mlroseplant

9 hours ago, Pumped said:

I wonder if the short shorts got to them or...?  When I looked the sandals they are pretty generic so I don't think it was the sandals, but perhaps the combination of the two?

My thoughts exactly, from personal experience. 

13 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Interesting point. One I never thought of, being able to play only the radio myself. But looking at the two photos one could readily imagine the sleeves on the jacket intruding themselves on the man's ease of play. As to your playing better without the accoutrements, do you play better in practice? I am assuming you don't dress up to the nines in practice (I mean at home, not rehearsals)

It's really impossible to say, as practicing at home or even rehearsing is far different than an actual performance. The nervousness and adrenaline rush associated with a performance make it impossible to compare formal dress with casual dress. Usually, if the technical ability is there, the performance is superior to the rehearsal. I just idly wondered if it made any sort of difference. 

To slightly offset the subject, don't even get me started about dress codes in the classical music world. I'm a cellist, and it would be nice to have a little bit more freedom in the arms. Below are two examples of what men are required to wear, versus what women are allowed to wear. 

I was browsing through a cello forum a couple of weeks ago, and some woman commented that she cannot play in anything with sleeves. I thought to myself, "Oh, puleeze! Try playing in both a long sleeved shirt plus a jacket!" I wonder if I would play incrementally better if I were not somewhat fettered by my clothing. 

 Today was the primary for our local, state, and federal party nominees.  I figured this was a good outfit to show up in at the polling place.  I was kind of late showing up, so there was nobody there except for the election officials, no drama. 

Thanks! They are Michael Kors Oksana sandals. Just a tidge over 5" heels. 

2 hours ago, Mr. X said:

Thanks for the compliments!  And your are not prying at all.  I stand around 5'7 and my shoe size is anywhere from a 9 to a 10 depending on the shoe.

Well, drat! You and I are within an inch of the same height, and basically the same shoe size. I just have really short legs. I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that capris don't look all that great on me. Rock on, brother! 

A summer Sunday outfit. It feels a little ho-hum. Still, here I am. 

On May 30, 2016 at 9:23 PM, Mr. X said:

Another day, another outing.  I was planning on going out tonight.  The warm weather we had just made my decision easier.  Plus the weather allowed me to show a little more skin then I have in past outings.

The outing was short and sweet and went off without a hitch.  The only downside is that the shoes I wore need to be fixed now.  I wore my recently purchased "Fergie" wedges.  One of the straps connected to the side that holds the ankle in place has come loose.  There is a hole on the side where the strap fits in.  It looks like it was in there with just tape and/or glue.  I am going to take it somewhere to be fixed as I don't expect it to be a costly or difficult repair.  I will show a pic here to maybe get some insight from others.  I have only worn the shoes twice and they quicly became a favorite of mine.  They will be great to wear in the summer months with my various outfits.  But enough talk, lets get to the outfit and pics.

The outfit
1) ladies brown t-shirt with thin colored stripes
2) knee length jean capris
3) fergalicious by fergie 5 inch wedges
4) brown and gold handbag

And now for the pics.  One is the outfit and the other is the broken shoe strap.  Comments and suggestion are welcome.  Thanks in advance!

If I may pry, how tall are you, Mr. X? I have a similar outfit that I've never worn in public because I just don't like the way it looks on me. I feel the tight capris make my legs look extremely short, but they look just fine on you. I assume your shoe size is U.S. 10 or smaller, as you seem to be able to get a good variety of brands. Just curious. 

On May 29, 2016 at 11:23 AM, Thighbootguy said:

????? what radically 

Congratulations on your anniversary.  Heeling is a great way to get up in the world.

 

HA! Ok, point taken. And thank you!

4 hours ago, swedeheeler said:

Cowhide boots

Thank you for good advices  I'm actually checking out for those cow hair boots in black and white and ordering a 4 inch heel. If i can get'em as in image 9 they can be subtle as I having a pair bootcut jeans over the shafts. Or am I totally lost?

Should i go for knee high or higher as well? I love wearing tigh high at home

It may be that this thread has taken a left hand turn (changed subjects suddenly). That happens sometimes. I am not sure if this is one of those times. 

I think the boots you are considering are just fine and dandy, but if you're looking for a pair of boots to wear out in public that nobody will notice, these ain't it! 

If you want to be low profile, much as I hate to say it at this time of year, your options are pretty much boots, boots, or boots. You could go with an oxford, but for better or for worse, I think boots are considered more "manly," and you can get away with a much higher heel than you could with any other style without it even registering with people. 

Yes, I can understand TBG's point, but not all of us feel like being noticed, and certainly not all of the time. I don't always have the energy to wear exactly what I want every time I want. I do wear heels every time I go out (with some special exceptions), but much of the time, I still wear the same boot-cut jeans I started with 4 years ago. Only the heels have gotten higher and more feminine.

This past year, I have put more narrowly cut pants and even shorts into the mix, but I find I am definitely noticed more when I wear these, particularly the shorts. I think the pants make more difference than the shoes. As you become more confident in your heels, you can get more daring with showing them off. 

One photo is "stealth mode," and the other is "Look at me, yes I am dressed like a Vietnamese girl going to the movies with her boyfriend, and I like it!"

On May 29, 2016 at 2:37 PM, heelsrus2000 said:

I have to invest in some slides like that, but I fear not tanning my feet properly and having strap lines of lighter skin crisscrossing my feet  

I am "working" on this Memorial Day weekend (U.S. holiday) to prevent this very problem!

On April 29, 2016 at 1:54 AM, freestyle75 said:

@MackyHeels I am a US size 8.5 (men) and I normally wear US size 11 for women. Very few shoes in US size 10 also fit me (sneakers from New Balance and heels from Michael Kors), with some designers (Louboutin) I have to go up to a US 11.5 or even a 12 (women).

So... I would assume that your women's size is a US 12, with very few 11 fitting you and probably some designers where you even would have to go up to a 13. Sorry to say: you are out of luck. I know hardly any designer brand that produces a size 12 or even 13 in their heels.

To add further confusion, I am a pretty solid, reliable size 9 (U.S. Women's) for enclosed shoes or boots. For sandals, I must usually go down to 8.5 U.S. Women's. This translates into 7 or 7.5 U.S. Men's for me. Definitely U.K. 7. This seems to be in contradiction to FS75's size translation experience. But then, I have a relatively narrow foot for a man. That may be the difference. 

I had a somewhat similar experience a few months ago at the church I attend. I grew up in this church, so pretty much everybody there knows me, and has for a long time, in many cases since I was very young. I sing in the church choir. As is the way with so many activities associated with traditional liturgical Christian worship, I am the youngest member of the choir at the moment (I'm 48). I'm at the church twice a week--Wednesdays for choir rehearsal, and Sundays for worship. Four years ago, I nervously showed up at choir rehearsal in heels for the first time. Nobody said anything. Over the past four years, I have evolved from nervously wearing a little bit of a heel under long pants to wearing seriously high heels pretty much all the time, and certainly every time I go to church. And for much of those four years, nobody said anything. Not one word. Occasionally, I would feel like I got looks (even a female would get looks if she showed up to choir rehearsal in skinny jeans and five inch heels), but even those were only fleeting.

Not one word was said until a few months ago, when I sat down at a table with some older ladies during coffee/social time in between services. By "older," I mean in their 80s or even in some cases 90s. Suddenly, but not awkwardly, one of them said something to the effect of, "You know, we are always excited to see what shoes you are wearing this week!" (It's true, I try to rotate, so that I wear the same shoes at most once a month). I reacted in a measured manner, politely allowing them a closer look at my shoes, but inside I was floored. So they do notice! And perhaps anticipate!

You never know, Steve. It may be that people are more excited about you than you think!

I am celebrating my 4th anniversary of heeling in public this week. It's been an interesting journey being a trailblazer. Here is a photo of me, taken by my friend and fellow high heeled shoe addict. I don't often dress quite this radically in public, but my friend likes it!

I had a special opportunity to measure the gradient heel height of a different size of this model, because my friend has the same model shoe I have. On the left is a size 6.5 (hers), and on the right is my size 9. As you can see, there is a significant difference. On the size 6.5, the heel height is 4 7/8 inches, versus 5 1/2 inches on the size 9. Now I can better understand how you size 13 guys are able to wear a 5 inch single sole in relative comfort!

Hello all, I have just purchased some new sandals, Michael Kors Oksana in what they call "luggage," and what I call "tan." Some months ago, I bought an identical pair in black, and I liked them so much, I wanted a pair in tan as well. The retail price for these sandals is well over $100, and I'm not willing to pay anywhere near that, so I usually shop on ebay or some other online outlet to get a deeply discounted price. I picked these up for under $50, shipping included. I usually take size 8.5 in sandals, but all I could find in my price range was a 9. Since I know this brand, I knew that 9 would be fine, and it is.

Here's where the story gets a little bit strange. When the sandals arrived, I noticed immediately that there was something different about them compared to my black pair. It didn't take too much investigation to find out what. The heel height is a full 3/8" (1 cm) higher than the black pair. I have experience with this phenomenon, that is, of heel heights being slightly higher as the size gets bigger, but I've never seen such a drastic difference in 1/2 a size before. I have several other shoes where I bought more than one pair of the same model 1/2 size different, I even have a different Michael Kors sandal model in both 8 1/2 and 9, and the difference in heel height is less than 1/8" between these sizes.

In a way I feel lucky, because the steeper tan heels are way cooler looking, incrementally of course, than their less-inclined black siblings, but the thing is, the difference is enough to noticeably affect the whole feel of the shoe, and it's right at the limit of what I can wear gracefully. I guess I'll have to work on my ankle flexibility some more.

Has anyone else ever seen such a big difference in heel height within the same model of shoe? I am curious.

Oh, I forgot to include important information for those of you who are interested. The height of the taller heels is 5 1/2", and the shorter heels measure a mere 5 1/8". The platforms on both are identical at 1". 

I just inventoried my shoes for the first time in quite a while, and I have 49 pairs, up from 33 pairs a year and a half ago, which was the last time I carefully inventoried my shoes Jeff B style. 

The increase is not simply additive, I have purged about 10 pairs, mainly due to fit issues that I could not resolve. 

The main thing I noticed about my collection is that the average height of my heels has risen slowly but surely, and the number  of stiletto heels in my collection has increased dramatically. Pictured below is my collection. I don't feel it's too many, as I wear them all regularly as the season dictates, save two pairs of sandals, which I feel are too radical, even for me, to wear in public, and one pair of oxfords, which are too high for me to walk in gracefully. I'm workin' on it.

Coincidentally, a good friend of mine played this piece six months ago at her faculty recital. Sometimes, it's easy to take greatness for granted when you're that close to it. One huge difference between my friend and this gal, however (other than my friend being twice the age) is that my friend may be the world's frumpiest dresser, shoes included. 

2 hours ago, JeffB said:

The weather has been nice here of late, good conditions for sandals, something I never thought I'd say just a couple of years ago. I've come to appreciate the appeal of such shoes during spring and summer, and I now love wearing them.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly is the appeal for you? What made you do a 180? For me, it was my changing attitude toward gender-segregated styles. When I was growing up in the 1980s, you rarely saw men or boys wearing sandals, because they were considered rather feminine. So of course I always secretly wished I could wear sandals. 

Of course, times changed, and men began to wear sandals all summer. It then became an issue of refusing to put something that ugly (99% of men's sandals) on my feet. I am very particular about my feet. Funny, I know. I had to go all the way to Vietnam before I found some men's sandals that were not hideous. That was about 8 years ago. 3 years ago, I bought my first pair of women's sandals, and of course I haven't had a bit of trouble finding awesome looking sandals since. 

I believe, Steve, that if you search your email with me from last summer, I may have provided more information than what I can now. I don't know the model name of these BCBGenerations sandals, but I can almost guarantee that they are not a very current style, as I purchased them on ebay for cheap. I had problems with them being loose, which I fixed with not just one, but two fitting aids. Now they're acceptable. I still don't necessarily like to wear them out (maybe to the grocery store or Wal-Mart), but they're great for home! No problem with the thong irritating between my toes.

I am in heels most of the time on the lower floor of the house (shoes must be removed to go upstairs). However, I don't usually wear shoes that I would go out in. I have a few pairs of "house slippers" which are somewhat lower than I'd normally wear, and most importantly, they're easy to slip on and off. Here is an example of what I'm talking about:

I have only yesterday gotten my feet in good shape for wearing sandals. I have also recently purchased several new pairs. I'm ready!

I have read several responses which essentially say "I don't wear heels in front of my kids." I do not really understand this. Well, unless you started wearing heels when they were teenagers, then in many circumstances I could see it. But for younger children, I'm going on the assumption that the anticipated problem is not the kids themselves, but rather the friends/classmates, and maybe more importantly, the parents of those friends/classmates.

If I may play devil's advocate for a minute, isn't hiding your shoes from your kids a tacit admission that what you're doing is somehow wrong? I can absolutely see not wanting it to get out into the general public in some circumstances, but I don't understand the hiding it from your kids.

I look forward to hearing people's further thoughts on the subject.

I know this is not my thread, but I'm thinking maybe we should redirect our focus about say, one meter lower. So I'll ask this question to you W6ish: Which is it that you find most exciting? The jeans or the shoes? Would you still wear the shoes with easier-to-pull-on jeans? Would you wear the tight jeans with flats? Would the thrill be completely gone if you didn't put yourself in situations where you have to talk yourself into getting out of the car? I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm just truly curious.