When you are looking a new pair of high heel boots up and down with admiring glances, you may also read their description and see that they have a certain heel height and shaft height listed.
But what is the difference between the heel height and the shaft height? These are two different independent measurements used to help you with the fit and comfort of your boots. You can see how they are usually measured in the diagram above.
Heel height is the easiest of these two measurements. The heel height is simply the height of the heel, measured from the floor to the bottom of the foot (we have a complete guide to measuring heel height here if you need more help with this).
Shaft height is also quite straightforward. Shaft height is simply a measurement taken from the top of the boot to the bottom of where the heel of the foot is placed in it.
This means that you do not include the heel height in the shaft height because the bottom of the foot is the point at which the top of the high heel ends.
When measuring the shaft height of a boot you should measure from the top point at the back of the boot down to the top of the heel.
However, one thing to be aware of is that although most manufacturers and retailers measure shaft height at the back of the boot not all of them do so. Zappos for example measures from the middle of the arch up the outsole of the boot to the top of the boot shaft. That’s pretty unusual by normal standards.
If in doubt you should always check how the shaft height is measured (and the same with heel height too) by the company that you’re buying your new boots from.