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I have to laugh a little bit about that, I'm sure it's absolutely true, but by the time I came along, at the very tail end of go-go boot time, they were being worn by 8 year old girls. And not with a mini skirt. And yes, I got the chance to try on a pair of these boots--sort of. The neighbor girl, Julie M., had a white pair that were lace-up. No zipper. I do not remember the circumstances, but for some reason she allowed me to try on her boots. I'm guessing I was 8 years old, she was 9. Something like that. Her mother was very suspicious of what we were doing behind the closed door of her bedroom, so of course I never got to actually walk around in these boots, which couldn't have been more than an inch high. And yet, this rather thrilling experience (for an 8 year old, at least) never translated to a love of boots as an adult.

You are quite correct, of course, we do not eat a whole lot of seafood here in the Midwest, with the possible exception of if you caught it yourself. Are freshwater fish properly called "seafood?" Lakefood, maybe? Anyway, I do have two excellent places to buy seafood in my locale. Of course, I have to drive 30-40 minutes up to Des Moines to get it, but it's available. One of them is an expensive place, located in a rich suburb. The other is an Asian supermarket, super cheap, and I probably don't want to know the ins and outs of transport, or food safety practices. The wife and I like fish a lot, and other sea-living species as well, although my wife does have a slight shellfish allergy, which limits our choices. Yeah, I've got a story I could tell under other circumstances. Our son, however, does not like anything that lives in water, so the only time we eat it is when he's away at a school activity of some sort on a given evening. As far as fingernails go, I really do believe Huyen is a freak of nature. She also has longer-than-waist length hair. There's only so much a person can do with diet to get that. I do have a guitarist friend who has been trying to convince me to get acrylics for some time. If I were a more serious guitarist, I might. But I'm not there yet. I don't want to. In the summertime, I can keep enough nail for my purposes.

The only thin hosiery I have ever tried is trouser socks, which look quite a bit like heavyish knee high nylon stockings. I once wore them pretty much every Sunday with a suit and tie and high heeled oxford shoes which were too tight for regular socks. I rarely wear them anymore, however, as I have become more accustomed to wearing my high shoes barefoot. I definitely prefer bare legs for myself, and usually for women. One thing I definitely do not miss about the 1980s, and this is proof positive that indeed one can cherry pick his likes, is the fashion of wearing pantyhose with sandals or open-toed pumps. Not for every day of course, but for dressing up. Why did anybody ever think that looked good? And more often than not, it usually led to unsightly and uncomfortable toe overhang. Dangit, up to now I had good memories of the 1980s, even the silly big hair. Now, I'm remembering bad stuff I haven't thought about in years. I need to stop it!

It may just be what she eats. Fingernails are made up of a type of protein so if she eats a lot of eggs, fish and dark greens, she may inadvertently be strengthening her fingernails. My wife and I have differing diets and so I eat more protein than her, mostly in the way of red meat, but a lot, lot, lot more seafood than she does. Because of that I notice my hair and nails grow much more quickly than hers seems too. I am certainly NOT slighting your location at all here, but when I lived in Minneapolis for seven years, I was shocked at the few choices in seafood. I realize it is in the middle of the country, but we have trucks leave here every day loaded with seafood. When I asked a restaurant manager about so few choices, he said that they sold so little fish they just kept it off the menu. "Steak and potatoes", he said, "steak and potatoes".

I concur. It is nice to see embolden people with wearing embolden colors like red!

I think one issue with two people conversing with different personality types is that one cannot often understand how the other acts. An example of this is my extremely introverted wife who cannot fathom how I can go up to random people and speak to them. But as I explained to her, me NOT talking to someone is the same as her talking to them. But when someone does say something to her, she often gets caught in overthinking, rumination and basically this closed-loop of rethinking and redoing the conversation over and over in her mind. It often happens in highly intelligent people because they are constantly trying to figure out, “why would anyone say something in that situation?’ In this situation it sounds like the guy saw something and felt compelled to say something. It was moronic granted, but he felt the need to speak up and did. His ego was stroked, he felt good about himself and now it is done and over for him. It probably should be for you as well. I am not sure what “smoked my backside” means exactly. I looked it up on urban dictionary and nothing was found, but it sounded accusatory. I was not there however and seventy percent of human interaction is non-verbal so it is hard for me to know without having tone, facial expressions and posturing giving me further clues to the man’s demeanor. It still sounds to me like he did not approve of your attire or lifestyle and spoke up, but I think that is the end of it. Had he wished to go further, he would have. I would not think any more about it. It’s done, it’s over, and while nothing should have been said at all, there was and is nothing more to be said. A person will drive themselves insane if they wonder if every confrontation could lead to violence. I would not let this interaction change how I lived my lifestyle, but if he is consistently at the gym when you are, I would just change to a different time to avoid any possible confrontation. But I would not think anything more about it. Some personality types just speak their mind… unfortunately.

Most professional guitar players get acrylic/gel nails because their nails get worn down. Some of my fingernails split from tip to bed others delaminate. Acrylic nails for life. Mani/pedi tomorrow.

I want to begin by asking a simple question: Has anyone ever been confronted about wearing a pair of heels, either just the heels themselves or wearing heels with "feminine" attire, such as a skirt or dress? Most unfortunately, such recently happened to me but it was not driven by any sort of "problem" some narrow-minded jackass has/had regarding a man wearing heels. Here's the story. A few days ago, I headed to my health club/gym for my usual workout following a routine day at the office. Now, in the past, I made it a point not to enter the facility wearing any article of clothing that could be obviously identified/labelled as "feminine," such as a dress, skirt, or even heels. Thus, when I knew I was going to be heading to my health club after a day at the office, the outfit for work was always pants. When I pulled into the parking lot for the facility on such days, the heels, jewelry, neck-scarf (if worn) came off and remained in my car. Given that the level of excessive testosterone was frequently on display by individual taking topless selfies of themselves while flexing muscles in front of the locker room mirror, I did not feel comfortable walking into such a setting while wearing a pair heels and/or skirt/dress. During the cold of winter or heat of summer, this "pre-changing" in my car became cumbersome and unnecessary. As my health club recently instituted a policy of no cell-phone use in the locker rooms, the instances of such selfies of flexed muscles has largely abated. Thus, I felt the time for heading to the locker room without having to remove my heels or other items in my car had arrived. Unfortunately, the first instance of such resulted in a confrontation the truly spooked me. I do not remember exactly what I was wearing that day but I seem to recall it was a knee-length skirt, a black turtleneck, and a pair of flat riding boots. I made my way into the locker room and started changing without incident. After I changed into my workout clothes, I went into the washing area to remove my make-up so that when I was sweating, it would not get all over the equipment. As I was doing so, I noticed a young man out of the corner of my right eye, shirtless and wearing "wrap around" sun glasses, quickly glance into the washing area. I made no note of it and finished what I was doing. When I was finished, I made my way back to the general changing area to ensure that my locker was locked. At that time, the same individual, hereinafter identified as "Person X" came up to me and said there was a problem with my eyes. I was caught off guard and thought that maybe my eyes were suddenly inflamed by the chemicals in the make-up remover towelette I used. The conversation from here went as follows, as best as I can remember it. "Oh my gosh, what's wrong with my eyes?" I asked "They are seeing funny" Person X responded. "What, they are not seeing funny. There's nothing wrong with them." I said. "Well, why did you 'smoke my backside?'" Person X asked. "What do you mean? I have no idea what you mean that I have 'smoked your backside!" I responded. "You did it three times" he continued. I continued to responded by stating that, honestly, I had not a clue as to what he meant 'smoking his backside.' He continued by insisting that, on three occasions, I had 'smoked his back side' and he needed it documented for the court of heaven. At that time, three words came to mind - mental illness/paranoia. Although I am not a trained mental health practitioner by any stretch of the imagination, I have been so exposed to such over the course of my career, that I have learned how to recognize it when I see it. Here, it was standing right in front of me. All that I could do was deescalate and get away from the person so as not to get hurt. Arguing with those who are mental ill is not advisable under any condition. Fortunately, the situation ended without any harm befalling me beyond just being "spooked" over the matter. After the incident was over, I quickly spoke to another patron of the facility who told me that he had observed Person X in the gym on previous occasions and felt that Person X was "disturbed." As I replayed the incident in my mind and gave it some thought, I was able to develop a theory of what happened. Person X observed me enter the gym and followed me into the locker room (I did not notice him as I was doing so). Once he saw me washing my face, he confronted me after I was done. It is my contention that seeing me enter the either the facility or male locker room (or both) as I was dressed at that moment, his paranoia lead him to believe that my outward appearance that day was somehow meant as an unwanted sexual advance toward him. Thus, the confrontation. As crazy as this sound, to those affected by paranoia, any idea so crazy can be rationalized/justified. I think was I spooked by this because a man so obviously wearing heels or a dress is going to be noticeable to average person. Should a person suffering from paranoia somehow take offense to this, the results could be deadly. I truly have to wonder if men who wear heels may be in an enhanced position for suffering harm from those whose mental illness causes them to take offense in some capacity at the sight of such.

Very nice! They look appropriately high too! Your left heel is awfully close to the crack in the flooring!

We all have fit issues. For me it is extremely high arches and a thick toe box to start. Pump are completely out, they cut into my toe tendons, even with foam padding. Because of my arch/toe box, I need full zippers on my boots and booties. I have been looking for some new booties and sandals in the 3.75 to 4.5 inch range for over a year and haven't seen any that (1) fit and (2) look half way decent. Bought and returned 6 pairs so far. BTW my calves are down to only 15 inch now.

CrushedVamp, I've been wearing pantyhose, tights and leggings for years. I don't usually hide them under pants but wear them openly to show the world what I'm wearing. I like wearing them with a skirt, dress and skorts and always with heels, both shoes and boots. I was introduced to wearing hose by a former girl friend over 45 years ago. My wife is totally OK with me wearing hose. Happy Heeling, bluejay

It wasn’t go-go boots specifically but tall boots in general that became the fashion staple of the empowered independent women by the end of the 60s.

I have to wonder if Italian heels is still operating. I just looked at their website and it appears to be "dead" in that there are few, if any, items to purchase. At one time, they offered a wide selection of items and I had considered purchasing a pair of boots. I hesitating doing so as I was very unsure if I could get them made to my specific leg measurements, as well as concerns about the quality of the finished product. You are the only person I have encountered that not only has a pair of Jean Gaborit boots, but is even familiar with the company! I have long thought about purchasing a pair but have balked because of the price. When I first learned of Jean Gaborit many, many years ago, the selection of heeled, knee-high boots was impressive and fairly priced for what was offered. Now, however, some of those models are long gone and there has seemingly been a shift to over-the-knee boots, if one should want a pair of their boots with a heel on them. Although I greatly appreciate the boots Jean Gaborit makes, it begs the question of what is a fair price of complete customization. That is an issue about which I will write in a separate thread.

First - thank you for a wonderfully written response! I always greatly appreciate well-crafted responses and as hard as I may try, mine sometimes miss the mark, usually due to typos or not making my point as clear and concise as possible. In other words, I am an overly wordy, horrible proof-reader. With respect to the idea of go-go boots as a form of female empowerment, I would be very interested to read the scholarly research on such. It is quite conceivable that an argument could be made that, along with the bikini and mini-skirt, go-go boots did much to help women's empowerment following their introduction. A counter argument could be made, however, that they were simply a fashion idea that hit at the right time. Still, another argument could be made that certain forms of "feminine" footwear, such as over-the-knee boots and stiletto heels, had a greater impact on women's empowerment than go-go boots or loafers/flats. I would argue that loafers/flats, and tailored pants/trousers did much for those women who wanted to proverbially throw off the yolk of wearing heels and dresses all the time as their mothers may have done. Go-go boots at their height of their popularity, by contrast, did bring with them a sense of generational change that is typical as children often do not want to be their parents. I do not know if I would go so far as to say that such is an act of "rebellion" but more so, just a sense that what was the "norm" for our parents is not for us. I think a contemporary example is the pre-torn jeans look. For some, it may be great but for me, it is sloppy and unkept, and that which I hope fades away. Again, I am sure there is a body of literature on the societal impact of go-go boots, but I, however, do not know what it may conclude. Regardless, a great response for excellent discussion!

Very presentable - and a cheerful look against the drab of winter

This is totally random, but I'm always amazed at the durability of my friend Huyen's fingernails. I know it's just an accident of genetics, but I've actually personally seen her wash a whole sink full of dishes with no gloves, no nothing. I really don't think she does anything special to take care of her nails, and yet they just grow and don't break, and she rarely uses polish of any sort, as you can see here. I only need three of my fingernails to grow a little bit for playing fingerstyle guitar, and during this season, it just seems almost impossible. I broke one only yesterday, doing nothing. Time to break out the flat pick again!

Church OOTW for 01/18/26. I chose red, mainly because I wanted to wear my fire engine red pumps. I suppose it would be interesting to choose black and pair it with red shoes, but I didn't think of it in time. I'm typically ironing my shirt 30 minutes before I have to show up. I got a number of comments on my outfit, but none specifically about my shoes. Like I said in the "Aiming High" thread, what once was the outer limit of my skill now seems almost easy to negotiate.

I have a problem that I didn't have before. On the weeks that I actually get a photo taken of my church outfit, I am wont to post it on my usual thread "Ruminations, etc." Now that we've got this higher heel challenge going, sometimes these subjects overlap. After warming up in my training shoes in the snow, I wore these effectively 11.3 cm pumps to church. I'll post the whole outfit (or at least what you can see with my winter coat) on my other thread. Like we keep saying, take a cm or two off the height of our "training" heels, and it's actually pretty easy! Nobody but you folks believes me, though. Brand of these shoes is GenShuo, and I really cannot complain about the quality, for what they are. They seems every bit as sturdy as my usual Steve Maddens, and they offer just a smidge more height. They obviously are not expensive shoes, but they aren't ridiculously cheap, either.

I thought I remembered, but I just had to go find my tailor's tape measure and reconfirm--my calves are 12 1/2" (32 cm). And I don't feel like I've got "skinny" legs. Because I stand only 5'5" (165 cm), I feel like I'm proportional, but I run into this same problem--I'm swimming in most knee high boots. The one pair I own that fit really well are actually vintage. I estimate them to be from the 80s, maybe the early 90s. My shearling lined snow boots with modest 6 cm heels, pictured elsewhere on this website. I wish my stiletto knee highs fit like the vintage pair. Maybe that's why I'm not a boots guy. Once we hit March, I'm not even going to think about this again until next year!

Algorithms can either be good or bad, but for some reason on youtube I must have touched off one in the wrong way because I am constantly being bombarded by a trend I see starting. Or at least it seems that way. Men in pantyhose, or tights for those in other countries. Talk about changing up a mans typical drab wardrobe. I have no real opinion on the topic. When I first started transmission line work, I was in Montana in the winter of 1998 and it was cold. My foreman’s first words were, “buy pantyhose and wear them as it will keep you warm”. Like me, he was married and a mans-man in every way but openly wore pantyhose when it was cold out. I tried wearing them, and I think they do keep a person warmer, but it was too self-conscious for me. I worried about getting hurt and having to explain to medical professionals why I am wearing pantyhose under my work clothes. I do wear leggings though. They are often called “a base layer” but they are really leggings. My wife hates it, but I am not a front flap kind of guy, just downing the waistband when I need to go to the bathroom, so in order to look like I am wearing pants and not underwear with a flap, I buy the women’s style of base-layer, or leggings really. They are comfortable lounging at home, and keep me warm, although I think pantyhose did a better job of it. Without the flap, they look like black pants and so I can move in and out of the house with some neighbor wondering what I am wearing in semi-public! But it is all over youtube now, a drive to get men to wear pantyhose openly. I have no opinion on the matter except to point it out to people on here for discussion on whether its a new fashion trend they would embrace or detest. https://youtu.be/I1m0yWzI-jI?si=VJKkHfslddHSdGDG

Well, we do work inside of conduit more than you would think. Like the power coming to the island here is not run overhead, although it could be. The distance is not that far from shore to shore. Instead, it is dropped into conduit and run across the bridge that crosses the reach. But for the most part they are slung from poles or towers. The tallest towers in the world are in China at 385 meters or 1235 feet, or about the height of the Sears/Willis tower in Chicago. They need to be that high so they can span a 2 km, or 1.25-mile-wide river. But in the transmission line world, temperature is critical. Affixed solidly between two points, if the load increases, the wires heat up and thus expand… and sag… often times into tree limbs or vegetation. The newer lines have temperature sensors built into the wires along with signaling cable in the center of them so grid operators can know how much sag they are getting from high loads. That was part of the problem during the Great East Coast Blackout of 2003 which killed 100 people. As for your high heeled walk you did. First: you are a man of integrity so I think I speak for all of us when I say there was no need for a validating photo. While we appreciate seeing it by all means, it was not required because if you say you did something, I think all of us know you truly did it. But second of all… in the snow? Wow, are you brazen. Good for you! It is hard to say if you needed to do so with no one seeing you though. I think so many people are so caught up in their own worlds and problems they might not even notice a man walking in the snow in high heels. My case in point, I’ll be driving with the wife and say, “slow down for those deer”, to which she will say, “deer? Where? I don’t see any”. I say this because you would be surprised in what people do not see. Of course I say that with the full knowledge that some blooming idiots would drive into you in being so surprised to see a man walking in high heels in the snow too, paying no attention that they were actually driving!

Wow! Congratulations! That's really impressive! Those boots you bought are lovely and it will be huge fun to wear them out, I imagine. Certainly very stylish - and to wear them gracefully is an enviable accomplishment. Few can do that. Well done!

@mlroseplant You did great! 1,6 km in these heels sure isn't for beginners, and the snow doesn't make it easier. @Shyheels A different approach to practicing in heels, sounds adventurous 😀 I reached a milestone on the weekend - I wore my 13+ cm boots out for the furthest distance so far, to a location where I also wore the Hot Chicks before. It was around 200 m one way, a bit more than my usual walk around the block. The walk there was fine, on the walk back it was a bit more uncomfortable. I feel like I can finally step back on the practice walks and wear them out more for the "real things" 🙂

I'm glad that I'm not active on social media and only witnessing a few things via other channels. It probably gives a warped view on reality for many people. I also rarely seen Louboutins and any real high heels in the wild.

I do like my pour-over coffee - making it first thing in the morning is how I start off my day in my 12cm stilettos, my warm up so to speak