metalspikes

...or, if you do treat them as playthings, please consider that they are toys that require skill and practice to use properly and safely-- like riding a motorcycle or sailing a boat. Without the proper balance and adequate muscle strength, sore muscles the day after are the least of your worries. Especially on stilettos, it is so easy to turn your ankle and sprain or even break it. Even experienced high heel wearers can have such an accident-- all it takes is one moment of inattention or carelessness.

Sore muscles the day after usually indicate muscles that are not accustomed to being used suddenly getting a thorough work-out. Standing in heels for long periods will definitely do that. It is actually less strain to walk in heels than it is to stand still in them. The muscles required to maintain your balance are at work constantly while you stand. Carpet (especially plush carpet) is more difficult to walk and balance on than a solid floor, and sandals offer the least ankle support of any styles of heels, requiring even more balance and muscle strength to wear well and safely.

Here is an excellent article on Achilles tendon pain and therapy, which includes exercises (along with illustrations) designed to strengthen the tendon and related muscle group. These exercises are excellent for wearing heels.

Apologies to Guy N. Heels for quoting him out of context in a previous post. Please follow the links back to his original posts to see his comments in context. Sorry 'bout that!

Many, many moons ago, a girl friend wore a pair of Polly's to Disneyland for a day. She complained at the end of the day that her feet really hurt.

I think that any kind of heels would hurt, after standing in line all day waiting to get on rides and walking around in that huge place.

I thought they were nice, but never contemplated getting any, as they weren't in my size anyway (nothing was in those days), and they still aren't.

They might not fit on my wide feet either, even though they do come in my length (US 9).

I most definately share your frustration though.. Dealing with the ridicule is the reason that keeps me from wearing anything with a heel in public.. What is worse is that in some ways it makes me feel like I'm a hypocrite that can't live up to my own motto...Not a good feeling.

Please don't be so hard on yourself. Ridicule as a form of social control is a powerful thing with its implied threat of ejection and isolation. We are social creatures, most of us, and not "designed" to go it entirely alone. Deep down in the primitive portions of our brain, the so-called "lizard brain," ejection and isolation equates to a threat to our survival. It takes work, and time, to overcome with your reasoning brain what are actually survival impulses. So go easy with yourself, and you will find that you get the job done sooner and with less wear and tear.

Ive been thinking about my friends comment most of the day, and about how disappointed I am with her, knowing her as I do..

It sounds as though you learned something new about her that you didn't know before, a "blind spot" in an otherwise seemingly tolerant and open person. Of course that's disappointing. We all have them, though-- it is unfortunately our most common way of dealing with that which threatens us. "Denial," so the expression goes, "it's not a river in Egypt."

Oh well.. One of these days she may get the shock of her life when I show up sporting a pair of boots with 3 inch heels tucked up under my jeans.....or maybe 4 inch heels......maybe 5 inch, just for shock value....

That sounds like a very good place to start. Hopefully your friendship is of sufficient value to her that she will be motivated to re-examine her assumptions. You must be prepared, though, for the possibility that she may pull up stakes on you and walk away. One has to wonder how deep a friendship you actually have with someone who turns out to be unable to accept an essential part of who you are. She needs to know that it is part of whatever it is she sees in you that she appreciates and admires. It is no fun being treated like a roast beef by someone who wants to slice off the "best" bits for themselves and leave the rest behind-- I've been there and know what it feels like, and it most certainly doesn't feel like friendship.

Only problem - the credit card bill when you keep going back to buy more shoes

Ouch, your comment is very timely indeed... It'll all be worth it, though, when I get it paid off.

I like the term "fashion freestyler" or just "freestyler" - it's more of a free-wheeling and free-thinking approach to the whole fashion thing.

I like it too, but because to me it represents considerable progress in how we are thinking about gender roles. The fact is, our social institutions have not kept pace with the changes that technology has brought to our society. Where is the relevance of traditional gender-oriented division of labor in a post-industrial society of button-pushers where upper body strength scarcely matters for anything practical any more, and where women have reproductive freedom that is nearly equal to that of men (and don't look now, but it is only a matter of time before the artificial uterus forcast by Aldous Huxley and Lois McMaster Bujold will become reality)?

I have promised myself to try some on in store this year and i get so excited and nervous that all i do is pick up the shoe, see if they are high enough and then when approached by a salesperson i just put the shoe down and walk away. This will change this year.

Go for it! I'd go with you if we lived nearby each other...

I don't think wood&metal is talking about dressing up like a girl, sensuallity,being sudictive, sex or any of the above but simply wearing heels as an alternitive fashion preferance.

I don't think he is either, which is why neither demoniaplatforms nor I addressed our remarks directly toward him, nor to that issue. I hear demoniaplatforms as expressing his frustration and irritation with a common sort of trash talk, and I wrote on the hidden assumptions and stereotypes upon which it is based.

The girl in question is not so open minded as he thought and simply made a remark that meant she was in dissagrement about men in heels as she still lives inside a box.

And in "simply making [her] remark," used the name of a minority group as an epithet, perpetuating a harmful stereotype. Neither do I appreciate a bad deal being called a "gyp" (Gypsies), someone who reneges on a gift or promise being called an "Indian-giver" (we Europeans were much more noteworthy for that maneuver than any American Indians), nor the person who winds up on the wrong end of a well negotiated ("hard") bargain complaining that s/he was "Jewed down." It gets rather more personal when you happen to belong to a group that is constantly subjected to these sorts of stereotypes, and even more personal still when you've been subjected to their consequences.

We all know that most gay men don't even like heels

Which particular group of people are you including in that "we," for all of whom you speak on the state of their knowledge? I know that, and it sounds like you do, too; who else did you have in mind? Obviously, some people don't.

and we're making to big of a deal out of this whole thing.

You may feel that it is out of proportion, others may not. We all have our hot topics, they're just different for each of us. It sounds like this conversation has hit one of your "hot buttons."

Some of my best friends are gay although I disagree with it but to each his or her own and I don't bash them for who they are or what they are but just try to be a good friend to them and understand their feelings cause I know it's not easy being gay in sosiety as sometimes it's not easy for me to wear heels in public

So you can identify, because you also want acceptance for your unconventional lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, the only time that most people can "get" each other or understand where others are "coming from" is to be in similar circumstances.

However, (dis)agreeing with it makes about as much sense as (dis)agreeing with blue eyes or a stature of only 5'4"-- being gay (whether one acts on it or represses it) is not a fashion choice like wearing heels. Your response sounds defensive to me; it sounds as though you are refuting these comments as though they were made directly to you (which they weren't). It sounds like we've hit a nerve.

Since you have been direct and outspoken, I shall follow in kind:

but NO ONE has ever labeled me as being gay because of my shoes.

Not to your face, at any rate, I'm willing to bet. I don't know what your experiences growing up have been, nor do I know what your temperament on the inside is. From what I've seen of your photos, though, on the outside you are one scary looking dude! I think you could go out dressed as I am in my Avatar, just as Neil Cargile does, and get no more grief for it than he gets.

The most common error of human thinking of which I know is how we take our experiences so for granted that we assume that everyone else experiences the same as what we do. There are three photos of me in the members' section of the gallery-- I'm so not scary looking (nor a "pretty boy," nor anything else), that one of the members here hung a comment on one of my photos to tell me how Ugly he thought I was. The only respect I get in my life is when I open my mouth, and only among people who might actually give a flying fig for what I've got to say. While from your appearance, I tend to suspect that you've lived your life at the top of the food chain, I can tell you that I've lived most of mine as a prey and a flight animal-- I do believe that my special relationship with horses comes in part from the fact that we so well understand each other. Life looks different from the bottom, when you've constantly had the crap beat out of you growing up.

So, no one's ever labeled you as "gay" for wearing heels? In my life, getting called something nasty is the least of my worries. Perhaps you can understand why I might respond to nasty stereotypes differently than you do-- I (and other members of my family) have already been beaten up over them!

CHILL!

Why, thank you! for supporting our unconventional mode of self-expression in wearing heels, and issuing unsolicited directives to stifle others with which you do not agree. While I appreciate your suggestion, I feel I've a right to my feelings and experiences. Thank goodness for the 'net, where exercising my freedom to express them is not likely to result in a consequence of going home with a barstool wrapped around my head.

When I finally got to the multiplex parking lot I started getting cold feet because there were lots of cars there. I was pissed and surprised because it's bloody 22:30 on a Monday night. What are people doing there at this hour?!

They probably didn't want to be seen wearing their heels for the first time any more than you did. (Ducks and runs for cover...)

I am considering trying a pair of lace up thigh boots. Can anyone offer any advice, experience, recommendations?

How 'bout these, from Leatherworks

in the 5.5" heel (without platform)? I don't know that I'd have the courage to wear them in public over jeans...

All of your points are well-taken, Metalspikes! I really love it when I find someone who can tear a thing apart and then put the nuts & bolts under a microscope. How very different from the 80% or 90% of people who go through life without ever really understanding who they are and why they act in the ways that they do.

"...and if again I say that to talk every day about virtue and the other things about which you hear me talking and examining myself and others is the greatest good to man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living, you will believe me still less." -- Socrates, as quoted in Plato

I have trouble trying to find shoes that fit. If it were not for my wide and high arched foot, I would fit the average 8 Aust(39) shoes etc, but alas my wide foot requires that I wear 91/2 (41).

Does anyone have similar problems

I have the very same problem. My feet are US9/UK7/EU40. If I wear courts that are large enough to accommodate the width of my feet, my feet slide forward too much in them-- I get either an unsightly gap at the back, or they just fall off my feet altogether.

and have you found styles that work?

It's more like avoiding the styles that do not work: anything like d'Orsays with open sides, most mules and many sandals are just impossible. My best comfort style currently is boots, because the enclosed insteps and boot shafts hold my feet from sliding forward so that my toes do not get jammed up in the toeboxes.

You may need to find wide width shoes.

While the style selection situation is improving somewhat, the best styles are still not available in wide widths.

You may end up having to avoid pointed toe shoes with short toe boxes, try courts with long toe boxes.

I was not a fan of the look of longpoints, but I'm getting used to them because they definitely provide more comfort and do not pinch nearly as much as the classic shorter toebox. Boots need not be longpoints to be comfortable, for the reasons stated above. A shorter toebox can also work if the sides curve in to the point in front rather than having a straight "V" shape. For best fit and comfort, though, boots are quickly becoming my number one choice.

The chain of (il)logic goes something like this:

• In modern western society, practical/utilitarian equates with masculine, and sensual/seductive/sexual equates with feminine. This was not always so in our history, and is not so in other cultures. So, dressing sensually/seductively is today considered entirely a "girl" thing.

• Perhaps the most prevalent misconception about women among men is that the primary (if not the only) reason women "dress up" is to attract a man. While it is probably true that any of us, male or female, think first of dressing "better" when we want to be attractive, the reverse assumption (that someone "dresses up" solely for the purpose of attracting the opposite sex) does not logically follow. I think most women would agree with me that their prime motivation for dressing up is simply because it feels good.

• Combine the idea that dressing sensually/seductively in flowing fabrics of various hues and textures, wearing heels, etc. is a "feminine" activity ordinarily reserved to women, with the assumption that women do it to attract men, and what's the logical conclusion? Why, that if a man does that, he is also doing it to attract a man, of course! Annoyingly enough, the very women who become incensed at the "male chauvinist" assumption that women dress up primarily for the purpose of attracting men, make the same assumption themselves when they brand a crossdresser or freestyler as "gay"-- I believe there is a word for that in our language.

This is why I've been interested in fashion freestyling since long before the name for this activity was coined, because of my hope that rigid gender roles and stereotypes for men may be deconstructed within my lifetime, that we may begin to shed this straitjacket and gain the freedom to express all of who we are, the same freedom that women currently enjoy.

I for one think they are amazing! Shoes should be fun and those certinally are...

At their best, shoes should be sculptures, and those certainly are...gorgeous works of art!

BTW, I get the feeling they were not an individual pair offered by a private seller, but offered in several sizes by an ebay store. How about being a good lad and sharing a link with your mates on the board, there's a dear...

In this week's Parade Magazine's ask Marilyn column Marilyn vos Savant lists the 10 most unwanted inventions.

I think we've come to the conclusion that high heels are an "unwanted invention" in the mind of Marilyn vos Savant herself.

People who haven't the courage and integrity to take responsibility for their own opinions and feelings are often seen to hide behind passive voice statements that use such weasel-words as "inappropriate," "unacceptable" or, in this case, "unwanted." The hidden reference is to the ubiquitous "they," as in "Oh, you know what they say!" It is common for all of us to use such words as "good" and "bad" as though they describe objective qualities of things out in the world, when they actually describe the (subjective) impact of those things and events on the observer. We need to eat and breath to live-- this is good, right? Each breath we take kills thousands of microorganisms floating in the air, and each meal we eat requires the sacrifice of life, whether animal or vegetable, to provide our nutrition. "Good" for us, but not so great for them, is it? Depends upon your point of view. Or, when a friend asks if a movie I just saw was "good," I assume that is not a request for a discussion of its technical merits and qualities, but instead for a subjective opinion. I will usually respond with "I liked/didn't like it."

When you hear weasel-words like "inappropriate," "unacceptable," "unlikeable," and the rest, flip it over into active voice by asking "who?" "Who doesn't like, accept, or want it? You? Your friends? Some identifiable group of people, for which you have the research evidence to identify them?" Then just sit back and watch 'em run for cover!

yeah, and a fair few of them [women] would answer that men pressure them into wearing cos they feel they have to try and look attractive............

That's the "second wave" of the feminist movement-- play the victim, scapegoat on men. And so many men swallow it whole: hook, line, and sinker!

they pressure themselves into it because women compete among themselves to look better and more attractive than the women around them. therefore if they know everyone else is wearing them, they have to too or they wont feel as attractive as them. celebrity rolemodels and magazines also contribute i suspect

Thank you for pointing out that, in certain arenas (and not just in athletics and business), women are as fiercely competitive as men (if not more so). While traditional women's values do tend to emphasize cooperation, there are those certain areas where they can really shred each other.

What with some women's clothes and shoes going for upwards of $500, I would have surely thought that women dress for their men. But NOPE, not so.

I would call this the number one misconception among men about women, that the primary (if not the only) reason why women dress up is to attract men. It is this assumption that is at the root of why crossdressers and freestylers get branded as homosexual: dressing sensually is so inextricably linked with femininity in modern western society that people assume that a man who dresses up is also trying to attract a man-- even women, who know that attracting a man is not necessarily their main reason for dressing up, make that assumption.

One of the most shocking things I ever discovered is that women dress for other women!

Let just one gal in a crowd show up in heels or a particularly stunning gown or hair-do and then every gal in the room has to have one or even more: expensive, higher, whatever.

The way you've equated female competitiveness with motivation, it would be more accurate for you to say that women dress at each other, not for each other. My observation is that women dress primarily for themselves. The textures, colors, and shapes of "feminine" fashions for women are all designed with one quality in mind: sensuality. When a guy "crossdresses" and gets erotically stimulated, psychiatrists (and the rest of sociaty) really start slinging the labels: it's fetishistic, a paraphilia, maybe even autogynephilia. However, when a woman describes from behind the safety and anonymity of the internet how the feel and appearance (in a mirror) of a stunningly effective costume combine to cause her to become positively wet, that gets ignored or taken for granted.

The primary reason for women to dress and adorn themselves (and men too, when we do it), then, is because it feels good. Everything else follows from that. Looking and feeling good reinforce each other-- nothing looks better than self confidence, and the responses that self confidence brings builds more confidence. There's more that I can say, but I think I'll leave it there.

I never really thought about matters that way, Inscapable, but it makes sense. I think someone once defined envy as: that discomfort or upset one experiences over what someone else has that you either don't or can't have. If that is the case, then what you said begins to sound to me a whole lot like envy.

Psychologists call this "shadow". In a moment of inspiration, I wrote...

When We Claim Our Shadow

When we claim our shadow;

The parts of ourselves that we don't wish to see,

The parts of ourselves that we're afraid we might be;

What we wish we could be and think that we're not,

So that we become jealous when we see what others have got--

When we claim our shadow,

The chains that have bound us start falling to dust,

Our unneeded armor will moulder and rust,

A change in our lives soon shall we see

As our souls and our spirits we work to set free.

I bought my girlfriend a pair of the cheetaprint Pollys back in the 70's. She found them both flattering and very comfortable.

From what I've seen of them, they look like they would be very comfortable-- the heavily padded insoles are most noticeable. Also, according to Robyn Michaels, "MOST AUTHENTIC POLLY'S HAVE A NON-SLIP INSERT."

I seem to recall that they were rather expensive at the time, costing something on the order of $50. That would translate into about $250 in today's prices!

Heh... When you put it that way, I suppose the reproductions at Re-Mix Vintage Shoes are a bargain at US$158 for the leopard and ankle-strap models, and $148 for the others. I might like to have a pair for myself-- I'll have to visit Re-Mix's retail location...after I pay off my credit cards following all the boots I wound up buying!

I’ve been street heeling for years and have never had anything like this happen. If it ever does, I hope I manage to be as smart as you and treat the idiot with the contempt he deserves by ignoring him in a similar manner.

(I would much prefer to poke him in the eye with my index finger and give him something to really fuss about..)

Offer to give him a closer look and to show him a magic trick: "Watch me turn this ankle boot into a crotch boot in one easy step." Alternatively, offer to demonstrate your best dance moves from the Nutcracker Suite. Such thoughts give me a new appreciation for the aesthetic value of long-points.

Thanks for the information. Wild Pair. My all time favorites. I still have four or five pair of their classic pumps in my collection that I purchased back in the late 70's. Black, white & red. Happy to learn Wild Pair might be resurrected.

I just discovered that they have. While looking for a retail location where I might be able to see some boots on the Baker's web catalog, I widened the search radius in their store locater and found several in my area. The Baker's web catalog rep told me that the boots I want, being that they are Wild Pair branded, will be available at a Wild Pair store. It appears to be as it was before under Edison Bros., with Baker's being the "budget" chain, and Wild Pair the premium one. I will be off to check out the brown animal print Daring boots this morning when the stores open.

and then they had the first total metal spikes.

Darn it, I seem to have missed those.

My wife died 4 years ago but i have the memories and i thank you for rekindling them.

I am so sorry for your loss:cry1:, I'm glad that I was able to bring pleasant memories back for you.

I had a friend of mind, really closer that she was offended, just because I told her she would look great in a pretty corset, she thought I said that because she felt fat. And that was not the reason, just I said it because she had a great body.

When people do not feel good about themselves, they are likely to read their negative feelings into what others say to them. It's a difficult enough trap to avoid even when you know about it and are on guard not to let yourself fall into it.

Wouldn't be wonderful to have that hour glass like she does.....

No kidding, tell us about it... One has to be lucky enough to be born with a delicate frame, and then must go on HRT pretty much before puberty.

Well that goes without saying.

That has not always been my experience. I've been able to do better than DSW locally as well as on the net.

The retail stores don't cut it, because most of the time, they don't have my size, or the style i want, especially if it's a popular shoe. So i have to go on the net.

Size is probably the biggest problem with shopping locally, if your feet are size US 11 or larger. Whenever I feel the need to count my blessings, I usually include my size US 9 feet.

This particular time, i chose to go local to buy those Nina pumps, but most of the time, i am either doing eBay or some other net shopping.

I've done fairly well both locally and on the net. Shopping on the net brings its own challenges and problems. It can get expensive when shoes have to be sent back for exchange or refund because they do not properly fit. Depending upon the carrier they choose, receiving shipments has occasionally been a problem. I've been disappointed several times when a product did not quite resemble the photograph, or when the photos are too small and/or blurry to see details. And eBay is a whole can of worms all on it's own-- I know some people do well and find fabulous things at serious discounts there (or so I've heard), but I've been disappointed and/or scammed there so many times (a merchant's feedback record from the past is no guarantee of what they will do in the future) that I just will not take the risk, any more-- not to mention that I am very non-competitive, so auctions do not work well for me anyway.

It looks like they handle these

http://www.leatherworks.org.uk/

I've a couple pair from them and they are very nice quality. Hope it

helps...............

Outstanding quality, yes indeed! I bought a pair of their K523 lace-up oxfords in 5.5" heels a few years ago through

Bad Influence.

The arches are so sturdy and well-balanced that I find it effortless to walk in them. Though the toes are very pointy, the toe boxes are deceptively roomy (they look much smaller than they are), so that they do not pinch. The heels taper to much smaller points than they appear, and are quite deadly as they are tipped in hardened steel.

Though Leatherworks does not advertise a bespoke service, their shoes are often built to order, so that they will probably take some custom requests (eg. metal spike or chrome-finish heels). The only thing that prevents me from ordering the entire Leatherworks Imagine range is the prices, compounded by our current miserable exchange rates.

DSW is excellent! I got some pumps from there that i couldn't find anywhere else! They were the Nina pump called "Bonnie". I have to pay that store another visit soon!

I saw one pair of boots at DSW that I would've liked to have had (they were out of my size), but otherwise have not seen anything I particularly wanted. This just goes to show how spoiled I've become-- I've found better quality and more interesting styles at better prices on the 'net.

Kitten heels are said to have been first popularized by Audrey Hepburn, who of course lent class and chic to anything she touched.

I am crazy about 2 things in stilettos....

<snip>

and steel heels...

I guess our screen names say it all, don't they? Welcome to the forum.