Logjam

Re that latest high heels “study” - I’ve not posted much for some time, occasionally lurk and read, but I wanted to note. I’ve gotten older, and admittedly a few too many pounds, I have a part-time retirement job where I’m on my feet all day 2-4 days per week, and “my dogs are a-hurtin’ “ My massage therapist and occasional trainer recommended some Crocs sandals with a very mild heel,  the “crush” model as I recall. Those provide amazing therapy, and if it were practical, I’d wear them a great deal more of the time.

I’ve of late not been posting, mostly lurking and enjoying reading. But I gotta say - there seems to me to be ample geeks and geekiness around these boards! Takes one to know one - (retired) electrical engineer here 🙂

13 minutes ago, bluejay said:

Went to the nail salon yesterday, to get a new mani. My salon tech has been on vacation for the last month or so. Went to Vietnam to visit her family. Took her whole family along, including husband and two teenage daughters. Because of the pandemic she has not seen her family in over 4-1/2 years. I was happy for her.

The purpose of this post is to let you know that it was all men at the salon when I went last evening. All 10 of us there.  Some were getting mani's , some pedi's and some both. This was the first time that I was there that no women at all were there. My tech told me that more and more men are coming in for their nail work. Great news to hear for us guys that frequent the nail salons. Some were getting color on hands and feet some just clear gel. I got my usual clear gel over a light pink base with some art deco on my little pinkies for Veterans Day. Got white base color on both pinkies. On my left pinkie I got USA in red and blue and on my right got an American Flag. Got several compliments from the other guys there last night. But in spite of the fact that only men were there last night I was the only one in heels. I wore red patent knee boots with 3" chunky heels. White leggings and a red American Legion polo shirt to show that I was a US veteran. I was proud to serve my country during the Vietnam War and for that service, I can choose to wear what I want, heels of course and get a mani and pedi too. Happy Veteran's Day to all my fellow Veterans.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

The phrase is getting a bit hackneyed, but thank you for your service. And, the notion that there were 10 men in the nail salon at the same time, that’s amazing! The tech I go to has a semi-private nail service, along with a showroom for her brightly repainted vintage furniture pieces and her permanent makeup practice, so I’m most often the only one there when I get my manis/pedis.

On 10/7/2022 at 2:52 AM, mlroseplant said:

If both of those are true, and they surely ought to be, why did you think she would object to your toe ring?

Fair question! From her, I mostly expected that positive response. However, I have Christian-professing friends and family who would see any even slightly “feminine” dress or accessories as in conflict with the Old Testament prohibition of wearing garments for the other gender. (For context - I’m Christian, but less reserved in that particular regard.)

I just went for my monthly massage, my massage therapist is an early 60s age lady with a very outgoing and pleasant demeanor and deeply-held Christian beliefs. I wore a toe ring, just as an experiment to see her reaction. (Context, her beliefs notwithstanding, she is an overt fan of my tattoos.) upon noting my foot bling, she commented, “Oh, a toe ring! I like it!” Then, a short pause, and she added, “I wish we could get to where people could wear what they like without judgement...”

On 10/1/2022 at 11:46 AM, chesterx said:

I got this set this past Monday & have already gotten several compliments, from both men & women. I always have some type of painted nails going on so I'm not sure why this set attracted so much attention...

 

ChesterX, I really like the colors and theme of your mani, but I’ve gotta ask (no malice intended), how do you manage with nails that long? And, are those natural, or “add-ons”? Me, I do a lot of “manual labor” type things, and I’d have half of those broken in the first 15 minutes in my shop 😞

I regularly visit several “malepolish” forums, and ILNP polishes are being noted more and more. I really like the looks of some of them, and wouldn’t mind trying some, but at my age, I fear that I already literally have a lifetime supply (and more!) of polishes and colors.

I’m late to read this, but Henri, if you happen to read this, best wishes and quick and thorough healing to you!

Hi Jamie and Bluejay,

Not even a tiny li’l thing wrong with reds in my book! For me, I like to switch colors every pedi, but I’ve several reds in my personal stash, and on occasions when I give my tech “dealer’s choice” she has picked a red several times in the past. And I’ve gotten just as many compliments on the reds as other colors.

i will note - for me personally, my “preferreds” are medium to darker blues.

My interest n heeling has waned a bit, but I still drop in here occasionally. On the other hand, I’ve become a wearer of and proponent for nail polish for men. I’ve had easily damaged nails for a long time and started getting “plain” mani/pedis probably over 10 years ago. Then, a woman podiatrist, taking care of an ingrown toenail issue for me, examined my feet and told me that I should wear sandals or open toed shoes as much as possible, and, to my surprised, added, “ just paint your toes. Men do that now, that’s a thing.” In retrospect, I think that perhaps she was personally somewhat fond of the look.

My next trip to my then nail tech, I was still unsure, asked my tech about the practice of guys wearing color, she was immediately all about it and I let her pick a color. And essentially, I was immediately hooked.

Since then, I’ve been a regular with three different techs (them moving away, etc) and occasionally visit one of the “generic” nail places as well. 100% positive experiences! And, the care is a monthly helping of pure relaxation! The foot/leg massage is always the best part.

And about the nail polish part. For context, I’m an older, straight, mostly bland male (retired engineer, get the picture:-) except for a couple of tattoos and wearing color openly on my toes. And I’ve been somewhat amazed, and always pleasantly surprised at the number of women who comment positively, not just on the color I’m wearing but also voicing a like and approval of men wearing polish!

On 4/30/2022 at 6:20 PM, bluejay said:

I wear anklets in the summer time wearing capris You have to wear shorter lengths to show off anklets. I do have some toe rings that I will wear in the summer with sandal slides. On occasion.

 

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

I’ve not “progressed” to anklets - yet. If I do, I’ll likely go with an anklet OR a toe ring, but not both at the same time. My “less is more” thing kicking in.

I've not been here for a while, and just found this post. Now, I'm curious - are there any folks who have actually had a medical pro "prescribe" or even recommend wearing heels? I'm sort of recalling that some years ago someone popped up on these forums claiming that was the case, I don't recall the name nor recall seeing anything from him recently. Just wondering...

This topic seems to be popping up a bit in other posts here in General Fashion.

I'm not wearing heels so much recently, but I am wearing colored polish on my toes - almost 100% of the time, and openly in warmer months. And after a long latent interest, I'm just starting to experiment with foot jewelry. I'm a big believer that "less is more", so with painted toes plus a medium sized, colorful tattoo on my lower calf, I do not want to overdo. But I am inclined to like the look of a bit more than just polish on toes. I just went for my regular mani/pedi appointment wearing a toe ring, my first time doing so. My "nail lady" reacted quite positively and enthusiastically. (And if anyone is wondering - she did not ask me to remove the toe ring for the pedi process...)

So - anyone else experimenting, or regularly wearing, any foot jewelry?

15 hours ago, SF said:

Where I am in SoCal, it's pretty rare to see another guy with painted toes, but it is happening more and more.  The tech's at Caesars Spa say they have quite a few guys getting pedicures and color.  Nice!!  

Have fun....   sf

21 hours ago, Cali said:

I have diabetes so foot care is very important.  And my podiatrist loves my nail color.  I get compliments from both women and men.  I really think there is a growing group of men that want to have their toes painted.

In my observation, and experience - men wearing polish on toes and fingers is a rapidly growing, and increasingly accepted trend. Over on the Reddit site, I participate in the "malepolish" subreddit, that one has grown to over 200,000 members and is quite active. There are at least two groups on Flickr for men wearing polish.

And - in "real life" - I wear my toenail polish quite openly during warmer months. And I'm pleasantly surprised, and often amazed, at the number of positive comments. Mostly from women, a few from other men. When I first started wearing openly, about 8 years ago, comments were brief - "nice toes!" or "I like the color." More recently, conversations ensue pretty regularly. It's just getting warm enough here to wear sandals, I'm sort of looking forward to see what conversations arise...

I started this conversation some time ago but I’ve not been to hhplace for a while. I see that this has sort of “morphed” into a discussion of men wearing nail polish, that’s fine by me. I now wear color on my toes almost 100% of the time, and openly in warmer months. I gel gel clear on my hands 100% of the time. Pro mani/pedi nominally once per month. I’ve noted on another thread, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by the number of compliments and enthusiastic comments from women! And a few from men as well.

I’ve commented previously but haven’t been on hhplace for a while. I now wear color on my toes almost 100% of the time, and wear openly in warmer months. I had experimented briefly a number of years ago, then about 8 or so years ago, a woman podiatrist told me that I should wear sandals or open toe footwear as much as possible for my Morton’s toe condition. She also strongly recommended regular pedis, and actually suggested wearing color (that was a big surprise to me, coming from a medical professional!) I’ve been wearing pretty much nonstop since. Side note, I just started experimenting with a bit of foot jewelry.

My biggest takeaway - while my dear wife is still ambivalent about the practice, I’ve been pleasantly amazed by the number of comments and compliments I’ve heard from women. Of all ages. And a few random compliments from men.

I’ve commented here before but several years ago, seems like there is renewed interest. I get pro manis/pedis, nominally once per month. I started about 10 years ago, primarily to help preserve my easily split and broken nails. I now wear clear gel on my hands 100% of the time, I might try color there in the future. My toes get “regular” polish, color almost 100% of the time. I’m under doctor’s strong recommendation to wear sandals or open toe shoes as much as possible, so in warmer months my toes are on display. Incidentally, the aforementioned doc, a woman podiatrist, also suggested, thus putting me onto color on toes, and I liked it.

This time of year, with feet mostly in warmer closed shoes, I give my nail tech “dealer’s choice” for color(s). Right now I’m wearing a dark blue/silver combo, my next mani/pedi is next week and I’m kinda curious what she will come up with.

Men wearing colored polish on both hands and feet seems to be a fast-growing trend. There are several groups on the Flickr photo-sharing site related to men wearing polish, and at least two Reddit “subs” for the same - the Reddit “malepolish” sub is now rapidly approaching 50k subscribers.

Those look to me like a good way to injure yourself...

On 8/27/2020 at 3:27 AM, mlroseplant said:

Between Esau and Jacob, I'm definitely Esau, so anything I wear is going up to my neck. I can barely keep my legs shaved well enough to wear shorts. And then to compound the problem, I am one of those guys with a permanent farmer's tan because of my job. It is rather limiting. On the other hand, I am sure my wife is very happy that I am thus limited.

I don’t want to completely derail JeffB’s post, but I have to comment - that there’s FUNNY!

Logjam

Another non-fan of anything with very much of a pointy toe.

Logjam

Several have mentioned recurring dreams, apparently with at least a heel wearing general theme. I’m no psychiatrist,but isn’t there some significance to recurring dreams?

Logjam

1 hour ago, bluejay said:

chesterx,

Nice looking heels . You'll find a place to wear them out. The pants suit with the pumps sounds like a winner to me, Also I like your pedi very much. French white tips on red, Great color combo.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

Nice new shoes, I second bluejay’s thought on the pedi!

Logjam

3 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I think part of it is much like trying to walk in a pair of 5 inch heels if you've never worn heels before. Applying very long fake nails suddenly when you're used to short nails is going to cause you problems. However, if you were to grow your natural nails long (hence the title of this thread), you would get used to doing things little by little, and could perhaps eventually peel an orange with no problem! I understand that in your situation, it simply isn't possible, and if you want to have fun with fake nails occasionally, go right ahead.

The longest I've had all ten of my natural nails is 4 mm, and I usually keep them at about 2 or 3. I am curious, just exactly how long is "ridiculous?" I assume that your artificial nails are not acrylics or anything like that, being as you only have them on for a short time.

On edit: I scrolled back through the thread and discovered that you have already answered these questions, so, uh, never mind, I guess! "Ridiculous" appears to be in the 12 - 15 mm range, which is pretty doggoned long for these days (in most circles), but certainly not "ridiculous" in my book.

When God made me, he apparently chose to not install the manual dexterity option, and there does not seem to be an aftermarket retrofit. Long nails would only aggravate things, so I’m not inclined to try.

Logjam

I forgot to mention earlier. My second piece is now a work in progress. I have a tribute to the mountains of the western US, which I have come to love dearly, underway on my upper left arm and slightly up onto my shoulder. It is based loosely on a sunset over the Grand Tetons in Wyoming. We were scheduled to finish it up on the day the shutdowns took effect locally. The shop has now reopened, I’m waiting to hear back from my artist on rescheduling to finish the piece.

i come from a pretty traditional upbringing. I guess I’m just the black sheep of the family, I have no idea from where my interest in tattoo art arose, but it did. This second piece I acquired not long after my 73rd Birthday. I have no specific plans but I’m contemplating one more.

Logjam

2 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Ain't none of my business, of course, but the one thing I don't quite understand is why you have an artificial toenail in the first place. Do you have damage to your natural nail in the same way that Cali has damage to a couple of his fingernails?

Fair question, no worries. I had a long-running issue with ingrown nails on both big toes. The podiatrist who dealt with the issue told me that I would loose the toenail on that foot, and sure enough... Incidentally, that same podiatrist, a middle-aged woman, offered the notion that men were getting color on nails, particularly feet. I was already getting manis and pedis (nail issues sort of run in the family) and on my next visit I asked her, she replied enthusiastically, and my “new fashion” was off and running.