Close this window to go back to the
main website
These
trainers or similar are one of the most important shoes
in your collection if you wear high heels. You must not
wear heels all the time or you will mess up your feet and
calves. These are from High Tech, real leather, cost £15.00
in size 7, and they fit like a glove. I wear them or
similar for at least 2-3 days per week and go in them,
similar, or barefoot for at least 3 hours each day. If
you ever get foot pains or chafing or incipient bunions/corns,
go back to these type of shoes for days/weeks untill the
problem clears. While you are doing it, beat and stretch
the hell out of your tight shoes, so that when you out
them on agian, they will fit like made to measure. Do not
f*ck up your feet in the name of fashion. It's not worth
it.
1. This flattie woman's boot
of unknown make was bought from a charity shop for £2.50
and makes a nice change to high heels. I don't know the
size but it is about a 6. The heel height is 26mm (1"
) and I put some metal "Blakey" taps on the
bottom. They needed a small bit of stretching before they
fitted 100%, but they fitted snuggly before as well. It's
very nice leather with leather lining. These are very
comfortable boots.
2. This style is from the
Clark's "Springers" ladies range and is called
"Gaston". They are size 71/2 and cost me £25.00
in a sale reduced from £40.00. The heel height is 55mm (21/4").
I increased the heel height 10mm from original by adding
a polyvinyl top piece, and bending the shank to suit. I
also needed to add a sheepskin pad on the inside of the
tongue to stop my foot sliding forward cramping the toe.
This has worked very well. If you are nervous about
wearing heels, start with this type.
3. These are cowboy shoes
from Dolcis, Size 7, bought for £30.00 over 10 years ago.
They are very good quality. The heel is 60mm high (2 1/2")
and I increased it by 20mm from original by adding and
shaping two polyvinyl top pieces. I will show you how to
do this in the alterations section. I bent the shank to
suit and the vamp has adjusted. Although they are pointed
toes, they were from the men's section, and they fit
perfectly.
4. This style is from
Xpose at Bacon's shoes, bought for £15.00, size 7. They
have 78mm (3" heels) which I increased from 68mm
with a polyvinyl top piece.They are really quite poor
quality construction, although the leather is nice, and I
liked the whip stitch detail. The sole unit is flimsy and
will need some repair after moderate use.
5. Lilley and Skinner ankle
boots, £45.00, size 7. A posh dress boot with gold
buckle detail. The 80mm (31/4") heels were increased
from 70mm originals with a top piece and a shank bend.
These are excellent quality boots, and no reason why they
shouldn't be unisex fashion. You can acheive great
confidence and style with boots like this, and a very
comfortable heel for all day wear. Don't let the girls
have all the fun. Try some and you'll see what I mean,
but be warned, although 80mm heels take a just a little
practice to walk in well, you will have to wear them a
lot before you can go all day in comfort.
6. This style is from
Xpose at Bacon's shoes again bought for £10.00, size 7.
These are vinyl uppers. Not my favourite choice, but they
were cheap and good fit. They have 88mm (3 1/2"
heels) They are much better construction than the leather
example above from Xpose, but I wouldn't have bought them
if they weren't such a good fit as vinyl uppers dont
adapt to your feet so well as leather. I protected the
top piece wear point with screws but left the height the
same as the original.
7. Another pair from Stead
& Simpson in the sale for £7.00. The 93 mm (3 3/4")
heels were increased from 83 mm originals with a top
piece and a shank bend. They were supposed to be size 7,
but they were more like a 5 and I had to use all manner
of stretching techniques to get the vinyl uppers to fit.
I only got them because they were cheap. However, now I
have finally beaten them into shape, they are a very
versatile and sturdy boot. Although the heel is quite
high, it's chunky as well.
8. This shoe is a lace up
ankle boot from Barratts, style Carrera. I bought it in a
sale for £20.00 reduced from £40.00. They are size 7
with a 95mm(3 3/4") heel which I increased from
original 80mm with some shaped polyvinyl top pieces. One
of the consequences of doing this was that the angle at
which the sloping part of the sole contacted the ground
was rather shallow which made them look a mess. If you
look carefully you can see I have added a corner fillet
detail from a pair of scrap platforms I bought for parts
at a charity shop. This has the effect of steepening the
angle and making the heel look higher. Compare the Mirage
platform boots at the end. A similar trick is employed in
that "off the shelf" pair. If you are having
problems with tight boots, why not get lace ups like
above? Or add laces to a tight pair to replace a zip
fitting which is less flexible.
9. One of my favourite
shops is called Faith Shoes, and this style of leather
ankle boot is called "Soul". Size 40 which is
more like 61/2 but a very nice fit for me. These cost £50.00,
but I personally think they are almost the perfect style
for a men's ankle boot. It's a 102mm (4") heel, and
very pleasant to walk in these boots. Faith Shoes
generally ooze quality and high fashion at a very
reasonable price. There's a very soft lining, and it's a
delight to put them on bare foot when they are a bit cold.
You can then feel the snug leather and the nice high
curved sole, and go for an early morning walk to the
shops as they warm up. Only women and those of us in the
know get to appreciate this. The other 95% of guys can
stick to thick socks and ugly shapeless clompers if they
want, I dont care!
10. These boots were
originally mid calf height. I bought them for £39.00
reduced from £90.00 in a sale, size 39. They fitted well
which just shows how sizes can vary as I normally take 40
or 41. The heel height is 102mm (4") which I have
increased from a 94mm original. They are from Calvin
Klein, with very soft Spanish leather; you just don't
seem to get this quality soft leather in men' s shoes.
You can see I cut them down to ankle boots. I dont like
mid calf. My stitching doesn't match the quality of the
boots, but then this is hidden by trousers! I call these
my "Carol Vordaman" boots because I saw her
wearing a similar pair on TV. Carol is a clever, classy
woman who presents British TV quiz, science, and general
programmes. She's not afraid to express herself in high
heels on TV when she feels like it, but always does so in
a sophisticated manner.
11.
Another pair from
Faith shoes, again size 40 , but bought for £20 in the
sale. These high heel loafers had a 98mm heel which I
increased to 102mm (4") with a protective top piece.
I wear a lot of boots, but I see many school girls and
teens in this style so I thought I would get some loafers
to try. I'm not afraid to try new styles. I really don't
care what other people think. They are very practical and
can be worn with ankle socks, tights or barefoot.It's
easy to see why so many girls wear this style. Even
though they look quite innocuous, you get the full 4"
high heel feeling, and many girls persuade mum or dad
that these are "OK" for school. I've seen girls
as young as 11 and 12 wearing them this high in the UK; I
don't think that's a good idea, although they certainly
get used to 4" at a young age!
12. These were bought from
Littlewoods in the clearence sale. They are stiletto
suede ankle boots with 102mm(4") heels, size 7. They
cost me just £5.00 and I got pair 13 thrown in free! It
was the end of season clearence. Originally the stiletto
was flared, but I reshaped the plastic to a classic style
and glued back the covering. The vamp was very narrow and
I had to use heavy stretching to make sure my toes weren't
pushed together. Pair 13 originally looked like these
with flared stilettos, but I changed the heel style.
13. Bought for £5.00 from
Littlewoods with the item above, they were stilettos, but
I did a reheeling project and added 110mm (41/2")
slightly chunkier heels. This heel suits my style a bit
more and I didn't want two pairs the same. I will cover
how to change a heel over to another style on my repair
page, but it's not an easy thing to get right. These
boots are now fabulous to walk in with the slightly
higher heels, and the soft suede, but I did have to
stretch the toe area quite a lot with a special device
which I will also show you how to make on the repair page.
This is one of my favourite boots and effectively they
only cost £2.50 new!
14. Leather ankle boots,
size 7, bought from the shoe factory shop for £20.00.
They are from Marie Claire with 112mm (41/2") heels
which I increased from the original 102mm with a 10mm top
piece. I liked these boots and bought a second pair which
I removed the heels from and put them on the suede boots
above. The remainder of the boot is shown reheeled below.
15. I had some a spare 5"
heels from an old pair of pumps I bought in a charity
shop for parts. Hence I removed the 4" block heels
from the size 7 Marie Claire boots and fitted the 122mm(5")
stilettos to make up the boot you see here. It's not an
easy thing to get right, but I ended up with a pair of 5"
boots for special occasions, when to obtain a pair like
this, one would usually have to go to a specialist shop
and pay £80.00 or more. I had to do quite a bit of shank
bending and stretching to get everything seating right,
but they are now perfect to wear and the originals cost
me only £20.00.
16. I don't have many shoes
which aren't black, but these dark grey boots from Fluxa
were reduced from £75.00 to £30.00, and I had to have
them. Made in Spain, they are size 40, and I fitted a 5mm
top piece to take them to 111mm (4 1/2") tall. They
have that modern architectural heel shape, but classic
enough looks not to date too much. These are an absolute
delight to walk in, and I wear them at work as well as
socially. I've got several compliments from women about
these boots. You can see me wearing them in the photo on
the intro page. Notice I let all the heel show. That is
best for looks. Don't be shy about it.
17. This is a very unusual closed
style slip on shoe bought for £29.00 reduced from £49.00
in a sale. The modern architectural heels look and feel
just like stilettos. I increased the height from 102mm to
the 114mm (4 1/2") you see here. I think they are
Calvin Klein, size 40 from Spain, or maybe imitations.
The technique of raising this heel was different as it is
very thin. I actually used two heavy gauge chipboard
screws encased with shaped polyvinyl. The screws had to
be drilled and inserted very precisely. I also performed
major modifications to the toe. It was very long and
chisel shaped, 28mm longer than you see here. I just didn't
like it, and it dated the shoes, so I cut back the sole
and reshaped the toe leather, refixing it with screws,
and doing putting on a sole repair piece to tidy it up.
18. Here are some more shoes
from Faith with a modern heel shape, style "Sagar".
They cost me £60.00 and have 118mm (4 3/4") heels
which I increased from 108mm with a protective piece.They
were size 41. I just couldn't zip up the size 40's. I don't
know why because I can usually get on and zip up size 39.
Very nice Faith quality and excellent construction.
19. Another pair from Faith
shoes. These are model "FIFTY-6" size 41 ankle
strap stilettos made in Italy. They cost me just £5.00
in one of those crazy 1990's sales when stilettos slipped
in and out of fashion. The heels are 125mm(5") tall
(original) and definitely not suitable for anyone who isn't
very practiced with this type of shoe. You'll just have
to take my word for it that I wear these in public quite
a bit, usually with a very well tailored tight cut black
suit. Women wear these type of shoes with suits so I don't
see why I shouldn't. I don't wear a tie; I don't like
ties, and I don't ever wear them except for the
occasional business meeting where the client expects it.
I would wear high heels to a business meeting. Most
people in the engineering business world are men and they
just don't notice anyway! They are more concerned with
technical issues.
20. Here's something a
little bit different. The famous "Mirage" whip
stitch platform ankle from Barratts. They cost £40.00, I
think, and have 130mm(5 1/4") heels with 20mm (3/4")
platform. Very popular with teenage girls. I'm quite
capable of walking well in them, but they're not
something I would wear that often. The sales assistant
was impressed I could walk so well in them. She said she
would love to wear them, but couldn't manage anything
this high!
Close this window to go back to the
main website
