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Starting later with wearing heels and skipping the youth's foolishness has it's upsides as I can read from you both. Otherwise, muscular fatigue wasn't really a topic for me, maybe that's an upside for adapting quicker at a younger age. Standing for a long time in heels really is the worst, it still gets me until today. In 10 cm heels I can stand for a few hours with a little bit of movement in between, but in 12 or 13 cm heels that's a different story... Merry christmas to everyone 🙂

Let me second those Christmas wishes! I know what you mean about the muscular fatigue. I was not in actual pain, and don’t recall much pain in the balls if my feet, but my calf muscles felt like I’d dine about a thousand toe raises at the gym. It wasn’t exactly painful, but tight and achy. I took the next day off - frustrating, as I was so keen to put them in again!

Just to let everyone know that I had to go out on Christmas Eve to do some last minute shopping. I wore my Land's End , green with white stripes rugby dress which goes to just above my knee, with white tights, red patent knee boots with 3-1/2" chunky heels and a red puffer jacket. Got a couple of compliments, even from a guy on my ensemble. Great day to be out in a dress and heeled boots in a Holiday festive color scheme. Merry Christmas to all my fellow heelers! Happy Heeling, bluejay

I've had shoes that gave me blisters, but that is not what sticks out in my mind as a beginning heeler. Mind you, I was a beginning heeler at age 45, not age 14. I wish I could have worn heels at age 14, but that's another subject for another time. My first journey in heels definitely resulted in muscular fatigue that I had not anticipated, but it was relatively mild, like having overdone it at the gym or something. It is this trip to the shopping mall that keeps coming back in my stories. I doubt I had blisters, because I was wearing boots with actual socks. I do not remember muscular fatigue in the calves or ankles. What I do remember is having to unexpectedly stand in line for about an hour at a mobile phone store. That damn near killed me. The pain in the balls of my feet was close to more than I could bear, and I tend to tolerate pain pretty well. I cannot explain how a person sort of gets used to standing in 10 cm heels, but that is what has always killed me. Walking 3 km in 10 cm heels? No problem! Standing still in 10 cm heels for an hour? Impossible! Well, it isn't today, but I've no idea how I got here. It must have been all of those farmer's markets I did with my wife over the years. I suppose that was my training ground for standing in heels. As an aside, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! And for those who don't celebrate, I don't have to go back to work until Monday! Naturally, it's unpaid, but it's a much needed several days off from a place where I don't get to wear heels.

I was lucky - having waited so long to try wearing high heels, I decided to splurge and treat myself to a really nice pair of boots. A heel wearing friend, to whom I confided my plan, had also urged me to buy well. And so I did. They were expensive, but really nicely made and fit perfectly so I escaped some of the usual discomfort and blisters that most experience.

I almost forgot about muscle pain/soreness as a factor. For me it was mostly pain in the balls of the feet and blisters everywhere which caused me the most troubles. I also think it's better to start low and slowly get into higher ones. But as I did it the other way around, I can say that it also works to start high and therefor limit the walking time (which I unfortunately didn't!). It's just not the most comfortable way. The good thing is, when I then started looking for well made and well fitting heels, everything with up to a 10 cm heel was immediately comfortable for everyday wear.

I figure at least 10% of the guys who compliment me on my heels wish they had the cojones to wear high heel knee high boots.

I went from 1.5 inch heels to 4 inch heels in ONE minute. Found my balance no problem. BUT I had done years of ankle lifts, so my ankles were ready. An added incentive was I couldn't walk without 4 inch heels. I had a 26+ inch circumference on my calf, a level 3-4 tear.

I’ve no doubt at all about that. I think guys in general are weary of the stifling rules for men’s fashion regarding colours and styles, and would like to inject a bit of theatre into their personal style

I agree with you both on this, as I travel a lot and wear my high heeled boots to many different locations. If you dress for the proper occasion and for the right place, the compliments will come. I luckily have only received compliments from guys and women when I wear my boots. There are a lot of guys and out there that want to and wish they could wear boots and heels like the rest of us.

You are right, you will definitely be noticed. Most won't say anything, but you will feel many stares in your direction. So, having confidence in what you are wearing, and how you look is so necessary. We have to remember that many disapproving looks are truly just envy, whether they come from men or women. The important thing is how you feel about how you look. In my case, I have to be honest with myself, no way I can pull off many of the outfits I might like to wear, this old dad bod just isn't up to it. But, I still think I look pretty good in some nice boots over tight fitting levis or girl jeans. So, over the years my confidence has increased. I can honestly say that I think I look good, and that is all that matters. Needless to say, recieving an occasional compliment refuels my confidence, don't mind admitting that. The other thing to remember is it is important to dress appropriately for the occasion/audience. A tight skirt/hose/tall heels probably isn't appropriate for a football stadium or Home Depot. Cali's advice about "dressing smartly" is very important indeed. My best to all my HHP buds for a happy holiday season and healthy 2026! Don

I agree that most of us tend to be impatient at the beginning of our heeling journey. We want to jump right into tall stiletto heels and take off! Needless to say, this results in pain and humiliation if we are stumbling around in public. Both of these experiences are confidence killers. Always best to start off slow and low, working your way up as muscles adjust/strengthen and proficiency increases. Ah yes, I have forgotten about the pain in the balls of our feet.

I am not all that great at technology, but I never felt resizing images for this place was a big deal. It's another step, but easy to do. Once resized I still have sizable pictures that show the details that I hope to show. As I have always said: people suck! Sorry you have to deal with them, but have a great New Year!

So sorry to hear about your losses. I like dogs too, but now have a cat that is very, very, very spoiled. I fully understand that losing a pet can be difficult. The shoes are very cool though and I cannot wait to see a picture of you wearing them!

Oh, I agree with you that when you start to wear heels you’ll find muscles you forgot about. I differentiate between that and actual foot pain. I could walk reasonably well - hardly catwalk grace, but reasonably well - in my 10cm boots when I first got them although after a fairly short while my calf muscles seized up in quite painful cramps. These went away when I sat down and flexed and massaged the muscles and I learned quickly that small doses were the way to go when you’re first starting out. i have taken a sort of middle road - wearing 8cm blocky heels generally but also slowly building up time in my 10cm stilettos. I’m doing the same now as I try to learn to walk in my 12cm boots.

I'm not saying that high heels are supposed to hurt (although you'd have a hard time convincing 95% of the population of that), I'm just saying that suddenly you're exercising muscle groups that you haven't before, and that results in, at the very least, soreness. In my case 13 years ago, it was fairly intense pain until I figured out that I can't go from 0 to 10 cm instantly. Thinking about this further, I suppose I could have gone the other way--stuck with the 10 cm, but for only short periods at first, gradually increasing the wearing time over weeks or months. The route I ended up choosing was to wear 5-7 cm pretty much every moment that I could, take long walks and so forth, then gradually increase the height over a period of time. Which do you think is the more effective method? On edit: I've heard many people say that a bit of a heel helps with back pain, but for me personally, I have not been able to tell any difference either way. The condition of my back has a lot more to do with my work than it does with my choice of footwear.

I always try to dress smartly when I’m in heels and I would do the same with leather trousers. I like contrasts in textures so I would wear them with a wool jumper or something like that

In early November I flew in a pair of faux leather pants and knee high JS 4 inch boots. Only one at the airport in leather pants and one of the very few in heels. Be aware @Shyheels if you wear this look, you WILL be noticed. So dress smartly.

They are indeed, just my style, and love how nicely the jeans fit also

I find that too.

I'll swear that wearing decent fitting heels/boots actually helps my posture and reduces back pain

Deflated is a good description!

Yes there is something empowering about walking in heels. I always feel a bit deflated when I take mine off at the end of the day.

Yes, well made, well fitting heels are most important. @mlroseplant So you meant that heels are intended to hurt for beginners? That could be the case. I guess mostly due to beginner's mistakes like bad fit, too high of a heel and so on. For me it's the same, I also prefer to walk in heels. If I'm in flats I feel more like strolling around than actually walking.

Yes, I also like how wearing heels feel, especially the 10cm and 12cm heights. And you’re quite right, wearing heels is like any athletic endeavour. I think that having done a lot of yoga, sabre fencing, running, skiing and cycling I had a natural advantage when it came to wearing heels. I never had any trouble at all with 7 to 8cm heels, not even from the first day. Even 10cm heels were not that hard although since I started practicing with my 12cm heels, they’ve become quite comfortable and easy. I still have to graduate to the 12cm ones ..