Maxine

lol she's my new hero! oh that's cheered me up . Thanks for posting!

Hi Ladies, not posted here for a while but it's nice to be back I had a lovely day shopping yesterday and I was just wondering what your thoughts on the shoes currently available on the high street are? unfortunately not all of us can afford designer shoes... There are still plenty of beautiful heels in UK shops though, round toes and platforms still quite popular it seems. I must admit I used to hate platforms, but some of them are really pretty now. And there is a lot of satin about, a bit less patent than last year which is a shame I think. Oh and a few in the 'gladiator' style, which I'm not won over by yet lol. I ended up with two new pairs - a blue satin peeptoe platform from Barratts about 4.5" heel, and a fabulous pair of Faith pink and black peeptoe courts which I found in Debenhams. They're called Cruella lol. Looking forward to wearing them out...ANYWAY have you girls got any more high street recommendations? and do you like the current styles? Maxine x

Yep I work at home most days too...that said, I do like dressing up for work when I do go to meetings, conferences etc. Whether I could be bothered to make quite the same effort every day I'm not sure. But, hey, Friday night is a different league as far as I'm concerned. ...and it seems so far away now, boo hoo.

A rather marvellous issue of the Observer (UK) yesterday with shedloads of lovely shoes to look at...the shoe buying guide itself doesn't appear to be online, but this article has a splendid section by Louboutin ("I never ask is this shoe too high? For me there ain't no high heel high enough!")

Also an amusing article here on current fashion generally, not just shoes. Apparently platforms remain in, but the "important factor for footwear this spring is a general mood of frivolity and nonsense...if your shoes aren't remarked upon by strangers, you're missing the point." Cool...although I can't agree with their recommendation of this peculiar creation at Top Shop.

Anyway, thought you ladies might find some of those interesting. Out of curiosity, how closely do you follow the dicates of fashion in shoes? Personally I try to be reasonably fashionable and up-to-date but if I don't like the style that happens to be of the moment then I won't wear it. And I ain't buying those Top Shop ones no matter how many fashion editors tell me otherwise!

The short answer to the question is: no, not just for tarts. I certainly wouldn't see a woman in platforms and think she was a tart. Personally, I rarely wear platforms, I think I have maybe two pairs with a 1" platform or so - they are quite comfortable actually. But it's just not the look I prefer, I think it's more difficult to look altogether elegant and feminine in them. (As an aside I think some of the extreme platforms you do see on strippers and in porno just look a bit silly and not sexy at all) But hey, that's just me. And anything's better than flatties, that goes without saying lol.

black patent t-bar courts/pumps with a 4" heel. some people like t-bars, others prefer classic plain courts, but I think they look fantastic and just add a certain je ne sais quoi.

generally i agree that pointed are preferable but there are some very nice black patent round toes shoes around at the moment. i didn't like them when they first came out but they won me over and i have a couple of pairs now. they're quite cute and i actually think they look good with formal trousers. but then i am a bit of a fashion victim lol.

Hope you all had a great weekend...I had loads of fun: shopping lots, eating and drinking well, dancing (probably not so well) and generally enjoying myself. It was also a fantastic weekend for heels I thought - I saw loads of women in really nice shoes and boots, and not just in restaurants and clubs, I'm talking about just walking around the streets and in shops. Best shoes seen all weekend: some amazing 4" ruby red velvet & suede peeptoe courts on a beautiful Italian-looking woman...while she did her grocery shopping at Sainsbury's! Fabulous - what style! So what did you get up to this weekend, and what heels did you wear? And, dare I ask, is this the end for seemingly never-ending trend for ballet pumps and Ugg(ly) boots?

We didn't have a 'prom' as such, I suppose the equivalent was a ball we had the day after our A-level exams all finished. Like most of the girls there, I went in a little black dress. God it seems ages ago already! If my memory is right, though, I wore some black suede court shoes which I'd bought especially, I think they were about 3.5" or maybe 4". It wasn't the best night ever, though, I just remember all the guys drinking way more than they could handle and clumsily coming on to all the girls. Not the most sophisticated ball ever lol. Also my shoes were not the most sensible choice for ceilidh dancing and, I must confess, I had to take them off to dance. Poor show, I know!

As a genuine Scots lass let me weigh in with a wee recommendation or two: my very favourite is Talisker from Skye, but a nice recent find (as discovered by my dad!) is Ledaig (pronounced 'Lay-check' I think) from the Tobermory distillery that somebody else mentioned above. You can get it from the whisky shop but no doubt elsewhere too. Slainte Mhath to all, have a great weekend.

Good for you Alicia, I'd hate to work anywhere which had a strict dress code. I'm lucky in being self-employed, so I get to make my own rules lol. As you say, as long as you look professional I don't see what the problem is. Some of the women I see slobbing about in sloppy cardigans and nasty skirts and horrible, ugly shoes - well, to me that's not professional but nobody ever challenges them! So yay to OTK boots and other great-looking office wear and boo to boring shoes. Wishing all you girls a great weekend, I intend having a blast and wearing my sexiest shoes and boots while doing it!

Having read the rest of the replies, I think I'm right in the 'average' bracket - boring but true, lol. Depending on the type of day I have (whether I have meetings, who with, how long I'll be on my feet), for work I would say somewhere between 3.5" - 4.5" possibly up to 5" Evenings in pubs and clubs usually 4.5"-5.5" I *generally* don't personally like the aesthetic of anything higher than that, platform or not. That said I do have some 6" heels, but they are for bedroom-use-only lol.

Personally I prefer stilletos without a platform, I think they tend to look more elegant and feminine. Just my preference

on a slightly different tack to the others...no problem at all going out in public with a guy (friend) in heels. i find it neither attractive nor unattractive, i'm strangely unbothered either way... ...that said, on a date, no way: i'm in heels, he's not. this has nothing to do with conditioning, conformity, gangsta rap or anything else. it's cos i'm already short and my heels help me catch up! if he's in heels too i may as well not bother. it's hard enough kissing a tall guy when he's in flats! other than that guys can wear what they like

how about these? different sizes in the same style here personally i'd prefer a longer boot, but these are quite cute

hi, hope i'm not out of place giving my two-penn'orth here as a brand new member. just thought i'd give a quick opinion as somebody who has a *little* experience of graphic and web design. logos and design are very subjective so you'll never please everyone, but with the size constraints you have i think you need to stick to something pretty graphically simple. trouble is i guess the logo needs to include a recognisable high heeled shoe, which is (almost) as high as wide, but the logo needs to be considerably wider than it is high. Pretty difficult then to include e.g. silhouettes of full figures wearing heels (as someone said above, you'd never really notice the heel). Also leaves you with a bunch of horizontal space to fill. you already have a strong colour scheme for the site so at least that's not a problem. personally i would stick to a simple silhouette or near-silhouette of a high-heel shoe (heel to the left, toe to the right), followed by the words "hhplace.org" (and include the .org so that people know exactly where to find you)...if the width of the graphic is reasonably flexible and the height allows, include a short strap line underneath describing what the site is in a few words. i feel like i may be missing the nuances / sensitivites around referring to men/women wearing heels, but i'm not sure how that can all be reflected and resolved in a single graphic. personally i would use the silhouette of a not-too-extreme stilleto court shoe, it's classic, instantly recognisable, eye-catching. why complicate things further? anyway just my thoughts to use, abuse or ignore as you wish. Maxine x

My thoughts for what they're worth - feet (my feet in any case) look better bare than in nylons, legs (my legs at any rate) look better in nylons than bare. Since sandals are there to show off my feet, I wear sandals barefoot during the summer when my legs and feet are tanned, and make sure I have taken good care of my feet and nails. In winter, for business, or whenever else I feel like courts instead of sandals (which, frankly, is most of the time) I almost always wear stockings (or very occasionally hose). Probably the only exception is with brown or navy courts which I think look good with bare legs if they're tanned. With boots, it depends very much on rest of the outfit, again stockings with a longer skirt, bare legs with a mini

Hi all, another newbie here just putting my head over the parapet. I'm 26/f originally from Scotland now living in NE England, have loved heels as long as I can remember. Wearing, admiring, shopping for etc. etc. I like most kinds except those with chunky platforms - but mostly I like classic, elegant shoes esp black patent or suede courts.

Anyway I'll go before I start rambling on, nice to be here hope to get to know some of you better soon.

Maxine x