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It was probably so they could feel a bit warmer!

I took a bus to a nearby town today to do some shopping. I had thought about bringing my practice heels and practicing but I knew I was going to be doing a lot of walking and carrying a rucksack full of shopping so I went in my chunky heeled knee boots. As you say, both for men and women trainers seem to be de rigueur these days That said, winter - boot season - is the time of year when you will see the most heels. As I was liked around the town I did see a number of women in heeled knee boots. The men, with the exception of me, were universally in ratty trainers. Although I wasn’t practicing in my 12cm stilettos, it was nice to walk about the town in my chunky heels - it’s all good grist for the mill!

I lived in a very down at heel inner city neighbourhood called Newtown in Sydney many years ago when I was at university. At the time you could get one of the dilapidated old townhouses there for about 60k. I was much too smart to waste my money there … Today they are well into seven figures

Hm I'm not that familiar with the tradition, you could be right. In public places I never seen anyone go barefoot with a Dirndl, mostly it was matching classic pumps or ballerinas.

I have always worn shorts in the summer, as did my father before me. However, neither of my two sons ever wore shorts after the age of about 10, and they don't show any sign of ever changing. Oddly enough, both of them have legs that are like tree trunks, and yet they have different mothers. They certainly didn't get that from me! I also know plenty of women who never wear shorts or an above the knee skirt. I don't want to say I never do it, but it is easier to wear my beloved wooden heeled sandals with shorts rather than stilettos. Probably absolutely no one outside a certain group thinks about it this way, but to me chunky wooden heeled sandals with shorts is far less radical looking than stilettos with shorts. There is probably almost no one in the general populace who makes such a distinction. @higherheels I always thought the only proper footwear with a Dirndlkleid is none at all, meiner Meinung nach. Certainly much better than sneakers.

It's the same for women. Every outfit is combined with sneakers nowadays. Even traditonal clothes like the "Dirndl" here in Germany.

I do not know how we got here, but since we are here, that math really isn't mathing. Even assuming that you could actually deduct everything you put into your house, it's not like it's free money. It just means you don't have to pay income taxes on that money. I know people do it, but every time I've looked into buying a house to flip, the numbers just weren't there. It's one of those deals where if I actually lived there, yeah, it would be worth it, but as a means of making money on the side, it's a lot of work for very little gain. Plus, I don't have that kind of energy anymore. Having said that, I wish I could have predicted the insane increase in the price of houses in the last few years. I probably could have made some money off of that.

Here in the United States anyway, "women" bikes do have step through frames were as "mens" bikes do. Some bikes are a sort of hybrid where they are nearly step-thru but not as low as a women's bike style. My daughter's mountain bike is that way, halfway between the two extremes.

I wonder deeply if it has to do with litigation? I see that everywhere, for instance new cars. It really is hard now to tell if a car is a Honda CRV, A Toyota Rav4, or a Ford Escape... they really all look very similar. And the reason for that is litigation. With ever car having to abide by the same crash worthy testing procedures, along with strict gas mileage allowances, etc, in order for everyone to meet the new standards, the creative box they can fit into means car's profiles, unibody, and seat makeup pretty much will be the same. Not sure what I mean? Consider the making of a pair of high heels. Lets say we come up with a contest where we all make a pair of high heels. The first pair has loose constraints. A pair of high heels, 13 CM tall, with Stilleto heel. In that, there would be a huge variation on what we all create. But, add in more parameters like color, made of leather and plastic, must enclose the toes via points, and have a closed arch, and suddenly all the shoes become incredibly similar. It matters little if it is cars, high heels, or even houses... everything to me is becoming bland because of fear of litigation. Couple all this with a more entitled society and I can envision a woman slipping on a banana peel, claiming it was not her fault because it was actually the style of shoe she was forced to wear, and soon everyone is wearing sneakers/trainers.

To me... and this is quite judgmental I know, it just seems those who are less disciplined enjoy AI whereas others of us do not. I do not even have voice recognition toggled on my phone, whereas my wife does. She has not typed a thing into her phone for a year and it is quite comical. A person without patience she screams at her phone often because it does not understand what she is trying to say and I just laugh because had she typed it out it would have just been wayyyyyyy faster. But as a teacher she uses AI for everything, especially establishing her lesson plans which to me means, she is proving she has little value. But she wants quicker/easier on everything in life. Me, I am more disciplined and like to work things out for myself. Often, when faced with easier to do or harder, I chose harder because life experience has shown that is the better path to take long term. A case in point: I walk 5-7 miles a day for weight loss, she uses medical injections. As for Fuzzy Logic and AI, I think that was a form of early AI. The washer and dryer combination units I see advertised as AI do indeed spin faster if they detect shaking, but also detect the moisture content of the clothes inside. There really is no fuzzy logic there as it either is or is not under a certain percentage of moisture content. But I think the AI part comes into play where the logic in the PLC allows it to keep going, or stop, based on what those sensors depict.

Because how much money you put into the house is immaterial because it can be wholly deducted off your taxes. It is however, a good way to show how much work had to go into a property. It is not perfect I realize, as it is possible to put in $50,000 worth of electrical work and be something no one would ever notice, but as a rule $50,000 generally shows a fair amount of work went into a property. $10,000... not so much. It is why I used the amounts to show how much work went into the place. But the actually amount spent has no basis on the profit of a house. It can be completed deducted off your income taxes.

I agree - although we call it 'maths'! I spent almost 600 days over 4.5 years, with very little outside help, rebuilding a derelict flat (above a shop) to use as a holiday home for family and a few friends. The property has been for sale (although is currently let) and, if sold, I would expect the 'profit' to be in the region of £120,000 (before tax), which gives me a 'wage' of around £200 per day, which is roughly in line with what most tradesmen have been charging. The work itself, involving almost all trades - carpentry, plastering, electrics, plumbing, gas heating, decorating, etc - was enjoyable enough and ultimately fulfilling, but I'm not sure that (my increasing age and declining fitness aside!) I would want to do it again.

I am NOT a shorts wearer either, no matter how hot it is outside. Here, I do not think I am in the minority, but a few men do wear shorts all year, enough so that no one gives them a second look. I remember being at my chiropractor's office and a man came in wearing shorts, I remember because he kind of looked funny stomping off his shoes because we were having a snow storm and six inches of snow (150 mm) was outside. For dressing up, which you guys and gals know I do almost always, for truly formal events I do wear true dress shoes, but about 80 percent of the time I do wear plimsolls. The reason is simple. I try and match my shoes to my pants. With so many color variations of plimsolls, I can do that easily. And they are comfortable, easy to wash, and look good in my opinion. In super formal settings, not so much, but they are a huge staple of my fashion sense right now.

That is great to hear @Puffer but atlas with my new home, all that is here is woman wearing much boots it seems. (Lots of fisherwoman). But as the saying says, "what is seen in Europe, will be seen in the United States the following year. I saw that myself. It was around 2008 when I was in Ireland and saw a new fashion trend I never saw before, the miniskirt worn with leggings underneath it so those who were more timid could feel a little more secure. I liked the look, and it was but a year later it was suddenly all the rage in the United States... in 2009!

I was out and about in the London area on Wednesday, with much travelling by train and underground. Although the predominant footwear for both sexes seemed to be the usual trainers/sneakers/plimsolls, there were a fair mumber of women in high-heeled boots of various styles - most often with a cuban or block heel of around 3" height, but higher and slimmer heels were also in evidence, including a few 4" stiletto boots. I was briefly in a large shopping mall in West London at lunchtime and the mix among the shoppers was much the same. Alas, there was little of real interest to see in the shoe shop windows, although dressy shoes and sandals with 4" stilettos were still in evidence. I ended up at 5.30pm in the City of London (the principal finance/insurance business area for those unaquainted) for an Institute carol service at one of the very old City churches. Women working in the City have traditionally been more smartly (if usually conservatively) dressed and it was refreshing to note that a fair number of those enjoying an after-work drink outside the busy open bars around Leadenhall Market, or simply making their way homewards, were in high heels - typically courts or boots with a 3 - 4" slimmish or sometimes stiletto heel. And several attending the carol service were similarly shod, with one woman in her 30s completely at ease in patent courts with a near-stiletto 4" heel and another in suede knee-boots with a true 4" stiletto.

Shyheels is right. Very many men, of all ages, wear shorts in England (and the rest of the UK) for much or all of the May - September period whenever the weather allows - and often when it doesn't! I am in shorts and sandals as a matter of course during that period unless my activity requires otherwise. Twenty or thirty years ago, few men above school age would be seen in shorts unless for a sporting/recreational activity, and open sandals, especially if worn barefoot, were rarely seen except at the pool or beach - being considered too girly by many. What does surprise me is the huge popularity among men of trainers/sneakers/plimsolls in almost all modes of actvity, including with a suit or jacket/trousers in otherwise formal or semi-formal settings. Comfortable they may be - although in my view far from ideal when the weather is hot or very cold - but smart they are not. Here is Tim Davie, the recently-resigned Director-General of the BBC, in what appears to be his usual 'business' outfit of suit plus plimsolls. Hardly impressive.

Not at all! There’s a Scot moored just up from me who wears shorts when it’s below freezing. Lots wear shorts. I didn’t wear them when I lived in Australia either!

@Shyheels "1 don't do shorts" is the same as "I live in Britain."

I just don't do shorts - not unless I'm cycling or going to the gym, and in neither case am I wearing heels.

Like @mlroseplant, when I started to wear women's shoes in (aka stopped wearing men's shoes), I hide them under longer pants. And those were at most 6.4 cm heels. Then when I had to raise my heel 4 inches I hide them at first. But it was a hot summer, over 100 F (38 C) daily, so I wore shorts and exposed my heels and got thicker skin. Now I wear my tall boots on the outside; yesterday I had my Jessica Simpson black knee highs on and got "that's a fierce fashion statement" from a waiter when I went to the restroom. I have about a dozen stilettos but I have to consider the surfaces I will be walking on. As a result there are only a few days I can wear stilettos. The places I go to now are NOT stiletto friendly, so I rarely wear them. But I will wear my suede JS knee high stilettos with short shorts in the summer. Now "that's a fierce fashion statement."😁

Yes I think so too. Only in one video posted here about the Hot Chicks, I think the reviewer said that she already walked a mile in them? I can't imagine how much you must practice in them to achieve this. They probably must be your everyday shoes then 😀 Thank you for your kind words, they really made me feel better about my accomplishment 🙂

I don’t think anybody would be walking long distances in Hit Chicks or your new boots. They are strictly for going out when you walk only limited distances - and the fact that you can do that is really admirable. Hardly anybody can from what I understand, even people who consider themselves adept at high heels. So you can take a lot of satisfaction in your accomplishment.

I can understand your issues with stilettos as men, being too girly and so. For me as a girl, this was exactly what got me into them. Only later I started to like block heels too. Although stilettos are more dressy than block heels, I don't feel wrong also using them for more casual occasions. Only for walking on soft or very uneven ground like grass I find them unappropriate. Indeed, I was a bit disappointed yesterday. Fatigue and the pressure on the balls of my feet are my limiting factors. I'm sure I could also walk 300 meters in them, but that would just be painful. After my walk yesterday It was not painful, only uncomfortable. I'm over the days of going over my limits and putting up with pain and rather have a good time and take it slower. I'm also not planning on wearing these boots or the Hot Chicks for extended walks. But being able to wear them for a few hundred meters comfortably would be a very nice achievement and open many opportunities for me to wear them 🙂

I was fascinated by stilettos - aesthetically and for the allure of the forbidden, to say nothing of the intriguing physical challenge of wearing them. Just how easy or hard was it to stride briskly along a city sidewalk or waltz across a ballroom floor in lofty stilettos. The thought that I was never meant to know only heightened the appeal. And yet at the same time it was chunky heeled boots that most caught my fancy. Stilettos appealed because they were the Ultima Thule of boundary breaking, which chunky heel knee or ankle boots I could see myself aspiring to wear every day. i know what you mean about feeling funny wearing stilettos in more casual situations. They are inherently dressy. It’s one of the things I like about wearing stilettos in my home office - when you’re a freelance and work from home it’s a good idea to make at least a bit of an effort to dress as though you are going to work as a reminder to yourself that this is an office, not just your kitchen table, and a place for work. Wearing stilettos is great for that. Nobody just lounges around in stilettos! since we started doing this challenge I have really begun to feel at home in stilettos. They are starting to feel as much my natural style as chunky heel boots. I feel quite proud of my ability to get around briskly in my 10cm boots, even if I struggle with 12cm. I can admire your abilities to walk long distances @mlroseplant and @higherheels remarkable abilities to wear Hot Chicks and her even high new boots. You’ve boot been great influences and examples

@higherheels Congratulations on another accomplishment, even if it seemed a bit anticlimactic. I am curious to know whether it's just the fatigue that limits your walking distance, or are there other factors? I am pretty much resigned to waiting until Spring for me to make much progress. We just got more snow, and we're supposed to get more on Saturday--like 15 cm more. It is somewhat unusual for us to have this much snow before the middle of December. I have a feeling it's going to be a long winter! As for the rest of the discussion, I could not possibly imagine ever wearing stilettos when I first started heeling. Too girly. I had one color for shoes: Black. And they had to be very plain. I actually used to color in shiny hardware with a black marker to make them less flashy, and then I'd wear boot cut pants hemmed as close to the floor as was practical. I suppose I must have looked very strange, trying to hide my heels like that. It took a couple of years before I warmed to the idea of wearing stilettos myself, even though that was always the gold standard for heels. Today, I basically wear stilettos (though not exclusively) for dressier occasions. My wife has long given up objecting to any of my footwear, and unfortunately is long past being able to wear any of it herself, due to severe knee issues. I still feel funny wearing stilettos in more casual situations, especially with shorts. I cannot tell you why. I need to get over it.