Leaderboard

My green stilettos to match my green cloths at work.

If the foot bed has a varnish coating or two covering it do you consider that thickness, also?

Being as it's Saturday, I guess it's time for a more substantial statistics dump. I did try to do an estimate on how many of my heels are dressy vs. how many are casual. I have decided that this is too subjective and difficult a task to get an accurate number. I think it is clear that clogs can never be dressy, but how about wooden heeled sandals? I think usually not, but my Alaia sandals surely come close. Can a wedge sandal ever be dressy? Yes, but under what circumstances? Anyway, that's a fool's errand, so I all I can say is that roughly 40% of my shoes you might call "dressy," and the other 60% are more "casual." The more normal statistics are heel height and footbed steepness. For absolute heel height, as measured up the back of the heel, but perpendicular to the floor, we have the following: Less than 4": 14.2% 4" to including 4 1/2": 31.1% Over 4 1/2" to including 5": 28.3% Over 5": 26.4% Over the past several years, there has been a shift from the third category to the second. This is because a smaller percentage of my shoes are platforms than was the case before, so absolute heel height has shrunk in certain categories. However, in the next batch of numbers, you can see that this has caused the number to shift in the footbed steepness category even more dramatically. Steepness, for those of you who don't know, or who use a different definition, I measure steepness by subtracting out the height of the platform, if any. For example, my Nine West Plantera pumps have an impossibly tall 5 1/2" heel, but they also have a 1" platform, so the total steepness is a less impressive 4 1/2". I started at 3 1/2 inches because that is where to my mind that heels start feeling like heels. Less than 3 1/2": 15.1% 3 1/2" to including 4": 28.3% Over 4 to including 4 1/2": 46.2% Over 4 1/2": 10.4% As you can see, there is a big increase in the more than 4 to 4 1/2" category. If you included steepnesses that were right at 4" in that category, the number would be even more overwhelming. I guess this is where I like to be, but there is a variation even within this category. With 4 inch or less, I can just slide/pull them on and go. With 4 1/2 inch, that is highly inadvisable without preflight. As always, if I have a shoe which has no footbed liner or cushion, which is often the case with wooden heels, I "discount" the heel/platform height by 1/4" so that we are comparing heights more equally.

I recently bought these Söfft Willa shooties on a whim. A nostalgic whim. Early in my heeling days, in late 2012, I bought an identical pair brand new from Amazon. I can remember wearing them quite a bit in the early days, as they were fairly tame at 3 1/2" in height, and had very plain styling. I cannot remember why I got rid of them. I do seem to remember this spot around the zipper that caused me some discomfort, but the memory isn't that vivid. In any case, that does not seem to be a problem with this new-to-me pair. I've worn them outside long enough to know that there are no comfort issues. I do remember a point where I got rid of almost all my shoes that were less than 4", as if that were some badge of honor or something. Maybe that had something to do with it. I don't suffer from such hangups now, and every once in a while, you need something in that 3 - 3 1/2" range. One thing that has not changed is the noise level on these shoes. I remember my old pair being super loud. Part of that was being self-conscious, but they are on the loud side. As I said before, they've got 3 1/2" high heels with no platform, and the heels are cone-ish shaped, and kind of underslung, cowboy boot style. The heels are approximately 1 inch thick at the bottom, so they definitely do not make a "clicking" sound. Their sound is much lower in pitch. What I did not manage to get into the pictures is that there is a short zip on the inside of the shoes, and the buckle you can see is merely decorative. The weather has been really lousy here for a couple of weeks, so I don't have a picture of me wearing them. It's back to the top of the washing machine for now.

The question is, is any of this worth it? Yeah, you could start an office battle, but would you want to? I know I wouldn't. And just exactly how bad is it? Does this happen daily? Hourly? What is the demeanor of the ladies? Snooty? Playful? Bossy? There are way too many questions that simply can't be answered in print. Perhaps the easiest way if you just can't stand it is to have your station moved. Even that is not without consequences. Let's face it--it just ain't easy bein' us.

To all... I am looking for some solid advice about wearing skirts and heels to the office. In case you have not read my previous posts, I offer this recap... I recently started wearing heels to work (3"- 3.5" max) or flat knee high boots with skinny jeans. Overall, I have not had any problems in doing so if one excludes the usually unwanted advice "You should wear this that way or you should wear that this way" from the peanut gallery of Statler and Waldorf (see my post "The Ladies at the Office" for more details on them). Nonetheless, I am wanting to move into wearing appropriate skirts with very professional style heels or boots into the office but do not know if I am quite ready to do so. I have told many of those in my office about my genderfluidity and let them know that if the future how I express myself may be different than what they have observed in the past. No one seems to care all too much, which is fine as I do not want my clothing choices to cause a disruption of the day. Details of the photo - an outfit for a "work at home day." Boots are Tulip (model) from Jessica Simpson. I would love to wear this outfit to the office someday... So, any advice or thoughts on this are welcome.

I agree. I would wear the shirt and boots at first and wear the skirt and the rest of the outfit after your coworkers get used to seeing you dressed that way. Your ear rings and nails polished, along with a nice necklace and other accessories should set the mood for the skirt.

Fill those empty spaces. I vote thin heel pumps. You seem to be gravitating towards them and always wear them well.

I have just finished a complete shoe inventory. It's been well over a year since the last one. The reason I haven't released it yet is because I haven't yet had time to compile statistics. The raw data is all there, but it doesn't really tell you much about the collection, other than that there are 106 pairs of heels in it, plus 2 duplicates of my favorite sandals that I keep buying. The total number has remained fairly stable for several years. I was glancing at some lists from years past (I didn't always record in the same detail that I do now), and I can tell you that sometime between 2018 and 2021, my collection grew from 56 pairs to low 100s, and has stayed in the low 100s since 2021. I would be able to get it down under 100 pretty easily if I could just be a little more ruthless, but for now, everything once again has its place, and I've even got a couple of empty spaces available.