Elevator Shoe Height Differences in Numbers | How 5 cm, 6 cm, 7 cm and 8 cm Really Look

When choosing elevator shoes, the hardest decision is “so how many cm should I go for?”

What you really want to know comes down to one thing: how much does the way others see you change between 5 cm and 8 cm? The conclusion: 5 cm is “the height that changes your impression without being noticed,” and 8 cm is “the height that visibly changes where you stand relative to others.” Taking a 170 cm man who becomes 175 cm or 178 cm as the example, we put the effect on eye level, standing side by side, photos, sitting down and pants length into numbers, and list the LEVANO models for each height in a table. “Which height looks natural” is already covered in How Much Height Should Elevator Shoes Add? Comparing 5, 6, 7, and 8 cm, so this article focuses on what changes, and how.

The “5cm UP” or “8cm UP” in a product name is the height built into the heel of the shoe, and it adds exactly that much to your barefoot height. What other people usually see, however, is “you in your everyday shoes.” A typical sneaker heel is 2 to 3 cm and a dress-shoe heel around 2.5 to 3 cm, so the change people notice when you switch from your usual shoes (the perceived difference) is the stated height minus the heel height of your usual shoes.

Your eyes sit roughly 10 to 12 cm below the top of your head, so if the top of your head rises 5 cm, your eye level rises 5 cm too. Taking a face-to-face conversation with someone who is 158 cm (barefoot) as the example, we calculated the angle they look up at, assuming a conversation distance of 60 cm and eye level 11 cm below the top of the head for both people.

In angle terms, that is a difference of about 4.5° at 5 cm and about 7° at 8 cm. Your eyes move from “level with the top of their head” to “about a palm’s width above it (roughly 6 to 9 cm),” so the other person unconsciously lifts their chin slightly while talking. That is what the feeling of “talking to a tall person” actually is.

When you stand side by side, what catches the other person’s eye is the difference at the top of the head and at the shoulders. Shoulder position moves with height, so a 5 cm lift raises your shoulders by about 5 cm as well.

If the other person’s shoulders are close to yours in height, even 5 cm flips who is taller; against someone who is already 10 cm or more taller, even 8 cm only “narrows the gap a little.”

Even with an 8 cm height boost, the way you look does not change in every situation. Separating the situations where it shows from those where it does not lets you work backwards from “where do I want it to count?” to the right height.

When your heel rises, the hem of the same pants lifts off the floor and looks shorter by the perceived difference. A floating hem exposes the side of the shoe and can give the thick sole away, so as a rule, think about height and pants length together.

Straight or wide pants with a wider leg opening hide the side of the shoe more easily, so even at 8 cm the thick sole is less likely to be spotted. For how to set the break and the right length for each shoe type, see What Trouser Length Works with Elevator Shoes? The Right Hem Length and Silhouette, where we cover it in detail.

Even at the same height, the type of shoe changes which occasions it suits, so choose with the ◎ occasions on the cards below in mind. Size ranges: the sneakers, no03 and no09 run 25.0 to 28.0 cm, no20 and no21 24.0 to 27.5 cm, and no29 24.0 to 26.5 cm.