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Freddy, your post #116 read with great interest. Some comments: 1. You imply (I think) that LSB made Cover Girl shoes. I'm sure that this is correct. CG used to advertise 6" heels (etc) quite regularly in the newspapers and I often wondered who actually bought them. I had a pair of black leather sandals made by (or for) CG in 1972 to my measurements (size 11UK) with a 5" heel (no platform). Although well made, and with a properly positioned stiletto heel, I have never found them easy to walk in and they are almost as new and I would be glad to sell them if anyone is interested (will post pic on request). I think part of the problem is the 'curviness' of the arch, much as you suggest. 2. It is very obvious to me from your helpful comparison pics that, quite apart from wearability,the Aldo shoe is much better styled and proportioned imho. The slender stiletto is in the right place, the toe box looks better (more pointed?) and the arch is flatter. That is a true classic stiletto! Interestingly, it looks to have a slightly lower heel - because there is less 'daylight' forward of the heel - although effectively the same (rear) height as the Schuh model. Is this why heels are often now found set back - to appear higher? (I despair of modern women - they have to have a set-back heel and/or a platform, usually with an effective rise of not more than 4.5", instead of mastering a true 5" Aldo-style heel - if they can find one.) 3. Again aside from wearability (and I'm not surprised that you find them difficult), the heel on the KG Cilla looks awful imho. It is not only too far back but has that strange curve to the rear - almost as if it is bending (which it may well do when worn). Why reinvent the (w)heel? 4. I quite often see references to 'Super Arch' heels from the US, typically with heels of around 6". These seem to be claimed as easier to wear, despite the curvy arch. Is that so; your findings would suggest otherwise?

Any excuse. I'm flattered you refer to it as research. In some ways it might be just that. Let me explain ..... I can't be sure why "we" wear high heels, but I know I enjoy wearing them, a lot. The consequence of that is I have quite a few. Too many actually, but them I've always been something of a collector - when finances have allowed. So I have a range of heels, different heights, different styles .... 30 years ago I could wear a 5½ inch heeled shoe all evening, with no complaint from my feet. The court shoes were made by what we know as The Little Shoe Box. I'm pretty certain the lasts, and the construction of the shoe always had men in line to be the wearer. I got the shoes I could wear all evening from a shop called Covergirl in Islington London. They were a "theatrical" shop primarily, for showgirls officially, and TV's I found out after a few visits. My age, and an increase in shoe size (my body weight is up 30% from back then) means I have larger feet, and those very wearable shoes were sold last year. I believe the 6" Pleaser 420's were modelled on the "5 inch" version of the LSB courts. Both had/have 5½" heels. I can walk (ish) in the 420's though not as elegantly as I used to 30 years ago. Conclusion: I have/can walk in a heel up to 5½ inches without looking like someone wearing heels for the first time...... As long as I don't try to run. Historically, I'd struggled to walk in some shoes I'd bought from Schuh, with a 5 inch heel. A similar design from ALDO had always been really easy to walk in. As far as I could tell, the big difference was the angle of the rise to the heel. Two shoes for the same length foot, but one with a gentle slope, verses one with a steep or curvy slope? Possibly the 'gentle slope' shoe is longer, meaning the foot is not so arched? This arching making the bones in the foot feel like they are in a shoe with 6" heels, not 5? Anyway, when I owned them, this was the thinking. Even now, many of my high heeled shoes are only fractions of an inch under 5 inches, and the ones in my avatar ARE 5 inches high. I have walked miles in them, spent hours in them. The 5" Schuh courts were always an enigma. Bit disappointing as they were lovely shoes. Here is a comparison, Schuh verses ALDO. Height difference is almost indiscernible. Note the stronger (deeper) curve on the arch of the Schuh pair. But was there more to it than the arch profile? Early last year, I got to buy some heel-less shoes from Primarni. While the heel is obviously high thanks to a platform, the rise is deceptively high too. They are really quite pleasant to wear .... If only I could keep them on my feet ... The really surprising thing though, is despite the heel height and rise, they are easy to walk in. I started to wonder if the position of a heel tip (first point of contact) in relation to the back of the heel of my foot while I strode forward, might affect how easy or difficult a heel might be to walk in? To help decide, I started to take note of the respective positions of heel tips/most rearward point of the heels on my shoes. While hard to quantify, it does seem to make a difference. More pictures; I've tried to identify a median on the rise, and show the distance of the heel tip from the back of the shoe. Believe me, the ALDO shoes were so easy to walk in, even the female shop assistant who watched me walk up and down the store in them, couldn't understand why I didn't buy them. (Went back in the sales ~ another story already told.) The difference was really significant. Both pairs shown, now long gone, but I have since bought some of these: Kurt Geiger "Cilla". The heels are a tad over 5 inches, maybe 5¼ inches. Impossible for me to walk in ..... But notice the position of the heel tip in relation the the back of the heel. Since the new(er) Pleaser 20's are virtual copy of this shoe, I can be fairly confident I won't be able to walk in the 20's either. These have quite a gentle rise, with a shallow arch, so why so hard to walk in? Surely it must be the position of the heel tip when I stride forward.... In my mind's eye, I can see how the more vertical heel (KG Cilla and Pleaser 20's) might need more ankle rotation to get my toes landed, but how to demonstrate this .... Thoughts anyone?