stairs and heels

[LoriAnn_CD]

Hi All,
I go out in public as often as I can and I tend not to draw any undo attention. I shop, grocery and clothes enfemme, dine, enjoy the park. But my biggest challenge is stairs when I am in heels. I love 3.5-4" heels and I do well on level ground. I do OK, not great, going up stairs, but I am like a storm trooper coming down. I try angling my foot, but still am very unsure. I hold on the rails as if to save my life. I even worry about stepping off a curb so I walk to the cut out and walk down the slight slope. So, I avoid any place that might have steps.
Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Love to all
LoriAnn

[Jenny Beth]

I learned early on that high heels and stairs were a bit of a challenge, I never fell but had a few close calls. I go down stairs slightly sideways facing the hand rail and land on the ball of my foot and try not to let the heel touch the stair and I take my time going down. A bigger challenge is very steep slopes, one must take tiny steps.

[TGMarla]

Walk carefully. Real women are just as careful when negotiating stairs in tall heels. My wife once got a hairline fracture in her ankle just going down the stairs in our home....and her heels weren't all that high. There's no reason to assume you're outing yourself simply by being careful. It beats the heck out of a sustained injury.

[docrobbysherry]

I'm totally with u on this, LoriAnn. Stairs in heels r RISKY! Even MORE dangerous r carpeted stairs!

Going down the stairs at home in 4 1/2" heels, I caught a spike and saved myself by grabbing the rails. However, I snapped a heel off my favorite black ankle boots!

[eluuzion]

hiya LoriAnn,

You should be sliding down the banisters. That is the way women do it.

(Ok, I might be wrong on that one...but it would be really cool if they did, eh?)

Nobody said this was going to be easy...It is a tough job being a CD.
But somebody has to do it right?

About the only options you have is to practice or never use any stairs again. Maybe go to a mall and just observe women coming down the stairs. It is not easy for anyone wearing heels. Personally I think there should always be an "up" stairway...and a "down" slide.

But as you can see, nobody ever listens to me...

[Wendy_Marie]

Check out this you tube video..it gives some ideas and pointers which may be helpful...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i24xE...eature=related

[suchacutie]

I've never had trouble with stairs and was amazed when one of my wife's friends was here to vist, wearing 4" heels. She went to walk down the 6 stairs to our front door and I thought she was going to have a coronary negotiating those stairs. This is a woman who wears heels to work every day!

I admit that I do touch the railing to make sure I know where it is, but I often head down the stairs with both hands full in 4+" heels. It does take some strength in that set of muscles along the top of the upper leg, no doubt, because for a moment as you step down all of your weight is held up by that set of muscles, and they are allowing that knee to bend in order to let the other foot touch the next step down.

I aim my toe at the next stair, and I do angle my feet slightly since that heel has to miss the step that it's leaving and a small angle helps. It is best to have your back straight as if you are just normally taking a step. Looking down doesn't help at all, and you've been walking down stairs all your life. Consider: relatively, it's the same distance from one step to another whether you are in heels or not! Just point those toes and touch the step

tina

[Kate Simmons]

Only that if you really insist on wearing them, practice, practice, practice.

[Fab Karen]

Higher heels you're going to walk slower. And stairs, point your toes at the railing ( sideways walk ) & hold the railing. btw in FLAT shoes you can go down stairs faster that way.

[Anna B]

Hey girls, I might be bragging here, but in my 4In heels I can walk up and down stairs - OK the downstairs bit is a bit clompy....

Anna x

((Went in bathroom the other day in my heels, and one of my heels (4in stilletos) went through the floor covering. Haven't said anything to wifey!. And nobody seems to have seen it yet...I have! How do I explain that???

[RADER]

Over the years; I have replaced many Oak Stair Treads with indents from spike
heals. It was always good for a couple hundred bucks as a side job. Then people got
smart and started to a carpet runner down the center of the stairs. There went my
Mad Money. LOL
Rader

[NicoleScott]

Hey, you can look like a fool hanging on to the rail for dear life (recommended), or you can see yourself on the ground at the bottom of the stairs (not recommended). Heed the tips, and hang on to the rail.

[Anna B]

Hey babe, thats the way it go's...

[Babeba]

Only that if you really insist on wearing them, practice, practice, practice.

A pair of shorter, kitten heels to wear for a while will help strengthen your ankle muscles and make it easier to walk with the taller shoes! True story!

[Sam-antha]

I really is a case of hanging onto the rail, angling your shoe to the drop ahead of you and never, ever let the heel touch the tread, either going up or down. Careful too when you drop the foot to the next step, that is the dangerous move. I know that balancing needs the rail and your attention, but the down step is not a "just in the mind" worry, it is for real.
~Samm
Ps Those big sweeping stairs of the big dos need just the same attention. I wish you safe landings.

~S~

[Lorna]

I don't have any very high heels but I find that it is not really the heels that make stairs tricky for me but the skirt, especially if it is a wide or flared skirt. Although you don't usually watch your feet when descending stairs, you are aware out of the corner of our eye of where your feet are going. In a skirt I find that doesn't happen and it is more difficult to judge where your feet are in relation to the steps. If you watch costume dramas, you see women in enormous sweeping skirts coming down staircases with apparent confidence and ease, yet it must be quite difficult.

[alyssaenglefield]

Obvious answer to handling stairs with heels - take the elevator!

[Karren H]

I remember early on kicking my heels off and walking down the steps in my stockings... Now I have no problem. You just have to walk kind of sideways.... And slowly.

[LoriAnn_CD]

thanks everyone - I guess practice and not landing on the is all a partt of it. Still I will practice, practice practice
love to all
LoriAnn

[thechic]

Going up the stairs put both your sole and heel on the center of the step at the same time . make shore your foot lands in the middle of each stair .

Coming Down Just put the sole of your shoe on each stair and keep the heel slightly raised,and steady yourself with the banister.

[Stephanie47]

Hey, what about getting on and off those escalators in spiked heels? I've seen many GG's trip and stumble on those!

[erickka]

Practice, Practice. I'm speaking from experience. I have spent eons in high (4"+) heels negotiating steps, escalators, etc. I am pretty confident in the fact that I can handle any stairs at a hurried pace and still be graceful. I still am VERY aware of how I place my feet to avoid any mishaps. Don't fret hun, It'll get easier in due time.