For the bodacious babes!

After my last post, one of my dear friends came to me for some help. She laments that, being a curvier lady, she's unable to wear any fun shoes, being stuck wearing heels with a "thicker, clunkier heel" and was hoping that I had some advice for her, and all you girls with similar problems.

Well, ladies, you're in luck.

I think it's a travesty that any girl would feel like she can't wear a beautiful shoe and experience the leg-lengthening, posture correcting, glamazon confidence I feel every time I step out the door in a pair of footwear masterpieces, and so I spent a good part of my weekend scouring the internet looking for information from women with similar troubles, and it all seemed to come down to a few fundamentals, and, not surprisingly, they're pretty universal rules. So, I would like to dedicate this post to my darling Cashew. Onwards!

The first and most important thing is fit. If you buy a pair of shoes and want to shoot off your feet as soon as those soles touch the ground, take them off, and walk away. We've all been there. They're so damned beautiful, but you know you'll walk about three steps out your front door before you regret buying them. And, chances are, they won't get better as you break them in.

Now, I've admitted that the balls of my feet are a little on the wide side, and I've had problems with some shoe companies because their shoes are too narrow. For you girls with wider feet and curvier calves, there are plenty of sources for wide-width shoes and boots that are cut more generously through the calf. Wearing a wider shoe will not only keep the blood flowing through your baby toes, it will give you a wider base to balance on, so you won't feel nearly as precarious when you're strutting your stuff. Two websites that had some good stuff were WideWidths.com and designershoes.com. WideWidths specializes in boots, and designershoes more in shoes, but both have lots of options.

The next thing you're going to need is a good pair of gel insoles. I wear ones that only cushion my toes, because I don't find that my heels are ever bothered in heels. Try and find a pair that are reusable, and then you can move them from pair to pair. I would suggest bringing them with you when you're shopping, as well, so you know that the shoes you buy fit with the insoles in them.

Something many curvier women worry about is that heels with hurt her feet more than they would a thinner lady, because her foot has more to support. I can see where this might be true, but at the same time, most women have trouble with high heels when she's not used to them, so it's really important to start slow. If you've been wearing flats your entire life, try a kitten heel, and then work your way up from there. Rome wasn't built in a day, ladies.

That being said, if you're anything like me, you'll probably go from zero-sixty and try a heel that's a little bigger than you think. This is where Rollasoles can save your life. You can read my full post about them here.Believe me, you'll thank me later.

The only other advice I can give is practice, practice, practice! Walk around the house in them, walk to the grocery store in them, any excuse to walk a short distance in your heels will help you in the long run, because you'll be breaking them in, and getting used to walking on them. Just don't forget your Rollasoles if you want to be brave and go out for a night on the town!

Now that we have all the technical stuff out of the way, let's talk about styles! My friend was disheartened by the sea of clunky, chunky heels that she thought she was stuck with, but there are lots of options!

The easiest way to go is a wedge. Wedges are going to be the easiest to walk on and they're comfy. I pulled a few examples from designershoes.com and these were all from the wide-width category, but they come in narrow, medium, wide, extra-wide and triple-wide, so you're covered no matter what!

I particularly love the booties in the middle...

Moving on! You can also wear high heels, and they don't need to be "clunky." There are lots of shoes in stores now that have a tapered heel that ends before it becomes a pencil point. For example: (again, from designershoes.com)

Ok, you caught me, I loved those patent peep toes enough that I showed them to you in three different colours, but this speaks to my buy-it-in-every-colour principle. The black is a great basic, the nude were huge last summer and seem to be sticking around this year, and the hot pink... well, enough said already! Also, notice that they have a platform. This is helpful because it will actually balance the height of the heel and let you wear a higher heel without creating a harsh arch in your foot.

But, this shows that there are stylish heels that aren't insane stilettos, and these are probably pretty comfy!

And then, one more little treat, in case you want to be adventurous! Our good friend, Mr. John Fluevog has been known for most of his career for his choice of unique heel shapes. They tend to be shaped like hourglasses, meaning they have a wider, less precarious base, but a lot of visual interest, and no "clunk."

All beautiful, all interesting, all unique. And all easy to wear.

There you have it, ladies. High heel 101 for the bodacious babes! I hope that helped!