A blog devoted to sexy high heel shoes for women.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

My friend’s bad experience with cheap high heels

My friend, who doesn’t usually go for cheap heels, experimented with high heels from one of those cheap shoe sellers that have mushroomed all over big cities in India. They sell flashy heels and you might not find a problem with the shoe unless you closely examine it. The heels are dirt cheap and can very well imitate good and expensive brands. So, it is natural that girls who want to look smart and modern fall for these ones. Forget Jimmy Choo or Christian Louboutin, you cannot buy a decent domestic brand such as Bata and Liberty in Rs. 3000 [USD 60] but you can but a superb looking platform 6 inch super-heel in that price from such shops.

My friend bought the high heel, wore it once and it wore fine. The next time, it caused slight ankle pain. She thought, the pain would go – as happens with all high heel wearers who occasionally wear the heels for long time – but it didn’t. The other mistake she did was that she wore the shoe again and for a long period. This time not only the pain turned more severe, it led to swelling.

She showed the shoe to me when I visited her.[She was unable to attend office.] The shoe was an excellent piece going by its bright silver color, beautiful curves and shiny buckles. You could easily tell your credulous friend that your bought it from a top store in Paris. But the imitators  had not cared to buttress the sole and heel where required. When you wear such shoes, the shoe might fit well and go well till you have walked a few thousand steps in them. After that, the body’s weight starts putting pressure at wrong places. Moreover, as the shoe does not have proper strength [due to poor joints or use of material that is too soft or too hard], it gets distorted and makes things worse for itself and the wearer. I have seen many girls’ sideway wobbles due to ill-crafted but outwardly beautiful shoes.

Coming to problems with design in ladies’ shoes, especially those sold cheap in streets, let me talk about the three most common ones.

In many cases, the heel either points backward or it becomes so after some use. In both these cases, your centre of gravity falls away from the heel’s tip. It makes your gait awkward. It also looks shoddy if the heel goes a lot backwards. It hurts the arch of the foot as the shoe sole stretches to align the points of gravity.

In trying to make the shoe ‘extra sexy’, they forget how much height is enough. The sole has to slant a lot in high heels of 4 inches and above, and unless it is properly strapped and proper toe support is there, it is prone to hurt the foot and also make the walk unstable. But cheap shoe makers make the shoe curvy while forgetting the things that need to be cared for to minimize risks - such as proper base, strong sole, cushions, arch support, proper flexibility and strong upper.

Straight sole. I have seen straight soles more in low / chunky heeled shoes. No curvature. This is a recipe for silent damage to the sole arch especially if you have flat foot or other deformity in the sole area. Since such shoes do not hurt and you keep on wearing them, you have a chance of deforming the foot in the long run.

Many more disadvantages are coming to mind but I’ll stop here. My advice, as always is, spend a few bucks more for the sake of your feet if you want to wear high heels.

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