blueparrot

I had a pretty understanding boss who thought my boots were "cool".  A few months ago the owner of the company hired an HR lady.  Before the book keeper did the duty.  This new lady is a heel queen with 5 to 6 inch stilettos she wears almost every day.  When the real hot weather subsided I started wearing my knee and over the knee block heel boots.  I wore them last season with no issue brought up.  One day I wore in my new (off ebay) Sam Edelman Rylan OTK boots in deep red.  These have a nice 4" heel and look quite stylish with black skinny pants tucked in.  The HR lady made a big deal about them, even threatening to pull them off me and put them on.  She started making a big deal over my boots for weeks.  When I tried to ignore here she got mad and I started getting called in to the boss over things I supposedly said to coworkers.  I know she was the source of this.  Last Friday I got called in to a meeting with my boss and her.  They told me I was being fired for my conduct, something I can't understand as I have not had any issues and have been getting positive feedback on my work.  She started yelling at me when I tried to leave.  I told them to send my check and she flipped out.  She accused me of poor attendance which is a total lie.  Some how she got it in for me and I can only suspect it was jealously over my boots. 

I am actually glad to get out of there as there are many job openings in the Dallas area right now.  I think the next one I will only wear ankle boots under pants and not chance such a reaction again. 

Just to put it behind me, I rode the BMW to Grand Prairie Outlets and then Parks Mall in Arlington and looked at clothes and the few boots they seem to have this season.  Haven't had it out in a while with a scorching summer and recent rains.  I was wearing skinny jeans, brown leather jacket, and OTK Vince Camuto's in dark brown leather (about 2" heel).  Nothing said nor any strange looks.  I don't go over there very often these days since moving last January from an apartment in East Fort Worth.  It's just a easy to go to Northpark from where I am now.  The lady in the shoe department at Dillards greeted me.  She hadn't seen me in quite a while.  She's sold me boots, my wife shoes, and I think even some shoes to my daughter. 

Sorry to report a harassment incident but this happened early in the afternoon at the Forever 21 store in Galleria (Dallas).  I was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, a red/tribal geometric sweatshirt (which was purchased at F21 in Arizona a few years ago), and a pair of Born over knee boots.  The boots have a thick stacked heel about 2.75" high (heel is straight from sides and doesn't narrow any), Top of boots is about 21" which comes to the middle of my knees.  Toes are very rounded, like a half circle round.  Soles are grip style like work boots.  They are a suede like but more of a rustic/weathered looking dark burgundy color with smooth vamps that are more black.  (Freebird has some very similar ones) They are not feminine looking to speak of.   We all here know Born makes comfortable and practical shoes, not known for risque styling at all. 

Now I came down the stairs (store occupies second and third floors of the mall) and a nice lady and her friend complimented my boots.   My wife took a dress and sweater to the dressing room to try on.  I was waiting outside near the registers.  In the long line for the register I heard some commotion where a man and his wife were standing.  The man in a loud male voice started saying something about "them boots on that white dude".  I ignored it, then two children, a boy and girl in elementary school grades came up to me.  The boy said "why are you wearing girl's boots?"  "Are you a girl or a boy?"  I told him that was a mean thing to say.  Keep in mind everything I had on except the boots was from the men's department.  He then asked "then are they boy's boots?"   I told him anybody could wear them.  The girl didn't say anything.  They then returned to their parents standing in the cashier line.  I'm sure the parents sent them over to do their "dirty work". 

This is the second harassment incident in a week.  The first one happened at an uptown DART station where a gentlemen heckled me for wearing wellies (black rain boots).  It was pouring rain and I had a yellow rain coat and umbrella to try and keep dry.  I don't know what's got into people lately.  It hasn't happened much since I moved to this area.  People in the USA do get pretty vicious just before elections so it might be that or possibly the torrential rains we've had to endure the past two weeks.    Hopefully it will settle down. 

She HATES my footwear so I certainly don't talk about this place with her. 

I'm six foot even but since moving to this area most of the men seem taller.  I really like the 4" boost in height so I'm close to even with them.  The women here are also much more attracted when I wear them than anywhere else I've lived.  My wife gets pretty mad about that so she hates me wearing them at all.  I do get into trouble sometimes hitting light fixtures, knees colliding with table parts, and similar issues. 

The problem with taller shafts in hot weather is the sticky legs that result.  I've taken them off to totally soaked pants legs.  I sometimes wear them on days that aren't so hot or when the air is dry but on those sticky days I will opt for the ankle height instead.  More than half of my collection is over the knee but since moving to this area I have acquired a good number of short styles which are more tolerable in the hot afternoons.

I bought a pair of Jeffrey Campbell clogs several years ago.  They were 11 but I couldn't even get my foot into them.  I gave them to my daughter who wears 8.5 and they fit her fine.  Is that normal for his footwear or was that a freak thing with that one style?  I have avoided buying anything from that label since.  I like a lot of their styles and would try them again if the size thing isn't a routine issue. 

I quit eating bread and avoid gluten.  Not only did my Triglycerides drop from around 500 (for a long time, even with medications) to below 100 but my feet shrunk about a half size.  I now buy most of my boots in 10 instead of 11.  There's a whole lot more selection in that size so I'm thrilled.  I"m sure it won't work for everyone but I know several others where it helped.  

I have purchased two pairs of thigh boots from Miguel Jones.  Both were about two sizes too large and the first one was pretty messed up in the finish.  I tried him again a few years later.  He seemed to get his quality right the second time but the size thing really made them not very usable.  I even stuffed the footbed with Uggs insoles and they still were way too big.  I thought about lining the whole inside with sheepskin (fur) but since I was moving again I had to let them go instead.  I sent good measurements and my size, too.  I have heard others say the same thing.  It's too bad because I would have purchased more from him.  Maybe if you ordered them too small they would come out right. 

All of my heels are thick, most between 3" and 4.5" in stacked form.  We're talking about 50 pairs.  The thinnest heels I have are some Michael Kors Platform Knee Boots in black leather that have a 5" heel that is about 1/2" thick.  I rarely ever wear those.  I must admit I've been tempted and often wonder what it would be like to wear something thin. 

One pair of safety boots (non conducting), one pair of Italian hiking boots in men's size, and one pair of sneakers in men's size.  So the answer would be three.  All the boots I have are either 10 or 11M.  They number about 40 last count. 

I wear men's ULTRA-skinny jeans (I like the ones from Rue 21 or go to Hot Topic as they fit male waist/hips much better than women's) over the tops of the booties.  These seem to look pretty decent and still shows off most the shoe.  All my booties are 4 to 5" heels.  For another look I wear Levi's 527 which are skinny above the knee but flared out on the bottom.  They look best with the highest heels (five inch or so) as they otherwise hide the shoe part and drag anything less than four inches.  I've tried tucking the pants in but it just doesn't seem to work for me, maybe because the jeans are a little too short and don't stay down inside the short shaft.  Tucking works better with slightly longer shafts like the Sam Edelman Reyes model (my favorite short boot).  I tuck my jeans into knee/OTK boots all the time. 

Is the shoe selection any good there?  I thought it was pretty good in The Valley but am finding Dallas somewhat better.  I just bought a house in Dallas so it looks like I'm staying here for some time.  There was a little consideration of moving back to Arizona as my former employer wanted me back but I decided to stay here instead.  I pass right by a Nordstrom Rack and Saks off Fifth every day from work so it's so easy to pop in and see if they have anything new. 

They are even cutting back on US size 9 and 10 in many stores lately.  Those sizes appear gone from the clearance shelves now with tons of 5, 6, 7's overflowing.  It really seems like their buyers are not too smart if they don't order enough in some sizes selling out well before Christmas but have thousands of pairs left in small sizes after the holidays. 

I'm hitting the discount outlets this time of year and have found a few pairs of interest in 10's but they are few compared to previous years.   Forget about 11's.  I guess I'd better take care of my collection so it lasts me a long time to come. 

Just purchased these Vince Camuto size 10 (I am surprised they actually fit, usually get 11 in VC) at Saks off 5th in Grand Prairie.  They have a 20.5" tall shaft and have a somewhat substantial leather construction, not real soft leather but more like real riding boots.  I really like this color, I'm afraid I now have four pairs of boots in this general shade.  They stand up on their own when set on the floor.  With my arch I generally like a 3 to 4 inch heel but they were so nice I couldn't pass them up.  I went by Dillards (50% off) but that zoo was insane today.  They had taser toting police (tasers in front instead of usual side) in the shoe department to keep the customers from getting out of hand.  That was at the Arlington store, no telling what North Park was like as it's bigger.  Nobody in Saks, just 60% off on these without the fights and pushing. 

16 hours ago, jeremy1986 said:

Yes - those boots look great. What did you wear with them? over your jeans? 

Dark blue skinny jeans, red/grey//black plaid shirt, and ivory sheepskin (fluff towards outside) vest.  

I have worn booties with 3" block heels in black leather.  They are very thick and look like dressy cowboy boots under the slacks.  It helps being in Texas, I once wore them to an interview in Wisconsin and one of the guys kept saying yee haw (I kid you not).  I don't own any dress shoes so those are about as close as I can get.  I did get turned down for the job in Wisconsin but it might have been something else I said or didn't rather than the shoes.  The worst shoes you can wear to an interview in my opinion are sneakers (well maybe flip flops). 

Around here the big thing now are standing work stations.  I don't have one but the boss does.   Last job they would allow heels but banned in labs and manufacturing areas.  Only 2" or lower allowed there.  I frequently worked in labs so I had to curtail wearing heels. 

Church is one of the safer places.  The musical ladies on stage routinely wear 5 to 6" killer heels and boots most every week.  One of them comes from very wealthy family so the shoes are from Neiman Marcus, Saks, etc.  I haven't had any trouble there or the church in Scottsdale before moving. I do remember having trouble with one man in New Mexico once some years ago.  He asked my wife how she could allow me to dress like that.  He had a lot of other troubles though and his wife had enough and left him.  In all seriousness I have had more trouble in bars, on streets where bars are found, and near certain college campuses.  People who are drinking too much start mouthing off and can be quite mean.

17 hours ago, jeremy1986 said:

Stunning, @blueparrot - I like the last pair most - its a great color!

I like them the most too of the three.  I wore them today, even though it's hot (hey we have air conditioning anyway).  They had them in black but I have so many black boots and these were unique.  They are size 10 but no pain and I've had them on six hours so far including quite a bit of walking. 

From Nordstrom Rack in Arlington, TX

Vince Camuto black leather OTK with 3.75" heels,

From Nordstrom Rack at Park Lane (across from North Park Mall), Dallas

Sam Edelman Taylan 19" Tan Suede Fringed boots with 3.75" heel,

From Dillard's Clearance Center at Irving, TX Mall

Gianni Bini Taupe Leather/Suede Knee Boots with 3.75" heel:

There aren't a lot of boots to be found in the summer but when one does they can be had at a fraction of original cost. 

They actually keep the engine heat off my legs in traffic so I keep them on.  If I should go down I'd rather have the leather scrape the pavement than my skin.  I had that happen once years ago and believe it or not I was able to restore the finish of them.  The doctor said my skin wouldn't have fared so well.  In Texas a lot of folks wear them all year anyway. 

I was riding the BMW home from work on US 75 in the middle of Dallas this evening.  The traffic ground to a halt and a guy in a white Honda Accord rolled his window down beside me.  He said "nice boots man".  I am used to getting compliments on the motorcycle but this one kind of caught me off guard.  I was wearing a pair of classic style Coach knee high riding boots in chocolate brown.  (bought them a few months ago at the Bloomingdales outlet store a few blocks from there for 80% off)  Usually men don't every mention boots unless they are being a comedian or sarcastic.  The ladies often compliment me but not out in traffic.