I’m with DeVena. Having my left fibula held together by a plate and a bunch of screws (long story) means that if some schmuck tries to make me wear heels for work or something, all I have to do is a get a doctor’s note. I always hated heels (and I mean anything more than 1-1/2" or so). And now I have the perfect excuse not to wear them.
(Hey, there’s got to be an up side to my leg issues somewhere!)
ruadh, dear lord, she turned into a Barbie.
The top of my foot over the arch is really high - my mom’s, too - so it’s hard to find a high heeled shoe that doesn’t cut into that part of the foot. So I just wear sneakers and occasionally a pair of high-heeled boots.
I’m quite happy to go around in socks or slippers at home and sneakers or other low-heeled footwear outside.
Anything between a 3" and a 4" heel is what I wear ALL THE TIME. I don’t wear sneakers ever. I don’t wear 1" heels ever. It’s just what I like and what looks good on me. I’m 5’1" so the heels make all my clothes look better on me.
I will occasionally go around the house in stocking feet. 
Well I for one LOVE heels. The highest ones I’ve got are a 5.5" heel with a 1.5" platform. Or maybe they’re 6 and 2. Anyway, of course I do not wear them all the time, nor would I ever wear them to work. They are shoes designed for specific outfits that are worn only in certain settings. Most other of my heels are 2-3.5 inches and perfectly appropriate for a conservative business environment. And I loathe spikes. Mine are all fairly chunky-heeled. I also own many pairs of flat or low-heeled shoes and I wear those as much as I wear heels. I never wear heels - low or high - when I have to walk long distances, one because it’s not good for the feet and two because I’ll quickly ruin the heels themselves and they are expensive to repair. I wear sneakers to walk to work and usually 2-3 inch chunky heels or boots, rounded or squared toe - NEVER a pointy toe, they’re positively hideous - at work, and fuzzy slippers at home.
And I have nary a foot problem.
Well I for one LOVE heels. The highest ones I’ve got are a 5.5" heel with a 1.5" platform. Or maybe they’re 6 and 2. Anyway, of course I do not wear them all the time, nor would I ever wear them to work. They are shoes designed for specific outfits that are worn only in certain settings. Most other of my heels are 2-3.5 inches and perfectly appropriate for a conservative business environment. And I loathe spikes. Mine are all fairly chunky-heeled. I also own many pairs of flat or low-heeled shoes and I wear those as much as I wear heels. I never wear heels - low or high - when I have to walk long distances, one because it’s not good for the feet and two because I’ll quickly ruin the heels themselves and they are expensive to repair. I wear sneakers to walk to work and usually 2-3 inch chunky heels or boots, rounded or squared toe - NEVER a pointy toe, they’re positively hideous - at work, and fuzzy slippers at home.
And I have nary a foot problem.
Why not a nice leather flat? Enzo makes some gorgeous ones that are as comfortable as sneakers, but they look good. I’m only sayin’, because you seem yo be a "shoe person’ . . .
I love to see high heels on a woman but you can keep your platform shoes. I really need to research the inventor of platform shoes so I don’t have a hit taken out on some undeserving shoemaker. I also don’t like those heels that do not narrow but are full width. They need to narrow some but the spiky, stab someone in the head heels should be reserved for attempts to make them touch the back of her head.
The toes need to be closed but I’m not so hot for the pointy “pizza” shoes and forget sandals. Toes are icky.
Unfortunatly my SO is rather tall, 6’ 2", and therefore in danger of a concussion where she to wear heels. 
She also can’t wear boots due to “fat legs”, a reminder of past health issues. But she does have a pair or two of 4"+ “bedroom” shoes.
Thanks for the link SnoopyFan. I’ll save it for when I get home.
Eve, nice leather flats are fine for people who walk a few blocks from the subway. I walk more than 2 miles each way. Flats would fall apart in a couple of weeks. And no matter how comfortable they are for normal wearing, they are not designed for serious walking. Hence, my sneakers. (They’re really black Reebok walking sneakers; I don’t particularly care for the white/neon-with-stockings look.)
Yes, I’m definitely a “shoe person”!
I’m trying to figure out what kind of weirdass parent would let a NINE YEAR OLD wear high heels!
That’s a bit um … strange. Wonder if they put her in thongs and a Wonderbra, too.
Parents that don’t give a shit, and knowing her I bet she was wearing thongs and a Wonderbra (or the 1970s equivalent) by then as well.
The deformed feet were the least of her problems, believe me!
I once got suckered into buying a sexy pair of six-inch heels. My feet are exactly eight inches long from the tip of my longest toe to my heel. We are talking some serious comedy here, as my poor little tooties had to bend almost backwards to wear these. I put them on and promptly pitched forward into the closet.
I’m really freaked out by the idea of surgically altering your body for the sake of your clothing. The sole exception to this freak-out is breast surgery, either augmentation or reduction, because I have seen women so badly out of proportion that they can’t wear most off the rack clothing, and that has GOT to suck.
I begged to wear high heels. Makeup I could go either way, and jewelry I never cared much about but heels… Heels, I love. I don’t really care that much about shoes - but I love heels. I know I had a pair or two as a pre-teen, I was young enough to have learned how to jump rope and play tag in high heels. I still can.
But I certainly didn’t wear them all the time, nor do I now. And they’re not that bad when worn in small doses. I certainly wouldn’t have my feet operated on to fit into one (though I will squeeze a pair on for an hour if I can’t find anything else that matches the dress.) Usually, however, I can find shoes that I like that fit. Which is good. My legs are the one part of my body that has (have?) always, without question, been worth looking at - heels show them off to their best advantage.
Platforms are ugly (size 10 feet in platforms are just not good, in fact, in that size those chunky heels are sad). And my feet are flat in an odd way, so Birkenstocks are cork torture devices. But every so often, spike heels are simply wonderful
Glad we’re back on the OP topic…I wasn’t trying to start a GD over high heels versus low heels. Just an expression of shock that somebody would do this sort of thing deliberately, and not for any medical reasons.
I agree that the surgery is frightening.
Snoopyfan
It’s called conspicuous waste. In order to show just how rich you are, you waste money on high end items.
And, I have been trying to think up filler. But what the heck, anybody have more information on the pony heels?
Do they come in a cloven-hoofed variety?
I can really see myself going out for an evening of theatre or fine dining in a freshly pressed suit, a pair of cloven pony heals, and two unobtrusive horns just below my hairline.
I finally went and clicked on that pony heel link - I have seen these, but not on anyone who thought they were normal footwear. They were worn pretty much like **DocCathode{/b] imagined, as part of a costume. A guy, actually, who wore an extremely convincing Pan costume - his pony heels were furry, and he had some kind of pants that matched perfectly. I remember being pretty impressed by the way he got all his “fur” to look seamless. And yes, he had horns, too. I thought the shoes were interesting, but it never occured to me that someone would wear them for REAL.
Real would be foreplaying (and playing and afterplaying 
). Not real as in going out on the town to dinner and the opera.
Most shoemakers who lean towards the exotic can custom make some items and might even have already done the cloven hoof thing.
Start off with Keyser’s. I don’t recall if they do the heelless pony show or just the ballet boots. I’ll look around for more information when I get home from work.
I find it fascinating that the article cited in the OP mentions Cinderella, saying that the stepsisters would have fit into the slipper if such surgery were available. In the Grimm’s version of the fairy tale, the stepsisters do slice off parts of their feet in order to try to fit into the shoes. Obviously, the story is not presenting this as a positive or sensible alternative (it mirrors the general ugliness of the stepsisters’ behavior). But apparently these women and their surgeon have missed the entire point of Cinderella. Then again, Cinderella obviously couldn’t afford Manolo’s, so there’s no reason for the prince to choose her.
They’re a sexual fetish item used in pony play. You can find out more [link deleted] (most definitely not work safe) and a range of ponygirl products at this site (even more non-work safe).
The things I know…
–Patch
I knew as soon as I saw them that pony boots were fetish wear. This is why it would be fun to wear them for a night of theatre or fine dining.
Unfortunately, fetish wear tends to be rather expensive. I tend to be broke, and to be pinch each penny until Abe screams.
OTOH
I have worked with leather before. And I have plenty of experience making bizzare and elaborate costume pieces. I may start a MPSISMS or IMHO thread asking for advice.
Just think, I could walk down the street in my cloven hooves, and chewing a large wad of gum. I can then approach women, point out the hooves and the cud and ask “Would ya like some kosher tongue?”.
While most women will respond with horror and pepper spray, there’s a chance one will just ask “So, do you like the Simpsons?”. Then I’ll know I’ve found that special girl.