Arctic

lol

By far the best part

Someone with style...! Looks pretty good. Well done.

Well folks, I finally got my camera- a Canon XSI. The question I have is what do members on this board recommend for picture hosting (online photo album)?

I have used them all, and have finally settled at share.ovi.com. Unlimited, free, superb performance, makes automatically thumbnails for use on forums etc.

Flickr is not bad either but they have limits, like they show only the 200 most recent pics.

^ Great way to keep everything in perspective!

You belong on the pinnacle, though. Forget about the perspective

PS, are you going to start a blog when you continue to make your way into the heart of the fashion industry and no longer have time for this?

I am the first one to agree that we are far from the desired state but we do have made great progress. For my cause, which is the acceptance of high heels as regular male footwear, many things are now a lot better than they were in the end of the nineties. In many cities large and small all around the civilized world, a guy now can get away with wearing whatever mainstream footwear he pleases and not get too much of a different treatment than women. That means, other things being equal, like weight and stylishness of the rest of the attire. In practice this could mean: a well dressed, non obese, style conscious male on proportionally correct heels is likely to get a lot less attention than, for example, a fat mis-coordinated girl on stilettos. It was well noted that battles are fought one at a time. Heelmeets are a good example of a successful approach: lots of exposure in one city at one time. We are now on that level that many cities have had initial exposure of guys on heels, but anyone in advertising or communication knows that exposure and repetition are key to change a collective mindset. Which brings me to the following: We also must recognize the limited absolute size of the niche we are in. We are pushing a phenomenon that concerns way less than one percent of the population. If we put it in perspective of how long it took for homosexuality to become accepted, or before blacks got equal treatment in the US, we are doing not all that bad. Racism is still rampant in many places with tens or more % of immigrant population. Also, heroes do make a difference. People who take a cause and push it for the benefit of the entire community. Kneehighs, Firefox, and Xaphod, and a few others, the list is not very long and we all know who they are. Just recognize that these changes take place on a galactic time scale, that apartheid and the Berlin wall fell less than a generation ago, and that people still today get discriminated against for their skin color alone. So the change that happened over the last decade or so might not be radical, but that is usually not the case for things this big. In some cities it is "less of a problem" to be wearing heels than to be of different color, and while that is not good news in itself, the high heel community, relatively speaking, is in a good position.

A certain publicly-traded, Fortune 50 company stated yesterday that it would take a $25 billion impairment charge in the fourth quarter for its cable, publishing, and AOL units.

The pink slips are coming.

The way the economy is going, this might be the last International HM for a long time.

Airwolf

How do those things have anything to do with each other? Even if we slip into a giant recession with unemployment quadrupling, still 80% of the people have a job, and planes will still be flying. Except the one that landed on the Hudson yesterday, I happened to be right on the Western Parkway when it happened. So maybe attendance drops from 30 people to 20.

Good to hear about your endeavor. Anywhere in the Nordics you are going to get this experience. Or pretty much anywhere. Stay with the block heels until you have the skill and the competence to take it further.

Plenty of people will advise you here that it is not possible to change yourself or "get rid of it" or many of the variants to this theme. I do not subscribe entirely to that notion, but there is certainly some truth in it. My recommendation, if you need one more, is to figure out exactly where the boundaries lie. What matters a lot, what matters less, what you cannot change, what you might be able to compromise on, and what you may be able to obtain through negotiation with your wife. That may take quite a while and a lot of self reflection. But still I think it is key to manage a potentially explosive situation. In a way, it is not unlikely planning a business move or a war scenario: what are your assets, where are you strong, where are they weak etc. An example of what it may mean: I used to think that what I wanted from it was to be able to get dressed at home just like I usually do but then including the high heeled boots (which is my thing). And then get out, get in the car, go to work, do shopping, do whatever I do. I was expecting my partner to be supportive as much as I would support her in a similar situation. Fast forward a few years later: wife does not want to be exposed to this and demands that her surroundings (family and more importantly friends) do not get exposed to it either. That is non-negotiable and it seemed for a while like a dead end street. After some reflection I learned that I wanted support from my wife because I was still in the self-confirmation phase (this is ok, I am not a freak, I am not gay and what have you) but that has long passed since. I am self-confident enough that I no longer need to be told that it is ok, looks good, or not so good, etc. I let my own taste be the judge. Also, I only have a few favourite styles: blade boots, western boots, pointy or square toe. Heel height range for me is narrowly defined between 3 1/2" and 4 1/4". Material needs to be leather. Color: black, brown, tan, cognac, bordeaux. No exceptions. I no longer need the feedback to figure out what I want. And I know now as well that it really is totally acceptable society wise, if you are smart and confident. Result: it is nowadays easy to buy boots, as I know what I want. It is easy to wear them, as I know nobody gives a damn, as long as there is no feedback loop to my wife. I can wear them almost whenever I want without having to compromise. I store quite a few of them in the garage, and change into them when I get into my car going somewhere. It would be very easy to get "caught", but as I am fulfilling my wife's request of "not exposing her" I feel no problem doing so, as she actively looking for them no longer falls under "exposing". So if she bumps into them (she maybe has?) I say that I simply honor her request. Moreover... my requrements have also drifted a little, in the sense that I picked up the western style 3-4 years ago, and now have quite a few custom western boots with heels between 3 and 4" which I wear when I am with her. They are already pretty satisfying and she is ok. So we ended up midway: my wife appeared accepting more than she thought and it was not about the heel height but the femininity, so I can wear pretty hot 4 inchers without trouble. I can wear more stylish (=not made for men) boots if I want to on weekly basis, but then I have to be just a little more considerate. And that is fine. I travel around the world almost on weekly basis, and apart from thorough questioning in Tel Aviv airport security I have never had any issue anywhere. I travel booted anywhere in the civilized world and almost everywhere else, the notable exceptions being Arab countries and some super macho cultures in South East Asia and Latin America. So I got almost what I wanted, she got what she wanted, and we are more than 10 years together with no trouble in this regard. It seemed a lot less promising at some point. Summarum: figure out in detail what you want, figure out what she wants and see what you can get. It may be more than you expected and enough to live happily ever after.

I bought them on the corner of Spring and West Broadway, literally right next door to Starbucks, at a shoe boutique called keito shoes.

I don't know if they carry an inventory of discounted "outlet" shoes, like advertised on the web site though. The boots I bought were a little over $500.

edit: Neither Nine West, nor Aldo, nor Dune compare. You are paying for superb Italian craftsmanship and fine attention to detail.

Thanks, I pop in next time when I'm down.

PS received a new custom pair yesterday, and as always, after ordering you regret spending the money, but when you try them on you know you did the right thing. I've never bought really expensive (heeled) non-custom shoes before, but I guess it is the same thing.

Pair #4 I know - I used to have myself a pair! I like the first pair the best too. B

I think it is a mistake to think that it is an unworkable situation you are in. I have explained it elsewhere elaborately how I do it, but in a nutshell we agreed with my wife that I will not expose her to me wearing heels. I'm only a little older than you are and have been married happily for the better part of a decade. I wear heels often, with no trouble, no self esteem issues. I'm aware of what she thinks of it, and I respect her request. I'm aware of what the world thinks of it, but I live it out and that is that. Are you in the Northeast? PM me for tips.

My boots are from an Italian manufacturer called Tentazione.

Interesting brand, which I never had heard about before. And not priced too crazy either.

I love model 17642. Where in the city did you get them? I might want to pop in to try a pair.

Except for mentioning that she liked my heels and that I walked well in them (we were on cobblestones), she made no additional conversation about my heels. Nor did I. No questions, interrogations, insinuations, explanations, justifications, or socio-cultural analysis ensued.

KH, you are doing it the only right way. Unfortunately, I got my wisdom only after I got married - otherwise I'd have done it just the same way.

I think you're nothing short of a role model to many.

My respect you have.

Keep in mind that crotch high boots, worn by a guy, are in reality actually thigh highs and might stop (in my case, with some pleaser model) about 10 inches under the crotch. Custom made is the way to go.

nuff said... I think Stilettoscot's rule is not a bad one. Personally, I follow Tech's logic: don't post anything you don't want your own kids to see. I take my kids out when I am in heels and feel as a parent that I am doing the right thing, in the sense that I expose them to the concept of free choice - also in clothing. But as they are still very young, I am careful to not expose them to sexuality, a concept they do not understand, as there is no added value and a lot of potential damage. And as IMO the internet is a mirror of real life, I see no reason to apply different rules to TV, internet, and day-to-day things. @Troll: When you are a little older and maybe have kids of your own I think you will understand the following better: I would not want my kids to see the pictures the guy from Kazakhstan in the opening post, as it would not be possible to explain it to satisfaction with "that gentleman thinks that is a nice outfit" in the same way as I _can_ explain to my kids that I wear boots with heels because I like them, in the same way as their mother wears them. I'm from the Nordic countries too, am very open minded, and our kids see their parents naked all the time without blinking an eye. But all kids have the right to grow up in an unsexual environment. That is a human right. For that reason there are laws to ensure that they don't get exposed to certain things. If you walk on the streets of Stockholm or Amsterdam like the opening poster's pictures, and definitely with private parts hanging out, you get thrown in jail - no matter how progressive the environment.

that's why it's posted in the "fetish" section....

You can talk about 18 inch heels and ballet boots without creating porn. Just as much as you could have a ballet boot in a shop window and not break any law or offend anyone.

That doesn't seem so difficult to understand.

As far as kids go, I'd not want my kids anywhere on this site, and most certainly not looking at QoH or most of the pictures out here. It has nothing to do with them being offensive to mature adults, but rather that there are strong sexual connotations with many of them. There are A LOT of things I don't want my kids exposed to until they reach a more mature age, and I don’t think anyone can seriously argue that this forum is appropriate for children?

This forum exists for the purpose of discussing shoes with high heels. Shoes are shoes, pieces of clothing just like the other stuff people hang on their bodies. There are plenty of fashion sites, and they do not constantly veer into this area of "I don't want my kids anywhere near this site".

I think this is unfortunate. If people have whatever connotation, they ought to keep that stuff for themselves and not mix it in on the mainstream sites like this one.

It's no secret that plenty of people come here to get their juices flowing, and I am all fine with that, but if that requires them to post things that they don't want kids to see, they should establish something with restricted access and age verification.

Also, it is not fair that those with an interest in high heeled shoes and boots for the sake of looks and fashion have to keep their guard on all the time.

How is it that I can go out with my kids to a shoe store and not have to worry about being exposed to stuff unsuitable for their young eyes and that here, which is an equally public place also about shoes, that becomes a problem? How come you don't see people in public getting heroin shots or having a go at it like a herd of rabbits? People have some self regulation ability.

People who are supporting the posting things on a public site that they don't want their own kids to see, are more than a little short sighted. Anonymity apparently robs some of their own sense of judgement.

hasn't happened..

20th is getting hairy for me, for I have an event in the evening I have to perform at.. So either early brunch, or dinner is best for me..

I was there last sunday

Got into a conversation with two girls in their twenties when they spotted my boots and I ended up spending several hours with them over coffee and going from store to store. Too bad I am no longer in the market.

I'm gonna be there with or without heelmeet

I in fetish heels and boots. What do you think about my photos?

I think you look like a total idiot.

And if you've posted even worse, I wonder why you haven't been banned.

ook een warm welkom van mij Are you in de grensstreek or more to the north? I was born there

I have relatives in Brooklyn whom I have never met face-to-face.

Why bother, we have facebook nowadays

next Sunday? The 14th?

I might be able to make it. Suggestions?

Same here. Live in the burbs with the family, also on CT side.

Both pairs are very nice. Where did you have them made? In Manila somewhere?