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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.

Totally true for me. High heels seem to come with a lot of prejudice in people's minds. Many people have told me that they were surprised about how I actually am when they got to know me better. So I would say that wearing heels gives you a bad first impression amongst many people. But that also has it's upside, as it automatically gets you away from the people who aren't worth it 😉

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.

No American vehicle trend to me was more dumb than the Humvee craze of the early 2000's. Not only was it a gaz guzzler, it was not even a pickup and could carry anything other than people. And despite having a crazy ability to go off-road, those that bought them would never take them off-road anyway. It was all a status thing, which as all of you should know by now, I am polar opposite on. I could care less what other people think of my choices as long as I have thought things through and made a decision on what I feel is best for me. For now, I like my Honda CRV, but I also buy my used cars outright and try to stick with models that go for a long time. I literally drive my cars to the last mile. When I am done with one, they go to the crusher to be turned into scrap metal. Typically, I try to get 250,000 miles out of one before they ultimately die.

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.

@Puffer Wow, you guys put so much work into research! I tried the formula with my Hot Chick 130s, which of course are claimed as 130 mm. I measured them with 127 mm in size 37. Using your formula that gives me 130,9 mm in size 38. So that seems realistic for this case.

I've given some further thought to the question of the 'standard' for heel measurement. The consensus seems to be that Eu38 is an appropriate standard, given that manufacturers often (usually?) quote heel heights for that size. From internet information about foot measurement in relation to nominal footwear sizes, I have compiled a table (as below) which shows the heel-height factors to be applied when converting from one size to another, based on the standard Eu38. (I freely accept that my source information is not necessarily definitive, as footwear sizes do vary between manufactures and styles, that Eu/UK/US size equivalents may be disputed and that, as the table shows, some foot length variation is also accepted. But let us take it as a working hypothesis.) As you can see from the table, the index for Eu38 is set as 100. So, to get the corresponding 'effective heel height' (steepness) for another size, we multiply the height of the known heel by the index number for that other size and then divide by the index for the subject's actual size. Taking Shyheels's boots as an example (which I assume to be size Eu 45-46 = index 119), he quotes the actual height as an impressive 147mm. The equivalent in Eu38 would be 147 x 100/119 = 123.5mm. Not quite in agreement with the '120mm' claimed by Italian heels, but not that far off. Likewise, my friend's Office courts that I pictured are Eu42 and have a heel height of 131mm. He tells me that the identical model in Eu38 actually measures 125mm - but my table would suggest 120mm (131 x 100/109), so another discrepancy. We are, I think, on firmer ground with mlroseplant's 'training shoes' in Eu40 with an actual height of 133mm, which would indeed equate to the 125mm he claims for Eu 38; (133 x 100/106). Anyway, I leave the table for your adoption or dispute, as the case may be: Shoe size Nominal length Mean length Index Size UK3/USW5 (EU 35-36) ~22.8 cm 22.8 cm 94 Size UK4/USW6 (EU 37) ~23.3 - 23.7 cm 23.5 cm 97 Size UK5/USW7 (EU 38) ~24.1 - 24.6 cm 24.35 cm 100 Size UK6/USW8 (EU 39-40) ~24.9 - 25.6 cm 25.25 cm 104 Size UK7/USW9 (EU 40-41) ~25.4 - 26.2 cm 25.8 cm 106 Size UK8/USW10 (EU 42) ~26.2 - 26.9 cm 26.55 cm 109 Size UK9/USW11 (EU 43) ~27.0 - 27.5 cm 27.25 cm 112 Size UK10/USW12 (EU 44-45) ~27.9 - 28.3 cm 28.1 cm 115 Size UK11/USW13 (EU 45-46) ~28.8 - 29.3 cm 29.05 cm 119 Size UK12/USW14 (EU 47) ~29.4 - 30.2 cm 29.8 cm 122

Indeed, nobody needs to be around people with a mediaeval mindset. in point of fact all the women I know who love heels are really interesting intelligent people. I don’t know any (other!) men who wear heels, other than on this forum, but again they all seem to be people worth knowing. From what I can see a love of heels seems to indicate an appreciation of style, elegance and a sense of fun.

I had one car that was at 250,000+ when I totaled the front end in a accident caused by a mountain lion crossing a freeway. My next one blow a rod when the oil pump failed at about 160K. I now drive a 4-wd RAV4 which has 120K+ on it currently. The new ugly, dumbness 'truck' of the day is the Tesla 'pickup'. It seems the same people who bought the hummer also bought on of these.

A great pair of boots! And the red for sure screams "unhiding", so you did well 😉

I live more on the country side, but still have most of the daily needs in reach by foot or bike. Living without a car would be possible, but sometimes very inconvenient. I like that mindset! My car is 19 years old and I'm not planning on replacing it. If I look at new cars I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, more the opposite. So I'm trying to keep it well maintained and maybe also drive it to the last mile 🙂

It’s not that they can’t be worn with jeans which tend to be used in more casual situations rather the actual height speaks more to clubs and parties than shopping or errands. As to advertised heel heights measurements are usually taken of a size 8 or 9 shoe. If you order a size 12 as I did then you could normally expect the actual heel to measure about 3/4”/2cm higher than that size 8 or 9 shoe. I learned this from an independent shoe retailer and reading various industry publications. So, yes, a full 2.1” higher was surprising. I’ve worn up to 6” heels with jeans for day trips, errands, and while traveling but an 8” heel is something different. Yet the photos just don’t make that heel look that high but believe me it is. If you search YDN shoes on Walmart’s site and choose the highest heel category then you’ll readily find them. Their sizing helper is good too. When asked for a comparative brand and size I chose Jessica Simpson wedges in size 11 and it recommended a size 12 in YDN heels. The size 12 I got is a perfect fit. They do not bind anywhere and are stable to walk in. Ordered them on 15 Jan and they arrived 4 February. I noticed many Walmart offerings in sizes above 12 so some here may find their useful. HinH

Those are certainly loud and proud. I approve!

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?

You shouldn’t beat yourself up about your photos - nothing wrong with them at all. You present a very nice image of a guy wearing heels and that’s all to the good. The world needs more of such images. I just get hung up on the challenge of trying to create art house or magazine style images because that is what I do and the notion of trying to do this with heels appeals to me.

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.

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

Here are my latest acquisition. I got these for less than $20 in a thrift store. The brand is Fashion Nova, And they go up to just above the knee. They are an almost half black, and half grey, suede like material. and they have a 4" block heel.