I've had a few PM's asking about the lifts I use on my Darth Vader costume.
I made my from wood after being disappointed with store-bought ones.
I am 5'8" barefoot, but in my Darth Vader costume between the inner boot lifts and the height of the helmet I'm usually about 6'5" tall.
Here is a photo I took with a camera on a tripod showing me standing in the same place both barefoot and in full costume. BTW, my eyes are behind the lenses of my helmet, my head really is that much higher with these lifts on.
My lifts go inside just regular boots, I don't wear elevator shoes.
Okay, here you go.
I gotta tell you, the height is great but these things are dogs to wear. I made these as 'prototypes' but they worked so well I've never tried to make more comfortable versions.
Originally I used some 3 inch lifts I found online.
The 2 biggest problems were:
(1) they arched my foot so much that all my weight was resting on the ball of my foot
(2) because the lift was just a lift and free floating inside my boot I was basically standing on my tip-toes balancing all my weight in costume.
Because my foot was in a 'wearing high-heels' position in the back of my boot the majority of the 'foot' area of the boot was empty and folded funny when I would walk.
I designed these lifts to solve several problems.
1. Raise my foot up but lessen the amount of angle required (keep my foot as horizontal as possible)
2. Make the lift to fit snug inside the boot so they become one unit and don't shift around so when I'm wearing them they feel rock-solid
3. Keep the foot area of the boot rigid so when I walk the foot area does not bend in the middle and looks more natural
4. Increase my height as much as I can squeeze out of this set-up and still be able to walk
Here is what I came up with.
Ugly I know, but pretty solid.
First I cut a foot shape out of 5/8" plywood. Then I started cutting, shaping, and attaching lift sized pieces using my store bought lifts as a guide.
The duct tape is there just to round over the edge plus it adds the little bit I needed to get these to a proper 3".
I usually wear a size 10 but my boots are a size 14 to give me the extra room to get my angled foot up in the back of the boot area.
I use a trimmed insole to cushion my foot a little.
While the piece of wood running the length of the boot makes the lifts secure and tight inside the boot, the main reason I designed them this way was to take some of the strain off the ball of my foot.
With just a 3" lift, my heel is 3" higher then the bottom of the inside of the boot but the ball of my foot would be touching the inside of the bottom of the boot at a high angle.
In my configuration, my heel is still 3" higher but the ball of my foot is almost an inch higher making my foot closer to horizontal and at a much less extreme angle increasing comfort. Plus, instead of the ball of my foot sitting on the inside bottom of the boot and being 3/4" off the ground, now it's over an inch off the ground and every little bit of height helps.
And snug down in the boot.
Hope that helps !
I made my from wood after being disappointed with store-bought ones.
I am 5'8" barefoot, but in my Darth Vader costume between the inner boot lifts and the height of the helmet I'm usually about 6'5" tall.
Here is a photo I took with a camera on a tripod showing me standing in the same place both barefoot and in full costume. BTW, my eyes are behind the lenses of my helmet, my head really is that much higher with these lifts on.
My lifts go inside just regular boots, I don't wear elevator shoes.
Okay, here you go.
I gotta tell you, the height is great but these things are dogs to wear. I made these as 'prototypes' but they worked so well I've never tried to make more comfortable versions.
Originally I used some 3 inch lifts I found online.
The 2 biggest problems were:
(1) they arched my foot so much that all my weight was resting on the ball of my foot
(2) because the lift was just a lift and free floating inside my boot I was basically standing on my tip-toes balancing all my weight in costume.
Because my foot was in a 'wearing high-heels' position in the back of my boot the majority of the 'foot' area of the boot was empty and folded funny when I would walk.
I designed these lifts to solve several problems.
1. Raise my foot up but lessen the amount of angle required (keep my foot as horizontal as possible)
2. Make the lift to fit snug inside the boot so they become one unit and don't shift around so when I'm wearing them they feel rock-solid
3. Keep the foot area of the boot rigid so when I walk the foot area does not bend in the middle and looks more natural
4. Increase my height as much as I can squeeze out of this set-up and still be able to walk
Here is what I came up with.
Ugly I know, but pretty solid.
First I cut a foot shape out of 5/8" plywood. Then I started cutting, shaping, and attaching lift sized pieces using my store bought lifts as a guide.
The duct tape is there just to round over the edge plus it adds the little bit I needed to get these to a proper 3".
I usually wear a size 10 but my boots are a size 14 to give me the extra room to get my angled foot up in the back of the boot area.
I use a trimmed insole to cushion my foot a little.
While the piece of wood running the length of the boot makes the lifts secure and tight inside the boot, the main reason I designed them this way was to take some of the strain off the ball of my foot.
With just a 3" lift, my heel is 3" higher then the bottom of the inside of the boot but the ball of my foot would be touching the inside of the bottom of the boot at a high angle.
In my configuration, my heel is still 3" higher but the ball of my foot is almost an inch higher making my foot closer to horizontal and at a much less extreme angle increasing comfort. Plus, instead of the ball of my foot sitting on the inside bottom of the boot and being 3/4" off the ground, now it's over an inch off the ground and every little bit of height helps.
And snug down in the boot.
Hope that helps !
Last edited:
