After diamonds, high heels are a girl’s best friend. They instantly make you look—and feel—better by showing off your shapely gams to their greatest advantage, elongating your legs, adding inches to your height, and improving your posture. In addition to all that, just that fact that you are wearing stilettos screams confidence and makes you feel better about your appearance. Is it any surprise why ladies love wearing heels so much?

However, wearing heels isn’t as easy as it looks. One of the biggest challenges women face: Winter. You know what I’m talking about. The ice-covered cobblestones of Cambridge are a broken ankle waiting to happen. Many people would advise to just not wear heels in winter. Harvard ladies are a determined bunch, though, and we know and embrace all the perks of wearing heels, even during the dead of February. Every girl wants to wear a pair of show-stopping stilettos to all of the festive parties and formals on campus and back home over the holidays. But isn’t there a way to wear these much-loved shoes without risking an embarrassing and painful slip on the ice?

Here are a few tips on how to wear heels this winter:

• Practice. I know this sounds silly, but you need to be able to wear that pair of shoes with confidence on a regular surface before you tackle wearing them out in the winter elements. Work on placing your heel down first, then bringing the rest of the foot down quickly and smoothly with your toes kept pointed straight as possible.

• Take shorter steps. When on ice and slush, don’t take strides as long as you normally would. This allows you to keep more control and balance.

• Be somewhat picky with the stilettos you choose to wear. Ones with ankle straps keep you more stable. Extremely thin heels can actually be a good choice because the heel pokes down in the ice like an ice spike. This means good traction. Thick heels can also be a good choice because they provide more surface and therefore more traction and stability. Low heels are ideal because they are easier to walk in. However, I know that everyone wants to wear the killer heels that are so popular this season, so make sure they fit well—not too tight, and not too loose.

• Make sure they are close-toed. You don’t want your toes to get frostbite from walking through the snow with peep-toed heels on.

• Attach non-slip soles to the bottom of your heels. These are an inexpensive and easy solution to a very big problem. All you have to do is stick these to the bottom of your shoes and you get instant traction on all slippery surfaces—like ice! Try these:

Non-Slips
www.bakersshoes.com
$3.00 per pair

Sole stopperz
www.footpetals.com
$6.95 per pair

• Everyone experiences bad luck sometimes, no matter what precautions you take, so if this happens to you while you are wearing heels and you start to fall, let yourself go down (unless, of course, there is something near you to catch yourself on). This will inevitably be embarrassing, but it will keep you from breaking your ankle—or shoe—as you try to regain your balance.

The best way to wear heels in winter is very carefully. If you aren’t comfortable with wearing them, find a cute pair of flats instead, or take a purse large enough that you can fit an extra pair shoes in it so you have one pair for walking and one for dancing. The most important thing, though, is to make sure you are comfortable and confident in whatever you decide to wear!