These shoes look cute and professional. Because of the slight platform going the length of the shoe, the heel appears shorter. Even though there are three inches from the base of your heel to the bottom of the shoe's heel, the amount that the shoe's heel extends below the shoe is only about two inches. Only walked around briefly in the shoes; I think they skew a bit small. The taupe fabric is actually much darker than pictured. The picture appears to be more of a tan/nude color, but these are definitely taupe -- a darkish gray/brown.