Here is something I am asked all the time – “I really want to buy some elevators and add height but I am worried that my mates will easily be able to tell”. My answer is a definite and big – “NO, they will NOT be able to tell if you do it right and follow my rules”, but I think that the psychology behind it all needs explaining. And the rules.

I have mentioned here before that I have added height for over 15 years since my late teens and no-one has ever realized. I am very lucky in already being very tall but there are as many rules for me as there are for guys who are much shorter. I have mentioned already in an earlier piece why even potential girlfriends do not need to know, if you get it right.

Here is my guide to making sure that mates and co-workers do not know. And here too there are rules and commonsense strategies.

Firstly it DOES depend upon what you do with your friends and colleagues. We are all different. Some of us cannot wait to get onto the football pitch or into the swimming pool with our friends or even co-workers. Others might never go near these things after they have stopped having to do them at school. Put bluntly, a lifestyle that revolves around socializing at the bar is a lot easier in terms of height enhancement than one of constant sport. But in both situations, height can be added. Firstly there is the matter of degree. Any sudden and serious jump has the potential to be noticed, and I have mentioned before the BigRob Rule in my earlier piece “How much can I add safely?” At different height levels, you can add more or less depending upon your real height. Check out that piece in conjunction with this one. But even when you push at the max you would be amazed at just how few, if any, would notice. But I start from my own position where I want NO-ONE EVER to notice. Ultra secure. I am assuming that you want to add as much height as possible with no risk of detection. And that you are really thinking of investing in the kind of modern quality elevators that are fashionable or classic but clearly well made and not just cheap Far East old fashioned styles.

Firstly, if you have any fear at all of being called out on adding height, I suggest that you ‘prepare’ for your elevators: before getting them, add a bit of height every day through lifts etc. The real absolute max max you can add with these is 2” and at that level they take a lot of finessing to get right. An inch+ is fine and is the only addition which feels comfortable with shoes your own size. But you yourself do notice it and feel taller (and no-one else ever does!). They will never ever be as comfortable or as straightforward to wear as elevators, trust me – I did this for over 10 years till I found GuidoMaggi boots. I choose elevators now every time over lifts. With lifts you should ideally use them in shoes 1 size bigger (or more) than your normal shoe size. To stop the pressure on your upper foot. The reason for doing this is that you are preparing yourself for the serious adding of comfortable and realistic height once you have your elevators. Let us say you decide upon 3” or 4” elevators: well an interim height addition of just over an inch, up to 2”, not only makes you realize that you yourself can easily add that height undetectably (no-one ever ever can detect a couple of inches) but also it is a staging post. It makes the graduation to the next stage, even just during the period waiting for your elevators to be delivered, easier. It’s probably sensible to do this even if you are buying elevators less than 3”. You get used to a good chunk of your new height and also you then realize – “Wow no-one has even shown any knowledge at all”. Co-workers and mates will not notice, and I have explained before the psychology of why.

Lifestyle is a key, though, to how much you can get away with. If I were someone who was always playing sport, I would not wear the 4” and 5” elevators that I do, even though I myself am very tall and BigRob’s chart says I can! But if I were a serious sport devotee, I would happily wear 3” day to day, put them on after a soccer match to go to the bar or wherever. Reason for this is that when mates see you in these kinda intimate situations regularly, SOMEONE will spot if you have added a LOT of height relative to the size they see you without footwear. In my case 5” is a lot. And 3” is not. But people are not really programmed to calculate or really notice the lower level of height addition. It can so easily be written off in the mind as simply the addition that everyone gets with heavier footwear (or near to it) – eg you finish the match and put your Timberlands on. You are a bit taller. Is everyone saying “he has added height”? No. So on your own scale if you are a sports nut, then go low. You will have NO problem with that at all. If however you are more the socializer and find your relaxation at the bar/club/restaurant whatever, then you really can get away with going for the max on my chart for your height. Here again, though, add a little to other footwear before you get your elevators, just to give you that confidence. You will be very surprised.

One of the very few guys I have met personally who wears elevators is now a good mate. He is 5’9”, swims occasionally, works in marketing and finally bought his first elevators – very standard boots with a 3.1” (8cm) addition, the Portofino I think. He had spent a few months adding height through lifts and was amazed that no-one noticed he was adding height. The same now with his elevators. I have been through all the reasons before, how people are just not that observant, specially with incremental and gradual change.

Now he is going to buy some 4” (10cm) elevators and is thinking even of 5” ones for special.

There is a lot to be said for starting at a lower level (but one that still adds real height), specially if you are not tall. But the key is to always understand that anyone can add a few inches safely and then later go for more once you are totally comfortable (or stick at where you are once you are happy with the few extra inches). It just depends upon your circumstances.