HellOnHeels

Hi admirer, Just noticed this post. I'm doing a bit of catching up on the forums as I have been way too busy with my move to pay attention to whats going on here. Looks like you are really enjoying the fetish side of our "hobby" I had a feeling when we met on Halloween in NY that you would enjoy the clubs. I'm really bummed that I missed TG but theres always next year. Keep having fun. That liberating feeling of being accepted and even complimented is a big rush.

Very well thought put points Shoeiee. You're right the best outcome of the "mainstreaming" of fetish would be to make the general public more aware of it and less judgemental. Let's hope that is what happens. I don't have high hopes. I guess I recoil from Beyonce in ballets because its so obviously a ploy for more eyeballs. She's used up most vanilla tricks so is resorting to fetish. And, rather than using the fetish imagery in a subtle, somewhat authentic and engaging way she comes across to me as just someone who slapped on a pair of ballets for a quick buck. Smells and looks like a poser. Kind of like cheap crappy porn where a vanilla actress puts on a pair of ballet shoes and the label screams wild and kinky fetish. Contrast Beyonce's use of fetish with what Madonna has done in the past. To me Madonna's use of fetish feels much more authentic especially when you look at all of her work including her SEX book. Fetish is sometimes subtly other times blatently woven into a lot of Madonna's work. Beyonce just comes out of the vanilla world and directly jumps into the hardest core fetish footwear there is. Just feels fake too me. Maybe I'm over-analyzing this.

The videos are good eye-candy (if you turn the sound off ) But is the use of ballet boots by mass produced corporate media really such a good thing? This is being done as a "stunt" to grab attention. I seriously doubt these starlets are into fetish. While its fun to watch I think bringing the more extreme fetish stuff into the banal mainstream entertainment waters down its impact as a fetish object. And, lets face it these shoes will never become a fashion choice. They are purely fetish. I want fetish to remain dark and on the fringes of society. Isn't that part of what makes it interesting?

Hi all, Have not been around lately. Sorry, probably should have posted this earlier but as some of you already know I can't make it to London due to a job change and pending move. I'm bummed that I am going to miss this historic meet but hopefully this thing will just keep getting bigger and bigger and I will be able to meet many of you in the future. Oh and have a great time at TG!

Hoverfly, Thank you for your thoughtful input. I see where you are going but doesn't WWW, as in World Wide Web, cover the global reach of this forum? I tend to think of all websites as global by default. I prefer clean and simple logos. Think Nike, Intel, Apple etc. I think our logo needs to convey more relevant info than the examples I cited but should remain clean and simple. From a technical standpoint it is very difficult to preserve fine detail in a small web logo. In order to incorporate the globe the silhouettes need to be shrunk so that the shoes and especially the heels do not get obscured by the globe. I am trying hard to make the heels on the shoes stand out since that is the whole point of this forum. The best way I can think of doing that is to not have anything around them competing for attention.

Did a bit of digging and according to Wikipedia its 256. But PNG may be the answer. Thats a project for another night. For now here is another variation, still a gif.

Now, how about colour? Maybe the writing in the grey, with the 2 people in the 2 shades of green or should I stop talking now.

The graphic is now all vector so colors are no problem. We can go as large as a billboard. T-shirts anyone?

There is one issue. In order for the background to be transparent the logo has to be a gif. Gif files are limited to 256 colors so I don't think I can match this site's colors perfectly. The silhouette in light green would also dissapear if it was exactly the same as the site light green EAF4E9.

Here are a couple of tests. I like the first a little better but the female heel is not visible.

Thank you pata, this is a collaboration with Kneehighs so he shares equal credit. BTW, I just discovered your site. You are a master of ultra high heels! Looks like I'm going to be a big fan

OK no matter what I do I can not improve the original logo. The screen resolution is just not high enough to show the details. (it prints great at small sizes but thats not much help) I have very little experience designing tiny web graphics so if anyone has some tips/tricks please chime in.

I changed the design around to remove as much detail as possible and enlarged what was left in order to improve the clarity. Let me know what you think.

85 pixels high

100 pixels high

120 pixels high

200 pixels high

Erm, you could always shrink the vector down, then save it as a 100% quality jpg to display here?

That is basically what I did except exported as gif which I thought would preserve detail best. I will play around a bit and try to improve things to preserve detail. Will post more samples, stay tuned.

Is this being done as a "Vector" graphic or are you working on it in JPG format?

The silhouettes are bitmaps but everything else is vector. I used the Angelina bitmap as a starting point since it was the fastest way for me to do a mockup. A final version would be all vector. The mockup is about 1000 pixels square so looks fine at any reasonable web size, except for the loss of detail when shrunk.

If there is interest in pursuing this concept further I can create the vector version which should make the silhouettes sharper but I dont't know by how much.

Also I had to turn it into a tif file to display here. Can you display a vector format directly in the forums? If so what is it?

Ooops, I just re-read the thread and saw the 85 pixel size limit

As HighHeelArt pointed out the logo becomes a bit unclear

Kneehighs are you thinking of something like this?

or this

Everyone, please feel free to critique.

These are just an initial interpretation of Kneehighs idea.

Heelsnboots, Mrs HoH says you're sweet

Yeah, she's hitchiking from LA :w00t2:

Hah, fooled you even in person. I'm actually a cat.

A little motivational material for those going to Torture Garden

Great job, Kneehighs for organizing another very fun afternoon in NYC. It was a pleasure meeting Heelsnboots. Thanks for the engaging conversation. We sure fooled Kneehighs. He now think we smart. All kidding aside, I read several forums on different topics, some technical some not and I have never come across a more friendly, thoughtful and respectful bunch of people. All you heel wearing people rock. It's gotta be the shoes.

This certainly is a fun forum. I always enjoy the very rare occasion when I meet and get to talk with a woman who is interested in and knowlegeable about the typically male things that interest me, such as working on cars etc. It is refreshing and different, therfore intriguing. I wonder if women find men who understand and can talk about shoes or fashion interesting in the same way that men find a woman who, for example, is into fixing up cars interesting.

I used to never do it but have tried a few pairs on in recent years without any problems. I still for some reason feel very self conscious doing it if I am by myself. In a group or with my wife much less so. When I was buying one of my first pairs of heels about 15 years ago the sales girl asked me, without missing a beat, if I wanted to try them on. I was not expecting this and it floored me. I stammered a no thank you and just bought the shoes. In retrospect she probably had sold many shoes to men and it was no big deal to her.

2. Nation and place of sighting. 1) NYC 8th ave near 18th st 2) NYC alternative fashion clothing store sales guy 3) NYC gay pride march - many sightings 5. Age, clothes, image of street-heeler. 1) mid forties casual jeans with jacket 2) slightly punk slim jeans black tee shirt 3) various 6. Description of heels worn (height, thickness, boots or shoes etc.) 1) light brown stiletto boots 2" heel 2) black 5" stiletto pumps 3) various mild to wild 7. Any comments or reactions worth mentioning (yours or others). no reactions

I think that studies of various behaviors deviating from the socially accepted norm can yield better understanding of what makes us all tick and hopefully lead to a more enlightened approach to therapy (if needed) and maybe one day social aceptance. The process can certainly yield some strange "labels" such as male lesbians. If interpreted literally then the label seems absurd but on further reflection it does start to make some sense to me.

Women's fashion freedom and freedom of expression in general is definitely something I envy. While I enjoy a lot of typically male activities (not into watching sports, more of a gear head) and have male as well as female friends. I feel that I am in some way different from most males. So as a straight guy, when running the thought experiment of what would I be like if I were a woman I definitely come up with a lesbian description.

I suspect that there are many shades of the male lesbian, from the disaffected males in their relations with females on one end of the spectrum to guys who just would like to enjoy some of the freedoms that women do. Kind of like its OK for women to be tomboys. Does that make them female gay-boys?

Kneehighs, Thanks for posting the self analysis by our former member

"Male Lesbian" and "Freestyling"(wearing high heels)

It is very thoughtful and thorough. Furthermore I find I can relate to a lot of what is said.

I feel like I am in the middle. I identify strongly with certain female traits but also with certain male traits. For example would it not be great if I could spend the afternoon working on my hot rod car and then shower and go out in a glamorous outfit and discuss the latest fashion trends. The only stereotypical personality I can think of that even remotely would behave like this is a lesbian. Actually lets forget about wether any lesbian would enjoy an afternoon like I described. The important part is that she could get away with it without looking like a freak and attracting undue attention.

Hi admirer5577 and anyone else wondering about what fetish clubs are like and what to wear to TG.

I have dabbled in the fetish club stuff and my experience is that people are overwhelmingly friendly and accepting. Remember that the fetish club is full of eccentric or kinky people who go there to socialize with other like minded folks. Every one of them has at some point had to face their fears about being rejected or ridiculed and are, therefore, very understanding.

A lot of us have had the experience of meeting a goth or otherwise freaky kid in public and the person was very standoffish. They project that attitude as a facade to preemptively protect themselves from the abuse directed at them by the general public. So walking, for the first time, into a club full of people who at first glance look like the pissed off kid in the record store (ha ha remember those?) can be rather intimidating. But then you quickly realize that now that these people are in their element and among friends the facade is dropped and they are very cool, interesting people.

Now I'm sure you can run into the odd a-hole here and there but that is an exception. In the fetish club, the world as we know it is inverted. What I mean by this is that the more eccentric and outrageous you appear the more accepted and admired you are. This is the exact opposite of what we are all conditioned to expect and therefore takes a while to sink in.

I encourage you to break out of whatever shell you may be hiding in and allow yourself to express your wildest fantasies. You won't regret it and if you are like me, you will experience a powerfully liberating high.

As for the web pictures being of mostly women, there are several reasons. Mostly male photographers is part of it. But a bigger part, I think, is that there is more stigma attached to men in fetish gear than women. So more women will agree to having their picture taken than men. There are lots of men dressed in all kinds of wild outfits. You will have to try real hard to stand out, and that's a good thing.

There are no cameras allowed in the club. There are club approved photographers roaming around but they will ask first if they can take a picture. This, in my experience, is strictly followed. No one is there trying to "out" anyone and privacy is respected.

Please keep in mind that I am in no way an expert and have limited experience but the fetish club experience I do have had has been very positive.

here's a couple links to sites with many fetish party pics for your inspiration

http://www.latexnews.com/

http://www.thefetishparty.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Content.Alter%20Ego

You need to register for the Alter Ego site but its free and there are thousands of photos there from their monthly parties. I have been to Alter Ego and its a blast.

Good luck and hope to see you all there at your freakiest

Just confirming that Mrs HoH and I will be there. Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Wooo Hoooo !!!! That's awsome news on Torture Garden Just wanted to give a big thanks to Kneehighs for all of your hard work organizing this event. Mrs HoH and I are still not decided but a heel meet this big capped off with TG is going to be hard to beat. Hopefully we will be able to go.