How to Walk Properly & Gracefully In High Heel Shoes

Wearing high heels can make you stand so that your legs looks slimmer, your stomach is flatter, and your femininity is unstoppable. It can also do wonders for your stride, but walking in high heels is not a natural talent--it's learned skill, perfected by practice and discipline.

Start small and work your way up. Don't go from not ever having worn heels to slipping on some 4 inch stilettos. There are many heels to choose from, varying in height, thickness and shape. Training your feet will allow your ankles to develop the strength they need to walk safely and gracefully in high heels.
- Begin with a shoe that has a broad, low heel (2-3 inches) and plenty of support over your foot and on the heel. The shoes shown in this picture would be good. So would a pair of boots.
- Next, become comfortable with kitten heels (low, skinny heels; usually sandals). These will help you start learning to keep your balance.
- Move on to boots with a higher (but broad) heel. It'll help your foot get accustomed to being at a steep arch, but the broadness of the heel and support from the boot will ease the transition.
- Try high wedge heels, where the heel is fully attached to the sole of the shoe, giving you increased balance and comfort while still allowing you to get used to having the heel of your foot placed high above the level of your toes. These will have less support that then boots, and if you get ones with a slim wedge, they'll be a good segue into stilettos.
- Wear the mother of all heels. Stiletto heels are also referred to as "spike heels". 3-4 inches will give you all the benefits of wearing high heels; anything higher will give you a lot more grief for not a lot more beauty.
Choose your shoes carefully. Not all high heels are created equal. Stand in your shoes on a hard floor with your knees straight, and see if you can raise yourself on your toes an inch. If you can't, the heels are too high for you right now, and you shouldn't wear them. If you try to wear heels this tall, you'll end up walking with your knees bent forward, and that's a good way to get very sore, not to mention looking rather daft. You also want there to be just enough "breathing room" so you can add cushions in the soles later.
Heel first, toes second

Take baby steps. Walking in the highest heels isn't like the walking you learned to do when you were a child, so you have to do a few things that might feel counterintuitive:
- Take small, slow steps, making sure not to bend your knees any more than you normally would. You'll notice that heels tend to shorten your stride a bit. The taller the heel, the shorter the stride ends up being.
- Put your heel down first right before your toes (don't plop them down at the same time, and don't put your toes down first). Once your weight is on the balls of your feet, shift your weight forward, as if you're walking on your tip toes.
- Put one foot about a foot directly ahead of the other. Try to keep your toes pointed straight ahead. Keep your legs close together.
  - Catwalk models will often cross one foot slightly in front of the other to give their hips a little more sway, but it'll take some extra practice to master this.^[1]
Practice. Wear your heels for a day around the house before you wear them out. This will not only allow you to get used to wearing them, but it will also create scuffs on the bottom so that they're less slippery. Make sure you practice doing all the things you would normally do while walking, such as:
- Changing direction. Walk, stop, pivot or turn around, and walk some more.
- Expose your heels to different surfaces. You will likely need to walk on both floors and carpets, and you may one day be expected to walk on a slippery, wooden floor so that you can...
- Dance. If you're planning on wearing your heels to a nightclub or a party where you know you're going to want to boogie down, then dance to the beat of your own drummer in the privacy of your home until your comfortable shaking things up in your heels.
- Don't forget about the stairs! Place your entire foot on each step as you come down the steps, but only place the ball of your foot on each step as you go up. Hold onto that railing gracefully, just in case.
- Walking in heels indoors is very different to walking in them outdoors. Without the soft cushioning of carpet, or the flat even indoor surface of lino or wood, walking in heels can be ten times as difficult. Even minor surface flaws in tarmac will present difficulties, so try walking up and down outside your house a few times. A good place to practice after you've gotten the hang of it in your house is to wear your heels to the supermarket. Use your cart for balance!
Add cushioning wherever there's a lot of pressure and/or friction. There are cushions made in various shapes and from different materials that you can stick on the inside of your shoe for more comfortable walking. Use them generously.