OSTEOPATH Coby Langford advises caution when it comes to striding out in killer heels "Jayne will probably feel heels are more comfortable than flat shoes because her hamstrings and calf muscles will have shortened by wearing them regularly," she says.

"But as well as developing bunions (who can forget Victoria Beckham's bunion?) and calluses on your feet because all the weight is on the toes, heels also push the pelvis forward. The whole body has to compensate by leaning backwards. This can cause lower back problems and in the long-term, arthritis in the spine and feet.

"You can also get headaches from holding your head forwards to get a point of balance. Everyone is different. Heels are fine for the odd night out - although you might end up breaking an ankle if you topple. However, wearing these every day is really bad for your back."

WITH their trademark red sole and sky scraper heels, Christian Louboutin shoes are at the top of every fashionista's shopping list. Whether you can actually walk in them is irrelevant, according to shoe experts, as women should be prepared to suffer for their shapely calves.

Practical

Sebastian Maines, director for accessories at Selfridges, says: "If you want practical get a pair of trainers!

"Buying shoes is an emotion, it's as simple as that. As long as they make you look gorgeous and feel good that's the most important thing - they put a smile on your face."

And it's not just celebrities who are going all Sex and the City, shelling out between £300 and £1,200 for a pair of heels. Louboutins are currently Selfridges' best-selling designer shoe and 40 pairs are snapped up a week in the Exchange Square store, with students, young mums and professionals eager to be owners - as well as our local WAGs.

Jayne Christensen, already has four pairs of Louboutins in her collection and has the new £600, impractically high, 16cm (6.5in) heels on her wish list.

"I think that every girl should own a pair," she says. "I first got interested in them because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. But now I'm hoooked. They are all about glamour. They make you feel sexy. There's just something about that glimpse of red sole and I love the fact that they are low cut so you get a bit of toe-cleavage showing."

Accessories

Jayne wears her 4.5inch heel Louboutins for work as an accessories sales manager - standing for between eight and 12 hours at a time on the shop floor. But even she admits the latest Louboutin trend for heels scraping the seven inch barrier, will challenge the most die-hard fans.

"People do say to me, `How can you wear those all day?' but I find that my feet hurt more now if I wear flats. It's about posture. You hold yourself differently in high heels and it makes you feel different. I don't feel dressed if I've got flats on.

"I live in the city centre so I wear my little Jimmy Choo flats to walk to work and put my heels on when I get into work. You can't really wear them on the cobbles because it would ruin them.

"I wouldn't carry two pairs of shoes on a night out. When you're wearing these lovely shoes you get a taxi everywhere, but then again if you've spent £600 on a pair of shoes you want to get a taxi."

So, you can't walk very far or very fast in them, you can't wear them for long periods of time and you should refrain from wearing them in the rain? It seems the more impractical the Louboutin the more coveted it becomes.

But as the French shoe supremo once said: "In designing shoes I'm not thinking of a specific person or catwalk. I'm just not thinking of clothes at all. I'm always thinking of a naked woman, actually."

Maines, a Frenchman himself, is currently putting together Selfridges biggest shoe department outside London at Selfridges Trafford Centre store as well as a revamp to the shoe department at Exchange Square which between them will house one of the largest collections of Louboutins outside the capital.