What have you done with your high heels?

[Cloudless01]

I always wore heels when I was younger and would wear them at work all day long! Then I had children and it wasn’t practical of course. Now fashions have completely changed and no one seems to wear them at all.

I still have some in the wardrobe that I have kept in case I go to a wedding (none on the horizon) and I don’t think they are going to come back into fashion so it’s probably time to get rid of them completely. What have you done with yours?

Stashed them in the loft just the week. I should get rid, as like you I doubt I’ll ever wear them again, but I can’t bring myself to. They are very beautiful and mostly very expensive!

I don’t think it’s true to say they’ll never come back though, I think they’re already on their way back. Walking home through town last Saturday night I saw a lot of glamorous younger women in them - it was the middle-aged ones like me who were all in flats.

I had a big wardrobe clear out a couple of months ago and finally ditched all of my stiletto type strappy high heels. I just put them in the shoe bank at the dump and winced at the memory or how uncomfortable they were.

I still have a few high shoes, but they’re all clompy - Esska sandals and Swedish Hasbeens.

Sold some on Vinted and ebay. Gave some to charity.

i got rid of pretty much all my heels in one of the covid summers they killed my feet anyway so would never wear them

now i have a wedding next week im waiting on a pair of heels to come from vinted

Kept most of them as they are wedge type anyway and I still wear them. I have an utterly stunning pair of pointy, jewelled and studded 'Game of Thrones' ankle breakers which to be fair almost killed me ten years ago, but I keep them as I can't bear to part with them. They're unlikely to see the light of day again.

They're sitting in their boxes in the bedroom. I've sold some through Vinted, but most of them are too pretty and I'm too attached to them to give them up

I'm not yet ready to admit to age and decline, to part with my favourite shoes!

Vinted or charity shops. The stiletto ones that were popular early noughties don’t really sell, people don’t seem to want that style anymore. I’ve been to a lot of weddings recently and all the 20/early 30yr olds were wearing flat sandals, they looked great and comfortable. The late 30s/40s had obviously dug out their old heels and kicked them off at the end of the evening!

I wouldn’t save them for weddings, it’s a perfect excuse to buy a new pair of shoes that make you feel great!

The last wedding I went to was full of under 30s and I was probably the only one in heels!

I've never worn them! I'm 6 feet tall and 66.

I have kept two pairs of lovely LK Bennett patent heels, one pair each in black and navy, whivh are sitting in dust bags in the wardrobe. Rest all went to the charity shop.

Charity shopped them and never looked back. It wasn't even that they felt dated, I just felt like I want to prioritise my own comfort and health. I then switched to barefoot shoes, and now I cannot go back even if I wanted to! It's no overstatement to say it has changed my life/general pain levels. My feet are completely physically different now.

Also, it helped to see a friend wearing a very casual style of footwear.. . At a wedding! She has really individual style and looks incredible generally, but at first I was like, why am I even caring she's wearing these cool interesting and comfy shoes, because, shock horror, wedding?! Well... Because she wants to, and she also wants to watch her dear friend get married.

The two aren't linked, we don't have to live by social constraints, she looked effortless but in an authentic way. It really changed how I regarded things. Shoes don't matter, "rules" aren't generally real! It was great.

Went to a wedding yesterday. Was only an evening guest and I drove there so changed in the car park. By less than an hour after arriving I was in agony. Only wore them for about 3 hours in total and still feeling it this morning.

Not worn any for about a decade. Not sure what I was thinking. I only own 2 pairs though so they can stay in the cupboard for now.

Most of the guests were 30s and under and all of them were in big heels though

I’ve no skin in the game as I’ve not worn heels for decades but I see no reason why they won’t come back into fashion if you wait - it might not even be that long as trends seem to recycle much faster these days.

That said, they may not look quite the same next time around and shoes are harder to alter than vintage clothes. But I’d still hang on to at least a couple of good pairs and in any case, I’m not sure how much charity shops will thank you for them as they probably don’t sell well at the moment.

If you’ve got any that are particularly outrageous and still look shiny and new, I’d display them - I think they look interesting in their own right even if I’ve no desire to wear them. Or do something creative like grow flowers in them.

They will come back into fashion but we will then look rather muttony wearing them and/or will feel crippled by them.
Also my feet have grown.

I’d second what @Floismesaid. I Think they will be back in some form so I’d keep your favourites. Mine are under the bed in their boxes for now. Btw every time I’ve been shopping in Selfridges or Harrods’ designer floors (looking for something a bit lower in the heel) it is full of high heels, and trainers of course, but not much else. Flannels which aims at the younger women is similar. They have plenty of going out heels rather then office appropriate one.

This is such a coïncidence as I was just thinking yesterday that I have a brand new pair of high-heeled sandals that have never been worn (bought online during COVID to wear to a wedding that was postponed and massively downscaled and I didn’t go because of my cancer).

I was wondering if DD13 will want them in a couple of years and realised with a laugh that it’s highly unlikely as she literally only wears trainers, to school, at weekends, for sport, for going to mass, attending any kind of ‘events’; she doesn’t own any other shoes and never has since she was out of baby shoes. With the exception of flip flops for beside the pool in summer and her indoor slippers. Also whilst the shoes are -IMO - beautiful they’re definitely not fashionable.

I’m still hanging onto a couple of pairs of black stilettos but I really don’t know why (barely worn, expensive, vague notion of ‘needing’ them in future but just thinking about them makes the balls of my feet start to burn).

The others I have either given away or put in the charity boxes in the street. DN took one pair for a ball but when she had her own coming out ball she was wearing flats (as were all of the other girls).

I had saved them but then I wore some to my sisters wedding and was in agony. I have most of them to charity shops. I kept one low and comfy glitzy ones from quiz in case I go to a ball and one pair of black courts for funerals. If I go to another wedding I will purchase something lower and a little more sensible.

I've had a clear out and have several pairs out ready to go to charity. I've been wearing barefoot trainers and boots all the time for about 15 years and so my toes are wider now (as they should be!). I've only worn high heels once in that time and couldn't walk very well in them, tried them on yesterday and nope! It's not going to happen. It's a shame because they're gorgeous so that pair are going back in the wardrobe just so I can admire them every year

I actually sold most of my heels 10 years ago. But that’s because I was living / working in China and at 5’9 I already towered over most people and wearing heels just made it so much worse. I kept a few favourite (expensive) pairs as I couldn’t bear to let them go. I have some stunning Dior evening shoes (that cripple me but look bloody amazing!) and I like to look at them but that’s about as far as it goes.

Back living in London now and post Covid I feel I’m making a big effort if I wear ANY kind of shoes instead of trainers. 🤦‍♀️😂 I’m actually trying to actively force myself to wear shoes although I’m a long way off heels, that’s advanced ‘forcing’ 😛.

During lockdown I used to wear heels with ‘comedy socks’ every Sunday and send photos to entertain friends who also lived alone (like me). Desperate times! Example attached of my Jimmy Choos and furry fox socks. I did actually wear these shoes (minus the socks!) to dinner at The Ivy when they first reopened post lockdown. I think that might have been the last time I wore heels! 🤦‍♀️

I’ve got a couple of pairs of heels that I’ve kept. I’ve got a box of dresses that I keep at the back of the wardrobe for special occasions and weddings only, and the shoes are in that box. I think heels are making a comeback already. I’ve noticed some of the younger influencers are starting to wear them again.

This. They'll come back, but I don't think I'll be able to physically wear them. I'm going to keep them like beautiful works of art and to remind myself of a time when I was young and super hot 😁

I still wear them. I love heels and collect nice designer pairs.

The shops are full of heels but they’re mainly aimed at special occasion not day wear.

I do see the influencers styling them again, which is fine but you know they’re not really wearing them for ‘an afternoon sightseeing in Chester’.

For work wear I’ve really noticed it’s only die hard 40+ women wearing them, I personally really struggle to see my flat shoes as smart enough for client meetings, they just remind me of school shoes.

Sorry, slightly off topic. I put most of mine in the charity bag. I’ve kept 2 pairs of relatively low work heels only worn for important occasions and a couple of pairs of party shoes that I’ll probably never wear. Also some heeled boots but got rid of anything high or stiletto like.

I charity shopped any I had about 20 years ago. I only wear flat shoes now. High heels and stilettos were just so uncomfortable.

I don't have great balance these days so would be a disaster in high heeled shoes.