at9

I have a pair of "goth" style knee-high boots with 3" platforms and 5" heel. They are very comfortable and seem very easy to wear but even a small irregularity in the ground, such as an acorn, can be treacherous.

I don't often wear them but they are great for Halloween parties. And the price was right - I got them for free.

I used to regularly see a woman cycling in high platforms near my house in a London suburb. She was quite small but surely she didn't need them to reach the pedals.

Probably not combined boots and trousers. More or less the same rig as here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11090063/Paloma-Faith-wows-red-latex-trousers-matching-jacket-Brighton-Pride-Sussex.html

I'm not really concerned with the main subject the article though somebody famous had the opposite problem with sweat, or so he claimed: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59839351

I'm just wondering about the boots. There have certainly been combined boots and trousers - I've seen a pair just once on the streets of London. Here's an example: https://ca.style.yahoo.com/balenciaga-selling-strange-3000-shoe-pants-hybrid-131332085.html The pair I saw was all leather. There are also boot suits, extending as far up the body as you like, but these would normally be thought of as rather kinky.

In this article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy51pgql7eo  there is a photo of a group of people on the show "Traitors" (which I've never watched). About 2/3 of the way down and captioned: "Traitors contestant, actress Celia Imrie, also admitted to a bodily mishap in a recent episode" There is a woman, I don't think it's Imrie - looks too young, wearing red high heel boots that seem to merge seamlessly into trousers.

Does anyone know who is this and what are they wearing?

For taller people there are also concussion heels. The ones that allow you to bang your head hard on door frames🤣

I once wore some high platform boots (5" heel, 3" platform) and a top hat to a party. I'm under 6ft so only the hat hit the door frames😁

I once stayed at a lovely holiday cottage that had a low beam halfway along the main living area. I knew I had to duck every time, heels or no. My wife, who is about 5'5" and rarely has to duck, had a few hits and many near misses.

I saw a rather faded print of a painting by Frank Moss Bennett: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Moss_Bennett It showed a historical scene with all the men wearing heels, as they might well have done at that time. The period he specialised in was the 1700s and 1800s, so rather after the Carolingian period mentioned by @Shyheels in another thread. I can't find an online reproduction of the print I saw, where the heels are more prominent and perhaps a little higher than in the example on Wikipedia.

Since FMB had clearly researched his period, I think we can believe his representations are accurate. They show that men's heels spanned several centuries, before dying out in late Georgian or Victorian times.

Sounds like marketing hype to me too. I use a 31 year old washing machine (Bosch in case you're wondering) and it has a button marked "Fuzzy logic". No idea what it really does. The machine is clever enough to try and redistribute the load to give a smooth spin. If it fails, it spins more slowly so as not to wreck the machine. 

It never argues with me either:)

I've heard stories of climbing Helvellyn (just over 3000 feet) in stilettos for a dare. Coming down again in heels sounds truly daft. At least this woman in Colorado changed into trail shoes for the descent.

This portrait? 

He was certainly well heeled.

I was in my teens back in the early 1970s. Modest heels for men were quite common then. I bought 2 pairs of boots (high ankle or mid calf) with approx 2" heels. I think from Dolcis, now long gone. I still have one of the pairs, black patent with a gold ring decoration. They're rather fragile now but I still wear them occasionally.

I like the German word for a bagpiper: Dudelsackpfeifer

Also one of the French words for bagpipes: cornemuse

It seems that bagpipes are found well beyond Europe too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagpipes

 Has anyone seen bagpipes being played by somebody wearing high heels?

At least she doesn't want to learn the bagpipes! Somebody once said of the bagpipes (presumably the Highland Pipe, there are many others from all over Europe) that it's the only instrument that sounds as bad when you've finished learning to play them as when you started.

Some rather good Northumbrian piping.

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

Wearing hats indoors in some instances is all right - in public places such as railway stations and airports etc. Wearing hats in church.....

Depends on your particular choice of deity. In a mosque it is customary for men to cover their heads and more or less compulsory for women. In a synagogue head coverings are compulsory for men and often customary for women. I have no idea about other religions.

I think there is some variation in custom between different christian sects.

As far as I remember, Duo's only proper store was in Bath. Others were small fitting rooms that didn't carry much stock.

Their UK to EU sizing is suspect. They say EU43=UK10 whereas the usual conversion is UK9.

I've had a pair of Duo boots for  number of years. About 2.75" heel. At the time their biggest size was UK8 so they're bit small on my UK9 feet but OK with very thin socks. Nicely made, good leather.

Duo used to have a lovely shop in Bath. My wife bought a pair of flat boots from there a few years ago. Again they are nice. Duo went though some kind of reconstruction a few years ago. Possibly a liquidation and buyout. They then became online only.

I've had to change a lightbulb that was high up above the middle of a double bed. The room was a bit small and crowded so moving the bed wasn't really an option. Standing on a chair standing on a bed is precarious! Heels of any kind wouldn't have helped.

I'll avoid some of the "How many xxxx does it take to change a lightbulb?" jokes. Some are racially unacceptable. For much of the world except the UK there's the double entendre: "How many xxxx does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

And for seasonality: If you have old fashioned fairy lights (before LEDs) they were wired in series so the union boss says: "one out, all out!"

I was there December 2016/January 2017

We went to many places but I don't think we went to Prion Island. Nor Bird Island.

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

youre very luck indeed to have made it to Elephant Island, that’s a very rare landing 

We were told it's rare enough to even see Elephant Island as it's often foggy. Landing on Shackleton's beach is strictly forbidden for tourists. We may have been the first ever tourist party to visit the beach we landed on.

The huge colony of king penguins was indeed on Salisbury Plain.

I've been to South Georgia (and the tip of the Antarctic peninsula) but, unlike Shyheels, only as a tourist. Truly incredible places. One special memory on South Georgia was seeing a colony of king penguins. Said to be over half a million individuals, adults and furry brown chicks. Penguins further than the eye could see.

We also landed on Elephant Island which is very rare for a tourist trip. That was on the opposite side to where Shackleton made camp. We came close to the site of Shackleton's camp, and also the monument, while in a zodiac.

There are stories of people climbing Helvellyn (a famous mountain in the English Lake District) in stilettos for a dare. I've no idea if there's any truth in this.

In central London yesterday evening. Saw lots of heels, from the usual 2.5" boots to 4" stilettos. All on women, mostly being worn well, walking confidently.

I was in Margate the other day. In a supermarket I saw a very tall  guy wearing pink high heel ankle boots and a short skirt. I'm pretty sure he was presenting as a guy, not trying to pass as a TV. People hardly seemed to notice.

I was in the City of London (the central business district,also known as "the square mile" for those unfamiliar with the greatest city on earth) today. It's usually pretty dead on a Sunday. I saw two ancient ceremonies that are probably of Victorian origin. One was driving sheep across Southwark Bridge, the other was a gathering of pearly kings and queens by the Guildhall. Anyone not of these sceptred isles will think us mad but we really don't mind.

https://sheepdrive.london/

https://londonist.com/london/things-to-do/pearly-kings-and-queens-harvest-festival

None of the sheep were wearing heels! There were plenty of 2" to 2.5" block heel ankle and knee boots to be seen. A few women at the pearly festival were wearing nice 3" stilettos. one pair of OTK brown suede boots, about 2" heel.