Ok I don't know if people are going to disagree or think I'm nuts, but... I am a small girl and I HATE wearing high heels (my tolerance is about 2-3inches). I don't care that they make me taller or lengthen my leg or lift my butt (perky enough already thanks haha I kid).. they are too much pain to go through. and I generally think big, "fierce", platformy, stilettoey heels are.. I don't even know. somewhere between awful and unfathomable (as in, who thought of that? is that even necessary?)

I don't know what I hate more though... wearing high heels (on the occasions I've made the mistake of doing so), or being expected to wear them because I'm short. I feel like as a petite I am always hearing that so many outfits would look better and more put together and polished on a short person with a stiletto rather than a flat or kitten heel, but to me heels are just such immense torture devices. I figure if there's an outfit that would look better with back destroyers strapped to my feet, I'll just wear something that goes with easier shoes. Even for evening and looking put together... on a petite girl I reckon you can't go more feminine and pretty than a perfect little A-line fit and flare LBD with mid height slingbacks. I try to take advantage of that... there are a million tall girls who would kill to be able to give off an Audrey vibe but who are built more like Katharines (and those ladies are beautiful as well! but they can't wear this dress like we can http://images.asos.com/inv/media/4/8/3/7/1517384/black/image1xl.jpg )Of course I really admire girls who can wear heels all the time, esp as petites have smaller feet and a 5 inch heel on us is way more painful than on someone with size 10 feet.... but for me, I just can't do it and I hate being expected to. Does anyone else feel the way I feel?

Also I know nobody's making anyone wear anything.. it just feels like this unspoken expectation and makes me kind of sad. I love being Small and I don't want to hide it!

Hello! Have you tried wedges or thicker, non-stiletto heels? I personally think 3'' is the perfect height that most women can handle. I don't feel that petites absolutely need to go out and buy the highest heel they can find. Any medium heel will do really.

When I first started college, I remember buying tons of 4-4.5'' stilettos because I felt the need to overcompensate for my lack of height. Unfortunately, after realizing they were all extremely painful, I bought loads of shoe accessories (heel grips and different types of insoles) to ease the pain. That didn't work either. It took me years to realize I had bought the wrong size altogether. The length was too long and therefore the shoe arch wasn't supporting my feet.

I stick to 3'' heels now (though I wear flats almost everyday) and carefully choose outfits that will visually lengthen my body. I'm still short, but from afar, I look tallll LOLLL! Perhaps you need to experiment with heels a little more?

Hiya! Yes I do try to stick to 3" thicker heels and below, but much higher than that and I find it's too uncomfortable no matter what the heel style. I've put party feet and heel grips and foot petals in every high heel I've worn and still no dice might be because I live in a hilly city, might also be something to do with my weight distribution or balance or posture or something that I don't know how to fix. I know that to walk in higher heels you have to practice, and some women are really good at that (an insane friend of mine walked a section of the Great Wall of China in these 5"+ strappy platforms!) but I don't like the idea of training oneself to wear something painful. I'm specifically against really high spindly heels...I'm cool with lower heels too, i agree that 3" and below looks best on most women, and I too wear flats daily and don't feel like I make myself look particularly short.

It's also interesting to me that the HG of high heels, the louboutin, is meant to be the sexiest and most glamorous shoe you can wear, and you would think for the price and sexiness the maker would have put some element of comfort into it. however I read an article (argh wish I had the link) where Louboutin basically says he doesn't give a crap about womens' comfort, that they should be willing to suffer if they want to walk in his creations (which I've heard are NOT comfortable at all! the "pitch" or arch is deliberately extra curved) and he also has this weird sadomasochistic Freudian way of looking at things.. he said something like, women want to look sexy because subconsciously they want their fathers to want to (expletive) them...! and there's this idea that women wear high heels to be sexy for men, who like high heels on women because it makes them vulnerable and makes it harder for them to run away... I know that's super psychoanalytical and reading waaaaay too much into it, but just some background for ya on why I think the way I do about high high heels!

Sorry if this is getting too, I dunno, political maybe. If so we can stop here. Just felt like getting my thoughts out there since I think maybe it's a specific shortie issue, feeling pressured into wearing high (above 3") heels!

also obviously I don't agree or believe that every woman's motivation for wearing high heels is to look good for men or whatever, or that the domination aspect is the reason why any man who likes stilettos on women, does. Other people can wear high heels if they want! that's cool! super props to girls who can walk the great wall in Tribute-esque pumps! but just, I don't think it will ever be for me and I don't meet a lot of short girls who agree (most of my girlfriends are my size and they can't live without their heels esp for town and occasions where they feel they need to dress up, they say they feel like slobs without them), so I'm wondering if there's anyone here who does

If you can tolerate 3'' and want to upgrade to 4'' (to wear for special occasions), I highly recommend finding a pair with a 1'' platform. Because technically, the height would only be 3'' minus the platform (in other words, the pitch would be equivalent to a 3'' heel). Strappy heels are typically more comfortable for me compared to closed toe/peep toe.

LOLL I originally misunderstood and thought you were against all heels. A Louboutin shoe itself is indeed gorgeous, but walking in a true 4"+ heel without a platform (regardless of the brand/price) is a completely different story. I admire any woman who can properly walk in a true 4"+ heel without having 1) red, swollen feet 2) veins popping out of their feet and 3) skin flowing over the edges. Though I have yet to see a woman who can do all 4

Personally speaking, I wouldn't go as high as a true 4'' for safety/comfort reasons: falling and breaking an ankle, blisters, inducing loads of pressure on my ankles/knees, enduring unnecessary pain, or risk damaging my feet in the long run. It's not worth it. I am content with being able to at least wear heels of some sort.

Heels are interesting aren't they ladies? Here are my thoughts:

- Some women's feet are just not happy in heels, no matter what the height. I've yet to figure out a formula (high arch, low arch, instep, etc.) for why, but it happens. And like badgerbadger said, no combination of foot cushions makes a difference.

- Some women's feet are just not happy in flats. I am in this group, and so, prefer at least a small heel on my shoes. Flat shoes (that are not sneakers) rub my feet, fail to grip my heel, and stress out my toes horrifically, so that at the end of the day, I wish I had just worn a pair of heels. I suspect this has to do with the way most heeled shoes are more structured than flats, which tend to be floppy, or, well...flat, and so they don't support my foot the way it needs. Of course, I have no knowledge of podiatry, I only know that flats fly off my feet at an alarming rate, while heels stay snug and form fitting.

- Small footed ladies have a harder time navigating taller heels. A heel is basically propping up your heel, and the shorter your foot length, the more your foot will have to bend compared to a woman with a longer foot length. For this reason, I've never been very good at wearing 4 inch heels. I can wear 3 inch heels without a platform just fine, or 3 1/2 inch heels with a platform. I've seen 5'0" ladies rocking 4" - 5" heels no problem, and I consider them lucky freaks of nature. LOL.

- I prefer the look of a heel. Whether it is ingrained in me by society or not. I just do. I think heels are beautiful creations, and I like wearing them. I like the way they make my skinny legs appear to have calves, and I like the leg lengthening effect. I do not wear heels to be taller...I could care less about that.

- I feel polished in a heel. Again, personal preference.

- Remember...men wore heels too...

- Here is a great blog post about the history of the stiletto and feminism.

- That is a shame about the things Christian Louboutin said (and I would love to read that article if you find it!). It is interesting how fashions for women are made by men, who are driven by artistic inclinations, and not comfort or practicality. Look at Karl Lagerfeld in the 80's...a fat man designing fashions dictating women be thin.

Sidenote to this point...I own a pair of Christian Louboutin heels at about a 3" heel height and find them very comfortable to wear. I suppose it depends heavily on the wearer, heel height, and structure of your foot.

I can understand how you feel. I've been there where my mom tried to get me to wear heels all the time since I'm short, but I don't always follow along. We each have our own quirks and we don't have do what's "expected." Also, I don't think it's a petite-specific issue since I think most women wear heels and feel like that added height gives them more confidence or whatnot.

There are many reasons why we wear what we do, but we shouldn't feel pressured to be a certain way or even wear super high heels. It's true that most petite advice says you should embrace high heels, but it's not necessary. And many petites just love the look of a heel anyway.

I wear a range of shoe heights from flats to super platformed tall heels (non-stilettos). But I'm realizing that 3-4" non-platformed shoes are my max. Recently, I'm leaning more towards 2" heels in some recent blog posts since it's more comfortable and you still get the same look without the additional height. Even for fancy occasions, it might be "easy" to pull off a look with higher heels, but not expected. I've seen people wear pointed flats or other shoes that aren't super tall...and it works. They own it and they rock it. Simple as that. I don't expect others to always wear heels and I've seen plenty of petites wear flats. I think you should wear what makes you feel comfortable and good. =)

Preach on! I have the unfortunate situation of extremely blister-prone feet. I get blisters on the tops and bottoms of my toes, my heels, anywhere around the edge of my shoes... in flats or heels. It's so irritating. I have yet to find a pair of shoes that are just comfortable from the get-go (except for a pair of ballet-like Bloch flats, I will give them credit where it's due). I think that it's worse in heels because I do feel like I *should* wear them and I just really don't like to. I can, and they're about as comfy as any other pair, but I find myself freaking out about "what if I trip and twist my ankle?" Maybe that's an anxiety problem more than anything though

Shoes, I love them.
But I have a narrow size 6/6.5 foot.
Most American shoes are too wide so whenever I am fortunate enough to get to Europe, I go shoe shopping.

As for high heeled shoes, I wish I can wear the 3" heels. I really do.
But a 2 1/2" heel is high as I can go and only if they have substantial padding.
Some outfits look so much better with a high heel.

In regards to super skyscraper heels: I've seen very short girls in them and the proportions are off.

I always wished I was tall. But stomping around hellish heels ain't the way I wanna go.
So I wear low heels and deal with it.
I'm a walker, so I don't mind so much.

Hahaha oh YES alterationsneeded, some of my friends are the can't-wear-flats type and it used to really weird me out! At first I just thought they were trying to be a bit posh like "oh I can't be caught dead in flats"... until one day one of them got caught in flats somehow on a day-long shopping trip and she actually couldn't do anything after a couple of hours! it blew my mind! anyway thanks for the great links, really interesting! wow the near 5" heels in the pic for the wiki link are insane...

Also yes to (sometimes irrational) fear of ankle twisting. again I live in a hilly city and am super afraid of slopes and gravel and grates and things like that... even when I go out in my 2 inch heels I'm like, what if I slip on that leaf??

I also agree with Sulli about proportions - but I mean totally props to short girls who can rock high heels, it can depend a lot on the heel shape though. I think the heels that look best on petites tend to be slimmer and well, I guess petite themselves- however, those are always hardest to balance in! *image of short person eating dirt because they tried to balance in a skinny heel*

Omg I remember I tried to wear a pair of 4"-ish skinny heels for my HS grad... well I was GOING to but I TRIPPED ON THE STAIRS during rehearsal! *cowers in shame of memory* It was a totally cartoony trip too, like I'd slipped on a banana peel. Maybe that's why I'm so cautious...