Wearing shoe lifts to look taller doesn’t mean you’re any more insecure than if you wore fake fingernails, clipped in a hair extension, or if you’re a man, put on some cologne or a hair piece.
So if you’re thinking of adding shoe lifts to your shoes to appear taller, then do it!
A woman may want to look taller without advertising it; a naturally taller look that is hidden inside her shoes in the form of shoe lifts. I’m 5-8 naturally, but people think I’m naturally taller because I wear one-inch shoe lifts in my athletic shoes.
These shoe lifts easily slip in and nobody knows they’re there. Several companies offer shoe lifts online.
Insecurity is not the issue.
Wanting to appear taller is. Just like some women want their fingernails to look longer and hence have fake tips applied, or their hair to appear longer and hence put in extensions. And they add length to their eyelashes, too!
The insecurity issue, however, seems to come up more commonly among men who want to appear taller.
Certainly, there are naturally six-foot men who actually wear one-inch shoe inserts. This isn’t insecurity any more than it is when he decides to wear a certain tie or grow a beard.
A man who stands 5-7 might want to wear shoe lifts — not so much because he feels insecure but to give him a little edge in the business world.
Shoe Lift Guide
First off, know that gel inserts might get confiscated during security checks at the airport — if you can believe that. It happened to me. The gel is sturdy, not like putty, but TSA went overboard.
The inserts should not be wooden-hard, yet not so soft that your body weight squishes them. You want the full effect of the shoe lift.
They come in different varieties such as for dress shoes, or three-quarter-length versus just big enough for the heel to make contact with.
I have found that shoe lifts higher than one and a quarter inch are not practical, because these will force the foot up so high, that the shoe will probably slip off when you’re walking.
Further, it will look like your foot isn’t all the way in the shoe. An observer, then, might suspect you have lifts, and the whole idea behind these is to look naturally taller, not artificially taller.
Even if you have long pants that will conceal this, consider the visibility when you sit down and your pants lift up.
And if nobody will see your feet when you’re seated, keep in mind that one and a HALF inch lifts will make it very easy for your shoes to slip off while walking.
Another thing to consider is if you’re wearing lifts at least one inch, this forces the top of the foot to press against the underside of the shoe tongue.
So if you’re seated and immobile for an extended period, this extra pressure could result in the top of the foot falling asleep or getting numb and tingly.
This is what happens with my one-inch lifts that are in my dress boots. If I’m seated, the top of my foot presses against the underside of the “tongue” area of the boot. It isn’t long before this gets uncomfortable.
Do not have shame in getting shoe lifts. This way to lengthen your apparent height, as far as an insecurity issue, is no different than applying lipstick to make one’s lips appear longer.
