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Hi! I have no clue where the days/months/years are flying by. Have been heeling pretty regularly (usually weekly, sometimes twice), and have gotten comfortable, in both the emotional and physical sense. Emotionally I get much less worked up, or none at all, when wearing heels, no more anxiety and just get to enjoy it. Yes, it takes mental effort to plan out which cloths I will wear so things match, but otherwise I'm good. Physically am getting better at wearing 5" stiletto pumps for 2-3 hours walking around. 5" boots no problem. Recently saw this boot (in the picture below) and I reeeeally wanted it, they were gorgeous, and I loved the color. $180, and given the number of shoes I have, it's not something that made any sense, so I talked myself out of it. However, a week back, I noticed they were on sale for $70, and upon impulse, walked into the store and asked if they have it in my size. I was doubtful, but the lady brought it out. Took off my 5" boots, and tried these on. They fit perfectly, loved the whole thing, and couldn't resist. YOLO and all that. Few days ago, had a chance to go shopping, and wanted to show off the boots a bit. A bit of chat with AI helped me figure out some color combinations that would style the red well (AI hopefully gave good tips, my style sense sucks, so it can only get better). Ended up with what is in the photo, with a white TV shirt and grey hoodie on top. Obvious I'm a guy, have good facial hair. Felt comfortable. Went to a diner for food, then spent about 3h shopping, book stores and such. Two ladies complimented the boots. I'm sure others looked, but it was comfortable. Guess my unhiding is progressing. Wish family was supportive, but this still is a lone exercise.

All, A few more pics of me in wedge sandals. Top is a hybrid look of a man’s polo shirt with cuffed skinny jeans a nice shopping outfit or just going out in the evening. The second is shorts with a regular tee shirt. I did wear this to a picnic where I was invited and encouraged to wear my heels. The point is to enjoy what you’ve bought. They’re not tree ornaments. HinH Here’s I am in cuffed skinny jeans with my 9W “Leggy” sling back wedges which have 5.5”/16cm heels. I have worn these wedges many times with skinny jeans and bootcut jeans as well as with shorts and dresses. Have also taken them on trips more often than not.

Hey all. Got these platform sandals from, of all places, the Walmart website which could be useful for larger sizes. Chose a neutral color for more outfit flexibility. What surprised me was the advertised 5.9”/15 cm heel height, typically measured in size 8/EU 38, actually measured 8.0”/20cm!! That rules out wearing with jeans for day trips or maybe to a picnic. They do however do look fine with a dress or skirt. This is not a brand I was previously familiar with. Just be alert certain brands may be higher than you were led to believe. These sandals appear to be sturdy and well-made.

Shyheels, Saw all the chatter then saw the photo of your knee high boots. They certainly look nice and I would consider something like this. I’ve never worn boots tucked into jeans like this rather have worn knee high boots with dresses. These look great on you. I don’t have flat sole boots like these but the overall look of your boots is classic indeed. HinH

Haha, you are not wrong! We drive everywhere. It's a shame that it's that way, but it is. A car is not a luxury in the U.S., it's an absolute necessity, outside of maybe New York City or Chicago. Having said that, I've never known anybody to actually move their car during a trip to the shopping mall. The more common experience is to forget where you parked. But who goes to a mall anymore? That's so 1990s! I'm only 90% kidding.

I finally got a pair of booties that fit. Nothing special, but they fit. Women’s Fran Bootie by New York and Company Upper: 100% Faux Suede, Outsole: 70% Rubber, 30% Textile, Lining: 100% Faux Suede Shaft height: 5", Shaft circumference: 10" Heel height: 4" Inexpensive, but they fit. Wore them all day at work.

Yes. I suspect that single extra centimetre makes a whopping difference. When I was tottering about in my 12cm boots I tried imagining what that extra centimetre’s height in your Hot Chicks would be like. Definitely too high for me even to attempt. That said, I think when I either fix my present boots or buy some new 12cm heels I will start making decent progress. Seeing the tilt on that left heel when I was examining the boot on the tabletop explained a lot of my difficulties so far. I’m really looking forward now to giving 12cm a proper try. until then I’m getting plenty of time in my 10cm heels

I suppose I should break out my few sweater dresses and try them on while I have some free time. I think I wore one of them one time out in public. That's one of those things which does not really take up a lot of room in my house, but yet, if I'm not going to wear them, why do I keep them around? We'll see.

I wore my 10cm ankle boots for several hours yesterday while rejuvinating the latest outboard I pulled off my buddy's junk pile, felt great, very comfortable

Here for the record are my challenge heels - my 12cm knee boots

Yes, they can’t read a map or tell time on a traditional clock. If we brought those two things back, plus stick shifts on cars and cursive writing we could take down the whole western world

Those are very nice boots! And you wear them well. That’s a nice combination. I’m very much a boots-and-jeans guy. Forget AI. No one needs it. Trust your judgement. After all it was your inner voice that led you to heels in the first place, not the promptings of a computer, so you can’t be too far wrong can you?

It’s quite funny seeing American politicians grumbling about how you never see those big American pick-up trucks being sold over here, or on the continent! As though trade barriers were the reason. Try driving one of those down an English country lane, or through the mediaeval streets of our towns, or finding a parking space almost anywhere and you quickly see the real reason!

I am no photographer by any means, but have taken some classes on taking better photos and have toyed around with cameras on tripods with self-timers. What I have found is that I can get some nice photos if I really try, but it is a huge time-suck because it takes 4-5 tries before I get a worthy picture. Now, I take a lot of photos with my Iphone-14. Yeah… don’t laugh. But what I found is, I tend to take more good photos, but ONLY BECAUSE I ALWAYS HAVE IT ON ME. It is not so much that it is an excellent camera, but really the law of big numbers. Take a ton of pictures and a few will inevitably come out good. Here is one. I was just out on my daily morning walk where I pass by this peninsula off our island. I snapped a picture and thought nothing of it. It was not until I sent it to my wife (a skilled photographer) when she said we should print that on our plotter and put the picture in the living room. It was a 100% mistake on taking that. I paused in my hike, snapped the picture and kept walking not even realizing how the sky framed the island of trees, but it was just taken at the right time; a hit or miss thing when you live where we have the largest tidal swings in the world. (I think it came out good, but you better photographers can certainly be the judge. Just keep in mind it was JPEG optimized to get it on this site). For what little my opinion is worth @mlroseplant I think you take great pictures. But I also see things for what they are. It’s a chatroom about high heels where the heels only need to be shown, it is not like this is an improve-your-photography type of chatroom, or like you are using the photo to sell your heels to the highest bidder. Quality of the photo should match the reason for taking it and I think you do that quite well!

I know what you mean, I find what other wives allow interesting as well, albeit, just interesting in in no way judgmental on my side of things. Wearing leggings, or as I call them “soft pants” is fine by her, but as much as both of us love high heels, I doubt she would let me wear them. I do not wear dresses, but if I could and did, it would be sweater dresses for most of the winter. For now, I am content to just let her wear them. My wife unfortunately flip-flops though where your wives seem to be pretty consistent. Even with the leggings her and my daughters have long gotten used too, she flipped out when I bought “base layer pants” that were women’s. I had bought a pair of men’s base layer pants, liked them, but they had the front flap, and well, too much information here I know, but I am a haul-down-the-front-when-going-to-the-bathroom type of guy, not a use-the-flap sort of-guy. Her ex-husband did, so when I bought the women’s style because they lacked the front flap, she was incensed. For me it is how they look. If I wear the men’s style outside, the flap makes it look like I am wearing long-handled underwear outside. If I wear no flap women’s style without a front flap, it looks like I am wearing tight black pants. I really do not see what it matters, but she flip-flops on what she is agreeable with.

Worn them twice, once for 14 hours straight, even got a 'damn, you're rocking some nice booties. But they are just plain janes with faux suede uppers.

They look great, rugged heels that work in most any terrain/occasion

Yeah, I've pretty much quit caring about absolute heel height these days, and tend to focus on TH, as you call it. Having said that, I actually own at least two pair of 15 cm heels (I'd have to look), and several 14 cm, but they all have giant platforms, so that doesn't really count for me as much as it used to. One thing about giant platforms is they do make you considerably taller than a single sole of the same height.

Well, shut my mouth! That's a new one on me. I've never had the heel actually measure higher than advertised. Had the opposite plenty of times. What exactly is the problem with wearing jeans? Hem length?

Get with it HinH. 😁 I wear my knee highs over my pants all the time too. Today it was my black faux suede Jessica Simpson knee highs over my size 8 jeans. The JS knee highs are black faux suede with 4 inch TH heels. @mlroseplant My new unit of measure, using measuring instruments is TH which is heel height minus platform.

Thank you @HappyinHeels Yes I like wearing my boots over my jeans. I’ve always liked the classic style boots - both stilettos and chunky heels. Clean lines and simple styling and worn with jeans. For a guy who likes to wear heels, my tastes are really rather conservative.

Yes we are indeed a unique little group - true aficionados of high heel fashion who know and care about the details. I like that. It’s nice to be in such company.

We are like the only 6 people on the planet who care about such things. Even my fashionista people don't understand how trigonometry relates to high heels. Few, if any, have any concept of the height of the heels they wear or don't wear. Until very recently, I just used the actual heel measurement in our conversation here. I figured my size 40 was close enough--and it probably is for 99.9% of the people in the world. For this challenge, however, actual steepness actually matters, so I changed my way of stating it, in order to have and apples to apples comparison. I can remember a former member here, years ago, saying he'd spent the entire day in 4 inch heels. Pretty impressive until you actually saw the shoes. In his size, they were almost like kitten heels!

As I work in the construction industry, and I don't necessarily have a fixed place of employment, I rely upon my car to get me to work. Sometimes that work has been pretty far away from my house, but in the last decade or so, I could count on putting about 15,000 miles a year on my car. However, since purchasing my Yamaha Majesty maxi-scooter, that number has been cut in half. Yeah, I actually ride mine, it's not a toy.

Yes the heel height all seem to be based on a size 38.

Yes, understood. A standardisation that helps comparison - provided we all understand and adopt the same standard, which mlroseplant takes as being the actual height of a Eu38 shoe heel. As good as anything. I expect the shoes I pictured above were sold as being 5", which they probably were in size 38.

Europe is better than Britain, but we are far ahead of the US in terms of public transport. I am in a very rural part of Britain, a mile from the nearest (small) town. But I can walk in there and do my shopping - all small local shops - and if I want to go to a supermarket I can catch a bus to a bigger town half an hour away. The busses run regularly. They are clean and pleasant, with WiFi and charging points for phones. And gorgeous scenery out the window. At this larger town I can catch a train and go anywhere. Although it makes for a long day, I can and have made day trips to London and Manchester. Day trips to York and Leeds are easy. i really don’t need a car and don’t feel the least bit inconvenienced by not having one.

I’ve not owned a car in decades. I get around on foot, or by bike, boat, bus or train

Well my boots were purchased from Italian Heels and were sold as 12cm heels in their standard size, with the heels being incrementally higher or lower depending on however much bigger or smaller your foot size is. It is what it is. Whether it looks accurate in the photo or not. Whatever the actual measurement of the heels on my boots, I regard them as 12cm heels since that is what they are billed as. its sensible to figure things this way as there can be a general talking point - when @mlroseplant or @higherheels says they’re in 12cm heels we know we are talking about roughly the same angle and degrees of difficulty, allowing for slight variations in the designs of the shoe or boot.

This was all getting rather confusing! I hadn't realised that you were describing heel heights by their 'standard' equivalent, and that the true measured height of yours is 14.7mm, which explains a lot as regards wearability. But it makes the pic look even odder - I would have guessed those heels as shown to be no more than 4.25" high in your size. I know what it is like to wear heels (probably same foot size as yours: UK 11/12) that are a truly measured 5" or 5.25" high - not easy; you have my further respect for 'managing' when practising in a true 5.75" heel! It would help mutual understanding if true heel heights were always quoted, with the 'standard equivalent' too if helpful when shoe size is not only marginally larger or smaller. These Office shoes (UK8) belonging to a friend have a true height of 131mm = 5.16". They look noticeably higher (and certainly steeper) than your boots.

Yes, very nice wearable boots. I have a similar pair from ASOS (slightly shorter shaft and no platform) which are ideal; for discreet outings. And my duplicate pair (unworn) are still available for purchase:

Hopefully the boots can be fixed, especially if it's not as wonky as my Michael Kors sandals got. @pebblesf My cobbler, Marty, will gladly fix loose heels, but declines to touch anything having to do with a shank. I can understand why, because he's busy enough that he probably doesn't want to mess with it. It's a rather involved repair. As far as photographing heels to get an idea of their steepness, it is a very tricky business. If you've ever noticed in my own photos, I tend to pose in what is perhaps a less than natural way for the express purpose of showing the heel height. Whether this is actually necessary with y'all is perhaps open to debate, but it's something I've got in the habit of doing. A 10º difference in angle with make a heel look way different than it actually is. In addition to optical delusions (as I like to call them), I have run into several situations where I cannot get the ruler to agree with the feel of the shoe, and sometimes the look as well. I have some shoes that measure pretty tall, but do not feel it or look it. And yet the ruler doesn't lie, right? I also have a couple pairs that feel insanely steep, but I can't manage to get the ruler to reflect that. I guess I should worry less about numbers, maybe. My latest training shoes, pictured above somewhere, measure 13.3 cm, which translates to 12.5 cm in size 38, and they feel to me exactly like those numbers would suggest. I need to pace around in them for a good 5-10 minutes before I don't feel completely stupid wearing them, and even then, though I haven't measured, I feel like I can only get the heels about 1/4 inch (or 6 mm) off the ground, standing on tiptoe. I feel like until that distance improves, there's only so much improvement I can make.

Here’s a case where appearances are deceiving. The actual height of those heels is 14.7cm as per Italian Heels chart on heel height relative to size - the height based on a standard 12cm heel for size 38. The photo was taken in August in a hotel room while I was on assignment, and shot with an iPhone so perhaps the angle from which it was shot - the phone was propped on a chair - might have skewed the perspective. i have a pair of 10cm heels in that same model, which I am wearing right now. i can tell you as fact that 12cm heels are plenty challenging for me, and that I feel no need to up the ante to 13cm - nor is there much likelihood of my finding decent quality 13cm heels in my size even if I wanted to.

I finally did it - I tracked my walking for the last week. I walked 15,5 km. So if I sum that up for one year it would be 806 km. That's not totally accurate for sure, but I'm surprised that it's actually close to your numbers.

Thank you. They are Italian Heels’ Tina model. I have a pair of these with 10cm heels that I am wearing right now. I don’t think it was anything I did which caused the problem - not my walking style or anything - I think it is just a materials failure. A pity because I really like these boots. I was really hoping to master 12cm stilettos - and I have had such good support from @mlroseplant and @higherheels At least I can see that my lack of progress was t just down to ineptitude! For the time being I shall work on becoming very polished and graceful in 10cm heels

So sorry to hear this, nothing more upsetting than heel failure on a great pair of boots. What brand/style are you tall heeled boots? I often wonder if my walking style has something to do with heel failure. Those boots are amazing, and fit so nicely, so sorry about the heel... Sure hope the repair works out, cobblers around here won't touch a broken/loose heel..

I see people using GPS to drive to the store they have been driving to for years. But there is a use when you get info on traffic jams. I only use my car's mapping when I take a route I have never taken to avoid a large traffic jam. And I have a flip phone.

I’ve just been researching the possibility of repairing my boot and it seems it is possible if you take it to a good cobbler - so I’m taking a bit of heart. It’s worth a shot!

Some of my lists and schedules are written in Latin on vellum with a quill pen. (Wax tablets have proved increasingly hard to source.)

This morning I was back in my 12cm stilettos and as I was tottering about making breakfast I realised that something just wasn't right with the left boot. It's not just lack of practice or an inability to make the jump from 10cm to 12 cm, but something wrong with the heel itself. I took the boots off and gave the left boot a thorough examination. When I placed the sole flat on my table, so I could crouch down and see how the heel met the surface, it was obvious that the shank has twisted slightly. The heel is definitely a few degrees off vertical. It wasn't just my imagination or lack of talent. It's a relief in some way, I've been feeling frustrated, thinking how @mlroseplant and @higherheels have made such splendid progress while I seem to be getting nowhere. It's depressing too. This is my only pair of 12cm heels. I've been looking at the offerings of Fuss-Schuhe as recommended by @higherheels in another thread, and I like some of their boots very much, but alas the magazine world is not so brilliant at the moment and it might be a while before I can afford to buy myself some nice new 12cm stiletto boots. In the meantime I am going for immersive practice in my 10cm heels - hoping to maintain my abilities!

I actually have a fair bit of professional expertise is self captures with camera, tripod and programmable timers, but I’ve never tried photographing or videoing myself in heels. My stuff is more expedition oriented. I’m kind of interested in trying. It would be an interesting challenge

I just don’t get as much real world practice as you and @higherheels. This past year I have been more or less stuck in this very rural - albeit very pretty - stretch of canal for various reasons and have no place to practice short of walking a mile along a towpath first, changing into my heels, practicing, then changing back and hiking home along the muddy towpath. Not impossible but the commitment in time to do all this has seen me duck out and confine my practice to home. I do plenty of standing and a reasonable amount of pacing (and much sitting at my desk) but that’s no substitute for your long walks or @higherheels visits to Christmas markets. I’m hope this year the canals will be a bit more navigable and I can get to places where practice is as easy as stepping off the boat

Been a while. Still kicking

Incredible to see that hhplace and some of it's members exists for so long! I was still a child at that time and the Internet wasn't even really a thing for me until the early 2000s. However I do remember that when first looking for information about high heels I found hhplace 🙂