5 Tips: How To Walk In High Heels

Nothing completes an outfit or gives a woman an air of grace like a pair of good heels. However, it pains us to see beautiful, stylish ladies have their look completely ruined by their inability to walk in their heels – however gorgeous they may be. Like many things, walking on the tips of your toes doesn’t exactly come naturally and moreover, nobody actually teaches us how to walk in those attention grabbing stiletto high heels! So if you find yourself struggling or want to improve your confidence, style and gait, why not try the following tips below? Just grab a pair of heels; beg, borrow, steal if necessary; and follow our 5 steps to get you strutting around like a pro in no time!

1. Pick Your Poison

If you’ve never worn heels properly before don’t launch straight in with a super-high, pointed stiletto. A chunkier heel increases surface area on the ground, giving more balance and pick a style with straps so you don’t have to contend with keeping the things on as well. You have enough to concentrate on for now!

2. Stand Up Straight

Sit down whilst you put your shoes on and then stand up. Keep your feet hip-width apart, with the weight evenly-distributed on both feet, and check that you’re not leaning backwards. Shift your focus to your spine, stand tall and straight. Open the shoulders and push them gently back so that the chest opens up. Relax the tops of the shoulders downwards and keep your arms relaxed down by your side. Finally, lift your chin up so that it’s parallel to the floor and always keep your eye-gaze straight ahead – not too far up and definitely not looking down at the floor! Tip:

A good practice exercise for muscle memory is to sit down again (keep your shoes on) and then stand up after 5 seconds, trying to align yourself and stand straight as quickly as possible, while going through each item from the checklist. The aim is to do this 3 or 4 times a day for 14 days. This will help create and build your muscle memory!

3. It’s All In The Hips

You’re nearly ready to start walking, but now I want you to focus ALL your attention on your hips as this is where the movement if going to come from. Tense your abs slightly, as if showing off your six pack. This should bring your hips forward, focus on keeping them there. Never stick your bum out behind you! Lastly, if you are still unsure of where your weight placement should be, think to put slightly more weight onto the balls of your feet than your heels.

4. Best Foot Forward

You’re now going to start walking, one foot at a time, heel-toe, heel-toe. Obviously right? BUT as you’re about to take a step, keep the focus on your hips – if you lead with your feet your legs will feel like they are running away from you and you will hunch over to keep up and move the centre of gravity over them. This is the most common mistake I see. The centre of gravity should always be over the hips, which in turn control your feet down the length of your leg. Lead with your hips, moving each one forward with each step, but don’t exaggerate. If your hips are forward, your back should still be straight, your abs a bit tense and your bum and thighs will be poised and perfect with each step.

5. Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle

So you’re walking with your hips forward and you’re looking great! With a bit of practice you will start to get a natural wiggle. This comes from another key point – don’t bend your knee as you put weight onto your foot! This is big mistake number 2 which makes you look like you’re walking on the moon. Or worse, trotting like a horse. As you transfer your weight down the leg onto a foot, that leg should straighten. As you bring the next leg forward, lean your weight into the straight leg and allow the hip to roll backwards as you extend the other leg forward and step. Repeat on this leg and so on. Full-speed you will have a sexy side to side wiggle. The further back the standing hip, the further forward the leading hip can move, extending the leading leg further out and increasing size of step, meaning if you’re in a rush you can still move about rapidly without having to totter like a Barbie. This is how dancers get those famous ‘sexy hips’ and the exact same rules apply to walking, sequined micro-dress optional.