SleekHeels

So I was browsing and found these gorgeous pink heels:

http://www.lovelywholesale.com/wholesale-fashion+stiletto+high+heels+pink+suede+cross+ankle+wrap++pumps-g102639.html

and I couldn't help noticing that the straps cross over in the first two pictures, but they go straight across in the third picture. Personally I much prefer the crossed-over look and if I owned those shoes that's undoubtedly the only way I'd ever wear them, but it is kind of cool knowing that they could be worn another way.

So, who has heels that can be worn in different ways? And which way do you prefer wearing them?

I've always thought there was nothing gender-specific about buying new shoes or boots, so I wholeheartedly welcome the move, thanks Shafted.

Roses

Whenever I've saved up some fashion money I've usually spent it on something that I'd make more use of on a day-to-day basis, like these black strappy wedge sandals I found for £11 in the sales recently to match the stone-coloured ones I bought last summer:

On both occasions I tried them on in store, initially thinking the straps were too wide and that the double ankle-strap was a bit too much, but actually I found them much more flattering to my feet than I expected and I really enjoy wearing them. My only gripe (especially for the £28 full-price I paid for the first ones) is that they could've been made from a more durable material as they've shown signs of wear-and-tear very quickly.

I've also been looking at these next ones for a while now but they seemed like "occasion" shoes that I wouldn't wear very often so I couldn't justify the £30 price. But I recently thought of a couple of outfits I could wear them with (they even looked quite good with jeans when I tried them on in store) and I had a £5 discount voucher so I treated myself:

Surround

Back to my obnoxiously bright tie against black look.  New skirt, it has button details on the sides at the waist and on the kick pleat but is pretty relaxed otherwise.  Black shirt and black hosery along with my new black patent open toe Preview International pumps.  These were a little tight the first couple times I wore them but feel really good today.

I think that's a very smart and effective look Lime15. I think what impresses me most about it is that it's a look, with heels, that actually looks better on a man than it would on a woman, and I mean that totally as a compliment. In all honesty a shirt and tie isn't my personal style, but more importantly it is your style and it's pretty ground-breaking in presenting heels and a skirt as menswear, and I really admire that.

Hey, everybody, lighten up. Let's have a little tolerance here. Everybody has different tastes and different opinions, but let's try not to be so opinionated that we offend others.

 

Now here's a bright yellow spring style that I really like:

 

Lovely

 

What do you all think?

 

Steve

OMG, are they.... women's stands!?!

.... as I waited in line to be served, a twentysomething woman smiled at me and said my legs looked nice in the tights I had on. I must admit I didn't see that coming, but I smiled back and thanked her for the compliment. She then said it was cool that I was wearing a skirt and that I looked natural to her. I liked that word she used, "natural", meaning she was openminded enough to think that I didn't look like some sort of freak or deviant because I was wearing women's garments, that made me feel good. Again, I thanked her before leaving the store.

Over the years we may learn to feel more natural within ourselves, but it's really quite amazing to evoke that reaction in someone else. It's a well-deserved compliment Jeff.

What a great way to learn English and enjoy heels! We don't expect literature, I'm sure your cultural contributions will be very welcome, Spain has a wonderful enthusiasm for high heels, no?

All, Good thread. No problem with stairs at all but dancing is another story! I can do most anything in heels, and nearly all of mine are above 5", but dancing is something I've never had the knack for. I have attended parties and weddings in heels but have avoided the dancing. I have the killer party heels (6.5" or higher) but don't really have the moves and that's my stumbling block.  HappyinHeels

That's funny, I feel like an idiot dancing in flats but slip on a pair of heels and I have the (perhaps deluded) impression I can actually dance!

I bought these a while back in black and loved how they looked on my feet,  so I saved up and bought them in sandstone too. They're from New Look, the larger sizes are out of stock on the website but you may find them in stores. A couple of other court shoe styles I tried on didn't feel very comfortable but I found these to be a nice fit

http://www.newlook.com/shop/shoe-gallery/view-all-shoes/black-knotted-peep-toe-platform-heels_298248801

Of course black jeans would've looked fine too, but I really like that you wore blue jeans, grey is great for bringing out a colour element. It's nice that the lady's remark picked out the boots - I don't think compliments like that are given unless the boots are worn well with the rest of the outfit, so definitely a success!

I think you're right about the warmth, long skirts do seem to trap the warmth, often far better than trousers do. Knee boots with a mid-calf length skirt are one of my favourite winter looks, especially since that seems to work far better with heels than with flats.

Thanks guys. No need to be envious Jeff, I'm sure you're way ahead of me on the "Whoa Nellie" count! I don't have any photos Matt, but I'll try and remember to take a snap next time I wear that combination.

Rockpup, those platform soles look quite snow/slush friendly - I think they'd look more out of place worn by a woman in summer than they would worn by a guy in winter, so go for it!

Jeff, that's quite an achievement making skirts work for you all year round whatever the weather. I don't think I'd ever box up all my trousers like that though, while I do enjoy wearing skirts and they are a great way to show off a nice pair of heels, I do miss my trousers after a day or two.

Thank you Sleekheels, you gave a great proposal, that I will look into. You made a very interesting point, and as I read in some of your previous posts, you are very good at matching clothes toegether to make a great look.

Matt

That's very kind of you to say Matt, thanks. The coordinated approach is what I feel most comfortable with, but I also admire others who go for a more bold style, as even if I think "I could never pull that off" it does inspire me to go a little out of my comfort zone sometimes. Even though I'm drawn towards quite conventional styles, it's great to see the diversity of others expressing their styles and personalities too.

Have you risen to your challenge of wearing those fabulous boots "outside with the trouser in" yet? I was really excited to wear my new tan knee boots (a good find late in the sales) for the first time last week, with dark blue skinny jeans (inside the boots) and a brown turtleneck jumper under a sand & brown quilted jacket. As I was browsing in a clothes store a young lady customer said "Wow, I love your boots! You wear them really well!" which really made my day as it's been weeks since anyone said anything to me, let alone with such enthusiasm. I told her it was lovely of her to say so and we wished each other a nice evening. I'm not sure any of this would've happened if I was wearing the same boots under my jeans.

There's just a very brief glimpse in a recent Audi Quattro tv advert of some lovely looking heels at a trecherously icy bus stop. I really rather like how the wearer manages to expertly avoid falling over - a split second of teetery bliss!

http://www.audi.co.uk/explore-models/explore-quattro/quattro-tv-advert.html

I don't like "rhinestones" or bling on jeans, but I very much like the nicer stitching detail on women's styles of jeans.

Has anyone tried jodhpurs!

 

OMG!

Not jodhpurs exactly, but I do have a pair of panelled leggings that look a little jodphur-like, and OMG indeed!

After seeing that commercial on TV where the guy comes out wearing skinny jeans I just don't think its a good look on men, even some of the kids that wear men's skinny jeans look funny to me.

The only difference between men's and women's skinny jeans is that the latter actually fit properly. The men's skinny jean style seems to be mostly driven by some kind of "misfit" trend that I don't identify with.

Those boots are a fantastic find Matt. The colour combination with black trousers is great, but if the contrast makes you feel more self-conscious than you're comfortable with, maybe you could try lighter colours like stonewashed blue skinny jeans, a white shirt and brown jacket (to match the brown of the heels of the boots), with a tan scarf, bag and/or hat if you like to accessorize. That's probably no less conscpicuous - people are going to notice those fabulous boots anyway - but the softer blend of colours may help you to feel more comfortable, I feel that a coordinated look overall helps people to get over the fact that you're wearing the "wrong" shoes because you're wearing the "right" shoes for the outfit. In that respect you could stick to the black trousers (with a black turtleneck top under a tan waterfall cardigan, for example) and achieve the same effect even with the contrast.

My main reservation about bad weather is not wanting to ruin a perfectly good pair of heels. Through our relatively mild but wet winter here I've been wearing trekking shoes for getting around, and changing into my heels when I reach my destination. Today my trekking shoes got covered in mud but I still had a fine day in my 5" black suedette shoe-boots that would've been ruined if I'd worn them for my journey. If I do wear heels in bad weather it's usually a less favourite pair that didn't cost much and could be easily replaced.

I've seen shoes like that called "super" or "ultra" heels. Try a google shopping search for  ultra high heels black suede stiletto  and quite a few possibilities come up. Most of them probably aren't available in a store to try on, but I imagine most big cities in the uk have independent stores that sell club-wear (usually in areas with lots of fast-food shops and ultra-bling mobile phone cases).

As for that style of shoes, it seems like quite subtle differences make a big difference in how appealing they are, but there's plenty of choice. They seem quite extreme and more for the clubs with a mini-skirt, but you could probably wear them with bootcut jeans in everyday scenarios and they'd look amazing. Good luck and do let us know if you find any styles you like.

In the early 1990's I rather nervously went to buy a pair of pink mules. The sales assistant who brought them from the store room was a young guy, and he was laughing as he asked me if I'd like to try them on. I'd react a lot differently now, but at the time I just said "they're not for me". His boss, a young woman, glared at him and pulled him aside to discreetly tell him off before returning to me to complete the sale in a very friendly and professional manner. Looking back, the respect shown by her shouldn't be overshadowed by the disrespect shown by him.

Another time, again around the early 1990's, I went into a store and asked for a pair of black patent courts in my size (not to try on or even admit they were for me, that would've been unthinkable at the time). The very young female sales assistant disappeared and none of her colleagues approached me as I waited. I eventually left and never bought anything from that branch, though I did buy those black patent courts from another branch that I subsequently went back to many times over the years because they were always courteous and helpful.

About a decade later (still not admitting that the heels were for me) I had a couple of frosty reactions from older female sales staff. One was a cashier at a self-service store who looked at me very disapprovingly as I purchased a pair of white courts. In a different shop the assistant came back from the store room claiming they didn't have my size, but it was clear from her manner that she wouldn't have brought them out even if she did find them. I don't wish to give older female sales staff a bad name, I've had plenty of positive shopping experiences with them too.

As for male sales staff, guys like the one in the first incident above seem more likely to be blagging their way working in mobile phone shops these days, while the guys working in shoe/clothes shops often seem to be really into fashion (either they're fashion students or just very trendy). So, while I used to be very reluctant about male sales assistants, that's completly unfounded and my shopping experiences have been positive. I wouldn't particularly go out of my way to find a male sales assistant, but neither would I go out of my way to avoid one.

Totally impressive how she handled all the terrain (stairs, hard floors) so gracefully. For sure it must take a lot of practice and, without wishing to take anything away from her amazing skill, it must also be an advantage that she surely can't weigh much more than 50kg... such heels must get exponentially more difficult, if not eventually impossible, with increasing body weight.

It's quite understandable really and it seems far more to do with how much of the foot is exposed with a low-cut vamp and nothing to do with the height of the heel. Thinking back I chose boots when I first started wearing my heels in public. Even with flats I found it easy to wear lace-up styles but felt more self-conscious wearing ballet-style pumps, especially barefoot. Would you feel more comfortable with say a black pair of court heels worn with black opaque tights? Maybe you could take advantage of that now it's winter, and build up towards tan tights in the spring and barefoot by the summer. Another option might be to start with something like loafer-style heels since these have a masculine twist to them.

Mirage