When it comes to high-heeled shoes, most women are willing to tolerate pain for for fashion.
But does paying top dollars for high heels make a difference on comfort?
Consumer Reports ShopSmart tested basic heels ranging from $30 a pair all the way up to $575 a pair to find out.
The shoes on display at the Manolo Blahnik boutique are top of the line and you can easily spend a small fortune there. Anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars.
To find out if high-end, expensive shoes are worth the high price, Consumer Reports ShopSmart rounded up more than a dozen testers to try out three different pairs.
"We covered up all the labels so the women couldn't tell which were the less expensive pairs of shoes and which were the expensive ones," says Mandy Walker of Consumer Reports ShopSmart.
The shoes included a $30 pair of Mossimo's from Target, $69 heels from Nine West, and a $575 pair from Manolo Blahnik.
The women walked a defined course twice a day for a week in each pair of shoes. They filled out a ballot each time.
Most of the women thought two pairs looked and felt pretty good, but not the $30 pair from Target.
"I was holding onto the wall when I was walking around the building testing them," says Cathy Cotters, a Consumer Reports tester.
"These shoes were the most uncomfortable of the ones that we tested," says Lisa Gill, another Consumer Reports tester.
To size up how well each shoe was made, ShopSmart went extreme by cutting the shoes in half.
"Overall the Manolos were a better-made shoe," says Walker. "The materials they were made of were superior, and many of the women liked the styling, too."
However, in the blind tests more women thought the $69 Nine West shoes were more comfortable.
ShopSmart says the smart money move with high heels is to make fit the deciding factor.
"Determine the style you want, what your budget is, and if they feel good when you walk around in them, buy them," says Walker.
Consumer Reports ShopSmart says good leather heels need special care. It's best not to wear them two days in a row. That gives the shoes time to dry out. And avoid wearing them in bad weather. Step in a puddle with oil, gas, or road salt, and you can ruin them.
