SleekHeels

I like both pairs of boots but especially the first pair from Aldo. That's pretty deceptive of the seller on eBay not to say that the heel was broken, but I'm glad you managed to get them properly repaired. I thought you'd swapped the left and right ones until I realised that they zip on the outside. That first pair would look awesome with skinny jeans, while I think the second pair would work great with tailored trousers.

One of the places I regularly wear heels at has a stone floor with wide gaps filled with a soft grouting between the floor tiles. I damaged a couple of heels until I got used to it, but I've got the hang of it now and, with care, it doesn't happen any more. You're right, it's not the sort of thing that most men (or even many women these days) need to worry about. In a strange way it's kind of helped me refine how I walk in heels, to the extent that I'm much lighter on my feet wearing flats too.

Anyway, enjoy winter in your new boots.

Here are a couple of my recent skirt purchases:

This floral skirt is from Oasis in their current sale:

http://www.oasis-stores.com/the-ellie-mini/skirts/oasis/fcp-product/3440100200

This denim skirt is from New Look, the website still has the darker version available but I found my one in store.

http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/skirts/blue-high-waisted-denim-pencil-skirt_309996346

I was so pleased to find the denim skirt in the sale that I also bought a cute pair of flats to go with it:

My latest adventures in heels were to a shopping mall wearing my black patent court heels, black leggings and cinammon jumper over a black scoop-neck tshirt, and black shoulder bag:

Browsing the sales I found a nice denim pencil skirt which felt great when I tried it on. The changing room assistant was just the coolest person (she remembered me from before when I bought my white heeled sandals) and we had a nice chat. After paying for the skirt I went back to the changing rooms and changed into it:

I then walked across to a cafe on the other side of the mall, getting one teenage snigger but mostly just discreet glances on the way. The cafe was pretty busy but I found a small table to sit and and sip my coffee and read. The cafe staff were very pleasant, with no comment on how I was dressed at all but very friendly and it was nice to be treated like a human being. Other customers pretty much noticed me but didn't make a big deal of it, and apart from a few glances and subtle double-takes there were no reactions.

Having finished my coffee I browsed some more clothing sales and unexpectedly found a very pretty floral skirt in my size. The young changing room assistant in this store seemed slightly taken by surprise but treated me with what I can best describe as apprehensive courtesy. Anyway, I really liked the skirt when I tried it on, but I wasn't too sure which of my heels and tops might work well with it. At the cash desk I asked another assistant for some advice and she was very helpful, making a few sugestions but also encouraging me to try out my own ideas and see what I like.

A couple of days later I returned to the mall, wearing my new floral skirt with my brown knee-boots, brown leather jacket over a burgundy top, and a brown bag. This was picking up on a couple of ideas that the sales assistant had given me previously, but she wasn't there for me to thank her.

Maybe it was just a figment of my imagination but I like to think there was a hint of admiration of the outfit in some of the glances I got. Even if that's a bit of a delusion I don't care, the outfit felt totally fabulous to wear. On my way out of the mall I passed by a shoe shop that's being renovated, and the boarding has a huge picture of some amazing boots. I asked a passer by to take a photo of me, which they kindly did:

If anyone's interested, the shop was Russell and Bromley and those boots are a style called "Highland" by Stuart Weitzman (although at £595.00 they'll have to remain a dream as I don't see the decimal point taking a step to the left any time soon).

http://www.russellandbromley.co.uk/long-boots/highland/invt/372303

They do look very elegant and I really like the colour. Watch out for the sizing, from the feedback it looks like some people have found that they fit a little smaller than expected, so maybe you should consider going up half a size from your usual, especially if your feet are on the broad side.

What I like about wearing flip-flops is that they feel like I'm being kind to me feet, giving them a bit of air and sunshine. Much as I love my heels, being stuck in them all the time really doesn't feel so good for my feet. For me foot-care is an important part of enjoying heels and I'm happy if flip-flops are a part of that. Sure there are some flip-flops I consider more attractive than others, but that's true of heels too.

I think a sticking point with flatforms seems to be whether they are considered heels (because the heel of the foot is a significant distance from the ground) or considered flats (because there's no appreciable "rise" or difference between toe-height and heel-height). Personally I consider flatforms to be flats; to be classified as heels there has to be some kind of rise present for me. It's not just the shoe but the shape/position of the foot that's important.

You need to feel good about yourself and what you're wearing, and I think you're already half way there because you said "I really like this outfit". The fact that your wife is supportive is really fantastic, and of course it's realistic that she feels "slightly reserved about it". More importantly, she's willing to overcome her reservations, which should inspire you to do the same, that would really honour and respect her support.

Firstly you need to establish your own inner confidence, just to feel good within yourself about wearing your heels, and respect yourself. It sounds like you're there. To step out you just have to accept that of all the people who see you, a few might respect you, a few might not, and the vast majority won't really care either way. Your own self-respect doesn't depend on what strangers think. Most negative reactions are just out of surprise and you shouldn't make them out to be any less trivial than they really are, while any positive reactions are great and you should enjoy them. Don't step out thinking "I hope nobody notices me", just step out accepting that you will be noticed and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, once you've stepped out you'll almost certainly start feeling disappointed that it feels like nobody has noticed you.

Personally I think your shoes are cool and they sharpen up the outfit to create a comfortable overall look. If anything, don't worry at all about the heels, but maybe iron your top and trousers, they look a bit crumpled in some of your photos and if they were a bit more crisp that'd really bring the whole look together with the heels.

SleekHeels I didn't write "falls", I wrote "fails"!

 

I mean, she never really fell down, she just slipped or seemed to lose her balance on her heels a couple of times while dancing, but she finally made it to remain on her feet. This is an example.

 

gf34.jpg

 

Oops, my mistake! That's even more impressive to save it and not fall. I guess I was biased because I saw a woman in heels fall over on the dance floor a couple of weeks ago. For the rest of the night, most of the other women (in their much lower heels) were asking each other "Did you see her fall over in her heels?" with a mixture of condescending sympathy. It's like they were thinking "what's she doing dancing in such ridiculous heels?" but at the same time totally wishing they could dance (or even just walk) in those heels.

I finally got out in the sun!  I'm sure it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it.

Hey, each to their own cup of tea, the important thing is that you got out there and had fun, and from your later post it sounds like you got a whole bunch of positive comments.

I love to see others expressing themselves visually.  Steampunk, gothic lolita, hardcore punk, or couture fashion, it's all good.  What I can't stand is generic, sheepish expression.  It represents either the lack of cognitive capability and/or effort, or a fearful and cowardly non existance.

I think that's a bit harsh and judgemental. Sure, I love to see others expressing themselves visually too, but if someone has a more conventional style then that's their self-expression and it's equally valid if they're being true to themselves. One could argue that there's just as much of a herd mentality in trying to stand out from the crowd. I've known people who adopted a punk or gothic image to mask an absence of their own inner sense of identity. Another "rebel" (yawn). Self-expression isn't so much about what you choose to wear, but the attitude with which you wear it.

Sleek, It was a quick trip to get coffee, it was terrible. I put my wedges on and went back down to breakfast after a little while. I've been wearing flats around the room and in the car and the wedges in public. Second night and my feet are beat. So off my feet and on with the flats. I did chicken out at the gas station and slipped on my crocs. I was in my short bibs for mountain biking and on my way back to the hotel from a 11.5 ride. It was dark and there were some folks around. I thought, I looked odd enough without flats or wedges.

I hope "terrible" was just the coffee, not the trip to get it in your heels!

I agree, heels with your mountain bike gear would've been a bit of an odd combination. I once went shopping for heels and I was wearing sports clothes. It felt a bit odd but when you're shoe shopping you can kind of get away with out-of-context stuff like that, it's not so different than someone in a smart work suit popping out at lunch time to buy running shoes. In your situation at the gas station I'd have just worn sports shoes - if anything, a nice pair of heels doesn't deserve feet that have just done a long bike ride!

Some video snapshots from her all night long dancing in her 5.25 inch stiletto sandals (these are the first heels I had shown you in this topic)! Sorry for the low quality, but these are just video snapshots...

 

She danced for hours non-stop(!) in these heels, with only a couple of fails, although at some times she had to dance very fast, which is not easy at all to do in such sky-high heels! Waiting for your comments.

If I tried dancing in heels like that I'm sure I'd have way more than a couple of falls, but well done to your girlfriend for getting back up and not letting it spoil her fun. Legs and heels that good should be celebrated so good for her !

I used to travel for work. For day trips I'd step out of the house early in the morning wearing a smart skirt and heels, walk to the car and drive to my destination, but then I'd change into boring trousers and guy shoes for the day, and back into skirt and heels for the drive home. For overnight trips I'd wear my heels in the hotel room but I didn't have the confidence to step outside my door into public areas. Thinking back, my heels and outfits looked perfectly respectable and if I could re-visit those days I would step out in my heels for breakfast or dinner.

Did you stay in the lobby to drink your coffee or did you just take it back to your room? Enjoy your trip and I hope you get used to your oxfords, "just a little high for me" sounds fun.

They are "flat" in the sense that there's hardly any rise but they are also platforms and the term "flatforms" is very widely used. Personally I don't find them appealing, I prefer high-heel wedge flip-flops (with maybe a little platform), something with a bit of a rise from toe to heel. Back in the 1980's I remember flip-flops with a high wooden wedge heel and a thin gold horizontal line going around the heel about halfway up, with the upper in black patent (although there were other colours too). I so wanted to have a pair of those but I've never seen any flip-flops even half as nice since then.

I think that wearing heels does make me less "masculine" in the conventional mainstream sense, both in terms of how I feel and how I might be perceived by others. But so what if I'm less of a stereotype, I feel more me. If I was trying to pass as a woman, or pass as a macho man, both would be equally fake.

As for therapy, I don't agree with it if it's suggested as a "cure" to try to stop wearing heels, but for someone who faces difficulties as a consequence of wearing heels, maybe therapy could be a useful way to deal with those difficulties.

Don't avoid bold bracelets on my account, my comment probably just reflects my quite reserved fashion preferences. Thinking about it, if I'd been wearing flats I may well also have decided to spice things up with a bold accessory to make up for the fact that I'm not wearing heels.

I have the 15 on one foot, the 16 on the other, trying to compare.  I'm able to lace up the 16's so the the two sides touch underneath the laces (no gap at all), and they feel about as tight as the 15's with a gap.

I guess it depends on the style of the boot, but having the two sides touch when you pull the laces does sound like the 16's are too big. So long as the 15's are ok with the length of your foot, it sounds like you made the right choice going with those. I sometimes have a similar dilemma between sizes, usually when the length is right but the width too tight (smaller size) or the width is right but the length is too long (bigger size) in which case I don't buy the shoes, I look for an alternative that fits better.

Boots can be a little different because you have the choice of wearing socks. I have a couple of pairs of ankle boots that won't zip up even with thin socks, but they fit great with hosiery, the back of the shoe doesn't cut into my foot and my toes don't feel at all numb after wearing them for an hour or two. Conversely the next size up would've been too big, and even with thick socks the arch support wouldn't have been right, and I'd have felt that with pain in my arches after an hour or two walking around in them. Another time a pair of court heels fit fine when I first tried them on, but felt really loose after I walked half a mile in them. I bought insoles for the toe area and they feel great now, there's no way I'd have squeezed into the next smaller size. That's my experience of some things to look out for with fitting.

Your trying different sizes on each foot is an interesting strategy, but you should maybe swap and try the other way around too because most people have a slight discrepancy in size between their left and right foot and you might get misleading experiences. Personally I'd be more inclined to try the bigger size on both feet for a couple of hours, rest a while, then try the smaller size for a couple of hours, and compare that way.

In any case, it sounds like you made the right choice for you in the end.

Hi All.

 

Today I will go out with the following outfit. What do you think?

 

 

Regards.

 

5.5InchHeels

Sure looks good to me. The jeans look like they fit well, the shade of denim works really well with the colour of the boots (the colour of the belt is a nice choice too) and the length of the jeans shows the heels of perfectly. For sure a few stares would be no surprise because people aren't used to guys looking so stylish. I suspect if you were in the USA you might have got a few compliments too, but here in the UK people seem more reluctant to come out of their shells. I remember one time on the London underground two young American women tourists turned to a young local woman and said "Hey, love your outfit, you look really good!" and she just didn't know how to react at all.

Yesterday I had the good fortune to stop into the office of a professional woman to set up a meeting for Friday, and I chatted with her briefly. She had on a skirt and a very attractive pair of pointy black patent stiletto t-straps which showed a bit of toe cleavage, and I told her how stunning she looked in those shoes. She always wears 3-4 inch heels at work. She thanked me for the compliment and I said that I was an avid heeler also, lifted my pants leg, and showed her my black White Mountain "Terrace" sandals with 3.5" heels and a small platform. She smiled and said, "Don't you feel better in heels? I know I do!" We exchanged some comments and then I told her, "Life is short, I don't have to be!" and she laughed and said I'll have to remember that!

 

It was a very positive exchange and she obviously is very accepting of men in heels!

 

Steve

Great encounter Steve. Coincidentally I also had a high heel discussion with a professional woman recently. I was wandering around a large pharmacy looking for their foot care section and she was sat at a small table on duty promoting a skincare product, very smartly dressed in a pencil-skirt suit and sandstone coloured patent court heels. I noticed her but didn't want to ogle or stare so I wandered on. She'd obviously distracted me a little as a few minutes later I found the items I was looking for just around the corner from her table.

As I searched the shelves for what I wanted I didn't notice her approach me until she said "can I help you?". I told her what I was looking for and she confirmed that it looked like it wasn't in stock. As we finished I said to her "I love your shoes, you look amazing, it's so nice not to feel like the only one in the building wearing heels". She smiled and said "Thank you. Yours look quite impressive too". I was wearing my red patent courts with bootcut jeans and a red tshirt under a grey vneck jumper.

I thanked her and said that I'm quite lucky, most guys have big feet but I'm a size 7 (UK) so it's easy to find pretty shoes. She said that's a good size for finding shoes in the sales, she's a size 5 or 6 and they sell out very quickly. She asked me if I wear heels a lot out and about, and I truthfully explained that when I first started I used to wear my heels everywhere, but these days I'll change into flats if I'm walking long distances so that I can be comfortable and enjoy my heels more when I do wear them. I asked "how about you?" and she explained that she's really lucky that she spends a lot of her working day sitting down so it's easy to wear heels, and that she's known for her high shoes. I asked "is that in an approving or disapproving way?" and her reaction sounded a little hesitant, like people see her heels with a mixture of admiration and perhaps a little resentment.

Anyway, we wished each other well and that was the end of a very pleasant encounter. Like you Steve, I got the feeling that she was not at all uncomfortable about the idea of men wearing heels. Maybe I'm being over-optimistic but I thought that she was perhaps a little surprised at seeing a guy who seemed comfortable wearing heels, but generally just pleased to chat with someone who understands the simple enjoyment of wearing heels for the sense of fun and style of it.

I often notice men looking at my shoes. Usually it happens in airport lounges where I find myself sitting waiting.

I think that bothers me most about it is their obvious guilt when they realize I've noticed. In a way it's sad that they should feel guilt like that. However the guilt and looking away manifests in a sort of creepyness that hangs in the air after they're caught in the act. it's a sort of catch 22 conundrum I suppose.

I would be surprised to find that your looking Actually did result in a "disapproving look, gesture, or comment" from the wearer. I think perhaps you're creepy side that's imagining it.

What would you do if someone were staring at your shoes or resting their gaze on them?

If you really are in awe of someone's shoes then you could avoid any awkward feelings by complimenting them on their choice?

 

:-)

I think Amanda's so spot on about men's guilty glances. I once went to a car show and there were lots of obligatory models in high heels and bright red lipstick smiles. Pretty much all the guys wanted to look, but the catch 22 seemed to me to be that some guys wanted to avoid getting caught looking, while other guys seemed to take a certain arrogant delight in getting caught looking. Either way seems pretty creepy to me. I was with a friend who seemed to spend a lot of time looking at the womens' "arses" and at one point I did say "You know, they do have faces too" which he just laughed off with some bloke-ish banter.

Anyway, I know that when I'm wearing regular guy stuff I'm more relcutant to compliment a woman on her appearance just because I feel that I'll be presumed a creepy ape (which is really quite understandable). However, when I'm wearing heels I feel that there's at least half a chance that she'll appreciate the sincerity of my compliments and she'll feel happy about that. Of course there's the other half a chance that she'll just find it even more creepy, but I'm not going to let the ones who don't know how to take a compliment stop me from being nice to those who do enjoy receiving a genuine compliment. At first I wondered if maybe I was giving compliments simply because *I* enjoyed it, but these days I'll only give a compliment if I think the recipient will enjoy it. The catch 22 for me is that it seems like the ones who are happier to receive a compliment are perhaps the ones who assume I must be gay and they feel more comfortable about that.

Jaunt #241, 9/27/2014:

After a chilly and soggy Thursday, Friday was nice, and Saturday even nicer, what with plenty of sunshine and temps reaching into the high 70's, so, that meant it was time for a jaunt, going out in a turquoise polo shirt, my Old Navy 20 inch dark denim pencil skirt, the Payless “Cori” wedge heeled flats and a black handbag. In my ongoing evolution to full fledged fashion freestyler, I came to realize that on days like this, I preferred wearing flats to heels, they just felt more natural for me to wear

Turqoise is a great colour, you combined it very well with the dark denim and black bag, belt and shoes. I like the silver necklace and watch too, although in all honesty I found the turquoise bracelet a little distracting from the simplicity of the look, but it does add a bit of fun and there's nothing wrong with that. I can understand you preferring to wear a nice pair of flats sometimes, but of course the whole outfit would still look great with high black heels, perhaps wedges to retain the casual feel.

I think turqoise also looks fantastic with black or with white, and a denim jacket when the weather too cool for short sleeves. I've had a pair of turquoise suede court heels for a couple of years now and they've still not made their public debut, so that's long overdue. I think I'll wear mine with a black pencil skirt and either a black blazer or a demin jacket over a turquoise top. You exude a sense of being very comfortable in your freestyling, thanks for the inspiration Jeff.

Once I put the outfit on I really liked it!  It is probably one of my favorite outfits I have worn, ever!

I can't argue with that. Personally I prefer the look with the bag, it just seems more complete.

Your heels really suit your style, best of luck to you.

The first and third pairs are my favourites. You enjoy them all, and good luck trying to keep those white sneakers clean!

That's a nice everyday outfit that you look very comfortable wearing. I'm inclined to agree with Kilty that a little contrast would also work well, my choice would be something like these diamond pattern tights, http://www.chiarafashion.co.uk/black-diamond-pattern-tights.html

Good luck to those of you who do exercise in heels, but it's not for me. I prefer changing into flats for walking long distances (more than about half a mile) or doing household chores, and sports shoes for exercise. I consider this part of my overall foot-care routine, so that when I do wear heels I can enjoy how they look and feel.

Home improvement and sheer tights sounds like a recipe for snagging unless, of course... another advantage of thighboots

In some specialist stores for running shoes I think they sometimes suggest custom insoles with a slightly varying thickness; this doesn't correct the problem as such, but compensates for it and perhaps avoids putting additional strain higher up the leg (like the knee joint for example, which often takes the strain when wearing high heels). I don't know if a similar insole could be used for heels, or even if it would be a good idea at all. Perhaps someone else has some knowledge and experience of this, it would be interesting to know.