mlroseplant

Yeah, there's the rub. If you want something truly great, it's going to take your artistic imagination, and way more time and effort than I will ever spend trying to photograph my own heels. I always end up doing the same three or four poses on my back deck, junky extension ladder and all. The most exciting thing about the pictures is keeping everyone guessing whether I will get my heel caught in the gaps between the boards. But then, the purpose of my photographs is not to be great art. I'm not really sure what they're supposed to be. I share them with you guys and one other person, my friend from university. At least I don't take pictures in a dirty mirror anymore.

It's a bit of silly personal history, but I bought my first SLR (a Pentax K1000) when I was 11 years old, with money I saved from delivering newspapers. I've never been a good photographer, but I've always appreciated those who are. Until fairly recently, I've always had a decent camera around. But can you believe, I've got nothing but a 4 year old phone now? How sad!

I have thought about what you have suggested for many years. But still, I persist with my Old School method. If I still owned a fountain pen, I'd probably use that as well. Yes, it would be far more efficient to record all of this information electronically. And still, I choose to write it out in longhand. I'm a weird guy. But I'm the most normal weird guy you'll ever meet!

For those who are curious, this is what the first page of my inventory looks like. Obviously Old School. This one took me several days to complete, working a couple hours a day. It seems like once I get going, it's actually kind of fun, but it is such a daunting task to think about, it's difficult to get started with it. I have a "slot" system, in which the number on the sheet corresponds to a numbered spot on the shelf. As you can see, No. 23 line is blank. That means I actually have a space there to put more shoes if I so desire. At the moment, I believe my mechanical metronome lives there, but I digress. I have at least three pairs which are not long for this world, I'm afraid, so the number may drop even further in the future. Or it may not. Who knows what my mood and finances will be in 2026?

Of course the beauty of it is, if you hate the results, or they're not up to your professional standards, you never have to admit having done it in the first place. I'll certainly never tell!

I finally got around to doing a shoe inventory for the first time in two years. I'm evidently "down" to 101 pairs of heels. I've never had a lot more than that, but I actually have a few empty spaces on the shelf now. Some things have changed. For example, I'm down to 9 pairs of clogs. I don't remember how many I used to have back in the day, but it was a lot more than that. What has not changed is my enthusiasm for wooden heeled sandals. I have 28 pairs of those. This time around, I did a couple of things differently. Although I did record such data, I did not compile any statistics about the absolute height of the heels, choosing instead to focus on the steepness alone, that is, subtracting out the height of the platform, where applicable. Out of 101, I do have 60 pairs that have that feature. However, if you subtract out the clogs and the wooden heels, where that's a necessary built-in feature for those styles, I have only 23 pairs of platform heels. The other thing I did differently this time around was change my definition of what is a "high" heel to adjust to a standard size 7/38. I did stay with imperial units. I have always considered 4 inches the start of "high" heels, but now my "high" heels start at an actual measured height of 4 1/4 inches, once adjusted for my size 9/40. Here are the numbers: Total heels: 101 Low heels <3": 4 Mid heels <4": 42 High heels <4.75": 52 Very high heels 4.75+": 3 Pumps: 21 Sandals: 58 Boots: 7 Mules, including clogs: 54 Stiletto heels: 43 Wedge heels: 10 Shoes I ain't worn in more than a year: 3 (not including my one pair of "men's" dress shoes. It's been a lot longer than a year.) If I calculated height in the "old" way, not corrected for size, I would have 70 pairs of "high" heels. So I guess that means 18 pair of my mid heels are toward the upper end of the range. Now that I've finally got that out of the way, maybe I can get something useful done.

I use a tripod and my phone, but not so often to take video, only the still pictures that I post on here. My gauge in general is that if I catch a glimpse of myself in a storefront window or on a security camera monitor, and I don't reflexively cringe, I've succeeded for that day! Seriously, if you do decide to video yourself, be prepared. It's not pretty, but it is instructive. I liken it to doing vocal work at a music recording studio, and then having to listen back to your own voice with zero reverb. It's brutal, but often helpful. I'm sure you do fine, Don.

Oh, I don't know if you can say with conviction that you're bringing up the rear. After all, you have only my word as evidence. I say that my standards are high, but you've never actually seen me walk. I might be terrible! My main concern in real life is to avoid looking like a complete idiot. I do not feel like I succeeded in that on Sunday. Yesterday (Monday) was an incrementally better day.

I am fairly lucky when it comes to women's shoes and clothing. I'm fairly predictable. Size 9 USW shoes. Or maybe 8.5 for sandals. Size 4 bottoms, not size 6, not size 2. Which sometimes translates to size 27. . . 27? Don't ask me. My actual waist size is approximately 30". Also, it's better if whatever it is is labeled 4P (for petite), otherwise, I have to get it hemmed. We won't even get into odd-numbered juniors sizing, which you would think would fit my non-curvy body better, but it doesn't.

I finally got a chance to walk around in a photograph my new shoes from Highest Heel. The weather actually approaced 0º yesterday, so I didn't feel like I was totally freezing every time I stepped out the door. The verdict is, I think they're quite attractive, and they seem to fit well. I cannot say that with 100% confidence because I never actually left my driveway, nor do I think this will happen anytime soon. Let's put it this way: No one but the across the street neighbor can watch me walk in them just yet, I won't allow it. Over the last couple of days, I've spent several hours each day in 11 cm shoes, but these 12.5 cm are a whole different level. To be fair, I didn't feel like I had it together anyway yesterday. I was not walking well in the 11 cm, much less the higher ones. I guess it was just one of those days. I was walking just fine at the jazz festival on Saturday in the same shoe (same model, different color), and I walked just fine at the grocery store on Friday in the same exact 11 cm shoes, but I could not seem to find my feet yesterday. Here's the specs: Model name of this shoe is Hottie (I wonder if it's a nod to the Hot Chicks), they are not real leather, but appear to be of reasonable quality, with a similar look and feel to my Steve Madden patent pumps. The actual heel height measures 13.3 cm, and when I run it through my 0.94 formula, I get the 12.5 cm equivalent to size 38. These are labeled size 9 USW. The heel width is 8 mm. Pretty narrow, but not super freaky fetish narrow. Here are some photographs: 1) A closeup, 2) the shoes with an outfit, and then for comparison, 3) the 11 cm shoes I actually wore to church with the outfit. Except for the height difference, I think the shoes are almost a dead ringer for the shoes I've already got.

I still haven't had a chance to really try out my new shoes yet--I spent a good deal of the day yesterday at a jazz band festival with my son. I did wear 11 cm for a good part of the day, and walked at least a few hundred meters, total. I don't really know what I look like in 11 cm, but it does seem to be getting easier! I don't feel clumsy, anyway.

Having reread my post, I was far from clear about my true concern, which is the shank itself--that is the weak part on these shoes. I'm not worried about breaking the actual heel. What I'm worried about is, even if I could somehow or other twist the shank back into alignment, it's never going to be trustworthy, and what I don't want is for the thing to suddenly snap in half on me. I've had that happen before, and it's at best inconvenient, and at worst could cause an injury. At this point, the matter is academic.

I do agree 100% on that point, it is really more about the attitude and carriage than it is about the shoes. Perhaps that is what makes it so intimidating for us. Almost anybody can get out there and stomp around in 12 cm heels, but to actually look like one belongs in them? Tricky business indeed. I trust that @Shyheels and I will know when we've got to the point when it's time to strut our stuff in the general public. @higherheels has a leg (or a foot) up on us, as she's already worn her 13 cm in public, just not for very long. Speaking of which, I have some exciting news. As you know, I was looking for a pair of 12 cm heels in order to meet this challenge. Actually, I have one pair, but I think they are fairly ugly. I was debating about maybe getting something from Fuss, but being unemployed at the moment, I figure now is not really the time to be spending what amounts to over 200 USD by the time you get them to my door. The Highest Heels look interesting, but they are even more expensive, and I think they're not even leather, at least not all of them. So I went on ebay and typed in "The Highest Heels." I found some black patent pumps, new in the box, for 50 bucks, delivered to my door. I believe them to be a non-current model. I had hoped that they were in fact the full 12 cm, de-rated and temperature corrected for my size 9. As it turns out, they are and then some, at 12.5 cm. And they actually fit. I have not yet really had time to mess with them yet, other than a few steps around the house, but I have a good feeling about these. I'll try to get some pictures taken in the next couple of days. I might wait a couple of days anyway, because the current temperature is -18º according to my thermometer, and by Monday it's supposed to rise above zero.

Yes, and yes, to both of you. Now you've got me curious @Puffer. Trash day isn't until Monday, so I could dig the shoes out of the bin and see if it's even possible to straighten up the heel without breaking it. However, that would be nothing more than an experiment, because after that, as @Cali says, I would never wear them out again (meaning I would never wear them again at all). They would indeed break, probably at an inconvenient time. Part of that calculus is metal fatigue, but the other part is that they are Michael Kors brand. They will break eventually anyway. I'm lucky they gave me some warning to begin with! According to my records, I have owned those sandals approximately 10 years, so they really don't owe me anything. They have been all over the country (quite literally) with me, but they were sort of a default dressy sandal for me. I have never found them to be terribly exciting. I shall report my findings, should I decide to experiment, at a later date.

Aaaaaannndd. . . we're back to -15º again. However, it looks to be actually warm starting on Sunday. Well, warm as in above zero. For whatever reason, that method never occurred to me before. It makes good sense, though. I'll have to try it again. If I bothered to warm up in the past (I usually don't have time), I'd wear slightly higher heels than what I was planning on wearing to whatever event. The problem with that method is that you've got to have a chunk of time to wear the higher heels beforehand.