JeffB

Very chic and stylish. The two-tone design of those pumps is quite striking, and I'd imagine black and red would be flat out dynamic. I don't know if they'd be suitable for wear at the office for me as they clearly work better with a skirt than with pants, given the thin heel (4 1/2 inches?). Still, those are great looking shoes! :-D

From top to bottom, those were very nice boots there! I wouldn't mind a pair of those myself! :-D

Well, when people, namely co-workers glance down at my feet, it's often to see what I'm wearing that day. Everyone's now used to seeing me in heels that's no longer a big deal. While I'm on the subject of "high expectations", I've found of late that wearing anything UNDER three inches is a waste of my time while I'm most comfortable in four inchers. Perhaps in time, five inches will be my standard. I guess that could be seen as a sign of my evolution as I NEED to wear taller heels now.

I also wear heels to both look better AND feel better! It's rather hard to describe the feeling of, well, empowerment when I'm at the office in a well fitting pair of three or four inchers. I walk with a confident stride, like I'm in charge of the place. When people see me, they don't see a nutcase, they see someone who's secure about himself and who he is that he can wear what makes HIM feel good, not what makes society feel good. And that's the emotional power wearing heels gives me! :-D

On the subject of a dress code, I've never actually seen one at the place where I work, so when I made the bold move to start wearing heels to work, I had no way of knowing if I would be in violation of whatever our dress code might have been. However, no one's complained, so I guess I didn't violate anything. And even since I've exclusively started wearing pumps to the office every day, I still haven't encountered any negative feedback from co-workers or superiors. Everything's been unfailingly positive and, as I've mentioned here from time to time, even complimentary as my female co-workers are suitably impressed with my taste in shoes. I've gone out of my way to be tasteful in regards to what I wear, and that's gone a long way towards the level of acceptance I've gained. So, when it comes to a dress code, if no one complains, then you can go ahead and wear what you feel, and what feels right to you! :-D

After almost two years of wearing high heels at the office, starting with stack heeled loafers, boots in fall and winter, and now standard pumps full time now, my co-workers have come to EXPECT me to be in heels every day. The only time they don't see me in heels is when I'm arriving at the office in my sneakers and when I leave at the end of the day. I even wear heels on casual Fridays now. I've gotten compliments from folks saying I have very stylish shoes, not stylish women's shoes, just stylish shoes! I've viewed this as a sign of genuine acceptance of what I choose to wear. Has anyone else experience this sort of thing?

Compared to say, five, ten or fifteen years ago, these days, larger sized shoes are considerably more plentiful. You just have to know where to look. Thankfully, the Internet makes the search a great deal easier. Finding places like Rave's is indeed a godsend for folks like me who can't wear shoes from traditional makers like, say, Nine West as most mainstream makers only go up to size 11 or 12, and the latter is often a reach. But, larger sized shoes are indeed out there today.

Well, I think you have to check Payless once the seasons change and new stuff arrives in the stores. The boots I bought on Friday I'm particularly fond of because they're blade heels and I've been dying to get my hands on something like that. And, at four inches, they look really sharp on me. Payless also has a high shaft boot with the same sort of heel, but they're on in 13 regular. Still, it might be worth checking into! :-D

This must be my lucky weekend! Went into another Payless downtown on Saturday and found the following in 13 wide:

http://www.payless.com/payless/images/beauty/018809_beauty.gif

A nice looking bootie that will go very well with dress pants at the office. And they fit quite well. I made sure of that by trying them on in the store before I bought 'em! :-D Sometimes, Payless does alright for large size folks like me!

After work on Friday, I strolled into a downtown Payless near the office to see if they had anything new on the shelves in 13 wide. Much to my amazement, I saw the following:

http://www.payless.com/payless/images/beauty/018330_beauty.gif

Awed that I found something like that in my size, I wasted no time going to the register with them. The salesperson, a chatty young lady asked if I were buying those boots for someone special, I smiled and said, "Yeah. For me." That threw her for a second, then she chuckled and told me that she hoped I liked the boots. I can't wait to wear those to the office! :-)

That was an interesting exploit you had, onyourtoes! Women continually seem to be amazed that we can walk in heels and even make it look easy. I also think that by saying it took practice to master that particular skill, we put the thought in their minds that we had devoted ourselves to wanting to walk well in heels, something else I'm sure they never expected. Slowly, but surely, we're starting to break down that stereotype that says men can't walk in heels. Every day that I'm out and about in pumps (and, admittedly, I can't bring myself to wear anything but now!), I'm helping to defeat that stereotype, and I'm having a great amount of fun as well. I'm just doing what I enjoy, and that's where the fun comes in!

Yo, Highluc! That outfit you wore was mondo cool! And the boots looked great! Were they blades or standard spikes? Anyway, more power to you, my friend!

On Friday, I was at the local newsstand near the place where I work to buy a paper when a lady noticed the black Aigner pumps I had on (even on "Casual Fridays" I wear heels) and asked me how I could walk in those heels. With a shrug, I said, "Practice." From the puzzled look on her face, I think I threw her for a loop. :-D It would appear that there's some sort of misconception out there that men shouldn't be able to walk in high heeled shoes, that it would be impossible for them to manage. Of course, we all know that isn't the case. Just as women can manage that feat, so can men. But I guess that in the narrow minds of most folks in out society, high heels are the province solely of women, and men aren't allowed in that particular neighborhood. To hear some tell it, it's like: "Oh, no! There's no way men can walk in high heels!" To which I say, "Why not?" It's that old stigma of gender assignment to a particular article of clothing which is plain wrong in my book. In any event, people need to see that we can wear heels, smartly and stylishly and prove they aren't just for women!

Well, I started at age 13 when I was insanely curious as to how my mom could walk in high heels. Since I didn't have the nerve to actually ask, I reasoned that the only way I could satisfy my curiosity would be to wear her shoes myself. One day while she was out at work, I went into mom's room and picked out a nice pair of black pumps with three inch heels (my preferred style to this day), we both wore the same size at the time, so getting into the shoes was no problem. After two or three attempts just to stand up, I spent a solid twenty or so minutes getting used to walking in the darn things. If anyone had been looking inside at the time, they would've seen me staggering and stumbling all over the house like a drunk as I attempted to master mom's shoes. Once I had, it became easy, and, more importantly----FUN! And, after thirty years, on and off, mostly on now, the fun hasn't subsided! And that's how I got started!

What a wonderful little essay you wrote, SQ! You did a marvelous job in describing how you got from point A to point B with your high heel wearing at work. And the shoes and boots were really cool! I especially loved the baby doll pumps in black. I think they'd look great on me at the office. In fact, I may just order me a pair! Once again, a great job! Keep up the tremendous work!

The baby doll pumps do look nice indeed! I wouldn't mind a pair of those myself if they come in 13 wide!!

Well, as with anything, it takes time to get used to something new, as is the case with you and those 5 inch stilettos. Those platform pumps looked quite interesting indeed, don't know if I could go for something like that, given my more conservative tastes, but hey, as long as you like them, that's the important thing!

Well, I like to keep things simple, my friends: black pumps with three or four inch heels!

Funny! I must have looked in all the wrong places since before going online, I could never find such information in newspapers or magazines.

Two reasons----one: three inchers are most comfortable for all day wear at the office. Two: that's the highest I can find in 13 wide!

Normal is what you make it out to be. Plain and simple!

This is the danger you risk when you invest your time and emotions in a TV show----you get your heart broken when the show gets cancelled. That's why i don't watch ANYTHING on any of the networks unless it's sports related. Along with ESPN, I watch lots of shows on Discovery Channel, History Channel, TLC, Court TV and Cartoon Network along with a slew of movie channels. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and all are barely a blip on my radar. And hey! Don't be dissing Archie comics! I'm a big fan! Besides, Veronica Lodge always wears the coolest shoes!!!

Every day at lunchtime, a co-worker and I go on a one mile walk for exercise (and no, I don't wear heels!) and fresh air after being cooped up in the office. Well, a couple of days ago when we were on our way back to the office, we saw a flamboyantly dressed gay man cross the street. he had on a red t-shirt, a black vest, multi-colored floral pants and black, four inch spike heeled mules. He was as out of the closet as one could get. My walking buddy and I did double takes and snickered something fierce the rest of the way after seeing him, but later on, as I was putting my pumps back on at my desk, I couldn't help but wonder if I was perceived by other as being gay because I wear women's shoes? Grant you, I don't dress as flamboyant as that guy we saw. I'm low key, nice looking and tasteful in my dress. Still, despite all that, would I be incorrectly thought of as being gay because of the shoes I wear? I don't think so, but to most of society, the perception is there. What do you think, everybody?

....when your idea of casual Friday footwear at the office are three inch heeled pumps! But then, I wear them at the office EVERY day!

Counseling? Because of shoes? Get real! That's like some schmuck suing McDonalds because he gets careless and spills hot coffee on himself! Reality check, people! Just because someone wants to express his own sense of fashion doesn't mean he needs to visit a headshrinker! I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous in my book! Shoes are shoes are shoes! What difference should it make if they have high heels? Sheesh!