It’s no secret that walking in high heels is designed more for appearances rather than comfort. We know a lot of women that are missing out on the benefits of high heels because of this. High heels can elongate your figure and give you better posture while you strut. There are also some tips for walking in high heels that can minimize the discomfort and open new doors to help you get the most out of these sexy shoes.
Best Ways to Learn to Walk in High Heels for Beginners
Table of Contents
1) Lead with your Heels
This tip may be pretty straightforward as it’s more ergonomic, but we felt it was important to touch on anyway as high heels can throw things off balance. Whether you want to know how to walk in high heels for beginners or if you’re a seasoned stiletto lover that just wants to make things more bearable, remember to lead with your heels.
What we mean by that is to go heel to toe, so your heel meets the pavement first. Not only will do so make you look more natural while you walk, but it also takes the stress off your ankles and calves. So remember, lead with your heels!
2) Slow and Smaller Steps In High Heels
In an increasingly fast-paced world, it can be difficult to slow down. It’s useful to remind yourself that you’re at least 2 inches elevated off the ground and to walk a bit slower. Take smaller but more steps to reach your destination. And hey, it may even allow you to live in the moment more and enjoy your surroundings.
3) Straighter Back and Leading With Your Chest First
Without heels, some women may lead with their noses and some others lead with their feet. As we mentioned, when you walk in heels, you will notice an improvement in your posture. It will miraculously straighten your back, elongate your torso and just allow you to walk with more confidence overall.
This benefit goes hand in hand with how to walk in heels comfortably. When you’re walking with a straighter back and leading with your chest first, it will take more stress of your toes and disperse the pressure throughout your feet.
Leaning back a bit with your chest out will not only look more elegant as you walk in your new pumps, but it will also reduce the chance of you leaning forward when you pick up the pace in your steps, which doesn’t look very appealing to say the least.
Putting one foot in front of another as if you’re walking on a tightrope will also help you look less awkward. You may walk with your feet side by side, one ahead of the other with regular shoes, but with heels, it’s better to put the heel to the toe so your steps are narrower. This will also improve your posture and give you a slinkier walk, therefore resulting in a more elegant air.
Love wearing heels but struggle with the proper fitting? Then you must have a look at this article: How to make your shoe smaller?
4) Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Walking in high heels is synonymous with looking more confident and self-assured. To further propel this image, keep your eyes on the prize. In this case, the prize is the end destination. When you face forward and walk with a purpose, you will look more graceful than how you would by looking down at your feet.
5) If the Shoe Fits…
Even if you know all the tricks on how to walk in high heels, an ill-footing shoe will deter your efforts. Not only are the wrong-sized heels difficult to walk in, but they also pose a danger to you. It’s easier to twist your ankle, lose your shoe and hurt your muscles with ill-fitted shoes.
Let’s say you bought a gorgeous pair of designer heels on sale, but they are half a size or a full size off. At amazing discounts, you just can’t help but take the plunge. We have some tips to make up for the wrong size in heels that will not only increase or decrease the size but also make your walk more comfortable.
For ladies that purchased a size too big, you can walk better in heels by adding a shoe pad into the lining of your shoe. They even make heel pads, which are made to adhere to the back of the heel a little below your ankle to the rear end of the shoe which is excellent for pumps that are too big.
If you are wearing sandals, you can place pads that blend into the insole or thicken the straps to have a better and more secure hold on your feet.
Ladies that opted for a smaller size will realize you simply can’t walk in heels that are too small. You will need to enlist the help of a professional if this is the case and ask the shoe cobbler to stretch your heels. There are even methods to stretch them yourself at home that can be found online.
It also helps to break in your heels before you wear them regularly. This can be done around the house. Without breaking them in, your new heels can cause blisters, which will make it hard to walk in heels no matter how experienced you are.
6) Practice Makes Perfect
Just like with most tasks, practice makes perfect. You can learn how to walk in high heels, but it won’t get any easier or more comfortable without sufficient practice. Over time, you can master the technique and make walking in heels look elegant and easy at the same time.
Also, with practice over a prolonged period, your feet will become more resilient to the distribution of your weight. Like we said above, wear your heels around the house when you are breaking them in. Doing so will also add to the practice time.
7) Know-How to Pick’em
Pick the right heels for your lifestyle and the occasion. Most likely, we’ll all have more than just one pair of heels in the shoe closet, and we fully support this because having a variety of styles suited for different occasions will give you diversity.
It’s not difficult to build a high-heel selection as they are relatively affordable and are comparable in price to regular flats and sneakers. However, designer heels can really hike up the price tag and strain your wallet.
We’re not against having a full closet full of Louboutins and Jimmy Choos, but if the price is out of your budget, there are a lot of options you can find that are still very well made, beautiful and comfortable.
We suggest having a wide selection of heels ranging from kitten heels, Mary Janes, pumps, high heeled sandals, wedges, chunky heels, and stilettos to name a few. Kitten heels can be sexy and give you that boost in height and are one of the easiest to walk in during a long day at work.
Chunky heels give you more balance and stability, and also give you more support as you walk. Stilettos are great for special occasions as the thin and high stems add sex appeal. There are so many styles of heels out there, so have fun picking ones that are a good fit for you!
8) Extra Tips for Comfort
As an extra tip, if you like super high heels, pick ones with a front platform. That will decrease the incline of your foot, which will give you more comfort without sacrificing height.
When walking in heels, more of our weight is focused on the balls of our feet. Humans weren’t built to sustain our full weight on this part of our body for long periods of time. However, there is no way around that when we wear high heels. What we can do is to mediate the issue by using gel insoles. Small cushions and insoles that are made to be placed inside that part of the shoe will not only make it more comfortable and take some of the strain off, they are also great for shoes that are a little bigger.
To save your feet from blisters and to help with the size issue, you can also look into socks. We aren’t totally in love with the heeled sandals and socks look, but if that’s your thing then more power to you.
We prefer the use of these low and wide-cut socks with pumps. The opening is large enough that the sides and top of your pumps can cover them. This way, they act as a barrier between your feet and the harder materials of the heels and can minimize blisters and make the pumps fit better.
Conclusion
Walking in heels is no small feat, and making it look easy and effortless is even harder. However, if you follow our tips that include picking the right shoes, walking upright with your chest out in a straight line, and going from heel to toe, you can master the art of looking elegant and classy in no time at all.
Just like with everything else, this skill will take time to perfect, but you can hasten the process by walking around in your house to get used to the new high heels and breaking them in.
