High Heels Shoes Today,
Women,s high-heels are typically worn by women, with heights varying
from a kitten heel of 1½ inch (4 cm) to a stiletto heel (or spike heel)
of 4 inch (10 cm) or more. Extremely high-heeled shoes, such as those
higher than 5 inch (13 cm), are normally worn only for aesthetic
reasons and are not considered practical. Court shoes are conservative
styles and often used for work and formal occasions, while more
adventurous styles are common for evening wear and dancing. |  |
Women,s High-heels have seen significant
controversy in the medical field lately, with many podiatrists seeing
patients whose severe foot problems have been caused almost exclusively
by high-heel wear.
If
it is not possible to avoid high heels altogether, some doctors suggest
that the wearer wear high-heels no more often than twelve hours a day,
and that they are spending at least a third of the time on their feet
in contour-supportive "flat" shoes (such as exercise sandals), or
well-cushioned "sneaker-type" shoes, saving high heels for special
occasions.One of the most critical problems of high-heeled-shoe design
involves a properly constructed toe-box. Improper construction here can
cause the most damage to one's foot. Toe-boxes which are too narrow
force the toes to be "crammed" too close together. Ensuring that room
exists for the toes to assume a normal separation so that high-heel
wear remains an option rather than a debilitating practice, is an
important issue in improving the wearability of women's high-heeled
fashion shoes.
Wide heels do not necessarily offer more stability,
and any raised heel with too much width, such as found in "blade-" or
"block-heeled" shoes, induces unhealthy side-to-side torque to the
ankles with every step, stressing them unnecessarily, while creating
additional impact on the balls of the feet. Thus, the best design for a
high-heel is one with a narrower width, where the heel is closer to the
front, more solidly under the ankle, where the toe box provides room
enough for the toes, and where forward movement of the foot in the shoe
is kept in check by material snug across the instep, rather than by
toes jamming together in the toe box.
