Nine best kitten heels for heading out in - stylish shoes with a small heel for comfortable nights out
Hit the town in one of these small heeled or chic flat shoes, designed to look great and keep your feet feeling good
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We’re finally allowed to start getting out and about again and so, after so many months in our own homes, you deserve to step out in ultimate style in a new pair of heels.
If the idea of putting on high heels fills you with dread, however, as you feel like you may have forgotten how to walk in them after all this time, don’t worry - the small heel will be your saviour.
What are kitten heels? Why are they called kitten heels?
Kitten heels are perennially popular (beloved of Audrey Hepburn, Princess Di, and, latterly, Alexa Chung, to name a few fashion glitterati), and it’s easy to see why. Designed to have a heel no bigger than one-inch, they look as refined as a stiletto without being anywhere near as vertiginous.
Popularised by legendary shoe designer Roger Vivier (he designed shoes for Dior in the 1950s, among his many achievements, he invented the stiletto), kitten heels are so named because they were considered a training heel for “kittens”: young girls not ready for grown women’s high heel stilettos.
Don’t let that fool you, though - with Marilyn Monroe, Michelle Obama, and Claudia Schiffer frequently wearing a kitten heel, they’ve long since been embraced as an undated, sexy option for full-grown women.
Why a small heel?
Small heels are a great way of giving yourself some height, if you want it, while also helping to make you feel more dressed up and elegant without having to worry about becoming uncomfortable - or, even worse, completely losing your balance.
These are our top picks of nine of the best shoes with small heels on the market right now, ready to help you stride out with confidence when you go ‘out out’ again.