mlroseplant

I have continued to wear pumps this week, only now I have an actual picture! My son and I went to the mall yesterday to buy Mama a new computer. It's the first time I'd been shopping at a mall in well over a year, I bet it's been more like two years. I managed my Steve Madden Daisies reasonably well, and even got a compliment from a stranger! They are the mauve colored ones I introduced a while back, and for some reason, they do not look it in this picture. I wore the same pants and shoes Sunday to church, but a different shirt. These Maddens are becoming quite comfy to wear for longer periods of time, despite the fact that they're not leather. They're almost giving the Vince Camutos a run for their money. The other thing of note is how much my feet don't hurt. Some of you may recall my story about going to the mall in my brand new boots 12 years ago, and nearly not making it back to the car because of the pain. I didn't think about it while I was there, but it's the same mall, we went to the same store, I had higher shoes this time, and it didn't even occur to me that I might get sore feet.

Welcome to the both of you @Goose and @CrushedVamp. It's funny that this subject should come up at this time, because I was just recounting my first time in heels not very long ago. Now, 12 years later, it's a very ordinary part of my life, but for some reason it never gets boring. I wear heels every day to some extent or other. I can't remember the last time that I thought to myself, "I don't really feel like wearing heels today."

It has been 10 years at least since I started shaving my legs. I have been shaving the tops of my feet since I was a teenager. No one has ever mentioned a thing about it except for my wife. If someone ever does mention it, I have the perfect comeback prepared. "Because hairy legs with Daisy Dukes look terrible!" Which is simultaneously the whole truth and kind of a smartass answer. My construction buddies would appreciate it.

I have actually worn pumps 5/7 days this week, and in each case, I wore them with slightly flared pants, which seems to be back in style again. Probably more radical flares are actually in style, but mine are recycled from the last time. Most of my stuff is super skinny, and I have adopted that style for the last 10 years to the point that my flared pants, of which I have only two pair left, are practically New Old Stock because they've been worn so rarely. I get by with skinny jeans better than most guys because I'm pretty small, but it is nice to have a little variety now that I've allowed myself. I will say that it is much easier to get flared pants on and off that it is skinny jeans, and pointy-toed pumps do go rather well with flared pants. One has to be careful with round toes and flared pants because under the wrong circumstances, it looks like you have no feet. I do not have my flared pants hemmed super long, They're an inch to an inch and a half off the floor. Certainly not the style of the early 2000s, where the ideal was to show just a tease of heel between the floor and hem. You could barely see little pins sticking out, leaving the gazer wondering whether the wearer had mere kitten heels or proper stilettos. In some ways it was alluring, and in others it was frustrating. Not so with the latest iteration of flowing legged pants. I have been mainly wearing Steve Madden single sole pumps this week, but I did break out the much neglected Nine West Plantera platforms also. My favorite pumps, from a fit standpoint anyway, are my Vince Camuto Carra stacked heel pumps. They are very pointy-toed, so they work well with flared pants. They are single sole with a slim, tapered heel about 5/8" wide in plain black leather. They are remarkably tall at 4 3/8". I say remarkably because when you glance at them, they don't look all that tall. It can take you by surprise when you put them on. They are pretty steep compared to what their styling would suggest. If you scroll back to my October 2nd post, you can see pictures of them. I haven't taken any new photographs since then. The crazy thing about these pumps is that they fit. When I used to see women who wore pumps every day, I think this is how they must have fit. Not tight in the toes, and yet I don't walk out of them with every step. It's like I can just slip them on and go. Or I could, were they 3/4" lower. I still have to warm up in them before I step out of the house. What I'm saying is, unlike most of my other pumps, I do not have to wait for my toes to rearrange themselves inside of the shoes for a few minutes after I put them on. And, they're the only single sole pumps I own that I've actually walked in for exercise. I may be wrong about this, but I believe they're the only pumps that I've worn for a full day all at once. Unfortunately, they are beginning to suffer from that flaky deterioration that so many non-leather linings exhibit. It's not that bad yet, but eventually I suppose they will become unwearable. I plan on wearing pumps again to church today, we'll see what I end up wearing. In the meantime, it's going to be clogs for my morning constitutional. I still prefer shoes that do not touch the back of my heel.

We have some weather in my locale, I was supposed to work today (yes, on Saturday), but the whole job is shut down. I needed to move my car off of the street, and I slipped into the heels that were closest, walked outside, and nearly fell on my backside. Freezing rain is so much fun! Walked back inside, got my flat boots to move my car, and still am fortunate to have remained upright. Advice to first timers: Do not walk on ice in heels. In fact, do not walk on ice unless it's absolutely necessary!

I can remember my one trip to Thailand, which by many metrics was a waste of time, but that's another story for another day. It just occurred to me that they have a sort of narrowboat in Thailand as well, but I don't recall thinking they actually needed to be narrow. I can just remember the drivetrains being about as simple as you can get, with whatever engine tipped backward at about a 10º angle, and there being a very long, direct-drive shaft with a propeller on the end of it. No gears, no clutch, no nothin'. Just a long shaft sticking out the side of the engine. Somewhere, on some drive, I've got pictures, but they predate the earliest pictures on my phone.

I had my own experience with the neighbor girl's go-go boots, but for some reason it never took hold. I was always drawn to girls in sandals. But it couldn't be just any old sandal--most girls were wearing rubber thongs during those days, which have always been awful. Dr. Scholl's wooden slides started to become popular, and I always liked those but couldn't wear them. I look at it philosophically--it just wasn't my time, and in fact, it probably wasn't the time. Looking back, I think it would have been almost impossible to live life as a normal guy wearing heels during that time. I think it would have been a constant barrage of insult and ridicule, and quite probably physical violence. My own personal feeling of well being while wearing heels did not start happening until well into my public heeling period, about 12 years ago. I would say it took me about a year. The sense of satisfaction that I now get when I'm walking well, and four inch heels feel completely natural, wasn't always there. I felt compelled to go down this road, but I didn't feel physically comfortable for quite some time, even wearing lower heels. I guess all those thousands of miles walking in heels has done something for me.

Maybe your experience is different, but what I'm saying is that there is nothing to get proficient at. I mean, assuming the machine is operating properly, there is nothing difficult about walking in stilettos because they are stilettos (on hard pavement at least). In fact, some things are easier than when wearing thick block heels. My issue is the absolute steepness. I hit a wall at about 4 1/2 inches. If I'm really being honest with myself, it's more like 4 1/4 inches. I had to do a quick run to the grocery store yesterday afternoon, and I broke out some round-toed, 4 1/4 inch stilettos that I hadn't worn in a while to run the errand. Once warmed up, I was brilliant. I even got a sincere compliment from a man (how often does that happen?)! But, at that height, I can feel my achilles tendon straining, especially the right leg, with each step. To be fair, I weigh a mere 60 kg. Perhaps thin heels react differently to more torsional force than what I subject them to, but I don't really notice the difference except when I step in a crack and ruin my heel! BTW, are towpaths actually used for towing these days? If so, by what means?

I have not, that might be something interesting to try, being as I still have one pair of loafer pumps (I have been looking for the perfect pair of penny loafer pumps for years) that has the problem severely. When I finish my latest shoe inventory, I was going to donate the shoes, but before I do, perhaps I'll give some good ol' adhesive a try. I have worn pumps three different times this week, and have zero pictures to prove it. When I did get a chance to snap a photo, the sun was shining so brightly from a bad direction that it would have been a waste of time. I didn't even try. I have come to three conclusions over the past week, however. Number One: There is nothing particularly different about stilettos, except that you have to be a lot more careful about gaps and cracks in the pavement. Number Two: If I wear my pumps more often, they are much more comfortable than I remember them. Even though a lot of my pump collection is not leather, it does seem to shape itself, at least to some degree. Number Three: There is a big difference between a 4 3/8" heel and a 4 5/8" heel. Though I didn't embarrass myself, I still don't feel I'm truly ready for the taller heel. But if I don't wear the taller heel, I'll never get used to it. Didn't we just talk about this somewhere?

At this point in my heeling career, I have a more subtle struggle when it comes to confidence. Now that it is winter, I basically don't have any confidence issues at all. Long pants and heavy coats cover up a multitude of sins. In the summer, however, short shorts and open toed mules expose your every fault. I went through a period a decade ago when I never wore shorts at all, because I felt I would get too much attention. I can't really blame myself, because I think even a cis-woman wearing shorts and very high heels would attract attention, perhaps unwanted. To address Pebbles's point, I did a lot of walking during those first years in what we would consider modest heels. I don't think I necessarily went about it in a very efficient way, because I think I still looked awkward, having no coach or advisor to say, "You look like a clown*." What it did, though, is allowed me to find my feet, literally, and learn how to navigate the real world in heels without fear of actually falling down. I never would have thought, for instance, that stopping at a crosswalk after walking at a pretty good clip for several minutes, would be hard. Maybe it isn't for some people, but I found that coming to a sudden stop after walking was difficult to do gracefully, as I was struggling to keep my balance standing perfectly still. * Come to think of it my wife did, but was unwilling to offer any constructive criticism.

I've had to reject about 50% of the pumps I've bought over the years. The most common problem is that when I go to take a step in the real world, I walk right out of them, and this is barefoot. Forget about wearing any kind of hosiery. I always futz around with every kind of fitment aid known to man, and none of it ever helps. It seems that pumps either fit me, or they don't. There's no "almost." My best luck has been with the Steve Madden brand in a size 9. I have several different models. When first put on, they feel toe-squishing, but after several minutes of walking around, everything gets rearranged in there, and after that they're pretty decent. I have noticed in the past few years that I really need to do that anyway, that is, put on my shoes at least 10-15 minutes before I need to leave, at least with anything over 4 inches. I need a bit of a warmup anymore.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to wear pumps more often. It's too bad they are so finicky for me, always a compromise between them being very tight on the one hand, and the constant fear of stepping right out of them on the other. Probably in front of a whole bunch of people.

I see what you mean--the "refined" is quite a bit sleeker than the original. And yes they ARE work boots! I forgot to mention my muck boots, which I wish I didn't have to own. Mine are the cheapest farm store brand, because I refuse to pay $150 for a pair of rubber boots that I completely despise, and despise doing the work for which they would be required. Those who have spent the $150 for a better brand, such as Muck brand, say they are quite comfortable. I don't doubt it. Having said that, I did once purchase a shiny black pair with a 2 inch wedge heel that are more along the Hunter Refined lines, and those are OK. I've worn them maybe a dozen times over the last decade, as their application is limited. Maybe I'll have to dig them out and take some photos. I would wear those. But they don't make a B width in anything smaller than a 9. Evidently, the only people with skinny feet are people with long feet. I have done the Red Wings women's thing, but back in the day there were only half a dozen different styles.d Maybe it's changed today. @CAT I get you about going through boots pretty quickly. I typically get 2-3 years out of mine, but I also am running two pair at the same time, so halve that. I've heard stories, mostly from people like Shyheels, about hiking boots lasting decades, but I have never been able to get 3 years out of any given pair, even with resoling, which I've done exactly once. Even with careful oiling and the like, boots just get beat to hell in construction. And I'm just a pampered Sparky!

Yes, I have felt heel withdrawal every year when I've gone to Vietnam. Not that I would be jailed there, but would probably face a worse fate from my wife.

I had mentioned the idea of starting a work boots thread in the past, and here it is. Not high heels of course, but I think there are enough boot guys here that this subject will be a conversation starter. As many of you already know, I am an electrician by profession, and my jobsite conditions vary wildly. Right now, I'm working on concrete, but just a couple of months ago, I was in the mud doing underground utilities. Sometimes I walk miles and miles every day, and sometimes I am working out of an elevated work platform, and walk hardly at all. Over the years I have tried many different kinds of work boots. The one thing that remains fairly constant is that I have almost always owned two pairs simultaneously, and switched off every other day. I feel like this is better for both comfort and foot health. There may be nothing to it, but it's just what I've done for nearly 30 years, and I am now too old to change. I started off as a Red Wing guy, and I remained a loyal Red Wing guy for the better part of two decades. Red Wing boots are made (or used to be made) in Red Wing, Minnesota, not all that far from me. The reason why Red Wings were so cool is because they made almost every boot style in every size, not only by length, but by width. Therefore, I could get my 7 1/2 Bs which fit perfectly instead of having to put up with 7 1/2 D, which is "medium" width for men's shoes. Then, in what I can assume was a cost cutting measure, they quit making my size in most styles, which irritated me very much. In addition, during roughly this period of time, they also moved a lot of their production to China. Therefore, it was time to try something new. It was then that I went through my Doc Marten phase. By this time, I was wearing high heels in my non-work life, and I found some Dr. Marten boots with rather giant heels, and I had to give them a go. I rather liked getting away with wearing 2 1/4 inch heels to work, and the boots eventually broke in to where they were reasonably comfortable. It was at this point when I went from men's 7 1/2 to women's size 9B, which is still the size I wear fairly reliably. I gave up the Doc Martens for two reasons: 1) They were almost too squidgy. I don't like a lot of padding to begin with, and these boots were sort of like walking on pillows. Who the hell wants to walk on pillows? I think it takes a lot more effort to walk on pillows. I'd personally much rather just walk on the ground. Because they were squidgy, bending conduit with a hand bender took some getting used to. When using a hand bender, a lot of foot pressure is required to get it to come out right. In fact, in certain regions of the U.S., they call the exact same tool a "foot bender." 2) Later that following winter, I discovered that those squidgy soles do not like the extreme cold at all. Both pairs I had split clean across the balls of my feet when the temperature got down below about -15º C. I am deducing that it was the cold because both pairs failed within a week of each other, just from walking. I then went to Ariat boots, in a women's size 9, which is where I'm at today. I've tried several different models, and of course they have stopped making my favorite model. Pictured here are Ariat's "Scout" model, which are a step down from my preferred "Heritage Breeze" model. The differences are subtle, but noticeable. Both are marketed as a "paddock" boot, suitable for riding horses. There is even a spur rest built into the back of the boot. The reason I like them for work is that they are very light and flexible, and the tread pattern is minimal, meaning less mud collection. Despite having little in the way of tread pattern, they are quite grippy on low friction surfaces. For being very affordable (less than 150 USD, depending), they have proven to be durable and just plain different enough that I like them. I seriously doubt whether many of my colleagues in construction would like them. I feel as though they are too light and the soles are too thin for your average construction worker. The soles on my older pair (not pictured here) are now so worn as to be almost literally paper thin. If I am standing on gravel, I can count the number of stones beneath my feet by feel. I don't think most people would like that. Those are now relegated to lawn mowing and other soft surface work. I am considering the purchase of another similar pair in the near future. My newest pair of boots is the Thorogood Model 814-4200 (made in USA). This moccasin toe, wedge sole style of boot is extremely popular in my area at the moment. Every other worker, or at least every other electrician is sporting this style of boot in one brand or another. My company gave me a voucher for 250 USD to purchase a new pair of work boots at a particular retailer. I didn't really love any of the available selection, but 250 bucks is way too much to leave on the table, so I settled on these Thorogoods, which cost somewhere north of $250, so that I wound up paying about 40 bucks out of my pocket after sales tax. They were the only boots I tried on in 7 1/2 that I didn't feel was way too wide. In fact, even though they are labeled 7 1/2 D, they sure feel a lot more like a B width, and I'm really halfway between B and C width. I guess they're ok, but I'm not crazy about them. Certainly at first, and to some extent even now, they feel a bit like wearing hollowed out logs on my feet. They do not cause pain, but I just don't feel very graceful wearing them. Also, despite having fairly soft soles which show wear quickly, they're not all that grippy. I discovered this initially while riding my motorbike to work, and putting my foot down on some sand at a stoplight. Appearances can be deceiving. I kind of like the way they look, but there's no way I would have paid nearly 300 USD for them. I hope others will share stories and perhaps pictures of their favorite (or perhaps least favorite) work boots. Just in case there is any confusion (I'm sure there won't be), the black ones are the Ariats, my favorites, and the tan ones are the Thorogoods. And I obviously didn't clean either of them up for the photos. This is how they might actually appear on the job.

Certainly the mental anxiety has something to do with it, but perhaps an equally challenging factor, one that is completely beyond our control, is the fact that the real world is a much more difficult place in which to wear heels than is the home. I must have said it at least a hundred times, but it bears mentioning again: I don't how many hours you've spent in heels at home, how many floors you've mopped, how many meals you've cooked, or how many dishes you have washed, the minute you step out of the car, take your first half dozen steps, look up and realize that you're going to have to cross the entire Walmart parking lot, and you will have to do so all in one go, while trying to act naturally, it will feel as though you've never worn heels in your life. Three inch chunky heels are definitely a good idea for those early days in public.

This will be perhaps the most unusual "new boots/shoes" post I have ever made, which will be evident when I explain my intended course of action with these NOS Simply Vera Wang Svellie ankle boots in dark gray. I had a black pair exactly like these 12 years ago, and they were the only pair of shoes that I actually bought in a store. Simply Vera is Vera Wang's inexpensive shoe line, and is or was sold at Kohl's. These boots came in the original box, and look as though they were tried on, but never actually worn. They feature 5 1/8" slim heels, about 3/4" in diameter, and a 1" platform, about half of which is hidden, yielding an effective 4 1/8" steepness, which is quite reasonable and not too crazy for me. These days. It wasn't always so. I know I have told this story before, but now I have pictures to go along with it. Shortly after purchasing this boot model 12 years ago, my wife and I had to go up to a shopping mall to the mobile phone store. I proudly wore my new 5 inch boots, which my wife really, really didn't like back then. This was one of my first few pairs of heels ever, and it may have been the first pair that sported shockingly tall heels. So yes, at that time I had been wearing heels publicly for about six months or so, but not very often, and the heels weren't very high. We went to the mobile phone store, and I don't remember any of the business that went on there, but I do remember that they were very busy, and we had to stand and wait for the better part of an hour. And as you know, standing is often way worse than walking if you're not used to heels. Whenever I tell this story, I have often used the phrase, "I thought I was going to DIE before we got back to the car." I did not literally think I was going to die, but I had serious doubts about whether I was going to make it back to the car with those boots on. Oh, it hurt SO bad. And we're talking probably 15 minutes total walking to and from the car, and 45 minutes to an hour of standing, really not all that long. Of course, since my wife was very negative on my shoes, I couldn't really let on that I could barely walk, could I? I toughed it out and somehow managed to cover up my true feelings. Somehow or other, since we took her car up to the mall, I was able to not drive and I can't remember whether I took my boots off, or secretly cringed all the way home, thankful that I was at least seated once again. I do remember thinking to myself, "This whole high heel thing is just a fantasy. Now I get why women can't or won't wear these shoes all the time." I was very discouraged, and thought about giving up the whole thing right then and there, which would have made my wife very happy. As you know, that did not happen. After just a couple of days of brooding, I started to wear my lower heels pretty much everywhere I could, and eventually, I believe my system of purposefully walking and recording the statistics in heels was born during the first half of 2013. It took a while, but by 2015, after many miles in lower heels, I was able to walk 5 miles in these boots with no issues, my first time to walk that far in what I would call a "high" heel. As shown here, which was yesterday, I had walked a mere 3 miles right before this picture was taken, and would spend the remainder of the morning running errands in them. I try not to let myself forget just how badly those things had hurt 12 years ago, to remind myself and show to others that things that seem impossible are not always impossible. I'm not one of those guys who will say, "Anyone can accomplish anything if they put their mind to it." This is patently false. However, many people can accomplish quite a lot more than it seems at first. Now for their future: As soon as I wear the stock heel tips down, they are going in the trash. Although they have never been worn, the chemical reaction of being so old and not leather has caused the gray color to peel off massively from the first time I wore them. How disappointing. They are plenty fine for walking in the dark, but they become less and less presentable with each passing day. Luckily, I have found a replacement already, and hopefully they don't have the exact same problem. If they do, we'll just have to find something else that is real leather.

I have not been keeping up with the new purchases as of late. Part of this is due to the fact that my photo standards have gotten higher over the years. I do not particularly enjoy taking pictures of myself, but I do so for the sake of this group, mainly. And one other person who is not part of this group. As I have intimated recently, I have been expanding my boot collection this winter, particularly the ankle boots. My latest purchase was these Aldo Marille combat/motorcycle boots. The reason I bought them was because I was somewhat dismayed by how huge the heels on my last boot purchase were. I wanted something in more or less the same style, but a little less extreme. I think I have found the answer in the Aldo boots, as long as they hold up to actual use. They are still quite rugged looking, having a lugged heel cap as well as a lugged sole, but at 1 5/8" in heel width, they are not quite as chunky looking as my other similarly styled boots. The heel height comes in at the same 4 3/8" tall as the Steve Maddens, but they appear taller because of their slimmer appearance. However, the effective steepness is less than the Maddens by a substantial 3/8", simply because of the internal construction of the footbed. The platform is a true 3/4", making the effective heel height a somewhat tame 3 5/8", or just barely over 9 cm. I have worn them out a few times now, and they easily passed the 2 mile walking test, though they are ever so slightly narrow. This has a side effect of looking absolutely adorable on my feet, which is why I took a top view photo. You'd swear I wear size 36 from this photo. I may choose to use a shoe stretcher on them in the future, or maybe they will stretch from just wearing them. Being as they are not overly tall, I can zoom in these boots. I clocked 19:00 miles just yesterday, which is not a lot faster, but notably faster than I normally walk in 4 inch heels. Of course, it was colder than crap yesterday, which probably encouraged me to walk faster than I normally do.

I guess I never really read the original post carefully, which is rather unlike me. Now that I have read it, I have some real advice. I feel I can give real advice because I've been there. Stop with the 200 pairs of shoes for your wife. They're not for her anyway, and you know it. Get your own shoes, and then you will never feel the need to pressure your wife to wear heels when she doesn't want to. This is not a perfect solution. It may create other problems where none existed before, but it will solve some very fundamental problems that you are obviously having. I'm not being mean, I have just been there myself.

The font option appears to be back. It was gone a few days for some reason. I have been a follower of this site since the Jenny days (circa 2000), but I was up until recently programmed to believe that heels were only for women. Had I stayed married to my ex-wife, I wonder how my fashion proclivities would have turned out. As a result, I actually joined fairly late, and it took me quite a while to get used to the sight of men in heels, including my own reflection in the mirror. I was a little taken aback when I got here finally, and was not necessarily welcomed with open arms. This place has evolved quite a bit within the last decade. True, it's almost dead, but it's friendly. @Laurieheels was a favorite of mine back in the day. Punching in the name, I see that she is still technically a member here. She was inspiring to me because she wanted to get to the point where she could wear very high heels every day as her normal footwear. And I really don't remember the denouement of her journal, but I do remember progress documented. And I thought to myself, "I wish my wife would do something like that." What I did not realize at the time is that what I really meant was, "I wish I could do something like that." Here I am, some 20 years later, living the dream. Of course, my job does not allow me to wear heels as much as I would like, but it's enough. I think I can reasonably say that I probably pound the pavement more than anybody, maybe not timewise, but certainly distance wise, and although I've never learned to properly walk in 5 inch heels, I have pretty much mastered 4 inch heels (more about how that is so untrue in a future installment), and I guess I'll have to be satisfied with that.

I went to a high school jazz band concert this week. I saw what I expected to see, a lot of low-to-mid block heels, and largely on strappy sandals. Despite the temperature being around the freezing mark, there were an awful lot of sandals in the band. Perhaps it comes of these younger girls having but one pair of dressy shoes, and they happen to be sandals. Heels do not appear to be dead, they're just a lot lower and clunkier than they used to be. Which brings me to the reason for this post. On my way out of the building, I saw a girl/young woman wearing actual high heels. She was obviously not in the show, because otherwise she would have been wearing black, and I couldn't tell you exactly how old she was, but she looked quite young, had braces on her teeth, and was wearing this rather outlandish flannel blanket/dress thingy. I don't really even know how to describe it. It didn't look horrible, but it did look rather odd with her black strappy sandals. They looked pretty similar to all the other girls' sandals, except they were easily at least twice the height. Chunky block heels, but I would estimate about 4 1/2 inches tall with maybe 1/2 inch platform. In other words, actual high heels. So they are still out there, even in Gen Z.

I have evidently missed my HHP anniversary, but not by much. Evidently, I've been on this site for 12 years! I wonder how this would have all gone without this site. I had already made up my mind that I was going to wear the shoes I liked about six months before I joined here. I'm sure that my fashion life would have been different, but I'm not really sure how. I guess it's been good to know that I'm not the only one, but I've been used to that my entire life, so I don't know that it would have been a deal breaker. One thing I have noticed is that for my anniversary, I no longer have the option to choose a different font than this default sans serif font that I'm not particularly fond of.

I had occasion to go the bank yesterday. We got off work a little bit early, and I decided I needed to move some money around. This time, I made sure I was cleaned up, looking halfway presentable, and wearing heels. I chose burgundy colored pants to go with burgundy Carressa mary janes. I considered wearing some super stiletto-y Steve Madden pumps, but thought the mary janes were a better choice for what I was trying to accomplish, which was to talk to the bank lady about heels. I entered the bank with my paperwork in hand, looked around for an open teller (and the high heeled bank lady), and soon a teller called me across the lobby to her counter. No sign of the bank lady. Figures. I went on about my business with the teller, and the next thing I knew, there was this person standing right next to me, which just goes to show that you can't always be situationally aware unless you make a constant effort to be. The person who sneaked up on me was the bank lady, and she said, "I don't mean to bother you, but your shoes are incredibly cute. I heard someone walking across the lobby who sounded just like me, and I had to see who it was. I'm glad it wasn't just somebody wearing cowboy boots, and WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE SHOES?" Whoa! That was not at all how I figured this was going to go down. You would think that after what, 12 or 13 years of this that I'd be perfectly comfortable with this sort of encounter. I did manage to get out my line that it was indeed heartwarming to see someone out there who still wears heels besides me. Mind you, this is all right up there at the counter in front of the teller who was helping me. So as it turns out, bank lady wears heels every single day and loves wearing them, and the rest of the people at the bank think she's crazy. I think she was glad to have someone else tell her coworkers that heels don't necessarily have to hurt at all. I don't think we gained much traction on that assertion. After the transaction was over, I went over to the bank lady's desk (I still don't know her name), and we talked about shoes for another five minutes or so. Her boots on this day were nothing very special, they were plain black with slim (not stiletto) 4 inch heels. She said she had most of her extensive shoe collection already packed away for the move. Move? Now for the bad news. This interaction will never happen again. Evidently, today (Wednesday) is her last day at the bank. I asked her where she was going to, and she said that her husband had gotten a new job in a town about 75 miles away, and that they would be moving there. I know the town reasonably well, and we talked about her impending move. I wished her well and departed. It's not really a big deal, but that's exactly my luck. I'm going to be the only one again. Sigh. At least you won't have to read any more stories about the bank lady, and I know for sure she doesn't think I'm a creep for liking her shoes.

It is true that society in general has grown way more casual, especially since our world health issue happened back in 2020. I get the kind of static you're talking about myself, because I won't wear heels unless I'm at least slightly presentable, which to most people these days is "dressed up." It's even affected my wife. She has many, many cute dresses and outfits, but rarely wears any of them these days. She is a regular vendor at a couple of different farmer's markets, and her signature was to dress up. All of the other vendors were looking like they were about to do automotive engine repair, and she'd be in this cute little dress every week. Those days are over. Now it's leggings and Crocs. What can I say?

I have come to the conclusion that certain brands, or at least certain styles within those brands are suspect just because they are that brand. You probably know that I am not a big fan of Michael Kors or Vera Wang, both well respected mid-priced shoe manufacturers. And by mid-priced, I mean like 300 bucks retail. Not cheap, but not Gucci. Neither of those companies seem to be able to make a shoe which will actually last when worn regularly. I have finally broken myself of thinking I'll give them one more try. I hate to admit it, but I've eventually come to the same conclusion about BCBGeneration/BCBGirls. They eventually crap out under what to me is normal use. This is why I bought 6 pairs of my favorite Bonny sandals. I'm on Number 4, and none have lasted the way I think they ought to. And now to address the part I bolded in the quote. I'm sure I've told this story before, but there is a certain model of True Religion wooden mules that I like, and I've owned 5 pairs of them over the years. The first pair I bought probably 10 years ago, and I wound up selling or donating them because a) they were too high for me at the time, and b) they were orange, and I only wore black back then. Could not possibly imagine myself wearing orange high heels in public. The second pair I bought, years later, was dark brown, and they were waaaaay better after a few years of practice. I loved them a lot. The problem was, within less than 10 miles, I lost a top lift (or heel tip) somewhere along the way, and by the time I noticed it, I had ground down about 3/4 of an inch off the bare wood/composite material. Not really fixable. In the trash they went. The third pair, which was in black, lost its top lift in about the same number of miles, only this time I noticed pretty much right away. I slipped off the shoes and walked barefoot the rest of the way home. Had the sandals reheeled, and they have turned out to be my most durable shoes to date, having racked up nearly 250 miles so far with no problems. Then I had a fourth pair where I lost the OEM top lift within a few miles, but knew to look for it. With the fifth pair, I told the cobbler, "I know these top lifts look brand new. . .because they are, but replace them anyhow." Lesson learned on what amounts to the third time. A very long-winded story to say that if you love the boots, I would take them somewhere and see if there is anything to be done with them before putting a bunch of miles on them worrying that they're going to fall apart at any minute. That kind of ruins the whole experience, doesn't it?