I tend to wear out the heels of my shoes mainly on the outside edge, which means that when I have them re-heeled it always strikes me as such a waste, since half the thing was left there having hardly had any pressure/scuffing on it in the whole of its natural life.

After a consultation for walking pressure measurement, where one steps on a pressure-sensitive pad and the force distribution is plotted (this is totally baked for athletes' running shoes) I want my cobbler to provide me with a heel end which is engineered for the way in which I distribute my not particularly considerable weight on my teeny tiny heels. (The latest ones that are wearing out are the 1centimetre-square ends of a rather fetching pair of boots that used to be available for perusal on my website.)

And before anyone else says it: 'Cobblers!'
-- lewisgirl, Nov 09 2001

(?) Obligatory "killer heels" link http://www.excite.c..._15-05-38_HOL054954
[hippo, Nov 09 2001]

Alfred Sargent Shoes http://www.pediwear.co.uk/sargent.html
Good stuff. Also available from Martin-Stone in the Edgeware Road [hippo, Nov 09 2001]

For normal sized shoe or boot heels you can have a cobbler fit "Blakeys" to the heel. These are strips of metal nailed to the outside edge of the heel which
(a) prevent your heel wearing down.
(b) sound great when you walk on a hard surface.
-- hippo, Nov 09 2001


they don't do them for stilettos.
-- lewisgirl, Nov 09 2001


I'd be happy if manufacturers went back to designing shoes for walking. I get fed up with taking shoes back to the shop when the heels/soles/uppers wear out after 6 months only to be met with "well you must do a lot more walking than most people".

PS: I tried to imagine UnaBubba in stiletto heels but all my senses revolted at the prospect and refused to participate.
-- DrBob, Nov 09 2001


Sorry - didn't pick up on the fact that they were stilletos. See link for titanium stilletos.
-- hippo, Nov 09 2001


Hang on.

//when I have them re-heeled it always strikes me as such a waste, since half the thing was left there//

//The latest ones that are wearing out are the 1centimetre-square ends//

So you're worried about wasting 1/2 a square centimetre?
-- stupop, Nov 09 2001


I think the problem here is not so much that [lewisgirl]'s heels get worn down, but that they get worn down unevenly.
After all, if your heels didn't get worn down, that would imply they were really hard - like, made out of industrial diamonds held together in an epoxy resin (why not? industrial diamonds are cheap). These would then wear out your floor very effectively.
Rather than carefully formulating the softness of the heel based on heel pressure so that the heel wears evenly, I would advocate mini-hydraulic systems in the heel to both cushion the heel impact with the floor and maintain the heel surface horizontal with the floor (hmm - so each heel would need its own gyroscope too...).

[DrBob] - I sympathise with you. I used to wear Dr Marten's, which would last about 3 months. I now wear handmade English shoes. I recently 'retired' a pair to 'gardening use only' after 9 years of heavy use (resoled once during that time). See link for Alfred Sargent shoes - I reccommend something like the "Kendal" shoe under "Country Collection".
-- hippo, Nov 09 2001


yes, and some of us can't (yet) afford to pay the extra for good shoes.
[stupop] quantity is not the issue, proportion is. I also own a pair of cowboy boots on which the outside edge of a large heel gets worn down; I have to get this reheeled with only 10% of the heel gone because that 10% is concentrated on the outside edge, and is about to wear through the wooden part (not easily reheelable).
Anyway, this is all pretty academic. I'm in Aberdeen until Christmas and since it has now been snowy for two whole days, I fully expect not to be walking to work any more; I shall travel a large part of the way unceremoniously on my arse, (at least, I will if I continue to wear silly shoes...) having fallen over on the ice.
-- lewisgirl, Nov 09 2001


I wonder if a hard layer on the very bottom of the sole would do as much damage to floors & joints if the midsole were proportionately softer.

My local shoe-repair place has various heeltaps of hardish rubber to approach this problem.

My grandmothers, may they rest in peace, would look at unevenly worn shoes and tell me to practice walking more evenly and lightly if I wanted to get old gracefully.
-- hello_c, Nov 09 2001


Put a spring in your step, put your weight on the balls of your feet and hold your head up high. Not only will you save your heels, but you'll feel much happier and be more attractive to members of the opposite sex.

(I posted a serious annotation but lewisgirl deleted it "accidentally".)
-- pottedstu, Nov 09 2001


Jeff Foxworthy said the only reason for high heels is to make the butt and legs look good, and that there is only one way to walk in a pair of high heels... and if you put the biggest, burliest truckdriver in a pair of heels, he'd walk that way too...

So for and experiment, perhaps we could get YOU in a pair, and see what you attracted, hmmmmmm? And then you'll have to tell us gals how happy your hamstrings, soleus and gastrocnemius felt after walking on the balls of your feet all day...

Hooooeeeee! Have fun! ;)
-- Oolahboolah, Nov 11 2001


That is the purpose of high heels, to make the legs and bottom look good. Has been for years, long before the Man With One Joke.

<is curious about lewisgirl's 'rather fetching boots' that used to be viewable on her website, and wonders if it required confirmation of age...<grin>>
-- StarChaser, Nov 11 2001


Marilyn Monroe trivia: Marilyn Monro had her stilleto heels made so that one was shorter than the other. This, apparantly, made her hips move in a more alluring manner when she walked...
-- hippo, Nov 12 2001


Right. Then my scholiosis which makes my left hip lower, and my left shoulder higher makes me a sexy babe.

The asymetrical stance can be aluring in a standing pose...

example: Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies, as the hooker/undercover agent, saying "Carla though you'd like me".

...but women who list to one side while walking tend to look swacked rather than sensuous.

I suspect the trivia you found may be bogus. :)
-- Oolahboolah, Nov 12 2001


I feel your pain [lewisgirl]. Let me know when I can buy these.

It occurs to me that you should change the name to 'Variable Wear Heels". Just a suggestion.
-- phoenix, Nov 13 2001


I'd agree that a solution to that uneven wear would be a good thing. I don't tend to wear shoes with 1cm2 heels (funny that), but even big chunky heels still wear at an angle, and my 5" platforms have an annoying rolled-off edge.

The key for small heels would be a user replacable lock-in heel bit, which could be unclicked and discarded when worn and replaced easily.

In fact, you could have the whole heel replacable, and you could have your favourite boots with a variety of heel options to suit the mood.
-- tempt, Nov 14 2001


ssssh! or sparki and blissmiss will post a series of festive and colourful shoe-heel ideas!
-- lewisgirl, Nov 14 2001


How about flairing the end of the heel slightly and putting a partialy flexible bit just abouve it (I'm envisaging a stileto style heel for this). As weight is applyed the sole would go flat to the floor so equalising wear and tear. For larger, thick soled shoe a fluid filled hollow sole would do the same trick.

Another way would be a "horseshoe" of toughened rubber around the edge of the sole, maybe generated by selective vulcanising.
-- dare99, Nov 15 2001


or just get a set of callipers fitted before it's too late!
-- dare99, Nov 15 2001


Just found the site, so this is years too late, but don't you think that perhaps sliding down the street on your arse might be a good way to keep your shoes longer? Granted, your pants may wear out a bit quicker, but you won't have to go shopping for shoes every couple of months... and you could just order multiple pairs of pants at the same time. This probably wouldn't work if you wear dresses or skirts to work, however...
-- horsesandkayaks, Sep 14 2007



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