Lady Gaga can change her look faster than we can blink. Right now, she’s probably got a team of stylists and makeup artists transforming her into an elf, or a wraith, or a bush. Who knows? Whatever her next look is, you can be sure it’ll be a fully-realized masterpiece. And you can bet her shoes will be even more shocking.

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Let’s face it: The footwear she’s become famous for doesn’t exactly scream “comfort!”—remember those Alexander McQueen armadillo heels?—so most of us wouldn’t dream of wearing them for a walking tour of Versailles, or a trip to the local mall. But here’s the big secret: Most of Gaga’s shoes are actually not as terribly awful as they seem. Why? Because mostly all of them feature a heel and a platform that are on a mostly even plane.

Any footwear-fetishizing gal worth her salt knows that equal parts heel and platform make for easier-to-walk-in shoes because the foot doesn’t have to arch and bend. So, that ten-inch stripper heel actually only has a three-inch heel once you factor in the seven-inch platform to the shoe. Et voila! 

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We’ve sifted through hundreds of photos of the “Applause” singer, and found some of her most wild and wonderful pairs of shoes that illustrate this point. Take a look, and tell us what you think of Lady Gaga and her shoes below!