Intro
BigRob welcomes you to his Added Inches guides of Twelve Tremendous TALL ideas about adding height and wearing elevators. There are three guides and this one is about lifestyle and how to make sure you add height in a way that so suits you. We are all different and it is pretty easy to get it right…and also to make mistakes!
Why this guide? Well I’m sure you’ve tried to get good and sound info about elevators online…and that you pretty much failed. So much rubbish is written by people who have never actually worn them! Throughout, I link to longer pieces I have written on subjects in the guide. LOADS to read…
This guide explains simply and effectively different stuff about lifestyle to help you make the right choices, and brings you the facts from a guy who wears elevators every day and just LOVES doing so. That’s me!
About me
I’m BigRob and I write regular pieces for the GuidoMaggi site. I have been adding height since I was 17, almost 20 years.
I myself travelled an interesting journey. Elevators were a big no no when I started 20 years ago (they were *$@#&* awful) so it was lifts. I am based in the UK and Europe and in came the great period of flared jeans revival so I could add way more lifts than normal, all hidden in boots under an enormous flare. Once flares gave way to skintight stretch skinnies (oh no!) I had to think again! Having added up to 3” in lifts I did not want to drop down. No way. So I looked again at elevators and my choice was GuidoMaggi. OK, expensive…but quality and choice and something totally new in elevators. Style. Mainstream and fashion. Choice. At last.
4” Ischias in black, then a year or so later 5” Shanghais in a steely grey…and then my prized 6” Hong Kong boots. I also wear the Giant Cougar sneakers as well. I go up and down a bit around 4” to 6” – that’s me. And I LOVE IT!
So here it is – my Added Inches Guide on Lifestyle…
1 lifestyle – am I right for elevators?
Anyone can wear elevators but there are major differences in how much height you can get away with and in what styles – all according to your lifestyle. A 23 year old guy working in an office and playing weekend sport wanting to look bigger is very different to a guy like myself who runs a bar/nightclub and can basically add as much as he likes wearing jeans and casual clothes.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/why-wear-elevators-or-add-height/
In general, height addition up to about the 3” (8cm) range can be used easily for any purpose by anyone – work, school, evening – and will not be detectable in any type of clothes. Even when you drop your height on taking shoes off. But you will be taller and feel it!
Think about your lifestyle when adding height to decide if you are a 7cm guy or a 10cm one! Or 15cm like me! That’s 6”!! If you are new to adding height and you have lifestyle restrictions, then jump in on the lower side. If you have worn lifts, or work in a field where you can get away with more, then go for it.
2 Elevators for all occasions…
We all have varied lives. I obviously would not wear my 6” boots if I had to go to a formal thing, like a wedding or a funeral. So I would wear with my suit the thinner-soled 4” Ischias. I am not a suit guy, never wear one in my work, but we all have situations in which something like that is necessary.
Sport and the degree to which your lifestyle is active in any way obviously makes a difference, but one guy I know wears 3” elevators day to day, takes them off for sport, then puts them back on when they go to the bar or club later: he is still so amazed that no-one notices.
But I have to say if he was wearing just 6” elevators for that same situation, then it is more obvious. Believe it or not, mostly people might STILL think that he was just wearing big boots (like Doc Martens or Timberlands) and think that they just make you look “a bit taller”.
3 Your personal style is crucial
Getting the most from your elevators means taking account your personal style right from the start. This is just SO important. What is your style? Do what many guys never do – sit down and say “which clothes do I love best?” What makes me think I LOVE that”.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/adding-height-with-mainstream-style/
The reason for this is that it will have a big impact on what kind of elevators you first buy and what fits seamlessly with your style. You should buy elevators to fit your lifestyle and not the other way round. You want what you buy to neatly fit in. If it does not, you will not want to wear your new height as readily.
You should buy your first elevators thinking: “I really like that style, it is what I might normally buy”. Doing this means that you will wear them, realize how amazing it is to add height and no-one realizes…and feel comfortable all the time wearing them. Then you will experiment, and go for more and possibly higher…
4 Where you live
Weird this but where you live is also v important. I recently went to Norway and it is elevator heaven! All the big boots on guys in the cooler weather mean that you have the greatest excuse to wear the greatest biggest boots and get right up there in height. I lived in my 6” boots during my two weeks there.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/lifestyle-where-you-live-can-make-a-difference/
But two weeks later I went to the Caribbean for work and it was the exact opposite. Beach culture meant that it was fab to get into the sun and warmth…but not so good for varied and regular really high elevators.
However there is always an answer. And I found that wearing my new elevator sneakers really kept me up there – there are now some 5” sneakers in the GuidoMaggi range and they look right on trend. They can be worn with anything so you can keep up your height!
But it all has to be borne in mind.
5 5” or 6” boots with skinnies
Well this is an interesting one and has to be addressed because skinny jeans are a staple for many guys. I have always been uneasy about wearing great big thick-soled 6” elevators and skintight skinny jeans but I have done it and it DOES work. And it can look very cool in the right circumstances. I very much like the skinny look but initially felt that it drew too much attention to my feet to wear the bigger boots. Until 10 years ago I had been used to wearing the flares that were popular in Europe.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/the-6-inch-elevator-has-landed/
But of course the opposite argument is that slim profile/huge boots IS a style and is worn regularly by guys who are NOT wearing elevators.
So my take is that if it is your kind of style – workboots, jeans etc – then go for it. Make sure it all looks very even and smooth. The top of the boots should fit snug around the area of your leg where they meet the jeans. It is an ‘in yer face’ look but it is all about your own style.
6 Getting it wrong
Something that never ceases to amaze is how badly some celebs look when they try to add height. Now of course there are many MORE famous guys who add height that you never know about. I have learned of quite a few that you would never believe – even some very tall guys and they do it superbly. But the ones we all see that look “obvious” are guys like Robert Downey Jnr and Vin Diesel.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/style-tips-by-big-rob/page/2/
And this is really really simple to explain – they break that rule of making sure you wear elevators that go with the clothes: clumpy great white sneakers with a black suit hanging wrongly where the pants meet the boots just looks plain odd. The same with thick-soled boots and a suit which you see on Vin Diesel. There are occasions when these styles are fashionable but they tend, in any event, to suit very young and very slim guys. Not middle aged actors.
RDJ and Vin could achieve pretty much the same height addition with colours and materials that would cause no comment at all.
7 Booted and suited
In the modern workplace, many guys can nowadays wear some styles of boots instead of standard dress shoes. Yay! They are a kinda hybrid of boot and shoe. It does not look like a chunky heavy workboot, but is more like a Chelsea boot or shoe that is in the form of a boot.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/adding-height-at-work-some-rules/
imho these are a superb way of adding height effortlessly for all lifestyles and fit the needs of way more guys because they cross over from formal into casual. That is the joy of the Chelsea boot. Wear it everywhere and all the time. And the good news is that most employers have no issue with footwear like that.
For a first pair of elevators it is hard to beat an all-purpose basic but great quality Chelsea boot standard. If I were back a decade and starting out on adding height, that is EXACTLY what I would get.
8 Mainstream style
There is a pretty general rule with mainstream style – clothes have to blend and not look ‘remarkable’. Only in quality.
Always look at what the models in promotional material (online/in magazines) are wearing on their feet with the clothes you plan to buy – or with items that are similar. And you then of course can choose elevators to fit the style.
For work, identify what is acceptable and keep to the lowish end of height addition at first and get used to wearing them (about 3”). You can go further and higher later, and no-one will think you have added height just because you gain an extra inch. Adding height for office life needs to be finessed but it is probably the easiest option of all and many guys comfortably manage 4” (or in casual offices even more).
9 Formal
You are going to a wedding and want to keep that extra height you have lovingly added in your everyday life. Or you yourself want to look taller for the special occasion. What to do? I rarely wear a suit so it has always been a bit of an issue for me, this one. And I have now realized it boils down to two options.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/adding-height-for-formal-occasions-some-thoughts/
When it comes to formal, one option is to totally accept the limitations of the occasion and buy a specific pair of formal dress shoe elevators up to about 8cm (just over 3”). These will be standard, apparently very flat-soled shoes that you see everywhere that you might think are a bit dull if you do not usually wear formal clothes.
The other approach though which really suits more modern weddings is this: get yourself something like what I have, the 4” Ischias that look like standard wingtips or brogues with flat-enough soles, and wear them with a trendy suit. The glory of this is that those 4” Ischias that I have can then be worn in many other situations.
10 The Girlfriend
One of the big fears is that a new girlfriend will work out that you add height. Well she won’t if you do it right. Most women go up and down dramatically in height through their own footwear and this has an impact on perceptions of the height of others. My own girlfriend wears very high heels even though she is tall. This allows quite a bit of latitude for what you might want to do.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/aaargh-will-my-new-girlfriend-notice/
My own advice? Take it carefully, stick to the 3” zone at first and see how it goes. This is just a tad taller than wearing big heavy boots or Timberlands. A lot also depends upon your new girlfriend’s height. Is she tall? Does she wear heels and vary her height a lot? Is she aware of height?
If you add height with care and style and quality, it will not be noticed. The interesting point is that once you are established in a relationship you can go up incrementally with little comment. You will not be rumbled with a pair of 3” elevators, specially when they come off once you are back home!
11 the height of summer
Summer in colder countries is a great time, but if you like being outdoors and on the beach then you have to make compromises on the height you can add. Period. I have found that this is the most tricky time of year to finesse a decent amount of added height unless you stick to sneakers, which is basically what I do.
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/the-height-of-summer/
The biggest change for me in recent years has been the new ranges of elevator sneakers (like the recent chunky sneakers from GuidoMaggi). Until then I had been not altogether easy with adding height to sneakers and had to be content with less height addition. But with the new ones, this all changed and you can now get up to 5” which is superb.
Dealing with different climate situations is part of lifestyle – I know guys in hot countries who wear full-on 6” boots with jeans and totally happy, pretty much 24/7. But that is more difficult to finesse if you then want to leap onto the beach with just some sandals of flipflops!
12 Going to the max – can I?
The 6” elevator is the great invention of our time. I have seen the future and it works! I wear them pretty much the whole time – they are comfortable, convincing and create a genuine 6” lift. But who can wear them or when?
https://www.guidomaggi.com/blog-en/how-high-would-you-go/
It’s easy for…
1 For 3”/4” wearers, they are great in the evening for extra height
2 If you have been regularly wearing 4”, no-one will notice the extra 2”
3 If you work in a job that doesn’t demand a suit, great
4 Guys who wear workboots day-to-day are ideal for them
5 If you are already tall, over 5’10”, and want to get to well over 6’
6 In cold climates almost any guy can wear them 24/7
7 If you like the chunky boot and skintight skinnies style, they look great
I suspect that most guys would LOVE to casually add 6” of height but for most that is not gonna happen on day one, if at all, for some. All I can say is that it DOES work, but for many guys, you build towards it.
