JeffB

On 6/29/2017 at 9:10 PM, w6ish said:

i know i have posted this same photo recently but!

this is me:  bring on the summer time

I admire your being able to wear heels that high. I'd kill myself in those shoes. HA!

Animal

10 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

Hi Jeff,

I get what you mean about comfort. I love my tall heels but standing for hours and hours - I do love the variation of a rounded toe or a little less height to take the strain down a notch or two! But I still love my tall heels so I battle on. Usually there's enough variety in a day to prevent one from killing ones feet !

Keep up the good work!

Speaking of variety, I mentioned that I had been out for seven hours on Sunday, but, I should point out that not ALL that time was spent on my feet, that way lies madness. Take away an hour in Starbucks, two hours in a multiplex watching Wonder Woman, two hours on a park bench and around thirty minutes in Barnes & Noble, plus time spent in my car driving from place to place, and I was only on my feet standing or walking for just an hour. It's all about planning. Heh!

By the by, speaking of comfort, I read about a fix on the internet that's supposed to help wearing heels easier and less excruciating. It's said that if you tape the third and fourth toes together, preferably with medical tape, or, in a pinch, scotch tape, that helps alleviate the pain from wearing heels, especially enclosed shoes like pumps. I don't know if you've heard of this, but it sounds intriguing. The next time I wear pumps, I'll give it a try.

8 hours ago, Mr. X said:

With all you have done and accomplished Jeff, I am suprised that you would consider this a big step lol

I know, right? But then, I kinda march to the beat of my own drummer. Heh!

5 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

Hey JeffB, thats a neat look

I love the midi skirt, your pumps are perfect - I think a midi skirt has to be worn with heels. 3 inches is perfectly respectable heel, and the shape of your pumps is pretty, which is important. Furthermore you were out for 7 hrs! I love my heels but as a fellow everyday wearer I understand the rationale for just taking the edge off the height by chopping back an inch. As you rightly said you wanted a classy look, and you did that well.

Overall a great monochromatic outfit, black top is cute with the capped sleeves, your jewellery (both necklace and earings) mimics the patterning in your midi skirt, midi skirts are so on trend right now, your handbag and pumps match each other perfectly and balance the outfit. Good choice on a patent pump rather than kidskin/leather because its that little more refined and dressy. Super dooper!

A midi skirt in a light fabric like yours would be great in hotter weather too!

Thanks for the kind words, nzfreestyler. Much appreciated. As I've mentioned numerous times in this thread, I spend a goodly amount of time planning what I wear before I leave on an outing because I obsess on wanting to look my best while in public. Regarding the outfit I wore Sunday, I originally planned to wear the Payless black "Tawny" slides which have a three inch wedge heel, but I decided instead to wear the "Karmen" pumps instead, mainly because I wanted to look classy. On the issue of heel height, I do a lot of standing and walking on my outings, so comfort is important, and those three inchers with their rounded toes are perfect for lengthy expeditions. Lastly, the skirt came from Sears, and I have six more of that style and length, both in patterns and solid colors, and even though they're lined, those skirts are delightfully light and airy, perfect for spring and summer, even on the hottest day, I feel cool and comfortable in them. I tell you, wearing skirts of all kinds is so much fun, it's crazy! I can't get enough!

Google "men in heels" and, more likely than not, you'll see lots of pictures of handsome, virile, often bearded men in their twenties and thirties usually wearing outrageously high, usually platform heels. Rarely, if ever, will you find handsome, virile, often bearded men in their 40's, 50's or older sporting plain, dull, but sensible three inch pumps. Heelers of a "certain age" are out there, this site is proof of that, but we never seem to enjoy our moment in the sun. Age discrimination, it's awful, guys!  

sf: I guess because King of Prussia is so huge a mall and packed with people, I felt that being there on a jaunt could be, well, challenging, even though that was my seventh time there in a skirt, so perhaps it's not too imposing after all.

SkirtDude: Thanks for the kind words. I do have pencil skirts, I'll get around to wearing them, trust me.

Cali: Yes, some young kids have noticed, but even those are infrequent, so it's no big deal.

Mr. X: I have contemplated having my ears pierced, but, I'm not quite ready to make that big a jump. At least not yet.

Jaunt #378, 6/25/2017: In the aftermath of Saturday morning’s storm, Sunday was sunny, warm and pleasant, giving me the excuse I needed to go out on a jaunt, and because it was Sunday, I decided to dress up, sporting a black crepe blouse, a black and white print skirt, the Payless “Karmen” pumps in black patent and a black handbag. It had been quite some time since I last wore the Karmens, especially during the warm weather months as I've been satisfying my slide and sandal fetish, still, it felt good to wear a proper pair of heels, even if said shoes were only three inchers, but they amped up the style on my outfit, and I wanted to look classy.

My first stop was to Starbucks in the University City area where I relaxed with my e-reader and a tall cup of iced tea for little over an hour, there was a good crowd in the store, I did get a quick glance from a twentysomething guy, but that was it. From there, it was over the bridge and into South Jersey, my destination the multiplex at the Moorestown Mall to see Wonder Woman which I thought was terrific , well worth all the kudos the film has gotten. Driving back into town, I swung by the Rittenhouse Square Park area to relax and get in more reading, Sundays are a great day to be in the park, and to be downtown, especially in spring and summer because the entire area is absolutely alive with throngs of people, and I enjoy being part of that crowd. I put a strut in my walk, enjoying the clicking of my heels on the sidewalk and the atmosphere of the park as I found a bench and sat down to read. After a bout a couple of hours, I retreated to Barnes & Noble to enjoy a croissant and a bottle of water, then returned to my car and headed home.

I had been out for close to seven hours and had a great time, in fact, it was hard to call it a day and go back home because I was enjoying myself and wanted to stay out longer. It was then that I realized just much I loved wearing women's clothes and shoes, and how important being a fashion freestyler had become to me, and how I've embraced that passion like nothing else. But, on the drive back home, I was already planning my next outing and what to wear. I can't wait for the next jaunt. More to come....

Jaunt #377, 6/24/2017: After a stormy start to Saturday, the sun quickly came out and the day turned sunny, nice and delightful, which meant it was time for a jaunt, my destination for the day was King of Prussia, and I decided to push the envelope just a little bit, garbed in a black blouse, an olive chino skirt, the Payless “Stacia” low wedge sandals in black and a black satchel bag. The envelope pushing came from wearing sandals at KOP for the first time, the other push were earrings which you can see below, modest in style, but the gold color still made them stand out. I have to say that the earrings really made my outfit pop and were a perfect accessory to complete my ensemble. Once upon a time, I said I wouldn't leave the house unless I had a handbag on my shoulder, today, I'm fast starting to think I won't feel dressed unless I have earrings on as I've quickly come to enjoy how they look on me. Thanks to Thighbootguy for broadening my horizons when it comes to accessories.

But I digress. I arrived the KOP shortly before twelve noon, admittedly, I had no idea how did be received, wondering if people would notice the sandals or the earrings, and that made me just a wee bit nervous, but I didn't let that stop me from leaving my car and walking into the mall. After only five minutes, it didn't take long to realize that I worried needlessly as no one paid me a lick of attention, par for the course when I go out and about in women's clothes and shoes, and this outing was no different from any of the others. After fifteen minutes or so in the comic book shop, I headed to the food court which was plenty packed, but no one gave me so much as a glance as I bought a six inch turkey breast sandwich and a bottle of water from Subway and dined at my leisure. After I ate, it was off to JCPenney which was in the middle of a store closing sale, and I went in to see what struck my fancy, I would up spending well over half an hour there, before I settled on a knee length button down denim skirt, a dressy blue sleeveless blouse that caught my eye, and, lastly, a short sleeved, low cut, purple knit dress. Now, you might be thinking, what in the hell am I going to do with a purple dress? I have no idea, at least not right now, but I'll think of something, the dress only cost $8.00, making it hard to resist.

My next stop was to Primark where I wandered about before buying a tan satchel bag, I recent bought a pair of the “Stacia” sandals in tan, and I needed a bag to match. I wound up spending nearly five hours at the mall, and went ignored by the scores of shoppers there, at times, I found myself wondering: “Is it supposed to be THIS easy?” For a middle aged guy to wander through the largest mall on the East Coast in a skirt and not raise so much as an eyebrow was more than a little surprising to me, even though that was my seventh trip there. I know I should be LONG used to reactions, or rather, the lack of reactions by now, however, that surprise didn't keep me from thoroughly enjoying my outing. For the umpteenth time, I guess this meant I did something right when it came to my appearance, and that I look so good in women's clothes, I'm accepted for my appearance, and that's certainly NOT a bad thing. More to come....

8 hours ago, Mr. X said:

It's time for another entry in this thread.  The weather has been really hot here the last couple of days.  It is finally feeling like summer here.  and I had just the outfit for such an occasion.

The outing itself was short and uneventful so nothing to report on that front.  In terms of the outfit I felt that shorts were in order based on the hot weather.  I have worn shorts on past outings but they were always mens, or at least very unisex womens shorts.  Today was different.  I decided I wanted to try an outfit based around shorts that were 100% womens when you looked at them, at least in my mind anyhow.  And quite a bit shorter than most of the shorts I have worn previously.  Some might claasify them as "Daisy Dukes" but I think they are a tad longer.  Either way, they showed quite a bit of leg above the knee.  I have been told in the past that I have great legs, so I figured it was about time I showed them off!  So here is a breakdown of the finished product along with pics.  Comments and suggestions welcome.

The outfit
1) Bamboo Brand Tan Wedge Sandals
2) Bluenotes Brand Shorts
3) White T Shirt
4) Aldo Brand Tan Crossbody Bag

Nice shorts there, Mr. X! Well done!

14 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

ever thought about wearing a royal blue dress - maybe an empire line cut dress (a-line) - clean lines and blue seems to 'pop' on you? Silver earings, silver pumps, metallic skinny belt at the waist (if the dress has loops for it), grey/silver oversize clutch would be a cool look?

HA! I'm almost always thinking about dresses which I love to wear when the opportunity presents itself, and you presented quite the intriguing idea, especially for a night out on the town. I'm sure I could make your suggestion work! 

TBG: I thought you'd like that. Heh!

SkirtDude: Nahhhh! No wig or lipstick for me. I'm perfectly content with my look as a freestyler. Thanks for the kind words. As I mentioned, it was too hot yesterday for anything fancy or fitted.

nzfreestyler: Thanks for the compliments. Like with everything else, I put a lot of consideration into the accessories as they complete the outfits I wear. It was good that my first experiment with earrings worked well, now I'm eager to wear them more and experiment with other styles. Oh, yeah, it's been mentioned that blue suits my complexion. I agree.

Jaunt #376, 6/18/2017: Even though the official first day of summer is three days off as I type these words of wit(?), the heat was still hot, what with off and on sunshine and temps in the low to mid 90's with some oppressive humidity. Still, that didn't stop me from going out on a brief outing to run a couple of errands, and, considering the conditions, I dressed down, sporting a blue t-shirt, the gray denim miniskirt with the distressed hem, the Payless "Noble" flat sandals in black and a black handbag. Nothing fancy, it was too darn hot for that sort of thing, oh, yeah, I wore something new which you'll notice in the accompanying pictures....earrings. Thighbootguy suggested in previous posts that I try them, and after he sent me several pairs of clip-ons, I went with a small gold plated pair, just to see what, if anything would happen.

My first stop was to Acme in Springfield to pick up a few odds and ends (sparkling water), while I was in the aisle putting several bottles in a basket, a fiftysomething black woman came up to me and said she liked my earrings and that they looked nice on me. Whoa! That was fast! Anyway, I grinned and thanked her for the compliment. Leaving Acme, I headed down the road to Best Buy as I needed to buy a wired mouse for my computer. Short story, the wireless rodent was out of juice this morning, and I didn't have a backup to use while I recharged the main one, so I decided to buy an old fashioned wired mouse to have on hand as a spare. Of course, being in Best Buy, I could leave without gadget ogling, and the air conditioning was a nice bonus as well. At the checkout counter with my rodent ($7.99) and a Blu-Ray copy of John Wick, Chapter 2, the cashier, a twentysomething woman said, and I quote, "Cool earrings! You rock!" I chuckled and thanked her for the kind words.

Two compliments inside of an hour, a definite first for me. Not bad, not bad at all. Oh, yeah, icky hot and humid days are perfect for wearing short skirts as I felt perfectly cool and comfortable, and I got to show off my legs to boot! While I went ignored otherwise, I have to say I enjoyed the earrings as they certainly changed the way I looked, even in my purely casual guise. Perhaps earrings will become a regular part of my ensembles for outings as they were fun to wear. We'll see. More to come....

I'll see what I can do after my 400th jaunt.

On 6/13/2017 at 9:36 AM, Thighbootguy said:

As I suspected, charts and graphs are the way into a statistician's heart.

Well, I wasn't a statistician in the Navy, but I appreciate numbers! 

8 hours ago, OldMountain said:

Mmmm  Guess thats what keeping me from climbing them hiigher heels:

 

Google "runway fails" and you'll get scores of videos about models rumbling, stumbling and bumbling. In most of the cases, the models were wearing stupidly high heeled and/or ridiculously impractical shoes, but the end result is the same----disaster!

To add to this post, be careful and aware of the surface you happen to be walking on while in heels. Wood, carpet, asphalt or pavement is one thing, but waxed tile floors in stores and malls can be downright treacherous when wearing stilettos, a wrong step and your foot could slide out from under you, leading to embarrassment and a sore behind. I've yet to have that happen to me, thank goodness, but I came close a time or two, and even a near fall or a momentary stumble can be mortifying because it feels like the eyes of the world is upon you.

WOW! Graphs! Color me impressed! I'll have to see about upping the ante on the thigh boots!

1 hour ago, nzfreestyler said:

Hi Jeff,

OMG. What a polished look !

I'm new here and I'm going to have to go back through this massive thread now to check out the style!

Hello to you, nzfreestyler! Thanks for the kind words. I hope you enjoy my thread. 

And now....THE NUMBERS!

 JAUNTS BY YEAR

 2008: 10
 2009: 42
 2010: 28
 2011: 61
 2012: 34
 2013: 33
 2014: 45
 2015: 46
 2016: 53
 2017: 23 (and counting)

CLOTHING

Skirts: 290 (above knee-183, below knee-74, at knee-33)
Jeans: 63 (tucked in boots-39, untucked-24)
Skorts: 9
Dresses: 7
Capris: 4
Pants: 1
Long Sweaters: 1

FOOTWEAR

Payless shoes: 235
Other shoes: 140

Boots: 135 (knee high-72, thigh high-45, ankle high-18)
Pumps: 101
Sandals: 42
Loafers: 41
Slides: 31
Flats: 25
   
PERCENTAGES

Skirts: 77.6
Jeans: 16.8
Skorts: 2.4
Dresses: 1.8
Capris: 1.0
Pants: 0.2
Long Sweaters: 0.2

Boots: 36.0
Pumps: 26.9
Sandals: 11.3
Loafers: 10.9
Slides: 8.3
Flats: 6.6

First skirt outing: 12/13/2008
First dress outing: 6/5/2011
Last outing in pants/jeans: 4/28/2013  

WOW! That takes me back! Seriously cool! Guess I got my fifteen minutes!  

6 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

In years past, the answer to this question brought an admonishment from the Admins that it was  "Way too much information".  I suggest this be continued as a PM.

Quite right. However, I will provide an answer to jeremy, that being....black. And that's as far as I'll go on that subject.

6 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

Glad to know I'm not alone in my assessment.

Great outfit.  The necklace, bracelet, and watch all work together to complete the look. To really finish things off add some small earrings (or great hooped ones) and more feminine glassed frames.

In retrospect, I find myself being amused at having been called "Miss". A first for me to say the least. Heh!

These days, I never go higher than four inches, and even then, it's the stable Payless "Sinclair" platform wedge sandals or "O'Malley" platform wedge slides. Like Thighbootguy, I'm getting up in years at 58, and given all the walking and standing I do on my outings, comfort is vital because of all the time spent on my feet. Other than those sandals, I never go over three inches, and I'm perfectly fine with that, in some ways, I prefer lower heel heights.

Jaunt #375, 6/10/2017: Gotta love a warm and sunny day since that gives me all the impetus I need to go on an outing, garbed in a turquoise blouse, a dark gray denim pencil skirt, the Payless "Stacia" low wedge sandals in black and a black handbag. I would call this outfit casually dressy as in the blouse being dressy and the skirt as casual, and it makes for a nice combination along with the comfortable sandals for the amount of time I'd be on my feet. My first stop was to the main branch of the Post Office to buy a money order, walking in, there was a crazy long line in another area of the main floor for people waiting to have passport pictures taken, I did get a couple of stares here and there, meanwhile, my time spent in the main line was only a tad over five minutes before I made it to the counter to buy my money order, fill it out, slap it in a envelope and leave.

My next stop was to the Rittenhouse Square Park area to chill for a bit, for me, it's not just sitting on a bench in the park so I could be seen and go ignored, I just enjoy the ambience of the park, the combination of shade, warm weather and the throngs of people who came and went, the park is just a great place to be, whether to read, check stuff on social media or just relax. It's fun! Now, here's something that will make Thighbootguy in particular chuckle since he's said more than once that I'm able to come and go as I please because people identify me as female, as I entered Barnes & Noble after about an hour in the park, the security guard at the door, a thirtysomething black woman said, "Good afternoon, Miss." That made me chuckle as I replied to her. After buying the newest Sports Illustrated, I left and walked down a mondo crowded street some two blocks to the Apple Store where I bought an armband for my iPhone to use while working out at the gym.

Returning to the car, I drove over the bridge to South Jersey and the Moorestown Mall area where I had lunch at Wendy's, a Caesar salad and a bottle of water, then to the nearby multiplex to watch Wonder Woman which was flat out awesome. And while I probably enough in the way of women's clothes, I went to Sears and added another couple of blouses and another crinkle skirt like many of the others I already have, followed by some wandering through the Moorestown Mall itself which didn't have quite a large crowd like say, King of Prussia, still, it was plenty of fun. My outing lasted close to seven hours and I enjoyed every minute. More to come, including....THE NUMBERS!

SkirtDude: Regarding that picture, one of the skirts I bought last Saturday looked like the one you displayed, I just need a dressy looking blouse to pair with it and I'll have a great looking outfit. I take wearing women's clothes seriously and want to look my best in them. By the by, thanks for the suggestions.

I think Darren McGavin wore a seersucker suit when he played Kolchak the Night Stalker.

Jaunt #374, 6/3/2017: With a new month having begun, Saturday started with some showers and a chilly wind, by the time ten a.m. rolled around, it was still cloudy and a tad nippy, so I dressed for the occasion, sporting my denim jacket over a pink t-shirt, a 22 inch black chino skirt, the Payless "Geneva" loafers and a black satchel bag for an outing to the King of Prussia Mall. After a stop to a gas station to fuel up, I drove straight to the mall, my goal on this, my seventh jaunt to KOP was to push the envelope, even if just a little, going from those just below the knee button down skirts to what I wore today which was above the knee by some three to four inches. After arriving at KOP shortly after 11, I hopped out of the car and strolled into the mall, wondering if anyone would notice either the pink shirt or the shorter skirt.

As usual, the answer to that was a big, fat nope. Big surprise, eh? Nary any widened eyes, gasps, double takes, long stares, none of it, but, I've gotten used to that. The more important thing was that it felt extremely good to come and go as I pleased, dressed the way I wanted, in the largest mall on the east coast, and that's plenty awesome, and that made the outing all the more enjoyable. From having lunch in the crowded food court to some shopping at JCPenney which is slated to close, enabling me to catch a good deal on a couple of dressy skirts I bought for just under twenty-three bucks, not too bad, I'll have to go back to see what else I can get my hands on before the store closes. I wound up spending about four hours at the mall, it's amazing how time flies when you're having fun, and I certainly did enjoy my time there, in fact, it's pretty much become a given that I'll only go to KOP in a skirt because I've become acclimated to it, and I like that.

Perhaps I'll push the envelope a little more on my next trip there with a shorter hemline, or maybe with one of my form hugging pencil skirts, and since it's spring, with summer right around the corner, why not wear a pair of sandals. We'll see. More to come....

14 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Hello from Atlanta, GA! I was at a giant Asian supermarket and took the opportunity to get in a selfie, with help from a couple of cans on the shelf. 

Cool! Were those shorts you wore in that picture?