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Heels rise to 5-plus inches

At 5 feet 2 inches tall, Candice Jacques loves high heels. But lately she’s been taking her affinity up a notch—or inch—by rocking shoes with heels as high as 6 inches.

“When shoes are that high, they have this insane sex appeal,” says Jacques, a wardrobe consultant with The Image Studios in Chicago. “There’s also something confident and gutsy about a woman who can get that high!”

Women across Chicago and beyond have been reaching dizzying heights shod in pumps and booties angled upward of 5 inches, often made somewhat more walkable by a platform at the ball of the foot. The most coveted styles come from luxury brands such as Christian Louboutin, Gucci, Prada and Yves Saint Laurent, but more moderately priced brands such as Steve Madden and L.A.M.B. also have fallen in step with the style.

“We haven’t seen heel heights like this in a decade,” says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the New York-based research firm NPD Group. “I don’t see any sign of the trend slowing down.”

The vertiginous trend can be traced to 2004 when Christian Louboutin became the first mainstream designer to break the 5-inch barrier, says Los Angeles-based shoe expert Meghan Cleary (missmeghan.com). Before Louboutin’s artistic feat, “the average heel height used to be 3, 3 ½ inches,” she says, noting that the Paris-based designer recently did it again, releasing a dizzying 8-inch platform in Europe this fall that’s widely believed to be the highest heel to ever hit the mall.

But it is Yves Saint Laurent who’s largely credited with popularizing the look, following the spring 2007 debut of the YSL “Tribute” heel. Suddenly, the Tribute was everywhere as celebs such as Jennifer Lopez, Katie Holmes and Victoria Beckham hit the red carpet, not exactly striding, but certainly striking fierce poses, in the 5-inch platforms. This fall, YSL launched an update, the “Trib Two,” boasting a closed toe and a $595-$995 price tag.

Sky-high heels also are big with the Neiman Marcus crowd, says Ken Downing, the luxury specialty store’s senior vice president and fashion director. “Our customers love to be there first, and this aggressive attitude in shoes brings a nice juxtaposition to pretty prints and chiffon,” he says. The “Tribute,” he says, is one of the store’s most popular shoes, and “an important shoe to have in your wardrobe.”

Sara Albrecht remembers what she thought when she heard the Oak Street YSL boutique had the “Tribute” in stock: “I can’t wait to get over there and buy them.” Albrecht, owner of the Oak Street boutique Ultimo, swears by ultra-high-heels, especially her Manolo Blahniks, which she has made for her in heights up to 5 inches.

“I sound insane, but I bought a pair of flat shoes for the first time last year and I thought, ‘How can you walk all day in these shoes?’ ” Albrecht says. “It’s not just the shoes, it’s your posture and your attitude.”

Albrecht scoffs at any mention of discomfort. “If you go into it thinking these are going to hurt because they’re so high, then they will. I will walk all over New York and Europe in spiky high heels.”

As evidence of the trend’s impracticality, some naysayers point to September’s Milan Fashion Week, where two Prada models tumbled while wearing sky-high platforms. Height alone wasn’t the reason, says Downing, who saw it happen. 

“It was the silk footie that was tied and gathered around the foot that made it virtually impossible for the girls to navigate the runway,” he says. “With the softness of the silk, there was no grip of the foot inside that skyscraper stiletto.”

That said, he points out that runway shoes aren’t necessarily reality shoes. “It’s runway theatrics,” he says. “Designers always want to show extremes, but they’re modified for the market.”

But that particular market—which includes Chicagoan Lindsey Madigan—still wants 5 inches. Madigan’s favorite pair? Navy and black leopard print patent leather Louboutin pumps with a 5-inch heel that she picked up at Saks Fifth Avenue last year for about $800. 

“They’re hot!” exclaims Madigan, head buyer for SHE boutiques in Lincoln Park and Highland Park. Super-high heels “make an outfit,” she says, “especially when you don’t want to dress up.”

Self-professed shoe addict and SHE boutique owner Nicolette Prpa goes the extra inch, too. At Paris Fashion Week this fall, she donned a pair of 6-inch Chanel platform pumps. Although she admits they weren’t so aerodynamic when she had to make a mad dash to catch the Karl Lagerfeld show, she says she “ran with grace” nevertheless. “I really wanted to cry, but at the same time, there were paparazzi taking pictures of my feet.” 

Also on the upswing: Prices

 

Chicago shoe designer Elizabeth Brady spends several weeks in Italy every year, scouting trends at a trade show in Bologna, checking in with suppliers in Florence and Tuscany and meeting with manufacturers in Milan.

 

Midway through her annual trek, she already had spied one trend that could have serious consequences for her eponymous line of mostly high-heeled shoes, priced in the low- to mid-$400s.

 

“The prices of raw materials are going up,” she says, which means some designers will have to pass the costs on to customers and raise prices. 

 

Already, the average price of luxury designer pumps has leapt from $250 to $500 in the last seven years, says shoe expert Meghan Cleary, and prices for luxury shoes in general—considered to be those priced $300 and up—rose 12 percent over the past year alone, says NPD analyst Marshal Cohen. 

 

So anyone looking for Christian Louboutin’s “Bloody Mary” python lace-up platform pump must be prepared to pay $1,365 at Barneys New York. A Sergio Rossi python number at Neiman Marcus runs $995.

 

One element of the expense is certainly the “made in Italy” label on most of them. When the euro against the dollar skyrocketed a few years ago, Cleary says, the price of imported shoes followed suit. 

“A lot of shoe designers worried that they’d alienate shoe customers, but that didn’t happen,” she says. So there was no pressure to reduce the prices once the euro deflated, she says.

Of course, “these shoes do go on sale,” Cleary notes. Plus there are plenty of lower-priced options, says Jennifer Wilkins, Macy’s trend correspondent.

 

Wilkins can often be seen walking around the State Street store in her own 5-inch YSL “Tributes.” But she admits another pair recently caught her eye as she passed the shoe department. “Black patent round-toed heel with a gold metallic platform,” she says. 

 

Prada? Louboutin? 

 

Nope, says Wilkins with a laugh.

 

 

—J.B.D.