Glittery, check-me-out thigh-high boots. Aqua blue patent leather slingbacks with six-inch heels. Knee-high boots covered with the logo of Da Bears.

If it's unique or edgy high-heeled boots, pumps, platforms or slides that you're after, Skyscraper Heels, at 2202 W. Belmont, is the place to be.

Sitting in a leopard print chair at the shop, owner Gary Page, 63, says customers are drawn to the store for its special, one-of-a-kind styles and a wide range of sizes of high-heeled boots and shoes. The shop, which opened about nine years ago, caters to folks who can't find what they want at Payless, DWS or Nordstrom, and also offers custom-made boots and shoes.

As for eight-inch heels, Page says, "They're more for impressing people" than for achieving comfort. Most smaller sizes, though, are pretty manageable. "They're not hard to walk in if you're used to heels," he says.

At Page's suggestion, I slide into a pair of black leather three and three-fourth-inch slides and check myself out in the mirror with a sign that reads, "Do you have a foot fetish? We do!"

The heels make my legs look longer and more toned, and I'm surprised at how comfortable it is walking in them. Then I try on a pair of red leather five-inch spiky-heeled slides, and my legs look fierce as I strut around the shop. I have a feeling that I might trip soon, though.

At least one loyal Skyscraper Heels customer, though, can't get enough pairs of shoes with six-inch heels. The woman, who lives in Arizona, has bought at least 30 pairs over the years, Page says. Although she wears pantsuits to work, she always wears six-inch heels with suits that are tailored to skim just above the ground. That way, nobody sees how high her heels are and how short she really is, Page says.

One of the best things about working at Skyscraper Heels is helping customers who have problems finding shoes that fit, Page says. "People who like shoes smile from ear to ear when they come in," he says.

About 90 percent of the boots and shoes at Skyscraper Heels are made in California, and 10 percent are imports. And if someone wants a personalized boot or shoe, Page says he can usually order it.

"They'll make what we want and in the sizes we want," he says of the shoe manufacturing companies in California that he uses regularly. Although cost varies depending on the material used, the shop tries to mix and match existing designs to help keep down the cost of custom-made shoes. Often a custom-made order might be only $10 more than a similar pair already in the store, he says.

Skyscraper Heels caters to the transgender community, exotic dancers and other performers.

"A lot of people just love high heels," Page says. "And people stop in for something different, especially if they have a fit problem."

Many people need a wide shoe because they have a high instep, or more flesh on top of the foot. Male performers often need to get boots custom-made because their legs are so big and muscular. Since the shop carries boots and shoes up to size 14 and in varying widths, the shop created a customized pair of size 13 sky-blue patent leather thigh-high boots for a man in Vegas, and a similar pair hangs from a wall in the shop.

Office workers favor pumps, younger women often go for pointy-toe styles, and for strippers and other performers, Page says, "You need heels."

Sometimes female police officers dressing up as undercover prostitutes come in to buy heels for work. He laughs, recalling how excited some female officers were to shop for boots for work because they planned to later incorporate the boots into their own wardrobes.

Page, who grew up in Rochelle, Illinois, moved to Chicago in 1961 for college, but instead of getting a degree, he wound up running a bicycle business, drove a bus for a little while and in the late 1970s started a successful moving business, which he ran for 24 years.

He quit his moving business in 2003, though, because he says, "My knees were giving out."

Page got into selling high-heel shoes and boots after he found a small shoe business that went bankrupt and had dozens of remaining pairs of "very high heels" in sizes 10-13.

For a while he sold the shoes at a lingerie shop. "It was kind of fun and I really liked it," he says. So, he opened Skyscraper Heels up the street from the lingerie shop and expanded his selection of shoes and boots. Eventually the lingerie shop folded, and now Skyscraper Heels also carries Vollers corsets, which Page gets from the England-based company that began in 1899.

And what kind of shoes does Gary go for?

He walks to the back of the store and returns to the front of the shop, smiling as he shows me a pair of five-inch spiky-heeled slides with "Amanda Reckenwith" spelled out in rhinestones. He says he wore them to a spring party a year ago. He also shows me a pair of pink platforms with a clear five-inch heel, which holds small flowers inside.

To check out the full selection, Skyscraper Heels, 2202 W. Belmont Ave., is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, call 773-477-8495.