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Did you know we likely owe all our high heeled glory/troubles to a 14 year old girl? Apparently Catherine de Medici hadn’t had her growth spurt yet when she married Duc d’Orleans in 1533, so she had a pair of 5 inch heels made for her. When she debuted them in Paris, they became the latest rage and have graced feet ever since.

As I’m sure you’ve seen on this blog and in the stores, you may not be able to walk further than a runway length and back in them, but high (and I mean high) heels are not going away anytime soon (even with re-inventions of ballet flats remaining fairly popular). Wallpaper notes Antonio Berardi’s heel-less platforms (pictured - thanks Flashing Lights!) as well as Sergio Rossi “who sent his models down the catwalk in strappy sandals complete with super-sexy heels made from stacked gold balls; Giuseppe Zanotti cut into the wedge to create a sensational hollowed-out platform heel; at Christian Dior, John Galliano’s models were hoisted up on a whopping 5.5in silver heel; and Chanel’s glamorous, staggered heels looked as if they were inspired by the Empire State Building, in both shape and height.”

I love a good heel too, however, I do almost equally love walking around in them enough to show them off, and, you know, regular walking in itself is pretty good too. So in the spirit of high to the sky heels that are also pretty wearable, I give you the following shoes complete with heel heights! The Michael Kors gold sandals will raise you up 4.75 inches (love the cork sole and heel!) while the platform front takes some of the edge off. These white patent Nine West wedges make my calf muscles relax just looking at them and you definitely cannot scoff at 4.25?. And for the big 5 inch finale we have gold sequin covered platforms by Casadei.