have you altered your shoes before (cut off the heel)?

ehc2010

ehc2010

O.G.
Sep 20, 2008
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#1
I was wondering if someone could give me advice about altering shoes- my problem is that I'm already really tall but all the cool shoe designs have really high heels. I'm thinking about buying sandals and then having the heel cut off a bit. Anyone ever try this? Does it ruin the balance of the shoe?

Thanks!
 
#2
i imagine that it would throw the shoe off... the slope is steeper on a higher heel, so if you cut some of the heel off, the toe would be up off the ground...KWIM?
 
#5
uab*mom said:
Just how tall are you?
There are a lot of us tall gals on here :smile:
Click to expand...

I'm 5' 9" or 175 cm. I'm asian too, so that makes me an anomaly. My BF is exactly my height (and he slouches) and all my friends are in the 5 - 5' 3" range! I think it would look strange if I towered over them :sad:
 
#6
No, no. no, If you cut the heel the shape of shoe will be changed. Confortable or not, designers made the high of heels to be estatically good. if you change the shape, you may look like an elf.
 
#7
I talked to a shoe shop in my area. I was considering buying a pair of boots that were just what I wanted , but would prefer a shorter heel. He said I would have to bring the shoe in to look at, but he thought 1/2" would be the most he could shorten the heel. He said there is metal inside that stabilizes the heel and you can only shorten it up to the metal. So it entirely depends on the shoe.

But I sympathize wih you as I am on the taller side too and don't like to be too tall, and wanted walkable shoes.

Talk to a local shoe repair shop that you know does quality work !
 
#8
I've had two pairs of heels shortened at the cobbler.

One was a Coach strappy satin pair. The other a euro shoe. Both were shortened comfortably... I don't remember how much, but pre-alteration, they were both around 4 inches each. I wanted to wear them, since I love the Coach pair, and the euro shoes were what I got married in. I think if you have a trusty cobbler, it shouldn't be a problem. They know what they're doing. Check yelp.com in your city for reviews if you're unsure of who to go to.
 
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#9
I've had 3 pairs of heels shortened by about 1-1.5 inches (from about 4" to 2.5-3") The guy I went to would only shorten them as much as possible without ruining the shape of the shoes. If you go to a cobbler that is experienced and knows what he's doing you shouldn't have any problems.
 
#10
I've shortened 3 pairs of Louboutins and you could not tell. It made all the difference in comfort though... You absolutely must take it to good cobbler, because you can only shorthen it the width of the shoe tap without affecting the way it looks.
 
#13
i've had this done several times, but my cobbler has only ever been able to shorten by about 1/4" to, at the most, 1/2" (a little less than that actually).

taking off any more throws off the balance. so, when i want to have it done, i take the shoe to the cobbler, and they will tell me how much they can take off of that particular shoe- sometimes it's a fraction of an inch, and sometimes they can't take off any.

so i wouldn't recommend buying shoes if you will ONLY wear them if a lot of the heel is chopped off. because there's a possibility you won't be able to get any taken off. i try to only buy shoes that i would still wear either way.
 
#14
I hear ya; I am nearly 5 ft 10 and I love my heels. Actually I've had about 6 of my very high pairs cut down by my cobbler. He is very careful typically he takes off 1/4 inch or less. Rarely more than 1/4 inch as it throws off the balance of the shoe. Last time around he did a nearly 4 inch Manolo evening shoe -- just that 1/4 inch made the difference between major pain and minor pain! My advice, go to a cobbler you know and trust who is adept at this sort of thing. Good luck!
 
#15
ehc2010 said:
I'm 5' 9" or 175 cm. I'm asian too, so that makes me an anomaly. My BF is exactly my height (and he slouches) and all my friends are in the 5 - 5' 3" range! I think it would look strange if I towered over them :sad:
Click to expand...

I definitely hear ya. I've wondered about this as well since there are so many cute heels that are too high for me. We're about the same height and I'm asian too. Whenever my friends and I go out, at most I'll wear a 3" heel if they also wear heels (since most of them are under 5'4"). I love heels and there are so many cute ones with 4-5" heels but I can't wear them because they'd make me too tall. Also I'm not used to wearing heels so I can't really walk in them and towering over people makes me slighly uncomfortable.
 
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