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Six inch killer heels hit the high street

By Lucy Halfhead on Tuesday 8 September 2009

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Kurt Geiger stiletto - Fashion - Marie Claire

Six inch killer heels have hit the high street after demand from women who want to emulate stars such as Cheryl Cole or Victoria Beckham.

Among the tallest stiletto heels ever sold in mainstream shops, the ‘Miss KG Goldie’ shoes are on sale in Debenhams, the department store chain. At £65, the gold glitter-clad ‘mega platforms’ are a fraction of the price of designer alternatives.

The chain said that it expected the shoes to be a best seller with customer research showing that women want higher and higher heels.

But it could upset the TUC which is campaigning against companies imposing dress codes which require high heels.

The organisation recently commissioned a report on workplace footwear which condemned some airlines, City banks and upmarket shops for dress codes which were ‘sexist’ and dangerous from a health and safety point of view.

It recommends heels should be no higher than one and a half inches and shorter than an inch if worn for prolonged periods.

One study published last year estimated that damage to women's feet caused by excessive wearing of high heels costs the NHS £29 million a year to put right, including simple procedures such as removing bunions as well as complex operations to straighten toes.

A survey funded by the shoemaker MBT found that almost half of women in Liverpool and Manchester wore heels all week long yet 40% of women had twisted their ankle or had some other kind of accident while wearing stilettos.

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