Measuring Heel Height

The question of "how high is this heel" varies depending on how the heel is measured. In the image below you can see two different shoes with the same heel height. If you were to measure the heel with the method used by BridalShoes.com, both shoes would measure a 3.5” heel. Oddly enough, many other stores and designers use a different method; they measure the heel height from the center of the heel. As you can see from the diagram, measuring these shoes from the center of the heel yields two different heel heights when clearly the shoes are the same heel height. With this in mind, you will find that many other websites will list the heel heights anywhere from ¼” to ½” lower than BridalShoes.com does for the same shoes. We prefer the method we use because it never varies. It also makes it possible for brides to accurately and confidently measure their own heel heights at home to compare to the styles they see on-line. If you are measuring a heel height on your own, be sure to measure up to the seam where the heel meets the sole; do not measure to the top of the sole.

The heel heights that are quoted on BridalShoes.com are for a size 7 ½ . A size 5 will be slightly lower (about 1/8” to 3/16”) and a size 10 will be slightly higher.