If you are a lover of Louboutin shoes, you likely are aware of these iconic shoes which have been around for over a decade. The Christian Louboutin Pigalle 120 are known for being remarkably sexy, and draw tons of attention. They were named after the designers favorite Parisian city, which is an around the Place Pigalle.
They come in a variety of heel sizes, but the 120mm are the ones often seen on the feet of many celebrities, and fashion influencers. When I ordered mine a few years ago, they were sold out just about everywhere. I stalked the Saks site for months until one day they FINALLY restocked. I felt like Cinderella slipping on her glass shoe when I put these on for the first time. I also knew that these shoes had graduated me to the big leagues of FootCandy as these were not your average slip on and go pumps. I had done my research and now it was time to prep them for actual wear.
The 120 Pigalle as beautiful as they are, are NOT for the casual high heel wearer. The steep of them is basically 5 inches and you are resting completely on the balls of your feet. The toe box is very short which gives amazing cleavage, but is another challenge when it comes to breaking them in. These require a few days of around the house walking just to get accustomed to the height, and also give the leather time to start molding to your feet. I wore socks with mine while watching TV to accelerate the process.
Given that you are resting on the balls of your feet, you almost need to walk toes first as opposed to heel first when hitting the ground Some make the mistake of ordering a size up thinking that it will make them more comfortable, but the problem with that is they will slip off your feet. After breaking mine in which were initially a snug fit, I can now slip in and out of them with ease. But if I had ordered up, I would be falling out of them. Not something you want to do when you are 5″ off the ground.
In recent years, the Pigalle Follies was introduced. The difference is that the heel is THINNER on the Pigalle Follies so each step must be taken which care, as the heel WILL buckle. The 120’s also come in a Pigalle Plato which has a 1″ platform, but I feel like that is cheating. Go big or go home!
How I (Vee) Rock It
I reserve wearing these for when walking will be at a MINIMUM, and lots of sitting pretty is involved. These are the definition of Limo shoes (Urban Dictionary: Shoes that are too tall, delicate and expensive to walk in thus necessitating the wearer to be driven around). However, my black patent pair are broken is so well that I was able to wear them to a black tie event recently and was on my feet for about 3 hours. But again, I am used to wearing heels, and these specifically. Not recommended for your first few wears.
Styling them is rarely difficult. They class up a pair of jeans, and fit seamlessly with a beautiful gown or dress. I shy away from wearing them with anything too short and tight, as I feel like they can steer you into call girl territory, but that is just me. No judgement!
