Shoes that make women stare down from dizzying heights look set to stay.
A quick check with four shoe retailers here - Charles & Keith, Nine West, On Pedder and Scarlet & Ebony - show that heels account for between 50 and 85 per cent of their total shoes sales each month.
Nine West's general brand manager Diana Koh says that 85 per cent of Nine West's collection are heels. Scarlet & Ebony and Charles & Keith stock 60 per cent of heels each.
At On Pedder, a pair of 6-inch skyscrapers by Christian Louboutin for the autumn/winter 2008 collection sold out quickly, says a spokesman.
The $1,350 Alti pumps (top picture) were so hot that the Pedder Group, which usually never reorders, had to bring in a second batch.
Why women's penchant for add-on height?
Authors and psychologists give their take.
Dr Adrian Wang, a consultant psychiatrist at Gleneagles Medical Centre, explains: 'Men tend to gravitate towards certain beauty stereotypes - long legs feature highly on that list.'
Daniel Koh, a psychologist from counselling service Insights-Tse, says 'hourglass figure and long legs... in a male-dominated world' can lend an 'air of authority and confidence, and a classy image'.
In his 2005 book Blink, author Malcom Gladwell notes a disproportionate number of tall people at the top. In the United States, about 14.5 per cent of all men are 1.8m or taller.
'Among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that number is 58 per cent,' he wrote.
Explaining the 'unconscious prejudice', he added: 'Most of us, in ways that we are not entirely aware of, automatically associate leadership ability with imposing physical stature.'
Heels do wonders for silhouettes, says image consultancy Signature Style's image and style trainer Amanda Seetoh.
It forces you to arch your back, pushing the bosom forward and thrusting the bottom out, she says.
'Wearing heels accentuates the lines, the arches and the curves in all the right places,' she adds.
Beware though: Heels do not automatically add stature.
Says Seetoh: 'A petite woman could look stunted because 4-inch heels would look disproportionately taller than she is, making her look shorter.'
Shiane Lum, 31, marketing manager of a packaging firm
Her love for heels literally stops her in her tracks.
'If it rains when I'm wearing heels, I'll call a cab to take me to my destination even if it's just to the next building so I wouldn't wet my shoes.'
The 1.61m-tall Lum justifies her love for heels - she buys one or two pairs a month, more if she travels - as a way to keep up with her businessman husband, who is 1.8m.
She reveals: 'The hubby dotes on me, so he designated an entire room for me as a walk-in wardrobe. There is a de-humidifier in this room which controls the moisture level and keeps the mould at bay.'
Step into her closet and you are greeted by multi-tiered shelves - home to some 160 pairs of heels, most of them 4- to 4 1/2-inches high.
Labels from On Pedder such as Christian Louboutins and Manolo Blahnik are her favourites.
'Manolo designs some of the shoes himself and a lot of these are distinctive to the label. I also love Louboutins because the leather is soft so they are comfortable to wear. The shoes make your feet look slim and sexy.'
Her all-time favourite is a pair of knee-high Alexander McQueen gothic gladiator boots with 4-inch heels. Bought in London six years ago for £600, it is one of her biggest splurges to date.
'I get countless compliments when I wear them.'
Charlene Lee, 25, fashion assistant
Standing at 1.63m, Charlene Lee does not need extra height but she has 80 pairs of heels anyway.
Half of them are for formal events such as cocktails and office functions, the other half she buys simply because she likes collecting pretty shoes.
'People say diamonds are a girl's best friend but I think heels are a girl's best friend,' she says.
'Heels don't just make you feel tall, they give you poise and confidence and make you walk in a more ladylike fashion.'
She also owns another 20 pairs of flats, which she stores in a floor-to-ceiling closet she shares with a flatmate.
These she dons when she is 'running around town', sourcing for anything from watches to props for photo shoots.
She favours brands such as Manolo Blahnik, for its snug fit and quality leather, and Nine West for its affordable prices which start from $100.
She began wearing pretty shoes at age 16 - her first pair was a 1-inch Bruno Magli which she borrowed from her mother.
'I was attracted to the gold metal brace detail on the heel at that time when vintage gold things were in,' she recalls.
For all her years of walking tall, Lee does not suffer from foot woes.
The heel veteran swears by this secret: Party Feet's gel sole for cushioning.
'It relieves the burning sensation on the balls of the feet - a real lifesaver.'
Shabnam Melwani-Reis, 40, director, Jay Gee Melwani Group
You could say that for Shabnam Melwani-Reis, her love for heels are her Achilles heel.
Nine times out of 10, you will not catch her, shall we say, flat-footed, except when she has errands to run.
The extra inch or five makes a difference, she says.
'I feel more confident, more feminine and more dressed up', says the mother of one, whose company opened the first boutique of luxe Italian shoe label Guiseppe Zanotti here last year.
She declines to reveal the exact number of heels she owns, saying with a laugh: 'If I do (keep count), I might realise I have too many. Then, I would have to stop buying heels.'
Each pair in her collection stands at between 3 and 5 inches high.
So 'absolutely organised' is she that her heels sit pretty in a walk-in closet with the temperature set at about 20 deg C to prevent mould from growing.
Shoes are allotted a fabric-lined shelf, with the whole collection arranged by colour.
'I put all the whites together, all the golds together and all the exotic skins together. All the coloured heels are on another set of shelves.'
The glamorous fixture at countless society dos favours Guiseppe Zanotti for the style and comfort of its cuts.
Her current favourite is a pair of pink and black 5-inch wedges from the label's spring/summer 2009 collection, which costs $1,250.
'They make my legs appear longer and are comfortable despite being 5 inches high.'
This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.
