dr1819

It's no big deal. I've been on foreign trips with guys from work where I've worn shorts and no-one's said anything. I also wore shorts to a friend's barbecue, and as I was putting suncream on my legs one guy remarked "Do you shave those legs or what?" I just shrugged and said yes. He then decided to announce the fact to the entire group and nobody cared.

If anyone asks why I do it I just truthfully answer that I dislike the hair.

Chris

I only encountered that once, during the one time in my life I ever shaved my legs. I simply said, "I'm into bicycle racing," which was true, and he dropped the issue.

Of course, that's not why I did so, as I'd wondered what it felt like. I've never done it again.

I always check my look before heading out. If it's too over the top or ostentatious, I change what I'm wearing. It's not that I'm trying to "blend in." If that were the case, I wouldn't wear heels. It's that I'm trying carry on the tradition of male heel-wearing without drawing undue attention to myself (wearing something would would incite screams of "Eeewwww!") Having been out in 3" to 4" heels more than 300 times with fewer than 5 negative comments, I think I've managed to succeed.

I found pretty much the same, including when I asked a Nordstroms salesman how many men were buying heels, while wearing heels myself. He chuckled and said, "quite a lot," then asked me if I knew anything behind this fad. I said, "well, I think many men have desired wearing heels for years, but it's only in the last ten years or so they felt like they could do so without serious repurcussion." He admitted that he'd worn heels a couple times himself. Fancy that - a women's shoe salesman actually wearing heels! At least he's getting a chance to know his product.

Donna saw my nails from across the bar, maybe 15 feet away, in the dimmed light of the tavern. She waxed enthusiastic, about my blue acrylic nails, and showed me her nails, with a beautiful, custom paint job.

I'm not into flashy feminine nails, but I have had mine done a couple of times using the gelnails approach, as it looks very natural and does a great job improving what crappy nails I do have. I always do a very masculine approach, but you can have longer ones done, too, complete with whatever design you wish. A little more expensive than acrylic, but far more realistic.

Wow! Did you see how many people cast second glances, stared, did double-takes, or hit him over the head with their purses? No? Neither did I! Thanks, johnieheel, for the videos which show how easy it is for men to walk through a mall in heels without causing any fuss whatsoever.

Nothing wrong with lower heels. Half the heels I own are 3" or less.

JeffB, in life everything must balance. I'm not into this philosophy, per se', but I know that overindulgence in anything is never good. I'm glad you recognized this, and hope you're spending plenty of time with your family, on your job, and in other pursuits, as well. I look forward to hearing from you around the forum.

The few times that leave whith heels, the public noticed and was looking at. I feel very ashamed.

Feeling ashamed is an emotion which comes from within. People can look at you cross-eyed for no reason at all and some people feel ashamed, while it doesn't affect others in the slightest.

When men wear heels in public, some (just some, mind you - certainly not all, and in all liklihood, not even most) people are going to look at you a little funny. The key to getting over this it to realize the fact that you're not wearing women's shoes, but rather, you're simply on the leading edge of a fashion trend.

Rui Leonardes and Jean Paul Gaultier have been sending men down the fashion runways for the last 15 years wearing both skirts and heels. It hasn't "caught on," but it has proliferated, with numerous stores specifically devoted to selling male skirts, and while few sites are devoted to selling masculine heels, most traditional women's shoe stores have increased the sizes of their more masculine styles from 10 to 12 over the last six years. Both Zappos and Nordstrom report tremendous increases in sales in their larger sizes (like 13), indicating that either women have grown tremendously larger in the last half a decade, or that many more men are buying heels.

From what I gather from having talking with dozens of shoe salespeople, it's the latter. One Payless manager I spoke with said that almost 50% of the clientelle buying the larger sized women's heels (3" and above) were men, and that these sales to men numbered more than 10 a day.

My point is that there's no shame in being different. People who're different will always attract glances from those who choose to be close to that mythical "norm," a statistical average of all behavior.

The best way to counter such glances are to simply enjoy yourself, for who you are, in confidence, knowing that tens of thousands of other men out there enjoy wearing heels, as well.

You're not alone! Aside from the heel meets, my most prolific sighting of men wearing heels was at a progressing nightclub where three other males and myself were all wearing heels, and I don't think any of us were with any of the others.

Nike: Just do it!

Well, that's not how the "Everybody" forum is seen. That forum is seen as a general purpose one where you want answers from/discussion about

"Everybody!" I believe the posting that is at issue started in an honest attempt to engage the women in dialogue by seeking THEIR thoughts about female oriented topics. The other that came along later was what really set things off.

As for your predicament, on message boards the "admin" is higher in rank than a 'umble "mod." That is why people contact you and not the others. You are saying you are the board tech more or less, and don't have much to do with general decision making, correct?

A thought here: Why not move some of the older threads in the women's section into the everybody's so people can post on them without having to worry about offending anyone?

In Admin's defense, while he is the board tech, having "god" power, he both seeks and accepts the advice of the other mods here. He's a firm believer in "more heads are better than one."

That's an interesting suggestion about moving some of the older threads. Can you point to any, say, half a dozen which are definately not focused or originally intended to be women-only topics? If the threads both began and continued as a joint male-female discussion, I think it would be appropriate to move them so they can continue in the For Everyone section.

One of my favorite pics of myself when I was young is of me in the stocks on Tom Sawyer's Island in Disney World. I had very straight platinum blond hair down to my shoulders. Pretty cool that a military dad would let his kid have long hair like that. Then again, it was the 70's...

Dr1819:-)

Not being a dirty American, I can understand the "sexual kink", but I'm a bit fuzzy on the "usual blow in the park", mate.

Cheers---

Dawn HH

As when I "breeze through" the park, sometimes wearing heels, sometimes wearing a skirt...

Went to wallmart with girlfriend shopping tonight wearing my 4"tommy hill knee highs and had a blast. for the most part, nobody even noticed except a couple women and their young daughters and they just kinda smiled. As for the men, well they just kinda gave me a look like "oh well" and went about their business. Hopefully I gave someone something to go home and talk about.LOL Just be your self and have fun and It will be alright. Happy Heeling guys!!!

Great boots! Looks very similar to my 4" black leather knee-high boots.

It's a Saturday - I'm wearing them now!

I do a lot of window shopping, but over the last 5 years I've purchased less than 20 pair, for around an average of $30 each.

Excellent collection! I hope you have the opportunity to post more and contribute to some of the discussion threads. Happy heeling!

Out with the old, in with the new.LOL New GF is 5'3" and has more fun with heels than me and loves me to wear them when we go out, says I look very sexy in heels. YES!Any who in some ways, sizs really doesn't matter. Thats my own personal experience.

I had a 5'3" girlfriend, once, for about 8 months in college. She was by far the sexiest partner I've ever had!

On the other hand, for something like this, it would be best to NOT give a link, for fear of breaching copyrights.

Links to copyrighted material on websites where the author has given their permission for the material to be posted, violate no copyright laws. It's only the copying and reposting of content on websites or media sources not sanctioned by the author that violates copyright laws.

Out of all other places for men to post, what the hell is one segregated thread going to hurt?

Since it's just one thread among many, please refrain from posting there.

Thanks.

By doing so, you're respecting the rights of the women who do post there, and hopefully (time will tell), help rebuild this board's female population to former levels, particularly since it's the only thread among many that the women can call their own.

To many rules will drive people away.

You're absolutely correct. Too many rules along one line will drive some people away, while too many rules along another line will drive other people away.

The goal of our administrative staff is to promote an open forum with respect to the wear of heels, but guard against this forum being overrun with either males or females, or other issues such as narcism, transvestic fetishism, etc. So long as the posts adhere to the few simple rules (one of which is no male posting in the women's forum), the healthier the forum is as a whole.

Honey, I like to wear heels.

Perfect.

There's no need to overcomplicate things by trying to explain or justify it, must less getting "professionals" many of whom would be more prone to try and "cure" you simply for being different. For some women it might be a major adjustment. For others, particularly those who're already aware that both men and women have interests which differ from the norm, it may not be a big deal at all.

Be honest, but also be ready to make a choice, as some women may present you with an ultimatum, that either the heels go or they'll go. After 19 years, I'd recommend chucking the inconsequential pieces of leather, wood, and plastic, rather than the long-term loyal companion and mother of one's children.

A copy of my latest posting on this site (don't know if they'll post it, but stay tuned...:

A man wearing a skirt is NOT "cross-dressing," as men have worn skirts for nearly all of the last 100,000 years (Jesus wore robes), and about a third of the men on this planet still wear male unbifurcated garments/MUGs(skirts), mostly throughout Southeast Asia, Oceana, and Africa.

It's only throughout the idiotic, "I can't do anything that differs from anyone else" Western World that pant wear has become the norm. Those who oppose men wearing skirts need to get a clue and realize that part of the reason behind the population growth in the west is because a man's pair requires cooling for the proper formation of his contribution to the beginning of life, and that skirts afford him this cooling, while pants do not. God said, "be fruitful and multiply." Therefore, pants are Satan's design to prevent Christian men from doing so. Remember that nearly all Muslim men still wear either skirts or robes, and remain quite fruitfull. Don't be hoodwinked! Pants are for the fallen who follow societal fashion, rather than following Jesus, who never wore bifurcated garments.

Those who have an interest in fashion freedom may want to poke their noses into that forum as well. http://www.imff.net - sometimes worth a look on this topic.

- Peter

Alternatively, they can simply forge ahead with one of the offerings from Roaman's or Eddie Bauer.

There are lots of makes of large-sized skirts out there who's offerings are fairly masculine, no lace, frills, etc., including flies that open to the right.

Just go hunting!

Why anyone would want to say any given height of a heel is the minimum height for a high heel and then admit that smaller heels are also high heels is, to my mind, a total contradiction of terms.

Agreed, just as what one normally enjoys wearing in no way constitutes some sort of "minimum" so far as heel height is concerned.

I think the breakdown is fairly simple, even though an apparently slewed consensus shows 3.5" is the beginning of a "high heel." That consensus is that heels between 0" and 2" are low heels, heels between 2" and 3" are medium heels, and heels more than 3" are high heels.

A high heel is not the height above which you teeter or have difficulty walking.

I think it's time we revisit the word-based definitions rather than looking at numbers:

Flats: What it says - they're flats, with a heel no higher than the toe.

Low Heels: Can't tell the difference between these and flats. Even for a larger shoe size like mine, this falls into the range below two inches, as I can definately tell the difference between a two inch heel and flats.

Medium heels: I can tell the difference between these and flats, but have no difficulty walking in medium heels, nor do I need to make any adjustments for my gait. One can tell it's a heel but it comes as naturally as wearing flats.

High heels: High enough that one has to make adjustments to their gait.

The last is a little nebulous, but let me add this: If someone has been wearing high heels for a long time, they'll come to think of their modified high heel gate as normal, when it's actually not. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about measurable differences between a normal flat, low, and medium-heeled gait as compared to a high-heeled gait.

Everyone's different, not just in foot size, but also in their ability to adjust their gaits to different heel heights, which is what makes it so difficult to put a number on it:

1. The definition of a "high heel" depends on the size of a person's foot.

2. The definition also depends on how well they adjust their gait to the heel.

I recall a 1970's add where Cheryl Ladd walked effortlessly in a pair of 4-1/2 inch heels for a Charlie commercial (perfume). Still, her gait was slightly shorter than normal, so she was indeed wearing a pair of high heels.

Given these new considerations, I have to revise the definition, as it applies to me:

Flats: heel height - toebox height

Low heels: 0 to less than 2"

Mid heels: 2" to less than 3.5"

High heels: 3.5" or more

Can I wear 5" heels? Of course, although I'm more comfortable in 4" heels. Why kill myself or engage in stupid competitions to see who can wear the highest heel?

My point is that when I put on a 3.5" heel, I feel like I'm wearing high heels. When I wear a 4" heel, all the better. At 4.5", I have difficulty walking, so it's no longer fun, it's just stupid. At 5", walking is still possible, but it's become even more stupid, so I never go there.

My favorite pair of heels are 3-1/4". My favorite pair of high heeled boots are 4", and the heel height of my highest heels that I currently own are 4-1/2". I can wear the latter all day long without discomfort, but I usually don't, as they're stilleto sandals, and that's not the image I like to present outside, so I normally stick to my 3-1/4" or 4" boots, depending upon how I feel. In broad daylight, with large crowds, I have a pair of 2-1/2" block-heeled boots. By my definition, that's still a mid-heel, so I'm both happy, and anonymous.

Even so, during summer I occasionally wear a pair of women's toe-thongs with straps thick enough that no one gives them a second glance. They look just like guy's sandals, except for one thing - I can't find styles like these in the guy's section!

Sooner or later, designers will wake up and begin offering, en masse, heeled shoes for men. Not dainty heels in larger sizes, but heels that the vast majority of the male population would be proud to own, provided they weren't the only ones wearing a heel over 1/2"...

It'll take time. In the meantime, I'm headed for my local pub this afternoon, and I'm wearing a pair of 3-1/2" blade-heeled boots. I've worn them there before, so I'm not worried - should be a good time!

I'd suggest these much cheaper and safer too.

Chris

Definately, a vote of thanks for sanity. Why inject anything when so many much cheaper, more effective, and far safer products are available?

I wish I could put it more politely than this, however, those who inject silicone into their bodies are morons, little more intelligent than repeatedly smashing one's face against concrete because they don't like the one they have.

I'm sorry if I offended anyone, folks, but injecting silicone is extremely dangerous.

It's more dangerous than riding 150 mph on the Interstate without a helmet. There are countless incidents of death and serious disfigurement, and the link above points to the huge medical evidence of just how disasterous this process really is.

Silicones are generally biologically inert -- meaning they don't rot, are impervious to fungal or bacterial attack and do not enter into biological processes. Theoretically they would be inert inside the body...

Not true. Follow the link above.

I haved bought any new heels for a while, and the offerings on Zappos kept getting better, so after loading half a dozen phantom shopping carts in the last couple of months, I finally trimmed things down to just four, and splurged!

These are for going out:

These are for occasional wear at the office:

I got these just because I think it's an incredibly sexy shoe:

And these are for lounging around at home, casual wear, possibly the movies, etc.:

I love bare legs. Hairy ones, too. So does my girlfriend.

What in God's name else would one wear beneath a kilt???

Correction - I should have added, "bare legs, but only on women," and "hairy ones, too, but only my own."

I shaved my legs once, two years ago, just to see what it would be like. Yes, it actually felt more comfortable wearing a pair of pantyhose than with hairy legs (not that I do that as a matter of routine, anyway), but I didn't like anything else, and let it grow out.

Getting back to topic... I think thin works better with stilletos, and thicker with chunkier heels. However, I've seen a few pics of men here who are beefy (muscles), although not fat, and with the right outfit, they looked fine in a pair of 4" pumps. I think the color and style coordination is more important than one's body type, as I've seen both skinny and overweight girls look both good and terrible in all types of heels.