Are Louboutins/Jimmy Choos etc worth it?

[theonlynonblonde]

I want to buy a pair of black patent high heels - for smart work do's, weddings etc. Is it worth paying about £400 pair for, e.g. some louboutins or jimmy choos etc? they do look amazing, but to my eyes, the difference between them and - say - a decent pair by pied a terre (about £150) seems pretty small. are they actually comfortable? do they by some miracle make walking in high heels easy?

i do keep my shoes and clothes for - literally - decades, so I am prepared to spend the money but only if they are really worth it. i'm not interested in having them just for the name or brand.

If I were going to spend that kind of money I would go for a pair of Gina shoes.

I wear Louboutin simple pumps to work every day. (70mm and 100mm) They cost £375 and worth it in my opinion. I have them in a few colours. They go up and down escalators, and pound the city streets so quite hardy. Jimmy Choo courts are not as good for everyday wear in my experience, but if you wear flats to work and change in the office then maybe. If you're not bothered about the brand then the LK Bennett Sledge are very good. They are around £185.

Re comfort then it depends on the shoe.

A lot of these shoes need to come out the box and straight to a cobblers to be soled and heeled

Not the Louboutins in my experience. Not sure if Jimmy Choo have changed the manufacturer in the last few years, but I don't find they wear as well.

I find I can walk comfortably in the highest Jimmy Choos. Louboutins are too narrow at the front for my feet.

You should factor in the cost of getting them resoled if you want to wear them outside. Yes really!!

Also they don't last forever as the heels have snapped on 2 pairs of Jimmys - I probably wore them an average of once a week for 3 years.

I like Gina shoes too and Manolos. Gucci and D&G shoes are more robust than any of those.

Am a bit of a shoe freak.

You have to be prepared that these types of shoes are not designed for heavy wear, they are designed for people who can buy many pairs of £400+ shoes and alternate constantly. Jimmy Choo's have delicate leather soles and in my opinion are not suited to everyday wear, Louboutin's also need new soles regularly. I wore a new pair of Louboutin lady lynch courts to 2 weddings recently and needed new soles after that so just be prepared that these types of shoes are not investment buys in the sense of a Burberry trench coat or Chanel 2.55 that could be worn daily for years!
I am a complete shoe addict with hundreds of pairs, love Jimmy Choo, Louboutin, Gina, Manolo and YSL tribute's for events but every day wear LK Bennett and leather courts from Pied a Terre and Dune which are very good quality and harder wearing for the office.
Another point about Louboutins is their sizing is crazy! Every bloody style fits completely differently, I have size 3, 3.5, 4 and 4.5 amongst my collection as there seems to be no standard fit which does annoy me for how much they cost!

I dont think Choos are anywhere near the same quality now as they were about 8 or so years ago. I used to buy them regularly then.....actually I think the quality started to decline when Choo moved from not very well known to mega celeb status shoes.
I've never tried Louboutins. Gina are great.
I am getting my first pair of Blahniks later this year, evening shoes that I hope will last for 5 years.

Oh meant to say that for me, Choos feel good on my feet...they feel well balnced, not like I'm teetering around on them, but I do agree that they're not for everyday heavy duty wear.