How To Walk In Your Christian Louboutin Shoes
As I have quite a few popular blog posts here on Raindrops of Sapphire about Christian Louboutin shoes, including getting your Christian Louboutin shoes to fit as well as my DIY Christian Louboutin strass shoes and finding the right Christian Louboutin shoes for you, I thought it would be a nice idea to write up a blog post on how to walk in them. I know so many ladies struggle to walk in Msr. Louboutin’s heels, I did at first, but I have managed to pick up a few tips and tricks along the way and I figured it was only fair that I share them with you! So, first things first, taking a look at the soles of his shoes and what makes them difficult.
The soles of Christian Louboutin shoes are made of bright red leather, which is really smooth and silky, so they can be quite difficult to walk in on shiny or slippery surfaces due to no grip. A lot of ladies get the red vibram rubber soles attached to the bottom of their shoes to add some traction when walking while not messing up the red entirely. I haven’t ever done this with my own shoes though as I’ve not needed to since I don’t wear them out in the rain or for longer periods of time. You might want to consider it if you plan on wearing them to work or for a few hours at a time. It will help preserve the soles and stop them from wearing out completely.
Over the duration of a few wears though, the soles break down and the leather wears off, leaving behind more of a brown/beige colour, but this actually gives you more grip when walking, so it’s beneficial that they wear out. Now, after I have spoken about the soles of the shoes, I want to move on to actually being able to walk in them without any trouble.
For those of you who aren’t an experienced heel wearer in general, I consider Christian Louboutin shoes to be quite difficult. His heels are always narrow, so if you are unstable, you can wobble quite a lot. The backs of the shoes inside are made from a very soft leather, so they can slip off of your feet and he is notoriously known for making sky high shoes, sometimes up to 7 inches tall! This is obviously really daunting as it was to me. I remember my very first pair of Christian Loubtouin shoes, they were a pair that I didn’t really think through as they were the Rolando Boucle which is a sling back 140mm shoe. The toe box was tight, the heel was verging on 5.5 inches and the sling back kept making them slip off my feet so they were impossible to wear for someone like me who was only used to about 3 inches in height.
This is why my advice to you here is start out with the little heels. The gorgeous and classic Pigalle comes in various heights of 70mm, 85mm, 90mm, 100mm and 120mm, so there is a height for everyone. I would recommend starting out at the lowest of heights and working your way up to the taller pairs. The Coral Pigalle I have shown above are the 85mm and they are really easy to walk in. The heel is low enough to be comfortable and not put any pressure on the balls of your feet. I got used to walking in heels with this height for a while, so then I moved up to a pair of Declic 90mm and those were incredibly easy to walk in too. If you are looking for a higher shoe in general though, you can always pick a pair with a platform as sometimes the platform is thick enough to actually make the incline of the shoe not that steep. You could wear a pair of 5 inch heels that have a 2 inch platform so you are actually only walking on an incline of 3 inches.
Another great tip is practice, practice, practice on your tip toes. You need strong calf muscles to be able to walk in really high heels that are above 100mm as you don’t have any support on the heels of your feet, so what I do is I tend to walk around the house on my tip toes as often as I feel like to really get a sense of learning to balance on the balls of my feet. After all, this is generally how the experienced ladies wear their 120mm as they haven’t got any support at the back, it’s all down to the front of the foot. If you practice doing this for quite a while, wearing taller heels will become more manageable as it has to me.
The last pair of Christian Louboutin heels that I purchased were the Pigalle 100 in Black Kid (above) and I was actually surprised at how easy I found them to walk in. I was worried at first as I was generally sticking to the 90mm height, but the 100mm is no problem at all due to all the practice I have been doing. Granted you can’t run in them and you can’t walk at a really brisk pace, but they are fairly easy to walk at a normal rate in without problems. Since they are this high as well, I generally find that they don’t tend to slip off my feet like my others do, they stay on much better. I do have other Christian Louboutin shoes like the Clic Clac 120, Declic 120 and Bianca 140, but since they all have platforms, so they do actually only amount to a 100mm incline, so it’s the same as these Pigalle.
I’m not 100% sure I will ever be able to manage the true 120mm height without a platform like the masters such as Kate Moss and Kim Kardashian can wear, but I’m definitely on the right path! I still remember some time ago when I couldn’t even manage a 3 inch heel, so I have come a long way from there! Just remember to start out with smaller heels and practice on your tip toes, this will really help you when it comes to going up in height. Don’t forget you can shop the latest Christian Louboutin shoes online at Matches, LuisaViaRoma, My Theresa & Net-A-Porter for Europe and Neiman Marcus, Saks and Barney’s for the US!
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Really useful post 🙂
Anna x
http://www.inthelifeoffletch.blogspot.co.uk
Author
Thank you 😀
Lots of history! Thank you!
I loved this post! And the coral ones are just beautiuful!
http://www.missbagaholic.com
Author
Thank you!
Love the post! I love when you wear skinnies and loubies! Love always!
This is fantastic Lorna! I love when you wear your skinnies and loubies! Love always my dear!
Author
Thank you Davis!
Some great tips Lorna!
I own a pair of Guiseppe Zanoti’s and they are super high as well mine are 7 inch and they happen to be my wedding shoes, haha someone needs to practice, so I can understand the difficulty in wearing Christian Louboutin’s. Thanks for your tips lovely!!
xo Holly xo
HollyDolly.
Author
Glad it was useful! I love Giuseppe Zanotti!
Wow, love these shoes, beautiful post! Thanks for your comment in my blog, I’ll be happy if we start following each other! 🙂
http://julesonthemoon.blogspot.it/
Author
Thanks 🙂
I love this post Lorna!! Such great tips!! I’d love to know how you take care of your shoes! I won a pair last year and I don’t wear them out often because I’m scared to damage them!
xoxo
StaceyFive Minute Style
Author
Hi! I actually just never wear them in the rain, keep them in the dust bags and boxes and be delicate with them. Nothing else 🙂 I haven’t used spray or anything. I just use them for short periods of time 🙂
Great post and I have one question:- what size to buy as I have heard you need to go a size bigger but apparently this varies with the height of the heel? Any thoughts Lorna?
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Hi! It does vary and it varies with each shoe style too. I have some in a 39 and 40.5, it also depends on what brand you compare them too! Have you checked my other posts they have a lot of detail in about fit 🙂 hope that helps 🙂
My rep at Saks said that the shoe I got ran small and recommended to go 1/2 size larger. I wear an 8 so I got an 8- 1/2 and it fit just right. I got the Clare 80 slingback in black patent and I love it. Haven’t worn it much to get used to the heel but I’m starting soon. I just got the shoes. They only have a 3″ heel but for someone who hasn’t worn heels in quite a while … that’s high enough. It’s a beautiful shoe and the gorgeous red sole is really set off by the black patent leather. It also comes in nude and white. Can’t wait til I can walk in them.
P.S. I thought the shoe had a 3″ heel but it actually a 3-3/4″ heel. Guess I’ll have to prance around on my tosies a lot before I wander out in my beautiful new slingbacks. I’ve already started to wear medium heels around the house. I look like an old ad for a kitchen appliance. Does anybody but me remember when women were portrayed as housekeepers who wore high heels to cook and clean? LOL!
I absolutely love your shoes and great tips!! Xo
Author
Thanks!
Hi Lorna, I just brought my first pair, the new classic pump – patent with the lowest heel. My toes feel quite squashed. Is this normal. I’m normaly a 7 but they slipped off when I walked so I’ve gone for a 6.5. I’m not sure if I should have gone for the 7 as my feet will prob swell??
Author
Hi Emma! Is it painful to the point of not being able to walk? If you can still walk, they will stretch out. Did you read my post on stretching out Louboutin shoes?
Hey, Lorna… I haven’t read that post of yours on stretching out Louboutin shoes. Where can I find it? I looked all over this site.
Author
Hi, sure, it’s here for you 🙂 https://raindropsofsapphire.com/2010/04/08/getting-your-christian-louboutin-shoes-to-fit/
My hubby bought me my hyper prive laboutins but they are a 4 1/2 and I’m a 4 what’s the best thing to use
Author
Hi, sorry I don’t know if that means you have them and they don’t fit or not?
This is very helpful, thanks! My husband gifted me a pair, and they are so high and so hard to walk in!! It was so painful (and embarrassing) that he said he won’t be buying me anymore 🙁 . Now I can tell him to start me out slowly on the 70mm or 85mm. Thanks!!!
Author
Did you get gifted a pair of 120s? Even I can’t really walk in them, they are so high. Not many can, I think 100 is the highest that’s doable! Definitely start smaller 🙂
This is really helpful! I love my Louboutins but hated when the red sole starts to wear off! 🙁 It is just so sad to see that signature bright red sole getting scratches.
Author
I know, it is sad. You can get red vibrams though to have a cobbler put on 🙂
I feel the same way about the 120mm heels. I would never be able to walk in those, and if I spend that amount of money on a pair of heels, I want to be able to wear it over and over again. However, the 120mm are very pretty to look at – ha. http://www.letsdolifestyle.com
Author
They’re definitely pretty to look at but not wear, ha ha.
What do you think about the clear and the red stick-on sole protectors? Have you tried them? Do you know anyone who has?
Author
I haven’t tried them myself no, I never saw the need, but I know a few ladies who have, it’s down to personal preference, but you need to find a cobbler who’s very experienced in putting them on!