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These ‘ASOS DESIGN heeled chelsea boots in black faux leather with chain detail’ seemed to me to provide the right balance between enjoyment and discretion and I could no longer resist them when a double discount was on offer. I usually wear a UK11 or 12 and opted for 12 (securing the last pair, it seems) to allow thicker socks if needed. First impressions were favourable – a 3 5/8” heel, a zipped shaft taller than the online advert implied, and an almond toe. The fit was good and comfortable indoors. The ‘round’ heel may not appeal to some, but it is not really noticeable. Likewise, the gilt chain detail is perhaps rather too ‘blingy’, but could be removed. The hollow plastic heels were, as expected, rather noisy – and the plastic top pieces will obviously wear and need replacement. I decided to modify them before wearing them outdoors. The top pieces (held by four pegs) were carefully prised off and fitted with discs of 1/4" composition material, glued on. (I used a hole cutter, without its centre drill, to produce discs just a tad too large, which were then reduced and smoothed on my grinding wheel before glueing.) To dampen noise, I filled the hollow heels with compacted sawdust, with pieces of crimped drinking straw inserted temporarily into the peg holes to stop sawdust entering. The top pieces were then pressed in; the fit seems firm enough not to need any adhesive. The composition layer can of course be removed when worn and replaced. Adding the extra layer to the top piece has increased the heel height to 3 7/8”. The balance of the boots has not been affected; indeed, they sit rather better with the extra height. I wore them outside briefly with thick socks and bootcut jeans and they seem comfortable enough. The pics show the boots as received, as worn with bootcut jeans, and the stages of heel modification.

I have been getting this persistent advertisement in my social media feed for the last couple of weeks. It is a 30-something woman telling me that the staple of my shoe collection should be kitten heels. Every so often, it seems to happen that somebody, somewhere, thinks that the kitten heel is the greatest compromise ever, and that the fashion vs. function problem has finally been solved once and for all. Luckily, hardly anybody falls for this nonsense. I submit that the kitten heel is the worst of the worst. Not because they are actually the worst looking style ever, but because they pretend to be something that they are not. Yes, Crocs look way worse on an absolute scale, but at least they have no pretense of being anything other than what they are. A 2 inch spike heel has no place in this world. If you need to wear a 2 inch heel, get shoes with block heels, pretty please!

This week's church OOTW. There is nothing notable about it, except for the fact that this is the first time this year I was able to wear sandals. It finally warmed up, but it's only temporary. By the end of the week, we're looking at lows uncomfortably close to the freezing mark. I felt like I wanted to wear tan sandals yesterday with wide legged trousers, but my first choice was at the extreme steep end of my wearable range. Due to some strenuous physical activity yesterday, I elected not to wear those, but went instead with what I call my "pageant" shoes. Their actual designation is Steve Madden Dezzzy (yes, that's with three z's), but their very high heel with thick platform reminds me of the pageant shoes that every southeast Asian girl wears in a beauty pageant. Of course the real pageant shoes usually have a somewhat thinner heel and an ever thicker platform, but you get the idea. I get a nearly 6 inch heel with less than 4 1/2" of steepness. My son just bought himself a motorbike, and here I am somewhat awkwardly posing on it, at his suggestion. No, I did not ride the thing in those heels. A few minutes later in real time---Now that I have actually loaded the photos, I notice that I wore a nearly identical outfit sometime last August, minus the tie. I think it's the same exact shirt, pants, and shoes. I guess you'll have that from time to time if you don't document things, and with outfits, I certainly don't.

Thanks! I was drawn to the bling. To be honest, the femininity is what drew me to them. And they will most likely wind up as housewearing only. I wish I was going to the Junior Prom next month, so I could rock these. But in all honesty, these may never see the light of day. Truth be told, I am probably just as much a collector as I am a wearer. I see objects of great beauty, and I must have them, lol. With all the shoes I have ammased over the years, I bet way more than half of them have never seen the light of day. But if the mood strikes me with these ones, you just never know. These will probably end up being house shoes for me as well and may never see the light of day, but you never know.

I had a blue day on Thursday. Only two interesting comments. I woman I know told me,"I don't like blue shoes, but I like those." And our Admin. Assist: "I'm surprise you're not in open toe heels today." It was a warm (high 70's) day.

they look amazing, would love to try them out Killer outfit for sure, I'm so envious

My green stilettos to match my green cloths at work.

Love, Love, Love JS brand! I usually have had good luck with such.

You are both correct! Yes, I have a vertical drill and it was duly used. I did prepare a guide by drilling through a piece of 6mm MDF with the holesaw, and then placing this on top of the composition material to 'centre' the holesaw (with its centre drill retracted) before cutting the required disc. Clamping was not necessary (although it might well be advisable to avoid 'snatching') and a little water was used as a cutting lubricant. If and when the extra top piece requires replacement, it should be possible to prise this off and simply glue another on. But, if the original plastic top piece fails (or the extra height created by the composition is unacceptable), I would fill the peg holes with dowel forced in and use brass panel pins to nail the new top piece into the dowels, reinforcing with suitable adhesive. Adding some wood forced into the hollow void before glueing and nailing would give a stronger job.

One trick for using a holesaw without the centre bit is to drill a hole in a piece of scrap wood, using the centre bit in the usual way. Then use this as a guide when drilling the wanted item. Ideally clamp the guide and wanted item together. Works perfectly in my experience.

It’s been very wet here - and continues to be so - and I do not wear my suede boots outside for that reason but in my home office where they stay dry and I stay warm! And my feet and calves especially so

I'm curious if anyone else has run into this "issue"... I recently started wearing heels/boots to the office with a heel no higher than 3"-3.5" and always very professional in style (block heel, solid, dark colors, with an occasional splash of spice to mix-it up). Likewise, I have started wearing both feminine and masculine clothing with such for a completely professional ensemble. I also wear accessories such as earrings (still on posts as I just had them pierced - can't wait to start wearing hoops!) necklaces, and painted nails (no make-up). There are two women who sit near my workstation who, since I have started dressing "en femme," have been both complementary of my outfits but at the same time, routinely offer their completely unwanted opinions of what they think I should wear. One of them, "Frick," continually informs me that I wear "too much" black or dark colors, need more color, should wear paisley, and have my eyebrows done. Her partner, "Frack," has also told me that I should wear more colors, I wear "too many turtlenecks," and a recent weight loss on my part (~25lbs) has left me with "no butt." With respect to Frick and Frack, both of these women may qualify as being petite (5'2" to 5'4") and, not to disparage them, are grossly obese. Frick often wears sweatpants, a hoodie, or a track suit and crocs (with or without socks) whereas Frack is slightly better dressed in tie-dyed shirts or sweaters, jeans, and rainbow shoes - these are their outfits everyday. Frack also likes to wear cheap, gaudy jewelry from Temu. Although I am grateful for the compliments when offered, I am growing tired of the "you should wear this that way or wear that this way..." and the like comments. I have mentioned to both that I do not dress for them nor do I want to be dressed by them but yet, they persist in their comments. In all fairness, Frack is not as bad as Frick in telling me what I should wear. What I find interesting in all of this is that long before I started wearing heels to the office, neither ever said word about my attire. Since I have started wearing heels, however, it seems as I am "open season" for unwanted comments about what to wear. If needed, I can change my workstation so that I do not have to sit near them as they are not part of my unit. The photos are all outfits I have previously worn to the office

Offense is in the air. Any one can be offended by anything at anytime. Whether it be a person’s nail polish is too red or they don’t like the color you painted your toes, someone somewhere is going to be offended. Now, (trying not to be too political) you’re in double trouble if the offended individual is a member of a minority community. They can climb on top of their grievance and scream “race” at the top of their lungs, making the entire incident “headline news”. People are stupid. Seeking their fifteen minutes of fame is a very strong incentive. So, if they are willing to complain, I would just turn the tables on them by citing their actions of not supporting my rights to dress as I choose. A clear case of “pure sexual discrimination” could be made if a complaint of that nature is made.

It's been a wet winter and I haven't been able to wear my suede JS stilettos much.

About 5-6 years ago I was vindicated of a fraudulent 'MeToo' harassment charge. The accuser resigned shortly afterwards. I was thanked by many men and women throughout the organization for standing up to her 'bully' style of threatening to using the 'MeToo movement' to get her way. A couple even cried while thanking me.

Or some form of sexual harassment? I'd be surprised if in Western run companies, the #MeToo movement is over yet.

I recently got my first pair of Hella Heels; a pair of 8 inch platform boots called ATOMIC. They are so super comfy and when I wear them barefoot my feet don't sweat up like when I wear my Pleaser boots. I'm in love!

I grabbed another pair of heels from Mercari. Officially, I'm an 11W. Most times, I size up to a 12 and get heel grips. It usually works. These, I'm not sure if I'll need a heel grip. Haven't had a chance to do more than try them on and walk around the bedroom yet so time will tell.

I went to the bank to draw out cash in anticipation of my new motorbike purchase, documented elsewhere, and one of the tellers was wearing purple suede stiletto boots. I'm guessing 3 3/4" heel, maybe 4" if she has a bigger shoe size, so pretty decent. Had I been wearing heels myself (I came directly from my construction job), I would have asked/commented, but I didn't, instead. It's been a long time since I've seen anybody wearing real heels around here. I mean, besides me. I have half a mind to find some excuse to go to the bank for the next few Fridays just to see if that was a one-off.

I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that my shoe collection is down to at most 105, possibly 104. I had two shoe failures over the weekend. First, a strap broke on my BCBGeneration Quintin wedge sandals. I might be able to fix it, I might not. This is not a super big deal because I only use them as house slippers, and there are usually more available on Poshmark or some such outlet. The second failure, and this resulted in outright disposal, is my Sam & Libby Slashlin derbies. I had mentioned in an earlier post that about 15% of my collection hadn't been worn in over a year, so I decided to dig into some of the 15% and see if there was a reason why. 20 minutes before I was supposed to be at church, I pulled on these lace up shoes and they were very, very stiff, to the point where a substantial part of the fake patent leather started to peel off when flexed enough to get the shoes on. I'm editing out a large portion of the story, but I eventually decided to wear them anyway, one last time as a farewell. They weren't bad, and actually I caught myself on camera walking and carrying myself like I think I want to, the modest 3 7/8" steepness of the shoes probably aiding in that. I got home just fine and snapped these pictures (more about that in a moment), but didn't change clothes right away. I had some errands to run, and I didn't want to change clothes just yet. I have always thought that the shanks were a bit weak in these shoes, and afternoon proved that to be true. At some point, the right heel completely buckled under, even though it is still firmly attached. Peeling finish or not, that made my decision for me. I am not that upset. There's a reason I haven't worn these much--they kinda ugly! In other news, I got a new (to me) motorbike over the weekend. I have toyed with the idea of getting a maxi-scooter for years, and now I have finally pulled the trigger. It's a Yamaha Majesty 400, and so far I love it. My reasons for wanting such a machine are several: 1) Built-in storage capacity, making it much easier to commute to work and get groceries where I would normally have to use the car. 2) It's got a fairing, allowing me to ride in more comfort in more weather conditions. 3) It's a scooter. I can ride in heels again. I will miss shifting my own gears, but whatever. The only thing that remains to be seen is the fuel economy. By all accounts, it's supposed to get up there around 60 mpg, but that remains to be seen.

I can't seem to part with these nearly worn to death heels. I have them at work this week, so comfortable. Signature brand, long since out of production. Soles are almost worn through and no idea how many heel tips have been installed.

I’ve bought a couple if things from Asos - not shoes or boots - and thought they were just ok. Not great but cheap.

Indeed, it is not easy just being ourselves! I have to wonder if Frick and Frack view as their "Boy Toy" to dress as they please. Not to get on my soapbox, but I agree with other comments about given their large size (and unhealthy condition) they may feel jealous about how I dress. I generally do not think it is appropriate for anyone to comment about what a person should/should not do unless that person can do it themselves.

No, but I do have to be very careful about what I say because it could be viewed as being discriminatory.

Even though I am a newcomer to this forum, I hope to be a serious contender. To start, a post Valentine's day dinner outfit for a fancy dinner with an old friend (Red) and a Friday "work at home outfit" (Black/white). And this Saturday is Drag Night in town!

OMG LOLOLOLOLOLO So, I can post pics but just not in this competition thread,,,,,, I will have to really outdo even myself on 12/31/24!!!!!! I missed out last time due to a lack of where I posted the pics, I would like a second chance to post in the correct thread, please! I have a ton of new heels to show and working on some great trips!

Been a bit since I have posted here. Still no changes, pretty much daily work and heeling for me. Today I thought I'd share these images. These are my ridiculously low cut Hey Si Mey pumps. Actually very comfortable shoes.

Now, back on topic. Seeing a man wearing a pair of high heel shoes evokes impressions of a man dressing as a woman which could be considered as being mildly sexually deviant in today’s society. Since high heels have been associated exclusively with the female gender over the past couple of centuries, any male sporting a fashionable pair of elegant Black Patient leather pumps with five inch heels on his feet would be an unusual sight and could become subject of intense conversation when he’s wearing them in public. While the practice has become increasingly accepted these days, it still largely remains controversial. It seems that in the past decade people have become more likely to discuss the pro’s and cons of crossdressing (which some psychologists believe wearing only heels to be) than to openly condemn the practice. Those men that have been wearing their “girls shoes” openly in public for years can attest to this measurable change in attitude, having personally experienced the “slings and arrow” rebukes, insults and criticisms intensely directed in their direction in the past. The degree that any male desire to wear female attire, whether it’s 100.% passing as a female or occasionally mixing items of women’s clothing, such as shirts, blouses, jackets or shoes, is immaterial. For the most part, the person dawning the clothes is usually doing so to satisfy their own desires and not to try to deceive or fool others into believing they are something they aren’t. The accepted norms for female fashion is much more complicated and complex than male dressing as those of us that have female partners are aware. The choice of clothing to match the event, color and proper accessories accenting “the look”, among other attributes, is intensely important. The main accessory that can “make or break” the overall appearance of the “look” is the shoes. The choices for men are is severely limited - work, play or dress up. Women’s choices, on the other hand, are as numerous as the different species of flowers. Fashionable dressed women work over time selecting “just the right pair” to succeed in accomplishing their dream appearance. The aspect that is most common to both genders, when it comes to wearing high heels, is walking while wearing them. Whether you’re a man or a woman you have identical problems. You have to learn how to walk properly while wearing them. Some men/women are natural wearers. They pop on a pair and trot on off about their business unaware they are even wearing high heels. Others encounter physical difficulties they cannot overcome. It’s those in between that need training and proper instruction. For those “first time” wearers, it is only to human nature to try them on the first time they get their hands on a pair. Once they have satisfied their curiosity and decide to continue wearing them, it would be a good time to talk with an experienced wearer, comparing and discussing sizing and professional instruction, should they feel it would be helpful. Keep in mind that acquiring professional instruction early on would be very beneficial before developing harmful practices and hard to break habits that could lead to physical discomfort. Thoroughly reviewing websites on the internet and using email evaluate course content could be very helpful. Most importantly, be aware that wearing an absolutely beautiful pair of high heels is an enormously satisfying and thoroughly pleasurable sensation that there is. Once you’ve began, you’ll never quit.

Happy Palm Sunday, everyone. It sure was cold and rainy for the load-in yesterday. It was cold and less rainy for the load-out. I had to set my camera back in the garage so it wouldn't get wet. One thing about the major religious holidays is that church attendance is way up compared to normal. Next Sunday at Easter there is a chance we'll have a packed sanctuary, which I haven't seen in years. As an aside, my Jewish friend from the Twin Cities just sent me pictures of her Purim service, and it looked well attended also. She wasn't wearing heels, though! I didn't necessarily wear anything different than normal, but I did get caught up on ironing last week when I was sick, so my shirt and pants haven't seen the light of day for some time, even though they are not new. Also having not gotten much love lately (judging from the cobwebs I had to knock off of them) are my BCBGeneration Sassafras boots. I figured this was one of the last chances I'd have to wear them for the season. The only thing I really don't like about them is that they are really too big around for me, and an inch too tall by my estimation. I hadn't been walking for 8 days because of my illness, and I almost overdid it today. I walked 3 miles (in other boots) and wore these boots for about 4 hours directly after. My feet actually cramped up a little bit as I was trying to get the boots off.

These appear to be a recent ASOS introduction; sizes UK 6 - 12 and £56.00. The height of the rounded heel looks to be close to 4". Sleek looking - although the chain detail may not appeal, but is much more discreet than that on previous offerings. Now, this is a boot that I would wear!

I can't believe I'm posting in here yet again. The worst thing is, it won't be the last, I have a couple more pairs coming. Anyhow, these are my Steve Madden Varcityy purple suede pumps. I mentioned this elsewhere, but the camera doesn't see the color like I see it in real life. They sure look way pinker in these photos than I see them, but it doesn't much matter, I like them either way. They are exactly the same as the black and tan shoes I wore a couple of weeks ago--4 5/8" heel that is plain plastic, i.e., not suede covered. Which is just fine by me, it's more resistant to damage that way. It is very skinny, at 1/4" wide. There was some wear on the heels, as if somebody actually wore these someplace in the past. I had to shoe stretcher them a bit to get them to be more comfortable, but not much. I think I'm getting a little bit better about managing such high heels. There were times when I actually felt sort of graceful. Maybe that's a good thing, since I have another pair just like it on the way in bright blue!

And these from ASOS are little better: ASOS has several other nen's boots with chunky platforms of doubtful appeal. That does seem to be a current trend, alas.