dr1819

Finally some intelligent design for men's high heels!

I wonder if Riu has been frequenting this website...

Here's some more information on Riu.

Thanks! I checked the members list and it shows 895. However, at one time, on the old site, I think I remember seeing more than 4,000. If so, with a 3 to 5 ratio of guests to members, that would make it between 12,000 and 20,000 people worldwide, mostly men, who've found this website.

Another thing I enjoy is the fact that when I log in, only those threads that have had posts since my last visit are highlighted. On the old board, if I visited, logged out, then logged back in, none of the threads/forums would be highlighted, whether I'd actually visited them or not.

1 SEK = 0,11 EUR, so the boots for 249 SEK is only 27,40 EUR. Like Payless I guess.

Hmm... Might be worth it to own a pair from a different country, especially if the prices are that low.

I don't know if "hoagland" could be a "hogie" or a sandwich like a "ruben", but sounds like an interesting costume. Sorry this outing was a disappointment especially after the effort you put in. Still, it's good to read the not-so-great reports as well, kind of puts things in perspective and makes one appreciate outings like your trip to Colorado even more. Again, enjoyable reading, please keep them coming.

Thank you for the encouragement, heelme. I do try and present life as realistic as it is, as in the long run, there's both more hope and less disappointment.

Reality wins.

Hey! That sounds like a new motto!

Another Air Fare adventure, by Dr1819!

Last week I flew to the states, to Colorado, landing smack between the two blizzards. On the way, I wore my black suede Vanelli booties with a 3-1/2" heel beneath my usual long jeans.

On the flight over, I sat next to a younger lady, in her early 30's. She was fairly progressive in her own apparel, including a skirt, flats, lip ring, ear tubes and rings, and an eyebrow stud. She spotted my boots the second time I returned from the bathroom, and said, "That's cool. I know a couple of guys who wear heels." Although it turned out both were goth, it started a conversation about fashion in general, and what's appropriate or not. Turns out she knew guys who wore skirts, too.

I had my ankle-length jeans skirt in my backback for the drive from the airport to my parents, and told her about it. She was daring, and challenged me to wear it on the plane. "No one will notice, and if they do, they won't care. Go on!"

So, I stepped into the bathroom and changed, returning in the skirt and heels. Of course it was the middle of the night, the interior lights were off, and most of the people were sleeping!

Still, I kept it on, and wore it while disembarking, going through customs (all they cared about was my passport and declaration card). I ducked into a bathroom and switched back to pants and hiking boots for the parents (Mom's ok, but Dad's not particularly keen with my choice of apparel).

On the way back, I sat next to an older woman, 52, who worked as a social clinition for the US Army. She helps soldiers returning from Iraq deal with the stress of war and their issues, which can be of considerable burden to young men and women.

As a lay counselor with a local church, I talked with her about some of the issues. The discussion was good for a while, then turned to "deviant behavior." At the time I was was wearing jeans and the Vanelli boots. Because they were hidden beneath my jeans, I'm not sure why she steered the conversation that way. I suspect it was because of the disproportionately high number of people she's seen (so she says) who have earring holes, and that, in her opinion, how non-conformist behavior can lead to isolation and increased stress.

So, I challenged her, asking her if she's seen this rise in earring holes only in the last ten years, and she confirmed it. Naturally, this matches the rise in earring wear by men in general, which I pointed out to her. She switched to tatoos as a form of aberrent behavior, to which I suggested she rent some war films from the 1930's through the 1950's, which clearly depict WWI and WWII soldiers and sailors wearing a plethora of tatoos. Then she mentioned necklaces and rings, to which I countered that both are worn by men throughout nearly all races, countries, and civilizations throughout the world. Before she mentioned heels, I said there's perhaps two items of appearal which are exclusive to women or men. When she said, "Ok, what?" I replied, "a bra, and a jock strap," adding, "everything else has been worn by both sexes on a regular basis throughout time.

When she said, "Oh, yeah? What about men who wear heels?" I knew I had her, and instead of arguing for high heels, I simply asked her why she though heels were restricted to wear by women. She gave me several reasons, none of which held water, so I asked her if she liked John Travolta as an actor. She said, "of course," so I asked if she knew the height of the heel Travolta wore during Saturday Night Fever. She said, "I know where you're going with this," and countered by saying, "Ok - where am I going with this?" She couldn't tell me, so I asked her, "Why did Travolta wear heels during that movie?"

She responded by saying that Hollywood is always out to set trends, to which I replied, "but Saturday Nigh Fever (SNF) came at the end of the age of disco, not at the beginning. Besides, take a look at this," and I handed her a copy of the LA Times article on men wearing heels, and pointed out the fact that it came out a few years before SNF.

She looked confused, so I pressed my advantage, and asked, "do you know who invented heels, and why," to which she replied she didn't, so I gave her a brief synopsis of heeling history from 1500 through the French Revolution.

She said she hadn't know all of that, but then reattacked with the comment, "but that was then. Today, when a man wears heels, it's a fetish!"

I asked her, "as in transvestic fetishism?"

"Exactly!" was her reply.

So I asked her, "Well how can it be a fetish if there's no paraphilia involved?"

"What do you mean?" she countered.

"The definition of fetish requires paraphilia. If there's no paraphilia, it's not a fetish. Do you disagree? This is straight out of the DSM-IV..."

She agreed that fetish requires paraphilia, so I asked her why she thought men wearing heels was travestic in nature when men had worn heels throughout 300 of the last 500 years, popularly in the 1970s, and to a lesser extent, continuing to this day?

She conceeded that if men wore heels regularly, then it wouldn't be transvetism, but argued that men don't wear heels as fashion these days.

"Oh, no?" I said, and pulled up my pant leg to show her my Vanelli boots.

Her jaw dropped, then she said, "Are you some kind of pervert?" to which I replied, "not in the least!" and added, "Are you narrow-minded?"

No one, of course, likes to think they're narrow-minded, so she immediately said "of course not!" to which I replied, "glad to hear it! It's nice to have these conversations with those who can be objective!"

Naturally, this set the tone for the remainder of the conversation.

"So let's get back to earrings on men. If male idols such as football, basketball, and musicians are wearing earrings, and men are responding by doing the same, what, if anything, makes their wearing earrings transvestic in nature?"

She couldn't think of anything other than the fact that men have not traditionally worn earrings, to which I replied, "rubbish! There are Bible verses which mention men wearing earrings.

She reiterated that there was something wrong with men who wore skirts or heels, though, as "these are reserved for women."

"Much as pants were reserved for men just 50 years ago?" I asked, begging the question.

"Fashion changes, and people respond in one of two ways. They either adopt/accept it, or they rail against it, abusing disciplines such as psychology as a means to denounce it by mislabeling it as "deviant behavior."

"I'm not saying it's deviant," she replied.

"Then you're saying it's normal?" I asked.

"Well, no," was her answer.

"Then you're saying it's deviant. Remember than 'normal' and 'deviant' are statistical terms. If a behavior falls within a certain arbitrary range around the mean, it's said to be "normal," while if it falls outside that range it's said to 'deviate from the norm.' The question isn't whether it falls into one category or the other, but rather, who defines the boundaries between the categories, and why."

She looked stunned, so I continued: "For me, wearing heels is not a fetish, as there's no paraphilia involved. Nor is it transvestic in nature, as I'm not attempting to dress as a woman, and certainly not attempting to pass as one. I simply enjoy wearing heels."

At this, she relapsed into her counselor mode, and asked, "And why is it you enjoy wearing heels?"

I replied, "Why is it both men and women enjoy watching a beautiful sunset or attending a fine ballet? Why was Cirque de Soleil one of Vegas' most profitable attractions? Why did men throughout the entire Earth wear skirted garments until the last 200 to 300 years? Why do a third of all men on the planet still wear skirted garments? Why do women wear pants and cut their hair short (while pointing to a woman four rows up with a buzz cut)? Why do men wear jewelry? Why does anyone wear anything?"

She didn't know what to say, so I added, "men who wear skirts, heels, earrings, etc., aren't doing so because they're transvestites, fetishists, or trying to attract attention. They do so because that's what they choose to wear. It's no different than your dicision to wear that bracelet, that ring, or those earrings. Are you trying to attract attention, or are you simply enjoying wearing that jewelry more than not wearing it?"

Another thoughtful pause...

"It's the same with my wearing heels," I continued, briefly showing her my heels. "If I were trying to attract attention, I'd be wearing glitter boots beneath a miniskirt. As it is, I'm wearing black suede heels beneath very long pants. If the discussion hadn't veered towards this topic, you'd never have known I was wearing heels, would you?"

"Probably not," was her only reply.

I asked her, "Would you agree that stereotypes about politics, religion, and race abound throughout society, and that these stereotypes are responsible for much of the conflict among today's society?"

When she gave her emphatic "yes!," I appealed to her sense of reason, asking, "Then would you agree that none of us are without any such bias, or that certain disciplines are immune to such bias?"

"I think everyone and everything is subject to some bias," she said.

"Then it's conceivable that the psychological community also has biases?"

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far," she replied. "We do all kinds of double-blind testing to remove such bias."

"Then why would you automatically label a guy wearing heels as a transvestic fetishist?" I countered. "Since when did one's choice of fashion automatically translate into their trying to pass as a member of the opposite sex or have anything to do, at all, with fetishism?"

I'll give her this: She was open-minded enough to realize that her thoughts on the issue were little more than pre-conceived opinions commonly shared by those within the psychological community. While she wouldn't budge on the "earrings are a guy's way of attracting attention" issue, she and I spoke at length throughout the remainder of the flight about DSM issues relating to gender.

Interestingly, both of us were surprised that as a PhD of the community, she was unaware of the role played by environmental toxins in a person's gender identity, and fortunately, an article in the in-flight magazine mentioned this very thing, which, when I pointed it out a couple hours later, gave me some substantial credibility in her eyes.

All in all, it was a good flight, but it underscored the fact that even the mentally adept, those who can make the transition from psychology's equivalent of old wive's tales to reality are often hampered by their lack of exposure to various routine and common behaviors practiced by society, or the fact that societal "norms" are constantly changing, and have been throughout history.

When I got off the plane in Denver, the temp was well below zero and the wind was whipping (around 20 to 30 mph).

I had a long walk to my car, so I put on my hat, gloves, and jacket, and began the hike. A few minutes later, my legs were freezing, so I pulled my skirt out of my luggage and put it on over my pants to keep my legs warm. I passed by several people, but received only one notice, as the rest were too busy keeping warm.

Having travelled for nearly 20 hours, I spent the night at a hotel before heading home, going out for a couple drinks before bedtime. Without thinking, I pulled up, locked my car door, and was walking into the bar/restuarant before I realized I still had my jeans skirt on over my pants. I turned back to the car before muttering, "whatever," and moved on, settling into a seat at the bar.

By the time my dinner arrived the place was quite full, and a decent looking woman and her friend sat next to me at the bar. Surprisingly, despite the darkened conditions, she noticed my skirt and heels right off and asked me about them. "I put on the skirt because of the wind - I had a long walk from the airport to my car and my legs were freezing. As for the heels, well, I just enjoy wearing heels."

"I do too, " she said, showing me her pointy-toe stiletto boots. "But why're you still wearing the skirt?"

"Well, I like wearing skirts around the house - they're comfortable - and I just forgot to take it off!" We laughed and she mentioned that her boyfriend wore her skirts on occasion before changing the subject. She and her friend soon moved to a recently vacated table, so I finished my drink and headed to the hotel for a hot-tub and a couple hours reading the latests Clive Cussler novel.

Heck, its only clothing!

david

Absolutely. And clothing does NOT define the man or woman beneath it!

It might not be Dr Shoe coming as Tara thinks it's high time she got out again and we only have the one pair of shoes between us!

You? One? I find that difficult to believe!

I feel a sense of comfort and belonging. It just fits who I am as a person. Weird, I know, but I just feel more at home in a pair of heels than a boring pair of flats.

Nobody NEEDS heels. It's more a case of WANTING to wear them.

Some girls are so short that, even with 4" or 5" heels, are still shorter than everyone else.

Well, there's always stilts, but I don't think they'll become a fashion statement anytime soon, at least not outside of the bigtop...

Jeez! I gotta get the dictionary out again!

Here, lemme help, honeychile...

modality

One entry found for modality.

Main Entry: mo·dal·i·ty

Pronunciation: mO-'da-l&-tE

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural -ties

1 a : the quality or state of being modal b : a modal quality or attribute : FORM

2 : the classification of logical propositions according to their asserting or denying the possibility, impossibility, contingency, or necessity of their content

3 : one of the main avenues of sensation (as vision)

4 : a usually physical therapeutic agency

But I was using it in the statistical sense, namely, that of the most common response. It's similar to the geometric mean, but think of it as a response to the question, "what color shirt do you wear most often?" If "red" is the most common response, then "red" is the modality of the answer to that question.

Mind you Barratts must be used to guys asking to try on their boots / shoes... No thnaks I don't need boot trees, or polish, wax, insoles, anglefeet...

It's been my experience that a LOT of shoe stores which carry larger sizes, and most which carry through size 10 US, have been seeing a lot of male customers in the last few years. I think there's a reason we have more than 4,000 members yet at any given time the ratio of guests to members is something between 3 and 5 to 1.

There's a lot more guys out there who're interested in heeling than are registering on this board.

Come on, guys (and gals) sign up!

Men's shoes, even really good ones, start feeling like concrete blocks on my feet by the end of the day. Most men's styles are just too heavy and inflexible.

You said it! Even my knee-high, four-inch heeled boots with a 1/2 inch platform weigh less than a comparable pair of ankle boots for men!

I have already decided -- the Clarks are going to work today.

Doesn't stop me from heeling around town, though...

"Pass" is an ideal name for the Clarks boots, they could easily pass as men's. I've always regarded trainers as unisex anyway unless they're pink or something, and would wear those "Dancesneakers" anywhere. In fact I'm quite tempted by a pair myself as black trainers aren't always easy to find.

I like the wedge shoes, but they'd be indoor wear for me too.

Chris

Perhaps that's what they had in mind.

I've been writing the major non-fetish shoe companies that carry larger sizes (11 and up) on a regular basis, trying to get them to carry their lines in the next larger size. Since I began this in 2002, aproximately half of those I've been writing have indeed upped the largest sizes of some shoes in their lines by at least one size. About 15% have upped it two sizes.

Clarks is one of the companies I've petitioned. Interestingly, I called them this summer, spoke with a director of marketing about shoe sizes, and provided him with some information as to just how much larger women's feet have grown in the last thirty years. He was surprised, but I provided him with the links and he said he'd look into it. Clarks, surprisingly, isn't one of the firms that's upped it's sizes in recent years, but he did relate that he's seen a sharp increase in the online sales of their size 11 and 12 lots since the beginning of this century compared to your average women's size (8-1/2), and that he's curious as to why, but hadn't been able to pin it down...

I didn't so much as come out and tell him it's probably do to a combination of larger women's feet (slight effect) and men buying their shoes (more predominant effect for those sizes), but I did encourage him to consider to revamp the product lines to meet the market demands!

In my opinion, 'sexiness' of a pair of heels isn't only about how-high the heel is, but also about over-all shape, namely, how steep the arch is (which is probably related to heel-height, but not-always ):

case-in-point -

Shown-above are what I consider to be BERNADETTE's 2 sexiest pair of heels:

at-Left are Bright Pink 5.5"-heels from LESLIE'S (#7114 ), and at Right are Hot Pink 6"-heels from ELLIE (#8260 ).

Although the shoes at Left are shorter heel-height, they are also 'shorter', from heel-tip to toe-tip, too, causing the arch to take-on an extreme angle between the heel and ball of the foot, much-steeper than the sole of the 6" pump:

I believe this probably causes more 'arch-cleavage', too, which is a whole-'nother subject!

While she can wear neither heel for walking due to her very small/short feet, they are sexy-as-Hell.

I think the curves on the vamp only add to the effect!

Sorry guys & galls....For my 2 peneth...I much prefurr the old style PHP forum layout..theres way too much going on within this forum layout,its just too 'busy',prime example,you can only post 4 images per message "why"??? Its also a lot harder to find you way arround this forum and a lot of the new icons (new posts / popular threads etc) are so misleading you dont know whats going on...

Please bring back the old style PHP forum...its sadly missed!

SW-W

PS:Although this is classed as a whinge...I am glad this forum is here,just HATE the current format!

Well, I'm happy you're glad it's here, as it was dying on the other web host.

The good news is that the new admin is also a dedicated heeler and member, and as an additional bonus, runs other sites on this web hosting company, and also works at the company which is hosting this website.

In summary, we couldn't have a better "inside man" if we tried!

Plus the price (free) is right.

Another website on which I'm a moderator migrated from php to vBulliten, and it was confusing at first. Then one day, about 100 posts later, I went "oh - this isn't so bad at all," as I'd learned my way around the new format.

Over time, if you post often enough, this site will quickly seem that way to you, as well.

As for the four picture limit, it was needed to curb the "voluminous posting" which had some people posting 30 pictures in one post. That's a bit excessing, and contrary to the main purpose of the board as a discussion forum about high heels, not necessarily a personal venue for self-exposition.

I do hope you understand!

Zappos does.

Generally speaking, the Fitzwell brand of boots has a few models with larger calves, but I'm not happy with their gel system, as the stitching around it requires either very thick socks or very calloused skin on the bottom of one's feet!

That and the fact that the shoe size was 1/2 to a full size smaller than I normally wear.

dr1819,

Here is the link;

Skopunkten webbshop / DAM BOOTS / LÃ¥g Boots

At the moment, they only deliver within Sweden, I'm sorry.

Wow - a bit expensive. 1/10th the price for Payless, and 1/3rd the price for mainstream manufacturers which do manufacture boots in my size (I have many).

I'll have to pass. Economics rules. Market economy. Etc.

Jeez! I gotta get the dictionary out again!

Yeah, me, too. It seems to keep changing over recent years, doesn't it?

Nothing unusual about the outfit at all.

Not that I can see. Then again, it's quite dark. Have you considered using front-lighting and eliminating the backlighting?

I'm really certain there's nothing unusual, but the pics are very difficult to pick out any detail.

I had the same reply from my parents. I said: "I didn't ask whether you loved me or whether I was welcome in your home, I asked what you thought of what I do." "Well, in the bible ...", my mother started. I changed the subject at this point.

Yes, I'm quite familiar with the Bible, as I've read it through several times, and certain passages many times.

It really isn't as horrible as one might think, and I find it very interesting that Jesus hung out with the prostitutes, tax collectors, and "street people," not the religious leaders of the day, who were, in fact, his largest target as they held a lot of condemnation in their hearts, with little, if any, love for their fellow humans. They were more interesting in following the rules to a T than they were in loving others, meeting them where they needed it most.

I also find it interesting about the frequency of passages as they relate to certain words or concepts:

Crossdressing: 1 (Deut 22:5)

Love: 697

Hate: 128

God: 3,930

Jesus: 1,277

Israel: 2,378

Forgive: 116

Thus, when one looks at things from a frequency perspective, it appears God's primary emphasis was on himself, with a secondary emphasis on his chosen people, with a tertiary emphasis on their Saviour, and a quaternary emphasis on the message of love. Crossdressing is perhaps last on his list, and there's some serious doubt as to whether the occasional or partial wear of clothing "primarily" intended for the opposite sex constitutes crossdressing anyway, if it is/was worn by the same sex in other places and times.

Having not studied statistical math, I find it a little difficult to follow your argument. But my "gut feeling" is that yer 10% estimate may in fact be low - especially in light of the fact that very few store personnel even give a guy a second glance when they shop for heels these days.

That and the fact that women shop more than men, you may very well be right, Guy N. Heels!

Actually, I expect you are. I should have put "as a minimum,..."

Hay at least your not alone.........:admin_welcome: Same thing happened with my EX............B:censored:h.

Thanks for your sentiments, Hoverfly.

By the way - nice job of censoring! It actually increases the impact!

Congrats! Now that Halloween is over, are you going to wait another year, or are you going to be a little adventurous from time to time?

I took the opportunity to wander the streets last night wearing my black ankle skirt, hh boots, and my hair a little spiked. I also wore a pair of earrings and just some basic makeup, fake boobs, and that's it. Lots of kids running through the neighborhoods with their parents. I didn't get a single second look! I headed downtown and there were a few costumed characters in the local establishments, including several guys wearing heels. I felt sorry for them - probably the only day of the year they feel they can do that in public! I had a beer then walked home. Again, not a single stare or double-take. There were two girls who sat down beside me and started a conversation, though. When I answered, and it was obvious I was male from a lower voice, their eyes did go wide and they said "nice costume!" One reached out and pinched my "tittie" and said, "wow - are those real?" It was half of a squishy toy my son used to own, and I pinched it and said, "sure feels that way, doesn't it?" I think they were a little freaked out, for they began to look like they couldn't decide whether I was a man or a woman, so I pointed to one of the guys trying to walk up the stairs in heels (he was having a little trouble), and said, "will you look at him? He's all dressed up like a girl!" and laughed a bit. This really confused them and one asked, "What's your name? I'm Carol." I gave her a "Hi, Carol. I'm Denise." At this point they actually appeared to relax. Yeah, they concluded that I was a husky-voiced girl. So, to allay any further mind-benders, I cleared my through a bit and went up two-thirds of an octive and they were even more relaxes. I didn't try any feminine gestures, as many women don't have any feminine gestures anyway, and unless you're really feminine, comes across as fake anyway. Well, back to the threa topic, yes I saw guys in heels last night!

Ok I feel a little bad creating a new post for my tiny argument but sometimes I feel a little cheated by the high heels on the red carpet.

I think high heels are fantastic and the higher the heel the better to me.

BUT

Although this is difficult to explain I will try, below is a link to a close up shot of Jennifer Lopez's feet in a remarkable pair of 4.5 to 5 inch pumps in a strange fishnet/paisley pattern as shown

The heel is the problem, I like the look of it but it seems to run straight down almost vertically from the back of the shoe thus creating a much higher heel.

The heel in the nex pic

Shows the type of heel I (and many other I presume) know and love, which curves slightly toward the arch before sloping downward.

Heels with the 'vertical' heel look so much taller but not as 'sexy' to me and I was wondering what other peoples views were, maybe there is a name for this type of heel and I just don't know it.

Am I right or just too observant?

I think the more rearward heels do look taller, but J-Lo's heels really are angled more than the black example.

I think the black example is sexier due to the curves. It's certainly better for your ankles, ergonomically, as there's less forward torque on your ankle each step you take.

Here's a pair I'm wearing right now. Notice how forward the heel is. Even though they've a full 4 inches, they're much easier to walk in than other pair of 4 inch heels I own.

The heel doesn't look very high, but it really is, and the shoe is very sturdy. I've walked more than two miles in this shoe with no issues.

Yup, you've got it! Yule Brenner wearing a beautiful skirt as Pharoah, Richard Burton wearing a battle skirt as Marc Anthony, and Charlton Heston as Ben Hur but men in skirts today? Almost everyone starts hollering "gay" and stuff like that. Stop the world, I want off.

And when one watches those movies, I'll bet not one person thinks, "Oh - he's wearing a skirt."

Then again, these men were more masculine than most in both looks and behavior, so that offset the skirt quite a bit, I'm sure.

And now we have new movies, cartoons, by Disney no less, depicting boys and men wearing MUGs.

Perhaps it will catch on to the point where we start seeing skirts and heels in the men's section.

Something like this would be nice:

Especially when paired with this:

Down to brass tacks, I enjoyed wearing my mom's 3" heeled Italian boots as a kid. That's pretty much it, no trauma, nothing else going on. Nothing homosexual, wanting to be/look like a woman. She had 'em where I could ware 'em and that's pretty much it. I liked it. I discovered much later, through a professional counselor, that this is quite normal for men, although not statistically "normal," that it's quite common. My wife didn't buy it and divorced me anyway. Ugh! I HATE stupid people.