I have been wearing my 6″ Hong Kong style boots for over a year now and this is an update on the joys of adding that extra inch! Adding so much is not for everyone, but I am just telling it as it is, and how it has been with me

I have always aimed to get as tall as possible, but always within the parameters of what looks sensible and as mainstream as possible. Like a lot of guys, I totally 100% do NOT want my footwear to be the centre of attention as I pile on the inches. That is, for me, vital. Plus of course, as I have said before, quality is important.

Convincing height addition

I am sure it is not for no reason that it took a while to get around to actually producing GOOD and CONVINCING 6″ (15cm) elevator boots. I think the main issue for us that wear them is the fear of how such boots might look. After all you can add 6″ of height just by buying a pair of goth type industrial-look platforms. But who wants to do that – other than a goth?! For the rest of us, it is down to the finessing of a bit of extra sole with the overall look.

And after a period straddling two Christmases, I have to say I think that the 6″ Hong Kong I have are just perfect for casual nights out, with jeans that are not too skintight, and with casual trousers.

I would not wear them with a suit, unless the overall fashion and style developed that way, which of course it could. It has before, and to a limited sense in some high fashion situations I suppose it still does. Neither would I wear them in any formal sense. So for example I recently had to go to a wedding – it was NOT a full suit type wedding, but it was still meant to be a bit dressed. I easily wore my 4″ Ischia (and there are other 4″ boots in the range that would be even more suited to a wedding). The flatter and thinner sole at the front made it a no brainer and not an issue. But I could not have worn my 6″ boots. Unless the fashion allowed it.

Some might disagree with me when I say I do not wear them with skintight skinnies. In the dead of winter in North America and Europe, and boots season is on us, and that look with big boots and skinnies is pretty much everywhere. Big boots and tapered jeans (yet again!). But it has to be properly done. If you do that, I suppose that others are aware of your big boots anyway, even when they have no lift at all! And I have seen guys wearing stuff like that every year over the past decade and it looks very cool.

My observation here is that the slightly thicker sole on the 6″ boots is not an issue in terms of detection – it is somewhat like the Doc Marten or Ranger type soles that many wear in cooler climates or colder seasons. Yes they are thicker soles. But there is no way in a thousand years that anyone is going to realise that you are gaining a whole 6″. And that is my experience.

Not detectable

One of the issues I think that stops guys from adding such an amount of height as 6” is that they find it almost impossible to believe that it really will NOT be detectable. And that they will be comfortable enough.

Here I think they only have a point if they do not already add height. It is a strange thing about incrementally adding height – adding it bit by bit over a period – as it works like a dream. Even if you are way over the age at which you have stopped growing. It’s the old principle that slow change by steps is barely noticed in almost anything. And that is probably why for me my 6” boots came at just the right time. I easily segue between wearing 4” boots for some things and the 6” ones for others. And I realise that no-one really notices.

The aspects around comfort I can fully discount as being a problem – when I first thought about wearing 6” boots, I wondered how difficult it might be. It really isn’t as they are specifically designed to add that height without an absurd slant that might make it impossible to walk. They are very very comfortable, almost cushioned.

I have one great friend who is quite a bit shorter than me and he recently bought some 6” boots. He has had 6 months with them and in my next piece I am going to tell you about some of HIS experiences – similar to mine, they add some extra points.