Posture, Poise, and Presence: The Lucie Clayton Method for Modern Confidence

Darling, let me share a secret that changed everything for my clients: the difference between tottering and gliding in heels isn’t about your shoes, it’s about what’s holding them up. Your posture.

When I trained at Lucie Clayton Finishing School, I learned something that transcends trends and decades. Posture, deportment, elegance, and presence aren’t old-fashioned concepts reserved for finishing schools and royalty. They’re timeless principles that work for everyone, every single time. Whether you’re stepping into heels for the first time, exploring your authentic identity through fashion, preparing for a boardroom meeting, or preparing to command a runway, these principles are your foundation.

I trained with the coach who taught the Duchess of Cambridge. That expertise wasn’t about rigid formality or pretentious elegance. It was about understanding how the human body moves, how alignment creates confidence, and how presence radiates from within when your physical foundation is solid.

That’s what I’m here to share with you.

Why Lucie Clayton Principles Matter Today

Lucie Clayton Finishing School taught women (and now, through Walking in Heels, everyone) the art of moving through the world with grace. But this wasn’t about conformity. It was about empowerment. It was about understanding that when you know how to carry yourself, you can show up anywhere, be anyone, and command respect through presence alone.

The principles are simple, but their impact is profound.

Posture creates alignment. Alignment creates balance. Balance creates confidence. And confidence creates presence. That chain reaction is what transforms not just how you walk in heels, but how you move through life.

For those of you in the cross-dressing community, exploring your authentic identity, or stepping into heels as a form of self-expression, these principles are powerful. They’re not about fitting into someone else’s ideal. They’re about embodying your own power. When your posture is aligned and your presence is grounded, you’re not trying to be someone else. You’re fully, unapologetically yourself.

For aspiring models preparing for castings and runway opportunities, these principles are your competitive advantage. Professional models don’t just wear clothes and walk. They command space. They project presence. And that begins with understanding posture, alignment, and how to move with intention.

The Foundation: What Is Posture, Really?

Posture isn’t about looking stiff or standing at attention like you’re in the military. That’s a common misconception, and it’s why so many people resist working on their posture.

True posture is alignment. It’s about stacking your joints in a way that distributes your weight efficiently, engages your core naturally, and allows your body to move with ease rather than tension.

When your ears are aligned over your shoulders, your shoulders are relaxed and rolled back, your spine maintains its natural curves, your core is gently engaged, and your hips are level, something magical happens. Your body stops fighting gravity. Instead, you’re working with it. Movement becomes effortless. Balance becomes natural. And confidence blooms because your body feels secure.

In heels, this becomes even more crucial. Heels change your centre of gravity. They alter how your weight distributes through your feet and legs. But when your posture is aligned, your body adapts beautifully. The heel becomes an extension of your intention, not a liability.

The Lucie Clayton Breakdown: Posture From Head to Toe

Let me walk you through what proper posture looks like, the Lucie Clayton way:

Your Head: Keep your chin level and your gaze forward. Your eyes should look ahead, not down at your feet (even though every beginner wants to). This naturally lengthens your neck, opens your chest, and signals confidence to the world. Your head should feel balanced on top of your spine, not jutting forward or pulled back.

Your Shoulders: Roll them back and down. Feel your shoulder blades drawing down your back. They should feel relaxed, not tense or squeezed. This opens your chest, broadens your silhouette, and prevents the hunched posture that undermines a beautiful walk. Tension in your shoulders creates tension everywhere else. Release them, and everything improves.

Your Spine: Maintain its natural S-shape. You’re not arching dramatically or flattening it out. You’re honouring your body’s natural architecture. This is what allows flexibility, ease, and grace in movement.

Your Core: Gently engage your abdominal muscles as if you’re drawing your navel toward your spine, but don’t hold your breath or create tension. This subtle engagement creates stability through your entire torso, supports your lower back, and gives you the foundation you need for beautiful movement in heels.

Your Hips: Keep them level and relaxed. Your hips should move naturally with your walk, not jut forward excessively or sway dramatically. When your core is engaged and everything above is aligned, your hips find their natural rhythm effortlessly.

Your Legs and Feet: With everything aligned above, your legs and feet can relax into the movement. This is where the real magic happens. You’re not tensing every muscle to stay upright. You’re using alignment and core strength to maintain balance, which means you can move with fluidity and grace.

Deportment: The Invisible Magic

Deportment is a word we don’t use much anymore, but it’s essential to understanding the Lucie Clayton method. Deportment is how you carry yourself. It’s the invisible quality that makes someone stand out in a room before they’ve even spoken.

When your posture is aligned, your deportment improves automatically. You carry yourself differently. Your energy shifts. People sense it. They respond to it. It’s not arrogance or aloofness. It’s quiet, grounded confidence.

For cross-dressers and transgender individuals, deportment becomes a powerful tool for embodying your authentic identity. It’s not about performing femininity or masculinity in some artificial way. It’s about moving through the world with the quiet assurance of someone who knows exactly who they are. Posture and deportment give you that foundation.

Presence: The Ultimate Outcome

Presence isn’t something you’re born with. It’s something you build. And it begins with posture.

When your body is aligned, when your posture communicates ease and confidence, you naturally project presence. You command attention without demanding it. You’re fully in your body, fully grounded, fully present in the moment.

For aspiring models, presence is what separates the good from the exceptional. A model with perfect proportions but poor posture goes unnoticed. A model with average proportions but extraordinary presence gets booked. Presence comes from alignment, from understanding how to carry yourself, from the quiet confidence that radiates when your physical foundation is solid.

How the Lucie Clayton Method Transforms Your Walk

Let me show you how these principles work together in actual heel walking:

You step into a pair of heels. Without proper posture, your body immediately fights the heel. Your shoulders hunch forward to compensate. Your core disengages. Your hips shift. You wobble because your foundation is unstable.

But with proper posture, everything changes. Your shoulders stay back and relaxed. Your core is gently engaged, providing stability. Your hips stay level. Your weight distributes naturally through your feet. The heel becomes easy. The walk becomes fluid. And suddenly, you’re not surviving in heels. You’re gliding.

That’s not magic. That’s biomechanics. That’s understanding how your body works and using that knowledge to your advantage.

From Beginners to Aspiring Models: This Method Works for Everyone

One of the most beautiful things about the Lucie Clayton method is its universal applicability.

If you’re brand new to heels and feeling wobbly, these posture principles will give you the foundation you need. If you’re exploring your identity through heels and want to feel authentically yourself, proper posture helps you embody that authenticity. If you’re a professional or aspiring model preparing for the catwalk, these principles are your competitive advantage.

The Private Assessment and Foundations Session (£195 | 90 minutes) is designed specifically to assess your posture, teach you proper alignment, and give you personalised guidance based on your unique body and goals. It’s a one-off session that sets the foundation for everything else.

If you’re ready for deeper, ongoing work, the VIP Private Coaching Session (£400 | 2 hours) or the VIP Transformation Package (£1,350-£1,600 | 4 to 6 sessions) both focus heavily on posture refinement, deportment, and building the presence that transforms how you move through the world.

For aspiring models specifically, Model Mastery (£250-£295 | 90 minutes) includes professional walk coaching with a focus on posture, stride, rhythm, and the presence that commands casting rooms and runways.

The Confidence That Follows

Here’s what happens when posture clicks into place:

Clients arrive at their first session uncertain, shoulders hunched, eyes down. We work on alignment. We focus on posture. And then, halfway through the session, something shifts. Their shoulders drop. Their breathing deepens. They smile. They walk across the studio, and suddenly they feel it: the difference. The ease. The confidence.

It’s not that the heels have changed. It’s that their body has found its foundation. And from that foundation, confidence grows.

That’s the Lucie Clayton method in action. That’s what decades of expertise, royal training, and genuine understanding of human movement can offer you.

Your Posture, Your Presence, Your Power

2026 is your year to step into your power. Whether that’s your first confident step in heels, your most authentic self-expression, or your professional debut on a runway, it all begins with posture.

Posture isn’t just physical. It’s psychological. It’s spiritual. When you carry yourself with alignment and ease, your brain registers safety and strength. You stop worrying about falling. You start enjoying the sensation of moving elegantly. You feel the difference, and the world sees it.

The Lucie Clayton method has been transforming how women (and now, everyone) moves for generations. That expertise is yours now. That’s what Walking in Heels offers: not just coaching, but a legacy of elegance, confidence, and presence that goes back decades.

Chin up. Shoulders back. Hips forward. That’s the foundation. Everything else flows from there.

Your stride is waiting. Let’s make it fierce.

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Walking in Heels by Maribel Coles, where confidence begins with a single stride.