In Vancouver, a former runway model is giving classes to teach women how to walk in high heels. At 6 p.m. on a Tuesday evening, the professional-looking women, who have each paid $25 to attend, are sitting in a semicircle listening to the tips dispensed by High Heel Appeal workshop instructor Suzanne Fetting.

Forty-six-year-old Yvonne Van Amerongen raises her hand to share a nightmare high-heel story. “I was in Grade 12. I’d worn a dress to school that day and high heels to go with it. A boy I had a crush on was coming up the hallway. I was descending a set of stairs toward him and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to impress him.’ The next thing I knew I was in a heap on the floor in front of him. That kind of swore me off high heels for the rest of my life. I just always associated high heels after that with the danger of humiliation.”

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