I have a confession to make: I am short. Ok, well it’s not much of a confession if you have ever actually stood next to me, but still. Ever since I was in 5th grade and stopped growing, I have been a whopping 4 feet and eleven inches tall. So yeah, I am pretty short. When I was growing up my height always seemed to be a topic of discussion and even now, people cannot help but comment on it. In fact, I was getting so sick of being called short, small, tiny, cute, petite, etc., that I decided I would join the world of normal sized people and wear heels for an entire week.
Now, before we go into exactly how this made me feel, let’s cover a few definitions. First, heels: to me, that is anything with a slight lift. Because of my height, it was somewhat impossible for me to wear stilettos to work because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to walk. When someone as small as me decides to suddenly be tall, it’s like walking on stilts. So safe to say that I stuck with shoes in the 2 to 4 inch range.
On the first day, I picked a pair of small red heels to go with my black and white dress. They had been my mom's so they weren’t the most comfortable shoes and they were a tad big because I have the smallest feet in my family. The day was pretty easy because I work in an office where I don’t do much walking but I did have to commute to and from work on the DC metro. In the morning, it was a breeze because my feet weren't in pain yet and I was feeling pretty powerful with my new perspective on the world (aka being tall). Also, full disclosure: I do wear heels pretty often but never consistently because of how badly my feet hurt walking around NYC, where I live during the year. But because it’s summer, and I am living and working in Washington, D.C., I haven’t been wearing them.
After it was time to leave work on that first day my feet were still intact and not too sore but on the walk back from the metro... that’s when I felt it. Literally the second I got home I took off my heels and threw on my Uggs. So much better.
The next day I was ready to put on my heels again because I had a stellar outfit picked out. I wore a pair of black shoes with a thicker heel and jeans. I was a bit nervous about this outfit because I knew that I had a party to go to after dinner so I wouldn’t be able to switch into flats. The day went by just like the first day although I did trip a few times on the sidewalk. Oh, and walking up the escalator on my commute home. So by the end of the day my feet were even more sore than the first day and I was ready for a day of sneakers.
Days three and four were a blur because I wore the same pair of lace up heels. I was running out of shoe options so wearing the same pair was only logical. Again, my feet hurt even more but I was getting used to being taller. On day five I actually put on heels without even thinking about it because I was so used to wearing them.
By this point I had made it through the end of my workweek and it was time for the weekend. This meant it was time to bring out the big guns: aka my cutest pair of heels... also known as the most uncomfortable. So far I had made it through the week wearing only heels with the exception of a yoga class and walking around the house so I was used to the feel of them by now. On Saturday night, my second to last day, I wore some super-high lace-up Steve Madden heels. Worst. Decision. Ever. (The shoes were not worthy of an updated #OOTD pic so here is a #TBT to show the "devil shoes.")
Although I only went out to dinner wearing them, I was ready to walk home barefoot because of the pain that I was in. I had been wearing small heels so when I switched to a five-inch pair, my body definitely was not ready. I could walk fine because of my years of watching America’s Next Top Model but my toes and heels were in such pain afterwards. Because of that evening, I decided to cut my week of heels short and end it there.
Overall, there are a few major things that I learned about wearing heels every single day for an entire week. First off, being tall is super fun! You can reach things easily, look people in the eye, and people actually think you are your age instead of a 12-year-old girl! I also felt more confident wearing heels. Because they are usually seen as more professional, I had this mentality all week that I was a bad-ass woman in charge, though that's probably debatable.
I know that people say that you have to accept the things you cannot change, like my height, but wearing heels is in my control and I think because of this week I will continue to wear them at least a few days a week. That said, I’m gonna stick to heels that aren’t taller than my iPhone.