Yes, high heels can be cut down by a professional cobbler or shoe repair shop. They can shorten the heel to your desired height while maintaining the integrity of the shoe.
Of course there are limits to the amount that a heel can be cut down or shortened. And the practice is much less common today than it once was, no doubt because the cost of buying new heels is relatively cheap compared to the difficulty and cost of altering heels you already own.
Most importantly, the trick to cutting down heels is to accurately adjust the height while maintaining the structural integrity and balance of the shoe.
Every fraction of an inch that is shaved off the heel alters the pitch of the shoe from its original design. Shorting heels pushes the toe up and changes the point of contact that the front of the shoe makes with the ground.
Small changes (half an inch or less) may not be noticeable but if too much is cut off then you’ll change the look and feel of the heel for the worse.
Although it is technically possible to shorten heels yourself, this really is a job best left to a professional. They have the tools and expertise and they’ll be able to provide guidance on how much height can safely be shaved off without ruining your prized shoes
Perhaps the hardest challenge then is in finding a cobbler who can actually do the work for you. Demand for shoe repair is diminishing due to the availability of low-cost imports and the trend towards fast fashion, making new shoes cheaper and more desirable than repairing old ones.
This is also the case for heel-shortening: while luxury brand heels continue to command eye-watering prices, most heels don’t fall into that category. This means that the cost of reducing the height of a pair of heels will likely be disproportionate to the amount you’d spend buying new shoes.
However if you really like your heels but just find them too high then cutting them down is still an option. Search out a shoe repairer, take their advice and soon you’ll be happily striding out in your heels again – but this time a little lower to the ground.
Feature image credit: Sleeps-Darkly, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
