FEET OF DARING; TAKING A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE CAN BE PRECARIOUS IN SEXY STILETTOS.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan Daily News Staff Writer

These shoes aren't made for walking.

Except maybe if you're a runway model. Or drumming up business for a podiatrist. Or a masochist.

This fall, the stiletto stampeded off the runways and into the fashion mags. After a brief relegation to Frederick's of Hollywood, spiked heels have walked out of the bedroom and strip clubs and into, believe it not, Nordstrom.

Women like Sherri Pennington, an executive assistant, are taking the painful fashion trend in stride.

``I've been looking for them for two months, ever since I saw Cindy Crawford wearing them in GQ,'' said Pennington, 31, while shopping for her first pair at the mall. ``They're very sexy .... Not only that, we've been wearing thick heels for at least five years now. It's time for a change.''

Like no other article of clothing, (except maybe the bra) shoes of all types have a cultural significance beyond mere footwear.

Imelda Marcos collected them. Marla Maples' publicist stole them. Sports figures make millions selling them.

``We pack a lot of symbolic and allegorical meaning into shoes,'' said Melissa Leventon, curator of textiles at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which recently hosted a historical shoe exhibition. ``Doing something on a shoestring. Putting your best foot forward. If the shoe fits, wear it. These phrases are a measure of how significant shoes are to us culturally, emotionally and intellectually.''

And the stiletto, with its narrow, tapered heel and heights upward of 4 inches, is footwear's most extreme expression.

``The stiletto is an exaggerated form of high heels, so they call attention to themselves on the basis of their excess,'' said Suzanne Ferriss, associate professor of liberal arts at Nova South Eastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who is researching a book exploring the cultural, social and political meaning of shoes.

No, these shoes aren't made for walking. But step into a pair, and you're certainly dressed to thrill. Just ask your average Joe.

``If you manage to dance with a woman wearing stiletto heels, you have the potential for a very interesting evening,'' said Jeffrey Evans, 29, a staffing executive for a Chatsworth firm.

Euphemisms aside, the evening might not live up to expectations. It's entirely possible your hot date will end up hobbling to a hospital before the night is over.

Podiatrists are already shrieking warnings. Typical high heels over time can cause foot deformities such as hammertoes, neuromas (nerve pains), corns (a thickening of skin on or between the toes), bunions (an inflammation under the first joint of the big toe) and a shortening of the Achilles tendon.

But the perils of stilettos can be as innocuous as an uneven sidewalk.

Century City podiatrist Keith Gurnick said he has already seen an increase in sprains and broken foot bones caused by falls from stilettos.

One of Gurnick's patients, a senior at Beverly Hills High School, twisted her ankle while wearing platform stilettos and broke a bone in her foot.

``What do you think was the only thing she cared about? Would she be able to wear her high heels to the prom,'' Gurick said.

So he removed her cast for prom night, then put the cast back on the next day.

So if you still feel compelled to wear these sculpted marvels, save them for evenings when you'll do a lot of sitting, says Agoura Hills podiatrist Lorie Robinson. Standing in stilettos can cause back pain because of the tilted pelvis and unstable posture.

If you've ever wanted daintier feet, here's one reason to love your big ones. Stilettos are generally kinder to big feet than small ones because of basic geometry: raising a small and a big foot to the same height, the smaller foot is at a more severe incline.

Still, the question remains. Will women, liberated by far more utilitarian thick, wide heels and square toes that have been ``in'' recently, jam their feet into shoes only Barbie could love?

Laurie Thibodeaux, a 30-something actress and bartender, has 10 pairs of stilettos from the '80s she plans to start wearing again.

``There's more of you to look at in stilettos,'' Thibodeaux said. ``Your whole body looks like you're ready to reach up and hug that man.''

But Stacey Condren, 30, a medical student, was in the market recently for comfy shoes with rubber soles.

``I think stilettos are ridiculous,'' Condren said. ``They're very silly .... It's pretty sad that women will wear something that's bad for them and completely not functional.''

Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey pronounced her feelings during a recent show by staging a ``Stiletto Revolt.''

``I'm putting my foot down on one fashion comeback that has me a little annoyed,'' Winfrey said. `` 'Cause, I'm like, was this necessary?'' At least in fashion, the answer is yes. The stiletto first appeared on Paris runways in 1952 and has come in and out of fashion several times, says Linda O'Keefe in her 1996 book ``Shoes: A Celebration of Pumps, Sandals, Slippers & More.''

``Seen as symbols of aggression, heightened sexuality and playful defiance, stiletto heels became the trademark of the naughty girl,'' O'Keefe writes.

The elevation of the heel raises the derriere, forcing the breasts out and the wearer to adopt a distinctive, hip swinging gait that has come to be associated with femininity. The height also creates the illusion of longer legs, smaller feet, slender ankles and well-defines calves.

``They exaggerate the sexual characteristics of the female form,'' Ferriss said.

Given the sexual connotations, it comes as no surprise the stiletto is a favorite among fetishists. But it's not necessarily men's desire that is fueling the fad. Some say they think stilettos make a woman look, well, silly.

``I think they're terrible,'' said Richard Palmer, 56. ``A little 2- or 3-inch pump, that's what I like. The kind a stewardess wears.''

Still, major retail stores are counting on the stiletto gaining popularity. Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Nordstrom stock designer stilettos.

``They still look painful to us,'' said Amy Knecht, shoe department manager at Bloomingdale's in Sherman Oaks, ``but we've had a lot of requests for stilettos.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) The Agony and the Sex-tacy

Provocative stilettos are back, turning men's heads - and women's ankles

(2) no caption (Stilettos - Buildings)

Myung J. Chun/Daily News