Now, though, one entrepreneur claims she has finally found the formula for high heels that are as comfortable as trainers.

 

Dolly Singh, a former executive with a US space transport company, called on experts including a rocket scientist, an astronaut and an orthopaedic surgeon to help her create the ultimate comfy heels using hi-tech plastics.

 

Ms Singh managed to convince the scientists to tackle it as a 'serious engineering problem' and their first pair of stilettoes is due to go on sale in a few months' time.

 

Unlike traditional stilettoes, which are based on a metal foot plate and rod for a heel, the Thesis Couture shoes are made of high-tech² plastics and polymers.

 

Designed to distribute the wearer's body weight from heel to toe, aerospace-grade foams³ in the sole reduce the impact of each step on the foot by up to 50 per cent.

 

But such functional⁴ fashion does come at a price – up to £600 a pair, to be precise.

 

The first shoes, with heels around three inches high, are expected to go on sale in the autumn.

 

Ms Singh admits they will not have exactly the same feeling as 'tennis shoes', but believes women will find them dramatically more comfortable.

 

She said: 'It's really important for comfortable and sexy to work together.'

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