Shafted

I don't remove callouses, but then again I always wear closed toe. Never had any problems.

Cool another adventures thread. If you look at the dates of many of those adventure threads they actually predate the blogs here. The forum software didn't have blog capabilities at that time so we blogged in thread form instead. Also cool that you wore heels to the dinner meeting. I don't sleep in heels anymore. Stilettos are hell on bedsheets.

My attempt at playing drums in heels was a disaster. My feet kept slipping off the pedals.

I own 3 pairs of Fredericks heels myself and I must say they have a very comfortable shoe for the money.

But I fear that the heel heights are starting to lower a little bit overall this season.

Who cares. Wear what you want as long as it looks good. Love fashion but don't be a slave to it.

Hello and welcome Serena NYC. There is something for everyone here (high heels that is).

Hello and welcome TheFerret. You'd be surprised what you can wear in public.

Hello and welcome Heelswife. Stilettos and stockings, it doesn't get any better than that. I hope you like it here as well.

Jeff, looking at the pictures here I now know why I like this look better on you. It's your legs dude! The jeans really show off the full extent of your legs (something the skirts hide). The skinny jeans really make you look taller and the skirts seem to have the opposite effect. I didn't realize this till now, but the skirts seem to throw off your proportions. You're really rockin' this look.

Wow, the Scots are invading! Hello and welcome Sargeant.

Hello and welcome Crystalized. Looking forward to seeing your designs. And don't forget there is a market for larger sizes.

Another thought I had is to have the heel and shank constructed as a single unit. Many modern stilletto platforms are constructed this way. Take a look at a clear lucite pair to see that there is no heel spike or shank. They are molded as a single rigid piece where the heel, shank and platform are all one piece.

Just found out from a little googling that the shanks are tempered after forming.

Hello and welcome ptom19. There are some other Scots here and we have recently aquired some other new member from Scotland.

Regarding the shanks, would you use really stiff metal or *slightly* flexible strong spring steel?

The shank has to be rigid as the insole and outsole will be bonded to it. If it flexes the sole could start coming apart in the arch. Don't skimp here if you intend to wear the finished product. If finding proper shanks is proving fruitless consider having a machine shop mill them out of solid stock. I'm pretty sure that a blacksmith could help you out in the shank department as well by forging them out of cold rolled steel strip stock.

I hate to destroy a high heel on purpose, but taking one apart will give you a real education on how they are made. After successfully extracting a shank from a high heeled shoe (no easy task) you'll soon see how beefy and rigid they really are. Warning don't do this with a wedge or one that has a rounded outsole through the arch. The wedge will be shankless and the other could be.

I really hope you can do this. I really want you to be successful doing it. I don't however want to see you hurt yourself with a weak design with an extreme heel.

Michigan has turned blue. Guys, attitudes are changing towards us. While there will always be idiots in this world, I think this shows as well as recent media coverage that people will/are warming up to the idea.

Hello and welcome Don. Men do look great in high heel boots only if they pay attention to their style and wear them with ease and confidence. Don't be too concerned about mastering higher heel hieghts unless that is really what you want. It certainly is not a prerequisite for wearing heels in public. Start with a heel hight that you can walk well in and carry yourself in with confidence. That is the real key to wearing high heels as a guy with confidence that people will admire and perhaps even be a little bit jealous of.

A question Dr. Shoe: Are the shanks annealed after pressing to relieve pressing stresses? I would seem to make sense from an engineering standpoint.

Hello and welcome San.

I'm not sure if I understood one thing right though - with "bowed accross the short dimension" do you want to say the shank is not only curved along the arch curve but also in the other direction?

Here is a website of a woman who makes her own shoes.

http://www.marywalesloomis.com/

A very good read for how one can make a pair of low to mid heels shoes with an ordinary sewing machine, contact cement and salvaged heel blocks. She even covers how to make custum lasts from your feet.

Just remember the shank of the shoe usually is not just a flat piece of metal curved to the arch. Its usually a stamped piece of metal that is bowed across the short dimension to make it really stiff and made out of really thick steel. The heel/shank assembly has to be really stiff and solid if you intend to put any weight on it.

Good Luck.

Well I had a rather thrilling outing tonight. I wore my new Levi's indigo ex-girlfriend jeans with my Cole Haan bronze python kneehigh boots with a 3 inch spike heel to work. What an incredible sensation wearing boots over a pair of super skinny jeans is. I now have to have all my kneehigh and thighhigh boots altered by having the backseam opened and taken in. I'm really loving my new look with the skinny jeans and boots. Someday I have to repair my good camera and take some photos. I'm having fun dressing my new body in case you can't tell. No compliments tonight, but no negative reactions either (just a few customers). I didn't care. I was in heaven. The boss said it will take a bit of getting used to. It's great that she is willing to let me go with it. It is within the dress code after all.

And the yes votes are sweeping even more territory.

Hello and welcome 5teve.

And the world now says yes to men in heels.