How Do You Walk in Those?

64 Arts

As we’ve continued to explore the Art of Dressing, we’ve discussed both shoe obsessions and storage options and are moving onto the simple (yet daunting to some) matter of navigating in them.

~~~oOo~~~

Even though I don’t specialize in skyscraper heels, I’ve got my fair share of high-enough ones that prompt the question from time to time.

A Selection of my Higher Heels

A Selection of my Higher Heels

Fact is, I walk in them the way anyone walks in any shoes: with a heel-toe motion and by not losing my balance.

But, for the curious let’s look at a few things that will greatly improve your chances of strutting your stuff without becoming a moving violation:

Posture

To All the Shoes I've Worn Before

from my comic, to the tune of To All the Girls I've Loved

Wearing heels is like standing on tippy-toes: your weight shifts forward. Unlike being on tippy-toes, though, high heels give you a kick-stand and you need to take advantage of that kick stand or you’ll just wear yourself out.

The natural inclination is to walk on the balls of your feet and–don’t get me wrong–that’s going to happen, but using both parts of the shoe (the toe and the heel) will give you more to work with. Stand straight in your heels and you should feel your calves and thighs tightening a bit and your butt lifting. Your shoulders, though, need to relax back a bit to counter-balance that lean-forward feeling.

One more note: bend your knees a bit as you walk, it’ll make the mechanics of the steps easier and get you to a smooth stride that much sooner.

Stride

The biggest problem I’ve ever had, walking in heels, is remembering to shorted my stride. The higher the heel, the shorter the step. Don’t try to be a supermodel stomping it down the runway. Even if your blessed with legs up to your neck, it’s best to take shorter steps and more of them. Think of it as a great workout!

Also, as I said before, it’s a heel-toe step just like you do in tennis shoes. Unlike being in tennis shoes it’s not a smooth roll across the sole, but keeping in mind the heel-to-toe movement will help you avoid stomping, clomping and wrecking yourself down life’s hallways.

Speed

All About the Shoes Illustration

A quick shoe sketch from a 2010 convention.

Three words: Slow. Your. Roll.

Along with the shorter step, take your time with each–especially when you’re learning–to prevent a stumble. If you’ve really got to be somewhere quickly: wear flats and switch into your heels when you get there. When you’ve acclimated to higher altitudes, then you can hustle where you need to without worrying about spraining an ankle.

Hazards

Okay, you’ve practiced in the hallway enough and now you’re ready for a real-world road test. Before you head out with your head held high, look down to see if any of these potential pitfalls await:

  • Slick, high-shine tiles, most often found in shopping malls and banks. The loss of traction is worse than that fourth turn in a race track–this is the one time I advocate not using the kick-stand and concentrating your steps on the balls of your feet to prevent the heel from sliding out from under you. Wear lower heels if you must have height for your shopping expedition.
  • Uneven brick or asphalt found on sidewalks and parking lots. These have been the only places I’ve actually fallen off my stilts (skinning my knees in the process). The trick to looking stable in these unstable surroundings is to slow to a measured stroll and test each step before you commit to it.
  • Grass and sand are no friend to high-heels, either, I’m afraid. Not only will your heels sink in softer versions of each, but dirt and grime will discolor and damage the finish of the covered-to-match heels that are so common (and pretty) these days.

A Few More Tips

If you’re new to heels, don’t start with stilettos! Going straight from flat to four inches is a recipe for disaster. Start, instead, with a 2-inch stacked heel and get used to the posture and stride changes before moving to taller and thinner heels.

If you’re going to be wearing heels one evening and you’ll be on your feet more than not, go easy on your feet and wear your comfiest shoes during the day so your feet won’t be worn out before your evening starts.

Heel Liners

Heel Liners

If the fit isn’t perfect, there’s something you can do about it. While I’ve never had great experiences with the stick-in foot pads that go under the balls of your feet or under your heel (they always shift on me, making things worse) there’s one insert that I swear by: heel liners. A major pit-fall is stepping out of your shoe and the steeper the arch of the sole the more possible it is that your heel might be a little loose in the shoe (yes, even with ankle-straps buckled). Heel inserts add padding inside the heel cup as well as narrowing the fit and grabbing your heel before it slips out and causes a spill.

And, one more lesson from my own personal experience file:

One of the few pedicures I’ve ever received, I thought it made perfect sense to have sandals ready to wear out of the salon. Preferring heels as I do, I have this great pear of strappy sandals with a low, stacked heel that seemed imminently sensible.

Nope.

I slipped and slid nearly out of the shoes on the way to the car and, when I got to my next stop and was trying to walk around a local craft fair I was having to fight to keep my footing on the hilly paved paths (it was held at a local park).

Sure, my toes looked great but I nearly fell a couple of times. Lesson: take the flip-flops to the salon and wait a few hours before trying any to-die-for shoes.

All the world may be a stage, but breaking a leg for luck is only a figure of speech.

~~~oOo~~~

Now that we’ve thoroughly covered the shoe ground, let’s walk back into to the closet and tackle the never-ending battle of clothing clutter…

The 8th Art: Make-Up!

64 Arts

Dyes and colorants for the body and teeth.

Let’s put our pretty faces on, yes?

I didn’t grow up knowing a lot about make-up. By the time I was that age Mom was totally over wearing it herself and wasn’t all that keen for me to start. No bonding moments over lip gloss for us. In fact, I was only allowed to wear pressed powder for the longest time. I specifically remember my freshman year of high school when I got invited to the Prom (helps to date an upperclassman, yes?). My dress was powder blue so Mom, trying to be helpful and supportive, brought home some mascara and eyeshadow for me. Blue eyeshadow.

Now, I know that blue shades are making a comeback but even then (1991) I knew that I had no business wearing blue eyeshadow with a blue dress, especially since I have blue eyes. Nope.

But she tried, and I do appreciate it now.

Usually I’m good at learning things from books–make-up was not one of those skills that I learned that way. Thank Cosmo for the Internet, tutorials and grown-up girlfriends who can show me what to do. And, you know, what not to do.

Speaking of tutorials, here’s a great one for repairing a broken compact. Who knew it was so simple?

From Stick to Chick

64 Arts

aka: How to go from drawing stick figures to drawing people.

That’s right, folks, I’ve put together a handy little exercise for those who think they can’t draw! I was working on these examples and a few other things as I was getting my oil changed this morning (gotta love being able to sit in your car while the SuperLube guys take care of everything else) and the mechanic noticed my scribblings.

‘Did you draw that?’
‘Uh, yes?’ (sketch pad propped up on steering wheel, pencil in hand…)
‘Wow, that’s nice, I can’t draw blood with a razor.’

I had to laugh at that one–hadn’t heard that particular phrase before. Incidentally this was while I was working on a different sketch, I doubt the early steps below would have been as impressive, lol.

But here we go:

From Stick to Chick, er... Chuck

From Stick to Chick (or Chuck) Copyright 2010 Jennifer "Scraps" Walker

Step 1: Draw your basic stick figure. A circle for the head, a vertical line for the neck/spine, a horizontal line for the shoulders/arms and 2 diagonal lines for the legs.

Tip: A human adult is, roughly, 7 heads high. So, if you draw a 1-inch circle for the head, the legs need to end 7 inches from the top of that circle.

Step 2: Add the basic muscle groups. The head is actually more of an oval than a circle, with a small cylinder for the neck. An inverted triangle covers the shoulders and comes to a point somewhere in the groin area–don’t be too worried about that. Small circles for the shoulders (just inside the corners of the triangle), elbows and knees with ovals for the upper and lower arms, thighs and calves. A horizontal oval works for the hips.pelvis and some open triangles (flat end out) for the hands and feet. It’s starting to look more like a person now. Sorta.

Step 3: Since most folks don’t go around hanging out in Vetruvian Man pose, let’s redraw the shapes with the arms akimbo, flipper-hands somewhere in the hip region, and draw the legs a little closer together. That looks like a slightly more normal pose, doncha think?

Step 4: Using a heavier line, draw the basic shape of the body using the shapes as a guide. Arms and legs tend to start wide and taper to a joint; look at your own as an example. The head gets some slight dents about a third up on each side to show where the eye sockets would be, before the cheekbones flare out a bit. For a woman, take the top third of the chest out a bit before curving in to form the breasts (hint: they should be midway between the shoulder and elbow at their perkiest) and curve the waist in a bit. Men’s pecs also flare a little (but shouldn’t look like boobs!) and there’s usually not as much of a waist, it’s more a slope from the ribs to the hips.

The rest is just window dressing! Clothes (unless spandex) should be a little bit bigger than the figure that’s wearing them. Fitted clothes, of course, follow the natural lines whereas baggy ones tend to exaggerate and hang different. Look at magazines or catalogs to see the way this work, maybe even drawing your stick-to-chick shapes over the photos to get a better idea of how it all fits together.

Hope you give it a try!

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Daily Doodle 3.5.10 Copyright 2010 Jennifer "Scraps" Walker

Daily Doodle 3.5.10 Copyright 2010 Jennifer "Scraps" Walker

And here’s Friday’s doodle, posted a little late as Saturday was a busy one for me–I’m going out of town late next week and had some errands to run, materials to prepare (more on that tomorrow) and, of course, I’m still trying to get my schtuff together for taxes, too.

I was thinking about needing to get the oil changed so the top of the hat actually started out as an oil filter. But I’d flared the bottom corners a bit and decided they looked more like a hat. I’d just seen (another) ad for the new Alice and Wonderland so it became a Mad Hatter’s Hat with the card in the brim, but I decided I wanted it to be a woman, so this is Maddie Hatteress.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

You still have until 6:59pm EST Sunday the 7th to submit links to your daily doodles. I can’t believe NO ONE wants to win a hand bound journal…

If you’re looking for some inspiration as to what to doodle, check out Illustration Friday. Every Friday a new theme word is posted. It’s a fun exercise to brainstorm what a word brings to mind 🙂