A woman will wear high heels over 51 years of her life, according to a study which links stilettos to the female psyche.

The average woman puts on her first pair at 12 and takes off her last at 63, when comfort begins to take precedence.

She will start with a low one-inch heel and build up to a towering five inches by the age of 23, as she teeters into womanhood.

There will be a small dip in the early 30s, when many women are running after young children. But the first real drop does not occur until the late 40s and early 50s, when the average heel falls to just under two inches.

Only old age and increasing frailty finally brings the enduring love affair to a reluctant end, sales figure show.

Said Debenhams spokesman Ed Watson: 'Deciding to put away their high heels for the last time can have the same psychologicalimpact upon women that retiring from work has upon men.

'It's an all too public admission that they are getting older, and so naturally many women want to postpone this evil day for as long as possible.

The central role of high heels in a woman's psyche emerged during Debenhams continuing extensive research into the entire women's shoe market.

It reveals that the heel height worn by women begins to rise in early teens, increasing rapidly from 2.5cm to a whopping 13.5 cms by the age of 23.

Walking tall continues to be the order of the day through a woman's late 20s and 30s, only beginning to decline slightly by the age of 35 - possibly due to childbirth, Debenhams figures show.

High heels continue to feature prominently in her wardrobe through her late 30s and up until her mid 40s - the period when many women are building a successful career.

The first real dip in heel height only occurs in a woman's late 40s and early 50s, when the average height drops to 4.5 cms. And a final drop to 2.5 cms - virtually a normal height heel - occurs from 63 onwards.

Said Ed Watson: 'These results show that a woman's entire life can be mapped out according to the height of the heel she wears. After a meteoric rise, through youth and early adulthood, they begin to settle down before dropping back gracefully to a comfortable old age.

一项探讨女性心理与鞋跟变化的研究发现，女人一生中穿高跟鞋的时间长达51年。

一个普通女性从12岁开始穿高跟鞋，到了63岁才真正与它说再见--因为这个年龄开始以舒适为重。

随着女孩到女人的转变，女性的鞋跟也从1英寸逐渐增加到23岁时的5英寸。

在30岁早期，女性的鞋跟高度出现小幅下降，因为这一时期很多人要跟在孩子后面到处跑。但是鞋跟开始真正意义上的下降是到了她们四五十岁的时候，这一阶段女性鞋跟的平均高度降至不到2英寸。

相关销售数据显示，只有到了年老体弱的时候，女人才会恋恋不舍地与高跟鞋说再见。

英国Debenhams百货公司发言人埃德•沃特森说："决定把高跟鞋彻底收起来对女性心理的影响与退休对男性的影响差不多。"

"这等于是在向众人宣布，她们开始慢慢变老，所以难怪很多女性想把这个噩梦般的日子尽可能地往后拖。"

Debenhams百货在对整个女鞋市场进行广泛调查的过程中发现了高跟鞋对于女性心理的重要意义。

调查发现，女性的鞋跟在她们少年早期开始增高，从2.5厘米迅速增长到23岁时的13.5厘米。

调查数据显示，在女人二三十岁时，高跟鞋是她们生活中不可或缺的必需品，到了35岁时，她们的鞋跟才开始略微下降，这可能是生孩子的缘故。

从30岁晚期到40岁中期，高跟鞋仍然是女性鞋柜中的"宠儿"，在这一时期，很多女性的事业正走向成功。

鞋跟真正意义上的下降是到了女性40岁晚期、开始步入50岁的时候，这一阶段女性的鞋跟高度平均下降至4.5厘米；从63岁开始，鞋跟最终降至2.5厘米的正常高度。

埃德•沃特森说，这些结果表明，一个女人的一生可以用她的鞋跟高度来勾画。在经历了青年和少年早期的陡然增高后，她们开始稳定下来，直到讲究舒适的老年时期最终降回到正常的高度。