How to walk in heels!

Two common questions I get is “How do you walk in heels all the time?!” and “Do you have any tips for wearing high heel shoes?” I’ve been writing back individually but thought since it was such a common question that I’d just write a post for it!  These tips aren’t ground breaking or anything, I’m sure you can find tips if you google for it as well, but here’s just some tips of how I manage to walk in heels all day long.

Practice makes perfect 
I’ve been wearing heels since I was a teenager so my feet have been thoroughly trained to be in heels.  In fact, they are so used to being in heels that when I wear flats, I am clumsier and tend to fall over my feet or hurt myself.  I also get foot cramps when I wear flats.  Odd but true!  If you are just starting out, don’t immediately go for the stilletos.  Get some heels between 2-3 inches and preferably with a bit of a thicker heel and wear them around the house. (these would be great)  Wear them when you are cooking, wear them when you are doing your makeup, when you are vacuuming, walk up and down the stairs, etc…  You don’t need to even get dressed up, just walk around and wear them in your sweats, nobody will see you but if you wear them during normal activities without leaving the house, you will get a lot more used to them and not feel foolish because nobody will see you practicing.  I do this when I’m breaking my shoes in and it helps a lot in that aspect as well.

Does it fit?
Nothing looks worse than a girl who’s wearing shoes that are too big or too small and you can see them visibly struggling to walk in them.  I wear different sizes with different brands and even within the same designer I can go up or down a half size so make sure that you are wearing the size that fits your foot and not just the size that you “usually” wear.  To help with sizing you can also get insoles.  I really like these Dr. Scholl’s For Her Open Shoe Insoles or if you don’t want the whole insole I also recommend the Foot Petals Tip Toes.  I buy these in bulk and put them in so many of my shoes.  They make my foot stay in place and not slip to the front like so many super high heels can make your foot do.  It also makes the front pad of the shoe much cushier and comfortable to walk in.  You can also buy the variety pack that will cover each part of the shoe that you may be affected by.

When you are buying shoes, walk around the shoe department in them and make sure that your heel doesn’t pop out or it’s not squeezing your toes or the sides of your feet.  All of that will stay the same once you buy them and take them home.  Don’t think that shoes will stretch because most of the time they won’t stretch enough and they’ll still be too tight to wear.  Nobody likes to wear too tight shoes.  Well, I sure don’t and I think most people wouldn’t either.  If they are a bit loose and the half size down is too small, ask the sales associate if you can see how it fits with an insole or a foot pad.  Most often they will have temporary foot pads that you can put in your shoe to see if it will help.  I know for sure Nordstrom has them and will put a few in your shoe box for free!  They aren’t as good as foot petals but good for a temporary fix.

Walk slowly and take small steps
I admit, I’m a fast walker but like I said I am pretty experienced with heels so I’m so used to walking in heels.  However when I wear super high 5 inch heels like my Louboutin Bianca pumps, I have to walk pretty slowly.  I always warn my husband that I will be especially slow on the days that I wear them.  There’s just no getting around it.  Walking slow is much better than trying to keep your normal pace and then falling on your face.  Don’t feel silly for walking slow or taking small steps.  I mean don’t walk abnormally slow (if you do, you may need more practice) but look around you, there’s always a ton of people walking slow and you probably don’t stare at them weird or anything do you?  So ignore your own self conscious feeling of “dang people are probably staring at me because I’m so slow” and just take your time walking.  If you have to go up or down stairs, always hold on to the handrail or your significant other to keep steady.  It sounds silly but I’ve seen people take tumbles because they didn’t have anything to hold onto but if you are wearing heels, you have a higher chance of slipping or getting your footing wrong when going down stairs.  I’ve taken a few tumbles myself that the handrail has helped me from making into an embarrassing situation!

Always carry flats with you
When I know I’ll be walking a lot, I always carry a bigger handbag and put a pair of flats in there.  I have a ton of shoe bags from all my shoes so I just put a pair of flats in a shoe bag to keep my handbag contents from getting dirty.  Then when I’ve been on my feet for a couple of hours and I need to give them a rest, I’ll just slip on my flats, put my heels in the shoe bag and my feet are back to being comfy! There are even flats out there like these Dr. Scholl’s Fast Flats that are foldable flats and are really compact to keep in your handbag.  I haven’t tried them just yet but seems like a good concept.

Keep blisters away!
People always wonder if I get blisters from walking in heels all day long but I never do.  Ever since I started investing in high end shoes, I have never gotten a blister from a shoe.  I think it’s the way the shoe is made and the materials inside the shoe.  For cheaper shoes, you may get synthetic materials inside the shoe which after your foot has rubbed up against it for an hour or two, it just can’t be comfortable.  Whereas for designer shoes, the entire insole as well as the inner lining is made from genuine leather which is softer to your feet and molds better than the synthetic materials.  If you are getting blisters from the inside of your shoes, put your shoes on and note where you think they might start rubbing and stick little bandaids there or you can also get some moleskin padding as well if you want to cut out custom sizes.

That’s it for my tips!  The only thing that I want to reiterate is to practice and practice some more!  That’s the only way that your feet will get used to being at a strange angle for long periods of time.  If you practice enough you might end up like me and have to train your feet to wear flats 🙂

My next guide will be on how to take care of your designer heels as that’s another question I get a lot!  And now, a few of my picks from the spring collection of my favorite shoe designers.

Hope my tips helped and next thing you know you’ll be dancing the night away in your 4 inch heels without wanting to kick them off and throwing them in the trash!