Heels.

A heel is decided by three numbers: the height, the pitch, and where the heel sits under your foot. Everything else — the brand, the price, the photograph — is downstream of those. A 100mm stiletto with a hidden 12mm platform walks like an 88mm shoe; a true 100mm with the heel set under the ankle stays comfortable far longer than the number suggests.

That's what we compare here. Every duel puts a designer pair against its affordable twin, measures both against the same specs, and tells you which one is still on your feet at hour four.