Heels! Why are they so hard to walk in?

[Jennifer Now]

So, my question is how can I improve my "womanly" walk? I can wear and walk in my heels easily enough. But I still walk in my male ways. I know practice will help, but I just cant figure out a comfortable/natural feminine walk for myself.

And ideas?

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Jenn, Google (walking in heels) or (walking in high heels .
You have to get your mind into the feminine mode and think about
what you are doing .
I've been wearing heels for so many years that when I put them on
the natural feminine walk just happens.

[Beverley Sims]

Remember, high heels were invented by the devil. :)

[suzy1]

It sounds as though you have chosen shoes with a heel that is too high for you.
If you are trying to use 6” heels you will probably walk like a pregnant ape!
I find 4” heels perfect and walking in them came naturally the first time I wore them.

Tell us the heel height you are using Jennifer.

[Maria 60]

I find that the shoe makes the difference, I have some really high shoes and that don't even feel like I am wearing a high shoe. Then I have some lower shoes that I can't walk in. My biggest surprise was the first time I walked outside, it's one thing to walk on hardwood floor in your house but its another to walk on pavement. I remember we went for a drive in the country and I stopped in a quit spot, I got out of the car and my first step the shoe griped the pavement and I fell down right on my face. I then realized there's a big difference walking on pavement and a hard way to learn.

[Karren H]

Personally I've been ice skating since I was 3..... and heels are not a problem.... up to 5".... so get yourselff a pait of skates.... lol

[Kate Simmons]

My suggestion is practice dancing in them, then walking in them becomes natural. :)

[MsRenee]

I find walking is heels is more comforable then my work shoes.
Like everything else it just takes practice. Shoulders back, chest out, and tummy in lol.
Good luck girl
Renee

[Jennifer Now]

I own and wear 3 and 4 inch heels.

[Kate's at home]

Maybe that's why so many GG's rarely are ever seen in heels anymore... Cute and comfortable flats work for me, and with most anything, if well coordinated.

:)

Kate

[linda allen]

There are videos on youtube on walking in heels and walking like a female. Once you get the walk down, wear them as often as you can around the house so they become natural to you. Women who wear heels have been doing it for years, most of us have not.

In my area, high heels are not that common for female footwear except for going to nightclubs or for those working in a formal "dress up" setting. The exception is the young hot girl trying to attract attention or the hooker working the streets. Sandals are most common followed by sneakers, flip flops and flats.

[Connie.Marie]

Jennifer,
I can only offer suggestions based on my experience.
Take shorter steps, one foot directly in front of the other,
Take your step & Step down with the toe first, then heel then bring your hips around before taking the next step.
Take your time when you practice & get a mirror & place it at the end of your walkway to watch yourself. You should be able to see your hips move.

Hope that helps.. Hugs.

[Ceri Anne]

There are videos on You Tube, but the main things to consider are:
- Start with a comfortable heel height. For many this is only 2-3 inches, which still looks very feminine. In fact, most GGs do not wear really high heels often.
- loosen up your body, a slight bounce when you walk is good, look at fashion models on the runway, their walk is over emphasized, but practicing it will get you going in the right direction.
- swing your arms. Again, watch other women. They will always have their free arm swinging freely.
- walk one foot in front or even slightly crossed over the other. Women do not walk feet side by side. The straight line or crossover effect is what gives that sexy hip swing.
- imagine yourself taking up less space, keep arms in close, not wide, keep thighs close together, imagine walking in a pencil skirt. Just think slimmer, hold in your stomach and elongate your spine. In other words, walk tall.
- concentrate on smiling, this will soften your expression. It will feel awkward at first, but over smile when you can, then once you relax, your natural smile will show through.
- lead your walk with your toes. Men walk heel to toe, practice walking around the house just on the balls of your feet. The higher your heels, the more you have to do this. The reason men trip and fall in heels is they try to land the heel first. You need to lead your step with your toes, think female dancing, her heels barely touch the ground.

good luck and most importantly, have fun.

[KellyWilliams]

With practice, heels can be simple to walk in. Walking technique is very important, and your calf muscles need to acclimate to a different position.

Even when you're not wearing heels, try walking with your heel off the ground. I've been doing that so long, I am virtually silent walking on my wood floors barefoot.

[Kimberly Renee]

So, my question is how can I improve my "womanly" walk? I can wear and walk in my heels easily enough. But I still walk in my male ways. I know practice will help, but I just cant figure out a comfortable/natural feminine walk for myself.

And ideas?

I think that a "womanly walk" is the result of a process, not the focus of the effort. Super straight posture, elbows in, one foot in front of the other, smaller steps. Your hips will swing rather automatically as a result of your body shifting weight. Try a slight "scissor" walk and your hips will swing more. Hips will also swing more when you can maintain the correct posture but still be relaxed.

Of course, if you have small hips the swing is not as pronounced but that can be helped with padding.

As far as walking heel to toe or toe to heel, different sources will have different opinions.

[Bridgetlagurl]

Never had a problem with walking in heels from the moment I put my first pair on. Guess that at say something about me!

[katssun]

Pretty much backing up what others have said here. Above all, practice makes perfect. Here are four tips that helped me walk more femininely in heels:

1. Take smaller steps. If you also put one foot directly in front of the other, centered under your own center of gravity, you'll notice an increase in your gracefulness.

2. Keep your head up and your back straight. Not looking at your feet will make you less self-conscious about it, and the heels themselves will help you get a natural gait. Keeping your back straight, even rigid, will also increase the feeling and appearance of gracefulness in your walk.

3. After you take a step, when your body starts moving over your foot, push the same hip directly outward *just* a bit. It doesn't have to be any more than an inch or so, you do not want to make it look exaggerated, just natural. This will give you a bit of a shimmy to your step, and also serve to rotate your hips as well as giving you that very feminine rise and fall of your behind.

4. If all else fails, try a high-backed waist cincher with plastic bones, or a steel-boned underbust corset if you're a little more adventurous. Don't get one too tight, what you're after is the back support and keeping your waist rigid, not the waist reduction. Go for no more than a 2-4 inch reduction if you go with the corset. Wearing one will automatically help with the first three steps. If you practice for an hour or so each day, you'll start to gain some muscle-memory for walking femininely in heels.



These work for flats too!

[Michelle789]

I find 4” heels perfect and walking in them came naturally the first time I wore them.

There's a huge difference between walking in 4 inch or 5 inch heels. I generally find 5 inch heels to be uncomfortable, while 4 inch heels work quite comfortably.

It also depends on the shoe, and the shoe size. Make sure you're wearing the correct shoe size. Too large and your feet will slip and slide, too small and you'll feel toe scrunch. The best advice is, if you can, try on the shoes in a store and try walking in them for a minute or too and see if you like them.

[Allesandra Rhodes]

Use your hips. Point your toes and stride like your a hot chick walking down the catwalk :) At first this will look a bit too much but over time you'll develop the natural walk you're looking for. Remember not a lumberjack, a sexy wuuuuuuuuuman :)

Also try three's or four's first. Unless you've got practice anything higher may be pulling your legs too much and causing an unnatural walk. Baby steps;)

[Jilmac]

There's quite a difference in the male and female gait. Most males tend to place their body weight on the heel where most females tend to place the body weight on the ball of the foot. One way to practice walking in heels is to place one foot in front of the other as if you were walking on a balance beam. An even bigger challenge is to set a 2x4 on edge (makeshift balance beam) and walk the length. If you can maintain an upright stance without difficulty, put your heels back on, try walking, and see if that made any difference.

[Angela Campbell]

When you walk practice by walking so that the sides of your knees brush against each other with each step as they pass. This forces you to keep your thighs together and walk pointing your feet inward. Practice this for a while then allow just a little separation and walk some more. Keep it smooth.

[suchacutie]

Lot of good advice so far. Let me add a couple. Start with heels with no platform. Platform heels change the gait just enough to make it harder. If you insist on starting with platforms remember to take even shorter steps. Regardless, remember to lead each step with your upper thighs. That will require a rotation of the hips but that rotation is a result of the hip lead, like dancing.

If you can, wear them every day for 30 min. A little every day makes a difference faster.

[dandy]

It's almost like falling forward, but gracefully. Loosen up your gait, be less deliberate in your walk. Fall into your steps, heel-toe, heel-toe. Almost like you're landing on the heel and rolling onto the ball of your foot. Let your momentum carry you forward, loose and gracefully. Men tend to not use their knees so much in their strides, but you have to in heels. If you get that smooth heel-toe down, everything else starts falling into place, your knees and your hips will sway. Think of it as the exact opposite of swagger.

[Eryn]

Wear a pair of modest (2.5"-3") chunky heels or wedges whenever you can around the house. Get used to standing and walking in them. Go forwards, backwards, sideways, twirl, etc. After that, it isn't such a big jump to higher heels or narrower heels.

[Norma_CD]

This link has been posted a few times before. (http://www.biomotionlab.ca/Demos/BMLwalker.html) I've found it to be helpful.

[naraxyn]

Walking pratice like women walk and almost woman body u have . Lovely walking in 6 inc heels i love itt

[Lynn Marie]

Walking in heels is easy, it's the not looking like a truck driver in heels that's the hard part! It seems to take a little practice and a lot of concentration.

[Wendy me]

plenty of gg's can't walk in them too.... just put them on and walk ... it helps if they fit right to start .... the longer you are wearing them the easyer it will be to walk in them ...... for me i am more apt to trip or fall in flats than heels

[lady_croatia]

For me its so easy...i enjoy walking in them....i feel like a real lady only in heels :))

[Lexi Moralas]

Ill agree with the other girls , I had challenges when I started wearing heels. But there is on ton of info and videos on the net that helped me with my walking and my fem movement in general. I used to practice on the treadmill very slow at first the to a normal pace worked good for me. Heel hight makes a difference too any thing over 4" is totally different I wear 5 and 5 1/2 " heels and I love them but it is different then my 4" ers. Some one mentioned payment as a challenge. Good advice! But watch out for extra smooth Floors too like the polished marble at Macy's I have almost fallen in there many times
Good luck

[Laura28]

i love heels the higher the better i only were 5 inch plus but i do have a platform of an inch makes it so much easyier. I were them all the time so it has become second nature i am so comfortable in them even after hours ( my wife hates heels says they kill her, she cant understand how much i like them) i think once you are comfortable with them the walk will come naturally.

[Tina_gm]

Whenever I read threads where people are having difficulty or wanting to act or appear more feminine, what always comes to mind is that they/you are probably trying too hard. In reality there is not as much difference between what men and women do physically. It is most often very subtle. Occasionally you will see very masculine or very feminine physical behavior, but generally it is just subtle ways in which there are differences, and a good part of that is probably due to our difference in physiques. I would imagine that just walking in heels without trying to be feminine will make you walk somewhat more feminine. So long as they fit right or are not so high that they just make you walk awkward period.

[sometimes_miss]

Well fitting shoes, and practice. None of my high heeled shoes fit well, made it hard to walk. But when my boots came in, surprisingly I was able to walk quite easily, even if still a bit 'stiff'. After a few weeks, walking in those boots became perfectly natural, but I still couldn't walk right in the shoes, because they simply didn't fit, also, because the boots laced up and I had great ankle support, and my toes weren't being shoved into the front of the shoe, which I feel made the biggest difference. So, try some lace up high heel boots. THEN move to shoes.

[Chickhe]

Pretend you are being pulled up by a string on the top of your head and start your step with your hip instead of your foot and pull all of your weight on your toes all the time as if you are walking on tip toes.