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Proportion

The Proportion Series · Part 4

Shoe Shapes That Keep the Line Long

Heel height is the least important variable. Vamp height, toe shape and tonal continuity do most of the work.

By Fit Research Desk

5 min read

5 min readexplainer
Four shoes in profile on two shelves, from a flat to a high heel, each with its heel rise measured and the point where the topline crosses the foot marked.

Guidance in this article is derived from brands’ own published garment measurements. Nothing described here has been worn or tested by the publication.

Heel height is the variable everyone reaches for and the one with the least reliable effect. Two inches of heel adds two inches of height; it does not necessarily add any apparent leg, and a shoe that cuts across the top of the foot can remove more than the heel gave back.

Vamp height and toe shape

The vamp is the upper section covering the top of the foot.Footnote 1 A low vamp exposes more foot and lets the leg line continue further before it stops. A high vamp (a mary jane strap, a boot shaft, a chunky loafer apron) introduces a horizontal break at the ankle. A slightly elongated or almond toe extends the line a little further still; a hard square toe cuts it off.

The reliable combination

  • Low vamp
  • Almond or soft point toe
  • Shoe tone repeating the trouser

Tonal continuity is the free one. When the shoe and the trouser sit in the same tonal family the leg and the shoe read as a single length, and a flat can outperform a heel that breaks the colour.

Notes

  1. The vamp is the upper section of a shoe covering the top of the foot. A lower vamp exposes more foot and lets the leg line continue further before it is interrupted.↩

Sources

Guidance in this article is derived from the published material below. No garment described here has been worn or tested by the publication.

  1. On this site

    Outfit formulas: the reliable combinations

    Where the low-vamp, almond-toe, matched-tone combination is applied.

Reading path

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Foundations this piece builds on.

Related subjects

Measurement & fit research

Fit Research Desk

The fit research desk compiles published size charts, garment measurements and inseam data, then records what those numbers mean for a 5’4″-and-under frame. Findings are attributed to the measurements they came from.

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