These shoes hurt. A lot. The stiff plastic material in the heel is very sharp, and ends abruptly. The heel cup is the only part of the shoe that hurts. The rest of the shoe has more pliable leather. The rough edge jabs the inside side of my foot. It ripped through stockings. I'm no shoe designer, I'm not sure how to get a great heel structure without having some sort of stiff material involved. But I wish it were thickly lined with something so my foot is protected from sharp edges rubbing against it.