mlroseplant

While  I haven't led any tours, I've participated in a few over the years, and it does seem like heels have gradually gone away. In particular, my first trip to Chicago as a tourist was in the 1980s as a high school student. We did many of the tourist-y things, and I can remember many heels being worn by tourists during that trip. I can specifically remember a group from Germany in which several of the women chose to wear 3 to 4" stiletto pumps to do their walking tour. No heels in our particular group, but we were kids. On the last trip I made, seven years ago, I was the only one wearing high heels that I saw. There were a very few pairs of mid-to-low heeled wedges, but nothing to write home about.

I have to admit to having a problem with this challenge. The problem is, I don't technically own any heels of the proper height for it. I do have several pair which are a measured 12 cm, but that's on size 40. Otherwise, I have two pair of what are bordering on extreme heels at 14 cm. I find those to be frustrating for two reasons: First, both of them are low quality, and they don't even feel nice to put on, much less try to walk in. Second, the jump to 14 cm is too much. Even with nobody watching, I feel very silly wearing these things. It seems like I need reminding every few weeks why I never wear these shoes. So I need to procure a nice pair of 12 cm that actually fit me.

Yesterday, I did my longest loop, which involves some hills. I was wearing 10 cm heels (not stilettos). It occurred to me that instead of being slightly irritated at having to walk downhill in heels as I usually am, I should look at it as good training for steeper heels. It's a slightly different physical dynamic, but the effect is basically the same.

I am about to set some durability records, which I will write about elsewhere as soon as they actually happen. However, with one pair, it's going to be a nail-biter. I've owned four pairs of this particular type of shoe, and the same thing always happens at about 100 miles--the shank breaks, and they're done. On pair number 4, I've currently got 105 miles, 10 miles short of the record for this particular shoe model. However, I noticed yesterday that one of my top lifts (heel tips) has started to wear kind of funny. You know what THAT means--impending doom! We'll see if they last another 10 miles in the days to come.

It would be very interesting to interview Ms. Ton, HHP style. The news outlets who have interviewed her thus far have not been asking the right questions! I personally am the most interested in exactly how she wound up picking that particular style. I have many different types of sandals, and that would be almost the last choice I would have made, a single strap across the toes with a closed heel and a strap round the ankle. Evidently, it works for her! But why is nobody asking the question?

I've been practicing out in the garage with my 11.5 cm stiletto mules. It sounds strange, but it's the only place I've got where I can walk more than 6 steps in a row, so I can try to perfect my walk the best I can before I take it to the streets.

In my usual walk routine, I have short days and long days. Yesterday was a short day, meaning my walk was but a single mile (1.6 km). I chose to wear "real" high heels, just to up my game a little bit. Not all the way up to 12 cm, but close. Maybe 10.5 or 11, once you discount a little bit for my size 40. There is a big difference between that and my typical 8 to 10 cm walking shoes. If I ever get to the point where the high ones feel completely natural to walk in, that will be something. They weren't bad at all, I just never felt super at ease with them. The entire mile felt like, "Yes, you are wearing high heels."

Back to the question of what does it really accomplish. I personally get it, but I also can see your point of view. I mean, I'm kind of guilty of the same thing on a much smaller level. Why do I keep track of how many miles I walk in heels? What does THAT really accomplish? My answer to that is that it's just fun for me, and if nobody else gets it, that's fine. Nobody except for you guys even knows about my record keeping, so I definitely don't do it for the fame! On the other hand, I wouldn't want to work my job in heels, even though it would be a bit of an accomplishment. I'm not sure what the qualitative difference is, but there is one to me personally.

Hasn't had any problems with the ankles, but the blisters sure do suck. Yup, been there, done that. I carry bandaids with me at nearly all times, and sometimes even then, it doesn't work. 2024 was the Year of the Band-Aid, but this year, not so much, despite the fact that my walking mileage is nearly 50% more than last year. I have some theories about why, but no concrete evidence to back it up.

The article did not really go into specifics about the negative feedback she got from "mostly male" commenters, but I can imagine. Some guys just love to tell a woman what to do. It's part of some people's culture. "Oh, that's really stupid, hon, you're going to get hurt." You know what else will get you hurt? Playing American football. This is the same conversation I had with my "sports medicine" chiropractor when he told me that wearing heels was super bad for my body in general. Not as bad as playing football. I would advise your patients to quit that immediately. End of conversation. It's never come up again.

Very well. I did not get a photo taken of my church Outfit Of The Week, but I did manage to fall asleep in the afternoon, so that I was forced to go out to dinner, being as I woke up too late to begin cooking supper. It was nice enough weather to eat outside, and I was forced to look at our reflection in the storefront windows the whole time. It's all I got. Oh, by the way, somebody I know walked past and said, "Beautiful shoes, as always!" I didn't get turned around in time to see who it was. That sort of comment drives my wife crazy, though she keeps it well hid these days.

If he did, he evidently did not write about them. Pity. Have a good week, y'all!

I have reached the "mile"stone last week of having walked 2,500 documented miles (around 4,000 km) in heels. To be clear, it's taken me over 12 years to do it, but needless to say, I've worn out and broken a lot of shoes in that time. Sometime within this month I will break some records concerning shoe durability. I may make it a special new topic to announce such, as no one seems to respond to this thread anymore. It may be getting a little bit long in the tooth.

I did much the same thing after several days of being sick. I broke out the mid heels to sort of ease back into it. Yes, one feels like one can zoom around in mid heels.

When did you say your next tour group gig is coming up? Does it cover more or less the same territory? If so, will you make the same comments to the next lot about Charles II?

I think you're placing way too much importance on a pair of socks. Within this truncated view, I do not immediately think either foot is too young or too old.

I totally get what you're saying about feet changing size. I've always been frustrated by the common narrative that one should buy his shoes in the afternoon, when feet are biggest. It just so happens that my feet are biggest in the morning, and that's a fact. Why this should be so, I have no idea, I only know that it is. Also, I have a list which tells me where I need to place bandaids to prevent certain shoes from eating holes in my feet. Even that sort of comes and goes to some extent. I hate to admit it, but usually my most reliable shoes are boots as far as blisters and other such injuries, and I know it's because I always wear socks with boots. If only I could love boots.  .  .

I guess so! Where do you find these people? I've heard of them before, but I've never actually met them. They must go over there to the Bab-dist church. 100 years ago, we Methodists were admittedly a little uptight, but today we'd be right up there with the Catholics wanting a taste of that whiskey.

I had an experience yesterday at the grocery store that would reinforce my belief that perceptions are changing, at least somewhat. I cannot perhaps do anything about your elderly American tourists, but it does seem like Gen Z is different than older generations. I know that my younger son's classmates (Class of 2027) seem to be far less concerned about what I wear than were my older son's (Class of 2017). And once again--this is becoming far too common to be a fluke--I was approached by a girl I would estimate to be about 12 (who was wearing Crocs, of course) and said, "Excuse me, sir, but I absolutely LOVE your heels!" I smiled and thanked her. At that moment I realized she was with an older woman who appeared to be her grandmother. The grandmother looked slightly uneasy about the encounter. Luckily, my grocery list was short, and I did not encounter them again.

I'm very sorry to report that I've been going the wrong way lately. That is, I wore shoes pretty much all of our Labor Day weekend which I don't even consider to be high heels. My excuse is that I spent nearly the whole holiday under the weather. I felt absolutely terrible for most of three days. Speaking of weather, it couldn't have been more pleasant the entire weekend, and I did take the opportunity to get out of bed and get a couple of snaps (and yes, I don't pretend that they're anything better than that). Shoes are a mere 8 cm (on the scooter), and effective 9 cm (on the deck). I sometimes wonder why I don't wear mid heels more often, but I usually come to my senses after a week or so.

Debbie simultaneously is and is not before my time. In other words, I remember her very well, but I was not really a participant at the time. The only man I know who can answer your question has not really been active on this site this year. And anyways, one ought to look forward and not backward.

53 minutes ago, Puffer said:

Regardless of the water level and any motion, a narrowboat is always going to be sensitive to the effects of loading - and that includes someone walking around.   It can be slightly unnerving to find that the boat lists slightly one way, and then the other, and when walking around (in heels or not) one can feel as though slightly drunk!   Also, as I well recall when doing some work on my brother's narrowboat in fitting a shelf along one side wall, being pleased that my spirit level initially 'proved' the shelf was level - and then a re-check ten minutes later said otherwise!   I simply forgot that the lack of stable foundations made use of a spirit level (or a plumbline) pretty well pointless!  

I always suspected that you were just about half a bubble off plumb.  .  .

I am not sure exactly how German cinemas are set up, but in the U.S., there is always a slight downward slope from the back of the room up to the screen. I have always thought that it would seem much steeper in extreme heels.

It has been a whole year! It doesn't seem like it's been a whole year. I need to go through my collection as well, and see what I really have. It seems like I have been culling a lot lately and not buying new, which is probably a good thing.

Haha, one of my favorite musings: "Ya know, it's not always just about doing it the easy way.  .  . [pregnant pause] Which is a good thing, because we're sure NOT doing it the easy way!" Usually said while lifting something really heavy, and probably unnecessarily.

It was a shame to pitch the sandals after but one wearing, but like I said, evidently I had not seen fit to wear them for a year and a half after I bought them. Had it been a pair of shoes that I just couldn't live without, MAYBE I would have put some effort into trying to repair them, but I've been down this road before, and I've had a 0% success rate at making this kind of repair.

The good about these sandals: The shape of the slope up to the heel was one of the best fitting shoes I've ever owned. At 4 1/4", you could definitely tell you were wearing heels, but they felt so natural. I wish all of my shoes fit like that. The bad: Due to their super strappy design, getting those puppies on and feeling right was a several minute process. It did not take a great deal of contemplation to decide to bin them.

On 8/29/2025 at 7:42 PM, Gige said:

Holy Cow!! I was so off the mark on my response to this or I have changed so much to render what I wrote meaningless! 

I wrote that: 1) I was not into open toe sandals; 2) I was not into painting my toe nails, and; 3) I was wearing pointed toe heels. So, just today, I was wearing a pair of open-toe espadrilles sandals but my toe nails were not polished (which I having been doing during the summer to wear with open-toe sandals) and I have started moving away from pointed to heels/points as they usually have a narrower toe-box. Thus, in order to compensate for such, I will usually get a 1/2 to full size large and if needed, attach heel backers. I have also started to pass on very cute pointed toe heels knowing that no matter what size I may purchase, the shoe/boot simply will not ever properly fit my foot/feet.   

Shoe - LC by Lauren Conrad.

 

I guess we got a little bit off the subject, and I forgot to say that those sandals are adorable! There are definitely things I've done a complete 180º on, and wedges are one of them. I always hated them. Since I was a kid, I hated them. Now, I wear them myself. I wouldn't say they're my favorites, but I don't hate them anymore. I think it has to do with the hugeness factor. Many wedges look like they have an excessive amount of material stuck to the bottoms of your feet. These are neat and trim looking.