once said that a woman with good shoes is never ugly, and we all know that Chanel would have been talking about heels. However, if you can’t walk in heels and totter around with arms flailing barely able to hold your balance you’ll certainly attract attention but not necessarily the type of admiring attention that you would want.
These are the basics of wearing heels as taught at modeling schools:
- When Wearing Heels Walk Heel To Toe, Not Toe To Heel
- Take Smaller Steps When Wearing Heels
- Don’t Try And Rush In Heels
- Lean Slightly Back In Heels To Straighten Your Posture
- Visualize Walking In A Straight Line In Heels Without Looking At Your Feet
- Arch Your Foot Slightly To Hold Your Shoe Closer To Your Foot
- Make Sure Your Shoes Fit You Properly
- Start With A Heel Height You Can Cope With And Build From There
In order to avoid any embarrassing social mishaps, or worse – a trip to the ER with a badly sprained ankle and have a gorgeous shoe cut from your foot I’ve put together the seven secrets to walking in heels the right way.
A woman with good shoes is never ugly.
Coco Chanel
Keep reading for the tried and tested tips for handling your heels with style. While you’re at it I’ve curated a couple of options of heels you can get so that you can learn and start practicing.
When Wearing Heels Walk Heel To Toe, Not Toe To Heel
The easiest way to look clumsy in your heels is to put your whole foot down at the same time like you would in flats – or worse, land toe first and then put your heel down.
We all want an elegant sway to our hips as we walk and landing with your whole foot at once makes a hip-sway near impossible.
When you put your heel down first, followed by your toe your whole walk will look more naturally feminine.
Take Smaller Steps When Wearing Heels
Do not try to over-stride in heels, especially stilettos. It is the easiest way to have your heel slide out from under you just as you put all of your weight down.
Wearing heels has the effect of shortening your stride meaning you will need more steps to cover the same distance. Lean into this by consciously taking smaller steps.
You put on high heels and you change.
Manolo Blahnik
The more steps you take the more practice you get – giving you the benefit of improving your walk.
Don’t Try And Rush In Heels
Because your stride is shorter with your smaller steps there is the temptation to speed up your steps to compensate. This is a mistake.
Speeding up will result in your body tensing up to maintain balance and you lose your hip-sway. Walking slowly gives the impression of confidence, so take your time in your heels.
Lean Slightly Back In Heels To Straighten Your Posture
This is a spin-off from walking slowly. Wearing heels has the effect of pushing your weight forward over your toes. When you combine the forward pitch of your body with walking too quickly, you can easily start leaning forward from the waist and tilting your head up to see in front of you, craning your neck in the process. Walking bent over at the waist looks clumsy.
Allow yourself to lean back very slightly as you walk in heels. Doing this will counteract the temptation to bend forward while walking. Don’t worry, it won’t look as if you are leaning back. It will just straighten your posture so that you look more elegant.
High heels can literally raise your status because you’re taller when you wear them.
Helen Fisher
Modeling schools teach this by having the girls balance books on their heads while walking in heels. You should try this too when you practice – just know that you will likely drop the book quite often when you start out.
Visualize Walking In A Straight Line In Heels Without Looking At Your Feet
When you wear heels your contact area between your shoe and the ground is much smaller than in flat shoes. This smaller area makes it more important that each step is more under your center of balance.
The way you achieve this is by putting one foot in front of the other in a straight line that is vertically below your belly button. When walking in a straight line it is tempting to look down at your feet as you walk. This will lead to the hunched forward walking that I talked about in the section about leaning slightly back.
A better way of practicing this is to pick a spot in front of you on a wall, or the clothing boutique at the end of the street where you are going shopping. Then picture a line between you and that spot and walk that line. Walking that line using the tips I have given you so far will help exaggerate your hip-sway without even trying to sway your hips.
Arch Your Foot Slightly To Hold Your Shoe Closer To Your Foot
This is especially important when wearing open-heeled shoes or if you feel your foot beginning to slip inside your shoe. Wearing hosiery makes it more likely that your foot can slide inside the shoe. Arching your foot will immediately pull your shoe closer to your foot.
Walking with a slightly arched foot holds your shoe closer to your foot making it easier to maneuver and balance while learning to walk in heels.
Make Sure Your Shoes Fit You Properly
If your shoes don’t fit it is near impossible to walk elegantly in heels. What’s more, you are guaranteed painful feet. If the shoes are slightly too big you can use shoe pads to take up the extra room.
Shoes that are slightly too small will need to be taken to your local cobbler to have them stretched.
Start With A Heel Height You Can Cope With And Build From There
The heel height you can possibly cope with is determined by the size of your foot and the flexibility of your talus bone. So, if your shoes feel too high when you try them on then they are likely too high for you, or at least too high for where you are in your heel-wearing skill levels are.
Start with a slightly lower heel so that you can get your walk perfect, then ease your way to higher heels as you become more of an expert in your heels.
Come Shopping For Heels
Here are a few pairs of heels you can check out on Amazon that will help you get started on your path to rocking your heels wherever you go.
- Naturalizer Olivia Wedge Pump (Available on Amazon)
- Ruanyu Platform Espadrille Summer Wedge Sandals (Available on Amazon)
- MOOMMO Chunky Pumps Block Heel Office Dress Shoes Size 4-13 M US (Available on Amazon)
- Show Shoes High Heel Pumps Party Dress Shoes On Block Heel (Available on Amazon)
- LISHAN Pointed Toe Stiletto Patent Leather Formal Dress Pumps (Available on Amazon)
- FSJ Women’s Sexy High Heel Plaform Pumps Dress Stiletto Velvet Almond Toe Closed Toe Slip on Faux Suede Party Heeled Sandals Shoes Size 4-15 US (Available on Amazon)
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