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My wife has larger calves and had many a pair of Duo boots, the first coming in 2012. I can attest to the fact that any pair of boots from them are very well made with high quality materials and worth the price to get them. Duo used to have great models every season from flats/low heels to 4"/10cm heels in many wonderful styles. Some time ago, however, Duo, for completely inexplicable reasons, changed their name to "Ted and Muffy" after the owners of the company (as I understand it). This, seemingly, soured with customers and led to them just about going out of business. A buyer for the company was found and changed so much, and in my opinion, not for the better, upon taking receivership of the company. The name was changed back to Duo, and styles became more basic to the point of being almost "frumpy." Likewise, taller heels were gone, and varying calf sizes for each model were reduced. Boots became the sole focus as pumps and other styles were no longer offered. Yes, all stores across the UK were closed (and I think the one in Bath was one of the larger stores) and now, they are only an online retailer. Although the product lineup for the current season has some nice styles, they are nowhere near the jaw-dropping models they once offered. I have a pair of 4"/10cm ankle boots from them, and my wife may still have a pair or two of their boots and pumps. If Duo were to return to making the boot styles they did before the whole Ted and Muffy flop, I would be more than willing to sign over every other paycheck to them for new pairs every month. Yes, wasteful but worth it regardless of the price. FWIW, a retailer that I have come to love is Noe (there should be an umlaut, my favorite diacritical mark, over that "e" but my computer does not have a number pad...) in Antwerp. I just ordered a pair of custom knee high boots from them and should have them around the start of March. I currently have four pairs of ankle boots from them, and have two pair of pumps on order. Although they are not at all a fancy design, the color selection is amazing. The price of the boots I ordered was actually slightly less than those offered at Duo. If Duo ever started making this model again, I would be the first in line to get a pair!

I have been very lazy about taking any photographs lately. However, a friend captured this still image from the church livestream and sent it to me. I think the only reason this worked out is because the camera operator forgot to zoom back out for a few seconds during the "greet your neighbor" portion of the service. And yes, those are ankle boots I'm wearing. I see I still need a little bit of work on my pageant walk.

I did something that I rarely do yesterday. I went walking in stilettos. I am not 100% sure what possessed me to do it, but I did it, and walked just shy of 2.5 miles, or 4 km. Part of the reason is because I had not shown my Aldo ankle boots any love for a long time. In fact, according to my records, I haven't worn them in two years. That might not be quite right, but it seems accurate. Back in the day, I somehow wore these a lot, as I've evidently had them reheeled three times. They are fairly steep boots, sporting a 5" heel with a 5/8" platform. Here's what I noticed. They're fine. Perfectly stable. Other than having to pay very good attention to where I stepped due to the stiletto heels, they were just like wearing any other high heeled shoes. How I managed in them 10 years ago is another question. I must not have looked so great. I can tell you one thing for sure--ever since I got on this fascination with the SE Asian beauty pageant coaches, my heel tips have started lasting a lot longer. According to my records, I got about 7 miles out of each set of tips in the past. The current tips that are on there have got 5 miles, and I guarantee they will last a lot longer than 2 more miles.