Life changing heels mean you’ll never walk home barefoot again

How many times have you stumbled home from a night out, shoes unashamedly in hand, unable to take the pain any longer?

Your heels might make your outfit sophisticated, but the minute you take them off to save your crippling toes, your glam fab dream is crushed. The relief is brief, and as you leave the club you’re more likely to tread in some glass or a leftover burger, wishing you’d left the damn things on as ketchup oozes through your toes.

The struggle is real, but it is no more. A Parisian genius has devised a shoe where you can change the heel height, so you can go from stiletto to flat just in time for the walk home –– and without having to stuff your flip flops in your clutch. It took two and a half years to design, but 14 engineers and six designers later, designer Tanya Heath has saved nights out everywhere.

It might start well in heels, but taking them off to go home in is too often a reality

There are so many designs and three collections to choose from: Power, Liberty and Seduction

The shoe comes in several designs, from a sandal to a court, and you buy the heels separately. I chose a sparkly, chunky heel to begin the night out, stashing a small, black club heel in my bag to swap into later on. Tanya is very particular about her shoes, and doesn’t make them completely flat because they “have no support” and do more harm than good. The lowest heel you can get is about an inch, but because it’s thick (don’t worry, you’re not in a kitten heel) it’s basically like being in a flat.

She also doesn’t make any heel higher than nine centimetres, adding: “We get criticised for not going higher in our heels, but it would be hypocritical of me to create a woman-friendly innovation and for them not to be good for you. Anything over nine centimetres will damage your arch, and I don’t want to destroy my client’s feet.”

An hour in we were still going strong in our heels

With blisters already on the backs of my ankles from wearing heels the night before, I was dreading another night in a pair. Plasters firmly in place, I clipped the chunky heel in and slipped them on. They felt no different to wearing normal heels, and there was no added discomfort from where the heel joins, but I grabbed the bus to the club just to be safe. I managed most of the night in them, dancing away on a relatively empty dance floor. As you’d expect with any heel, after a while my heel started to throb, so it was reassuring to know I had a back-up with me for when it got too much.

A few hours later, when the vodka was beginning to wear off and my poor feet suffering the extent of my dancing, it was time to make the change. I snuck to the loo, but worried I’d have trouble swapping the heels over safely. The heels themselves are pretty easy to change –– there is a button buried underneath your heel which you press to release the heel.

From heel to flat (almost)

Wearing a sandal design, I didn’t even have to take the shoes off, just slip my finger under my foot to reach for the button. But with music blaring through the walls, it was quite hard to hear if they’d clicked into place, and being drunk, I really rammed them in to make sure they were locked. The last thing I wanted was to get up, only to embarrassingly fall on my face…in flats.

Once both heels were secure, I shoved the spare heels in my bag and braved the dance floor once more. It was literally like being in heaven. The change of height not only alleviated the throbbing in my heels, but released the tension building up in my toes. I wasn’t expecting much relief considering I was still technically wearing a one inch heel, but the comfort was unbelievable. I smugly carried on throwing some shapes while the rest of the girls bent their knees in agony, trying to weather the pain.

New heel, new me

So smug

When the time came for the walk home, I was still reeling in my eternal comfort as one by one, peep toes came off and bare foot graced the pavement. I swerved the bus, saving the £1.50 fare for some chips, and walked the 20 minutes back with barely any pain at all. I was still thankful to take them off at the end of the night, but grateful the option to change my heel had stopped broken glass from shredding my poor tootsies once more and given me a good extra hour worth of wear.

They might be the future but they come at a price, and you can only order online as there are currently no UK stores. The average shoe is about €300 –– with heels extra on top –– so for now it looks like they’re more wish list than a reality. But who knows, maybe the trend will catch on and our feet will be saved forever more.