azraelle

I think women have a rather different idea of what makes a man "manly" or "masculine" than how most men would define those terms. As to specifics, I'm about as clueless as a person can get--I would VERY MUCH like to see this topic discussed (perhaps a new category?); I've even gone so far as to consider asking my fellow (female) students how they define (or "what qualities do you look for in guys") manly/masculine. All I really do know is that I hated my dad so much that I rebelled against just about everything that HE thought was manly, and I STILL ended up very much like him in so many negative ways...

I prefer women in pants, especially jeans, sorry! About the only style of dress I really dig is a "Cheong Sam" or however you spell it (I imagine Debbie(HK)may know what I'm talking about). I like vintage pants out of the 30's and 40's as well. Favorite vintage style is "Chemin de Fer" jeans, circa 1977, which sported a so-called saddle back and a modified sailor-style functional double-button front. Very classy, especially if the girl was dancing in them!

http://www.rustyzipper.com sells vintage (outer) clothing, patterns, etc, (~80% women's) from 40's on to the 90's. Links to other such sites also.

_________________

Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-16 13:38 ]</font>

When I was in school it was ILLEGAL for a teacher to let a person know what their score waas on an IQ test. My mother was a school teacher and was able to peer at my score in the 3rd grade: 120. Have taken others, but was never curious enough to dig thru the vault to find out if I went up or down.

Terrayon, Question: Do the high schools in Canada have mandatory testing at the end of the grade 12 or 13 in order to get a diploma? Such testing doesn't exist in most US school systems, that I know of. Thanx, "AJ" (Azraelle)

On 2002-05-14 20:47, Bert wrote:

...I'd rather find a compromise (eg. hiding them and wearing them when you are not with him/her). It's actually pretty much what I'm doing now.

Bert

Trouble is that women feel their confidences betrayed when they find out you have been hiding something for however many years (and they WILL find out!); maybe they're more naturally suspicious than men? Anyway, the almost universal followup in their mind is "If he has been hiding this so well all these years, what ELSE has he hidden from me?" It just doesn't help a relationship at all to hide a secret like wearing high heels.

_________________

Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-16 12:27 ]</font>

On 2002-05-12 14:26, Firefox wrote:

But does your tackle really fit in there? I would have thought it hangs out round the edges...

It depends on the cut, and the fabric, and how cheaply they are made--best if you get a pair that is ~90% nylon, 10% Lycra; I like hi-cut (French-cut?) or Thongs.

I graduated in 1970. By then, the "Beatle Boots" hi-heels for guys fad was almost over. In Junior High (grades 7-9 in America), I wore a pair of black suede boots, aproximately 2-1/8" at back (most of us measured at the front of the heel at the time, e.g. about 1-1/2"), that were made for guys--nearly everyone was wearing them! I remember one guy in 8th grade that had his 2" heels (measured at the front of the heel) raised to 3"(maybe 4" at back?). He only wore them one day, though--must have been REALLY uncomfortable for him! My brother had a pair of what were known in 1962 as "Spanish Boots" that he wore in 12th grade, with aprox 2" heels at back.

I originally got the idea to make buttonholes horizontally from noticing that many women's blouses had them, and I thought they looked, well, cool, Inga. I honestly never thought about the why that you refer to until just now!!! Believe it or not. Thanx for the insight! _________________ Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever... <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-16 12:50 ]</font>

Having found, unfortunately after my divorce, that relationships with Significant Others are the most precious commodity on the planet, were I to find another lady of my dreams, especially one that liked to wear heels, and she were to say to me "get rid of your heels if you want this to seriously continue", getting rid of my heels would be a no-brainer! It should have been a no-brainer when I was married (to the girl of my dreams), but I digress. "Kicking against the pricks", as it were, harms only oneself.

spike heels and tite boot cut jeans go very well together on a shapely lady _________________ Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever... <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-14 13:40 ]</font>

(my opinion only) It will have to be someone famous worldwide that embraces it. Ex-1: In 18th century it was accepted atire for men to wear fuschia or purple silk waistcoats, breeches, moderately high heels, lace blouses, etc. Then in early 19th century, the crown prince of England started wearing black...and then everyone else started wearing black. Ex-2: Up until when Ronald Reagan was elected President, it was the published opinion of all the "Dress for Success" experts that you should NEVER wear brown if you wanted to attain upper management in your career. Then Ronald Reagan started wearing brown suits, and suddenly it was now alright to wear brown and be successful. _________________ Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever... <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-14 13:14 ]</font>

Thanks Tarayon and Anagram. You are SOOOO lucky, Calv to have feet that small, and I LOVE the blade boots in the bottom left of your first picture. Also covet your gathered sleeve shirt.

I wonder if it might have been company policy at one time to hire a certain type of individual to manage Naturalizer Shoe stores. I remember a small Naturalizer store in one of the malls in Las Vegas about 15 years ago--the only person I ever saw in there was a middle age guy who apparently saw it as his duty to chase out every male that did more than a quick pass through--judging from how he treated me, and one other guy later on. He wasn't too gifted with the women customers either, so I don't think he was a Womens' foot fetishist either. _________________ Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever... <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-11 08:11 ]</font>

pardon my ignorance, but how does one go about posting a photo as a reply? I know html but haven't got a clue how you all do it.

yO tERaYoN: My allcaps was on, sorry. Are You perhaps talking about B*witched, Back Street Boys, Christina Aguilara, or Britney Spears? Or maybe the Corrs? They all have something worth listening to, some more than others.

I spent several years in the US Army as a "Chemical Officer" (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Defense, actually). Additionally I earned my BS degree in agricultural pest management (read pesticide technology). Finally, I spent nearly 13 years at the US Nuclear (bomb) Test Facility in Nevada as a Radiation Control Technician. That said, one of the types of bombs that the US tested before the 1963 test ban treaty made open-air testing illegal, was a conventional explosive bomb encased in plutonium. It doesn't go nuclear, it just spreads lethal plutonium particles all over the place, especially when exploded at about 5000 ft above the surface. No need to worry about access to water reservoirs... And then there's so-called nerve gas. The fact is that Temik, Parathion (these were the baddies in 1981 when I got my degree, no doubt worse ones are in use now), etc, all very dangerous and LEGAL-for-agricultural-use pesticides kill bugs, and people, in exactly the same way as Sarin, the prototypic nerve agent. Sarin is preferred to insecticide because it's minimum lethal dose is about 1/10 that of Parathion, or 1/4 that of Temik. But the lethal dose of Temik is only 0.4mg per kg of body weight, so a sufficient quantity would make a VERY effective poor terrorist's nerve weapon... and you don't even have to spread it on the water--you could spray it into the ventillation system of any large building (Grand Central Station, anyone?). The point is 9/11 was a wake up call to Americans that yes, it CAN happen here, maybe it pulled some people's heads out of the sand to have to admit terrorism is everybody's problem, not just Them over There! _________________ Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever... <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-09 08:39 ]</font>

On 2002-05-08 22:51, Firefox wrote:

A boot which fits perfectly on the instep and the vamp with a little room round the toes. Around the ankle bone with zip, about 4.5 inch heel and an arch that matched mine. Black Leather that was soft but didn't stretch with soft kidskin lining and padding all along the sole. Such a boot would be heaven to wear. I have several that match in some departments, but no one that fits every criterion.

Make it with narrow chunky heels and a 3/4" platform, in dark red or kelly green suede (with suede covering the heels and platforms), just under the knee in height, cut to fit my calves exactly without the disgusting stretch panels or grooves.

_________________

Hi-Heels and Back-Zipper Pants Forever...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-05-08 23:12 ]</font>

On 2002-05-08 06:05, Laurieheels wrote:

...A fate worse than death seems so much more intimidating.

A few years ago, the governor of Arizona forced a change in the prison uniform from striped coveralls to Hot Pink coveralls. A great many men would find this to be a fate worse than death! He may also have been the one that instituted a program for hard timers to be housed in WW-II style army tents. Don't know what became of that one, tho.

Laurieheels wrote: "I like being close to my mother, but thank you, everyone, for the suggestions! I am glad no one said Buffalo. *shudder* " Try Las Vegas. It's warm, relatively, even in the winter, and it is fairly common to see women in tall spikes strolling thru the malls, etc, quite often w/ their SO. And they're not all showgirls. Your mother might even find the climate agreeable as well.

Ties... I went on mission for my church (Mormon) when I was 20-22, and ties and white (only)shirts were mandatory dress, 16/7. What I did with both when I got home reminds me of something I heard about in the army a decade later... Seems there was a group of sailors and nurses, about 100 or so, that was cut off from supplies on a little island in the pacific by the Japanese blockade for about 3 months during WW-II. They had just received a food shipment before the cutoff, but the Navy in it's infinite wisdom had rerouted their supply request and instead had sent them a 1000 or so cases of evaporated milk and cheese cake mix... As the story went, the veterans to this day run to the toilet if cheese cake is even mentioned in conversation. The problem with ties is that not only are they a mandatory piece of men's dress or business attire, and not only are they a means of self-expression, they are the ONLY means of self-expression allowed a man by conventional society. Suits and ties (or cravats) were adopted universally by the followers of Prince Charles back in 1830 or therabouts, who preferred to dress in non-shiny black and white (the original goth?) as opposed to the colorful, often shiny silk coats and breeches (capris) then being worn by men--and that is when men's fashion went down the toilet (or comode to the Europeans?).

My dad taught me guitar--gene autry style. I taught myself joan baez style finger picking, and also taught myself the mandolin--had learned a few 4-string banjo chords from my dad and found the chord positions were the same, tho they were for different chords. My music heroines were Joan Jett, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, and Siouxsie Sue, along with Tom Petty, when I finally was able to hook the name to the music (yeah I know, he isn't a "heroine", but there are a few good male singers out there as well).

Squirrelheels wrote:

I recall seeing 3D rotations of shoes at http://www.payless.com in QuickTime format. QuickTime is quite good when it comes to online 3D stuff. Nothing too fancy on that site though...

SH

An Apple MAC G-3 or G-4 and QTVR-1 software does the trick, along with a cheap kitchen turntable, a decent digital camera, a protractor to mark the angles (about 36, 10 degrees each) is a cheap alternative for making a panoramic view around an object, and the beauty of it is that the program will stitch and optimize the images well enough to make it practical to download it on a 56K modem!

_________________

Hi-Heeled Boots, Bodysuits, and Back-Zipper Pants R wikkid-kool (on me, or U)!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: azraelle on 2002-06-09 00:35 ]</font>

and one very logical sewing perk that I put on all of my shirts that I make is horizontal buttonholes--that way they stay buttoned even if one is a bit overweight (the major force on a buttonhole is, after all, from left to right, NOT up and down).

I've seen one MAN besides myself, in my lifetime, wearing side-zipper pants--they were on the RIGHT side (Women's are on the LEFT side) and he was my High School gym teacher who fancied himself rather a gymnastics expert; my assumption at the time was that male gymnasts wore them as a sort of training uniform. I learned how to sew from a college course nearly 3 decades ago...a few of the things that men don't generally wear (unless they shop at International Male) but could, and still be considered masculine: Raglan-sleeve shirts; "pirate-sleeved" shirts (eg Poet's Blouses); crushed velvet, velveteen, satin, or any other shiny or textured fabric pants, except corduroy; colorful denim anything; exposed-button fly jeans; darted shirts; bodysuits; non-fly front fastening pants; hoop earings; ad nauseum.