dr1819

...and then some of us don't like the clicking. I don't mind it at home, but not while out on the town (although in a noisy bar no one hears them, but to and from can be an issue, particularly since drunk people have little inhibition left, so if there were any animosity...). As for gay or TV, most men who wear heels as men are not gay. We just like heels. Very few people who're gay wear heels. The greatest percentage of men who wear heels and are gay are the full cross-dressers (they try to pass as women, also known as transvestites), but even then the percentage is surprisingly low - less than 30%. There's a third class, transexuals, but it's difficult to say they're "gay" because they actually identify as a woman. The forth category, drag queens, are indeed gay, but their motivation for cross-dressing is more of a parody of femininity than of identifying as a woman, and is complete with exaggerated movements, speech, makeup, clothing, etc.

I'm definately not into pain, either. Although I don't shop in the stores (few, except Nordstroms, ever carry my size), I enjoy Zappos, as they carry many shoes in larger sizes and have a one year return policy. What I would like to see is some standardization among clothing manufacturers, for they're still using their own proprietary sizes. For example, I have one skirt that's one size from one company. It's too small. I have another, nearly identical skirt from another company that's a size smaller, yet it's too big (I have to wear it with a belt, and even then it could lose 2 inches. Same thing's true for heels.

This whole scenario is about a driver who would willfuly violate existing laws, place herself and a restaurant full of people at risk by disregarding their safety - all because that cell phone was much too important to put down. What's wrong with this picture?

The fact that there's absolutely no proof whatsoever her actions were due to the fact she was talking on a cell phone. I've seen many vehicles parked in fire lanes and handicap spots where the users were not on cell phones. Association does not imply causality. This is a cardinal rule in statistics.

Ahem... They have (built displays up top). Since I'm not being paid to advertise brands, I'll not name any. But I have seen cars where the driver's console is essentially a LCD screen where everything - speedometer, gas gauge, oil pressure. etc. is displayed right in front of the driver. About the only thing missing was a HUD like a modern fighter aircraft. Since most cars now use on-board computers, there's no reason why they can't also have the video display instead of the 50 year old gauges.

I've seen that, too. And HUDs. But most manufacturers are still putting the GPS center console, about halfway from top to bottom. The only reason is because it's cheaper.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2003/01/21/153043.html

However, as "custom" displays become common, there's no reason that it should cost more. In fact, it should cost less, particularly when you pair it with a good menuing system, inputs from outside temperature and altitude, a sound system display input, key driving information (velocity/rpm), vehicle systems diagnostics, etc.

Some functions, such as the last, should be inhibited (except for basic warning lights) unless one is stopped. Similarly, programming a route into the GPS should also be inhibited unless you're stopped.

I know what I've said about cell phones, but programming routes involves the same area of the brain as is required for driving, and it's an area which cannot multitask nearly as well as can the auditory and speech areas, which are not used for driving (this is why people have no problems listening to the radio and signing while driving).

As most of you know, I'm not a big fan of conspicuous heels. But there recently appeared three styles on Zappos whose design I found intriguing.

So, I bought them. Probably never wear them outside, though...

The first one is my favorite:

I like bare legs, but only if they are near flawless or better. Otherwise hosiery is the perfect way to make them flawless.

At least until they come up with leg replacement therapy...

Great! Thank you! You're always welcome to voice a dissenting opinion, my friend!

Well, it IS complicated! If people were born knowning how to walk in heels, we wouldn't need any advice. We probably wouldn't have all the controversy :argue: about men/women wearing heels either. Just think on it - if everyone knew how to walk in heels we could all just go down to the local shoe store and buy the heels that suit our fancy. No controversy about men wearing heels, no controversy about how high the heel or any of that rot. Men could greet each other politely in the street and say, "Nice pair of heels you have there, where did you get those?"

Personally, I'm thankful for the advice, and I think Jenny did a fine job.

A lot of this depends upon the availability of high heels in most men's sizes, which I've found to be sadly lacking by a factor of around 57 to 1.

Okay, this thread has been idle long enough. Today I go to the dentist to try and get what's left of my dental work repaired. (On my birthday anniversary, no less.)

When I was explaining to the boss why I would be in late, she said I didn't look like I was in pain. That's when I assured her that pain is my constant companion. It notifies me that it's still too early to call the undertaker.

Yeah, I'm getting my first cap. I hope it's my last. Great brushing, flossing, and waterpiking, but apparently I cracked a molar sometime during the last year, so I have to get a cap. Ugh.

It sucks.

In the meantime, I began biking to work about a month ago, and have been exerting an average of 1,500 extra calories a day doing so. The first week almost killed me, but now it's a breeze - the old cycling muscles I had as a pre-teen and teen are regrowing. I've got my wind back, and I'm feeling terrific. I'm at the point where after three more months of this, and when I've dropped to less than 10% body weight, I'm going to begin entering races. I'm fortunate in that I happened to buy a road-racing bike, even if it's six pounds heavier that their top model (which was $2,400 more than I was willing to pay...).

By the way, it's about 13 miles round trip, but I've been finding myself biking on the weekends for the sheer heck of it! I biked all over the place when I was a kid and this is like rejuvenation therapy for me.

I don't doubt that some are real wear, but it's extremely rare that I've ever seen a woman (or man) in plats outside the club scene, and I've spent quite a bit of time in many major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC, New Orleans, San Francisco, Vegas, LA, and recently, Dortmund and Frankfurt. This is over the last 17 years of my life, and virtually no plats. I'm not knocking plats, but let me put it this way - I've seen about ten times as many men wearing MUGs in public, both kilts as well as skirts, than I have seen women wearing plats.

Or, ramp it up, and instead of pushing her, let her go as high as she's comfortable going. You could start by asking, "honey, what's the highest heel you could comfortably wear for a night on the town." If she says "three inches," then simply say, "I love seeing you in heels so much - would you wear a pair of three inch heels for me if I bought you the shoes as a gift?" Just don't appear overly excited, as a guy's rapid interest in heels is a turn-off for most women.

Clean white pumps are best viewed with either shaven legs or opaque hosiery. Just a personal preference, as I'm not into heels and hairy legs.

Micha - can you put some breaks in the exclamation points? You're stretching the page way off to the right. Thanks.

Woah.... That's definately worth a trip just for the visual experience alone!

Welcome aboard! Why'd you lurk so long?

:drinking: What the hell are you smoking?

Every time I see this I'm :rofl:

You're not subtle, are you?

Any act of self-justice is forbidden in Germany.

micha

What about self-defence? If a guy attacks me, am I supposed to just attempt to run away (not a bad strategy, by the way, especially if you're a good runner). But what if it's in my own home? Do I have the right to protect my own property? Do I even have the right to protect myself? If so, by what means and to what extent?

These are some questions no one's ever raised before with respect to my being in Germany!

In the states, the right to self defence is pretty much a given in all 50 states, but the means and the extent do vary. In some states, if someone walks into your house uninvited, you could legally shoot and kill and merely say "his uninvited presence in my house was in itself very threatening" and you'd be exonerated, unless the prosecution could prove you somehow invited him or let him in (merely opening a door after a knock or doorbell is neither inviting someone in or letting them in).

In other states, however, unless you could prove imminent danger from an intruder, such as a loaded gun or knive the intruder had on their person at the time you shot them, they could rule it as manslaughter.

About the only time any state would rule your shooting another person in your own home to be murder is if you invited/let them in, the prosecution proved there was no danger to you, and you killed the other person anyway. The key thing is the element of danger. If you kill someone you invited in, you had better be prepared to show signs of a struggle!

Meanwhile, other people are quite able to multitask without any such risk - amazing! Not really, and if you're one of the ones that don't multitask well, by all means stay off that phone! But if you do multitask well, then by all means you should be free to go ahead and do so. Here's my pet peeve: Built-in GPS moving map displays. Let's face it, folks, while radios take but a glance to operate, these puppies really drag your attention away from what you're doing, particularly when they're located mid-dash about half way from top to bottom. Why haven't car manufacturers become more savvy and simply created a 16x9 main display screen just below the dash where your current instruments are displayed? Then they could put anything they want on there, with controls mounted on either the steering column or just to the upper right of the wheel, where the road and traffic would still be in your field of vision. But the mid-dash ones in most cars today are far more dangerous than driving while using your cell phone because they divert both your attention AND your eyes.

Well, the title of this thread is "real wear" platform heel pics, and to date there's only one pic I saw which might have been "real wear." The rest were contrived, for fetish purposes, etc. Yes, I've seen real women wearing platforms outside the club scene, but only on extremely rare occasion.

PS: I briefly dated a basketball player (female) in college. Even though she bested me by two inches barefoot, she still wore 3" heels one night when I took her to dinner. Gorgeous! Sadly, she also still wore a size smaller than I did, but that was way before I had developed any interest in heels, so it really didn't matter back then. Interesting thing, though - her roommate (4 inches shorter) wore almost the same size as I did (about 1/2 size smaller), and she talked me into going drag for Halloween that year, so I wore her old wooden sandals (heels about 3-1/2"), one of my girlfriend's dresses, and assorted other "acoutrements." They made me up, we had a good time, and that was that. I guess I'm just not into cross-dressing. Men have been wearing skirts much more than not over the last 50,000 years, and have been wearing heels more than not over the last 500 years. So, I take the wear of either as my simply enjoying the wear of long-term men's fashion (even if it is found in the women's section). Historically speaking, I'm not cross-dressing at all.

Results so far: 1/3 object to it, 2/3 don't care, and no one actually supports the practice.

Micha, various scientifically-conducted polls reveal that more than half of all men between the age of 20 and 50 have tried on a pair of heels, that 30% have done so more than once, voluntarily, not because they were coerced at some party but because they wanted to know what if felt like, that 10% have done so on some sort of regular basis, and that 2% have done so on a continual basis, with about 1/10th of that 2% actually having worn heels in public, and not for some stunt (like the Amsterdam heel sprint), but because wearing heels in public is what they wanted to do. Even if you just look at the lowest category, two out of a thousand men is a lot of men. Given the 30% who've worn heels more than once because they wanted to know what it's like, that's an awful lot of men - 1 in 3. It's no wonder that men are as supportive as they are. I'm willing to bet that if the styles came out that appealed to men, heels on men would become a solid fashion trend. I think the style that would work the best would be like those in the Harley Davidson line of boots, but without the flash. They're great boots, but sadly, their sizes end at 11. I find this a horrible shame, as they're a mid-heeled (3"), often round-toed boot made of real leather. If I could find them in my size, I'd probably own half a dozen pair! They're cool, tough, intriguing, without being feminine (except for the fact that they have a heel).

Why thank you, Shafted!

Truth be told, heels are all about accentuating the feminine form. Wear whatever you're comfortable wearing.

Interesting... I tend to dangle, but only one pair. Not sexy, though - definately not sexy!

Who'd have thought that Richie's little sister would ever have gone on to be so hot? Too bad her acting career hasn't caught up with her looks.