mlroseplant

In general, I never know what I wished I owned until I see it. I have several things on the ebay watch list that I never knew I wished for. I guess the thing I'm constantly looking for is a pair of black patent leather oxfords with a 5 inch heel. You would think this would not be that hard to find, but apparently it is. You see, I want to actually wear these as-of-yet-imaginary shoes with a tuxedo. There is no shortage of black patent leather oxfords, but they usually fall into one of two categories, neither of which I'm looking for. The first is rather conservative styled shoes (i.e., round or almond toe with little decoration), which is exactly what I'm looking for, but without fail this style features heels which are lower than my expectations. 4 inch seems to be the max, and it's often lower than that. The second common option has heels plenty high enough, but the styling falls squarely on the fetish side of things, with a super pointy toe and other subtle things about them that just are not what I want to wear with a tux. Or maybe ever.

I am also always on the prowl for any type of backless (mule or slide) sandal. But not too frilly, while at the same time, not too clunky. I'll know it when I see it.

I just purchased some shoes based on the name alone, and they have actually surprised me. I have a niece (by marriage) whose family nickname is "Miu," which in Vietnamese is a kind of cute name for "cat." However, I've always called her "Miu Miu," thinking of the Prada line. I always thought I should buy some Miu Miu shoes someday, in her honor, but always ran into two basic problems: 1) Insane prices, and 2) intrinsic ugliness of design.

Therefore, when I saw these on eBay at a very reasonable price, I jumped on it. They are basically high heeled clogs, and how can you screw up a high heeled clog? Well, Prada tried hard. I am not too sure about these weird laces going all the way to the toe, but they're kind of growing on me. They look cute with shorts, they look cute with skinny jeans, they have a nice high 5" heel, they're remarkably comfortable, and they're cut low enough to allow some flappage when walking, which some people would consider a minus, but I consider a plus in general (I just like the sound). Plus, I got to send a picture to my niece and say, "Hey, look what I got!"

15 hours ago, RonC said:

I've been looking for some block heel ankle boots.  Those are a style I'd like, Jeff, but I would prefer that heel be another inch and a half higher.  I believe that these days you are going more for the look, Jeff, while I am still enjoying the feel of wearing heels.  If the heel would be as low as those boots, I'd really not get much of the feel of heels from them, and hence, not as much enjoyment.  As has been stated, however, your look is quite nice.  

I had never really thought about this before in quite this way, but yeah, that's me too. In fact, I hardly even notice your shoes these days, Jeff, and perhaps that is your goal. 

I agree with Ron. There is something about the feel of wearing a substantially steep heel that I find attractive and comforting. If I could only wear shoes such as your new booties (which are very sharp, by the way), I probably wouldn't even bother with wearing women's style shoes at all. 

To continue and expand the discussion, I'm curious to know among the bolder of us here, and yes, I'm specifically thinking of you, Cat and Jeff, though there may be others who wish to chime in, do people in your workplace and your neighborhood in general know about your unusual fashion choices?

For me personally, people in my small town rarely see me without heels. People who don't know me sometimes stare curiously, as they will, but those who do know me have just come to expect it, and I have learned lately that oftentimes they want to see what I've got on my feet on the instant occasion. I try not to wear the same shoes twice in a row to any given regularly scheduled event. 

Work has been a little tougher. For the past two years, I've worked at a large construction site (approximately 500 workers) as an electrician. Currently, I'm a foreman of a crew of eight. I would say that about 10% of the 500, maybe more, know about my fashion choices, about 3% have actually seen me outside of work, and I have suffered zero negative effects, though but a short year ago, I would have expected the opposite.

I'm just curious to hear other people's experiences in this matter. 

I am fairly confident that I walk better in heels than my wife. Actually, I just walk more gracefully than my wife in general. She walks funny anyway. Can't put my finger on just why.

I wear heels most anywhere, including church, the grocery store, my high school class reunion, a redneck bar, and even the union hall (though I've never worn heels to a meeting). One place I won't wear heels is Vietnam, at the request of my wife. Even if she gave her blessing, I'm not sure Vietnam would be ready for a guy in heels.

I suspect that the tone of my previous post was somewhat misinterpreted. I do not mean to say that you are not welcome here, but rather that this site has evolved into something quite different from what most people imagine when they run across it by chance for the first time. For one thing, because of some things that have happened in the past with our membership, we basically don't do the fetish thing, and by fetish, I am referring to the sexual meaning, which is what we mean 99% of the time when we use that word in modern times.

There is nothing wrong with having fetishes. It may be that I have few myself, but that is not really the purpose of this discussion forum. In fact, in the past, a too-tolerant policy toward topics of a sexual nature is the leading cause of why we have precious few active female members. So mainly it's just us guys left, trying to figure out how to make our way in the world while wearing high heels, hopefully changing attitudes toward gender and fashion in general, and keeping each other in line when when we occasionally lack judgment and wear something truly awful! See, we're kind of like a bunch of gals in a way.  .  . only different.

So when I say that I think you'd have better luck pursuing your interests elsewhere, I'm not saying it to be difficult or dismissive, I literally mean this is probably not your crowd, and you will probably be disappointed. However.  .  . if you have a desire to wear heels yourself, presenting yourself as a guy, you'll find all sorts of interest here. Good luck to you!

Haha, I think every part! Well, you know fetishes--they're often very specific to the person. 

The trouble is, this is not a fetish website, it's a fashion website. I certainly don't know the answer to your question, and I would guess there are precious few here who do. 

If this is all you're interested in, I reckon you'd probably have better luck elsewhere. 

I have this problem as well. That is probably why I own very few pumps!

I suppose it depends on what you want to use them for. If you're wanting to go shopping all day, or visit the zoo or something, I would not recommend wearing 5" heels until you have quite a bit of experience under your belt. If you just want to try some for around the house just to try them out and see how you look, then by all means, get what you want. Just know that there is a HUGE difference between walking around the house vs. walking the most ordinary places outside, such as a large parking lot. To get the hang of it out in the real world, I sure would recommend something 3 1/2" or lower to start, and preferably with a sturdy heel. I have made the mistake of going too high, too fast, and not only can it be painful, but it's embarrassing as well, hobbling around.

Yes, I think a 2 number difference is a good place to start, as far as size conversion between U.S. men's and women's shoes. Depends on the brand, and your individual foot.

2 hours ago, pebblesf said:

OK, well there has certainly been many responses to your original post.  I don't know your age, but can say that you look just fine in this picture.  You have a nice figure and have taken good care of yourself, so your age really is not an issue. 

I guess I should have divulged my age from that start, as it kind of defeats the purpose of the question if I don't. I'm closer to 49 than I am to 48. 

I finally got a picture taken of the outfit that prompted this thread. Certainly a much more casual and less flashy outfit than CAT's. 

On 9/9/2016 at 9:33 AM, Thighbootguy said:

Great T-shirt slogan too.

I thought so myself! I wonder how many people really appreciate it in the way that we do?

If that's the case, then I'd have to put myself at a 5. 

Thanks everyone for the interesting and thoughtful replies. I had no idea there was this much interest in the topic. Alas, I don't have any pictures to post of the sort of outfits I wear personally, but maybe I'll get some taken this weekend.

Several people have touched on this subject recently, so I thought it might be interesting to start a thread about it.

The question is, how old is too old to be wearing very short shorts, or short skirts? In addition to the recent discussion on this forum, the thought occurred to me that most of the women who dress the way I do are much younger than me, and most certainly if they are white, like me. I do occasionally see Asian or Latina women my age who will show a whole bunch of leg while wearing high heels, usually (but not always) to great effect. When I look in the mirror dressed in short shorts, I think I look pretty good. In fact, I feel I look much better than I do wearing shorts any longer than mid-thigh. It's because my legs are so short that I can't afford to break the visual line with longer shorts, or my legs look really short. My favorite inseam length for shorts is in the 2-3 inch range, just for reference.

So the question is, is there a point where you have to hang it up, and be resigned to wearing long pants (or longer skirts) for the rest of your life? If so, how do you know when you've reached that point?

On 9/1/2016 at 10:50 AM, RonC said:

Not sure if Mr. Louboutin has made exceptions to that rule, but some of his heels look really high.  To my eye, the line gets crossed at anything much above 4".  But we all have our likes and dislikes!  

Yes, everyone has their own taste for sure, and for many, it evolves with time. For me, at this present moment, anything less than 4 inches in my size 9 looks short and stumpy to me, especially if it has any sort of platform. Maximum height that looks "right" to me is about 5 1/2", with a very few exceptions. Having said that, my skill set does not extend to actually being able to function in 5 1/2" single-sole shoes, and probably never will. However, I like the look of a 5 1/2" heel, so many [make that "all"] of my shoes in that height range have a 1" platform, give or take 1/4". Even these require constant practice, as I discovered last week when I pulled out some sandals with a 4 1/2" difference between the toe and the heel. I have been lazily casual this summer, wearing a lot of wedges with much less steep angle most of the time.

Having just done a shoe inventory, 90% of my collection falls between 4 1/2" and 5 1/2" in heel height, with a definite cluster right around 5", give or take 1/8".

Those are definitely good ones! I'm not familiar with "The Fly" or that scene, however. Olivia Newton John in "Grease" is easy to find on YouTube. The opening scene from "Roadhouse" is a little tougher. I haven't found it on the internet yet, but I have a VHS copy of the movie somewhere in my basement.

7 hours ago, Sydheel said:

 The main thing in your plan that wouls stop me is that i cant dance for crap. 
 

You would think that guys who make it their business to learn to walk in high heels, knowing that they have to be way above average to pull off the look and have the confidence, would be able to dance naturally. However, that is not necessarily the case. I can't dance either. In my younger days, I always made sure I was in the band for that very reason.

I went out for ice cream with my family the other night, wearing high heels with shorts (it's actually beginning to sound a little bit boring, isn't it?), and I witnessed the most amazing thing: Five teenaged boys sitting at a table.

...

...

...

...

OK, that wasn't the amazing part. The amazing part was that NONE of them had a phone out the entire time I was there. They were just talking and laughing with each other, and, as a added bonus, none of them seemed to be laughing at ME! I was mostly surprised about no mobile devices produced among five boys in about 20 minutes. You don't often see that these days.

On 8/31/2016 at 4:21 AM, Thighbootguy said:

Great look JeffB.  The longer skirt suits you well and the necklace completes the image.  I fight a constant battle between dressing in age appropriate outfits (longer skirt, lower heels) and my "way too young" mental image (mini skirts and thigh boots).  I do suffer with the Peter Pan syndrome.  I am comfortable with either presentation but the age appropriate one is generally more accepted.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe it will be a future subject in my thread.

Nice look, Jeff!

6 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Does everybody have to take off their shoes and put them separately through the detector in the US? Over here you need to do that only if you are wearing boots, hence my earlier comments.

Yes, all shoes of any sort (including sandals) must come off and go through the x-ray machine in the U.S.  In Asia, I've never had to take shoes or boots off at all.

I agree, this is pretty darn cool, but there's one thing I can't quite understand, and maybe someone could explain this to me: How is the way this man is dressed inspiring to a young gay boy? I am often seen out and about dressed not-too-dissimilar from this man. Could I in fact be an inspiration to a young gay boy, even though I am not gay? It seems like sexual orientation is getting confused with mere fashion choices.

On August 24, 2016 at 6:11 PM, Bubba136 said:

We haven't heard in a while you commenting on your wife's attitude on your openly wearing stilettos heels.  Has she accepted this or just reached the conclusion that there isn't much she can do about it?

Probably a little of both. When we do have conversations about it, they're generally negative, but they are becoming increasingly rare. We're just happier in general these days than we were 4 years ago. That probably has a lot to do with it. 

13 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

But I'll bet you gave them something to talk about.   But maybe you also gave them something to think about.

In my area the stereotyped image of a motorcycle rally is not the family gathering you described and never having been to Iowa the only image I have of an Iowa town comes from the musical "Music Man".   However, if you can attend a gathering wearing Sbicca wedge sandals and only generate "quite a few stares" then both of my mental images are wrong.  Sounds like Iowa is a good place to be.

The "Music Man" is closer to the mark than one might think, at least in the small towns. "Iowa Stubborn" is close to my heart. It's largely accurate!