mlroseplant

This thread has gone a bit stale, but I only noticed it just now, and it seems like there is no harm in resurrecting it.

My favorite style by far is the mule (and its close cousin, the backless clog)--open toed for the summer, and closed-toed for the winter. I haven't done an inventory lately, but my approximately 60 pair shoe collection is probably comprised of 35 pairs of backless footwear, if that gives you any indication of my footwear biases. I prefer a heel height of between 4.5 and 5.5 inches, but with a platform no greater than 1 inch. The rise should ideally be at least 4 inches. In an ideal world, I like stiletto heels, and I have many pairs, but as a practical matter, I often wear thicker heels for the simple reason that they are more durable. There have been times where I have worn out stiletto heel tips in a single day, slightly thicker heels last 10 times as long.

My second favorite style is the oxford, which is the shoe I wore most often when I first started heeling. If I could find a selection of oxfords with decently high heels which did not look fetishy, I would buy more oxfords. The normal-looking oxfords seem to top out at about 4 inches of heel height, and there are a ton of them at 3.5 inches and lower that are super nice looking, but are just not for me.

My least favorite type of shoe? OK, my least favorite type of high heel! Birkenstocks don't count here. I would say it is the thigh-high boot. My apologies to thigh-high fans, but I have just never gotten it, why you would want boots to go over your knee, unless you were fly fishing. Ya'll know I value ankle flexibility a lot, not to mention a thing about knee flexibility! At least I am logical and consistent, thigh-high boots being pretty much the opposite of open toed mules.

Electrician here, so no heels at work for me, either. I have been working at these data centers that are popping up all over the place in this area for several years. Every contractor has its own peculiar requirements. The contractor I just left had a steel toe requirement, but had no problem with my steel toed shoes, which were perfect for the light duty type of work I was doing. My new employer doesn't require steel toes, but does require a boot that at least covers your ankle. Which is absolutely bass ackward from the way it ought to be. The work I'm doing now is inside, where it's very unlikely to turn an ankle, but we're running some fairly large conduit, which would probably leave a mark or two if you dropped a piece of it on your foot. My steel toed shoes ought to be just the ticket, but no, the rules are the rules because they are the rules.

I suspected before, but now I am quite sure my feet have shrunk a bit in the last couple of years. I have a pair of Aldo oxfords, which have in the past been my go-to shoes to wear with a men's suit, as the styling is exactly that of a conservative man's (nearly) flat cap-toe oxford, only these have 4 1/4" stiletto heels.

The reason I bring this up is because many of you know that Aldo's sizing scheme was a bit "off" compared to everybody else. These oxfords are European size 40, which should be at least a 9 U.S., which is what I normally wear. These Aldo 40s are small. In fact, for the longest time, I couldn't even squeeze into them. Then I discovered that with trouser socks and a shoehorn, I could get them on. They never really pinched my feet anywhere, but they were an absolute bitch to get on, and nearly impossible without trouser socks or hosiery of some sort. Regular socks were too thick.

Today, I had to go to a funeral. In fact, I had to sing at it, so it wasn't like I was in the back where no one could see me. I decided that these Aldo oxfords were just the ticket, as their styling is quite conservative. I hadn't worn them in quite a while. In fact, they had spider webs in them when I pulled them off the shelf! Like.  .  . old spider webs. A little polishing up, and they were good to go. And guess what? They slipped right on with a minimum of fuss, and I could feel there was a tiny bit of extra room in there that didn't exist before.

I have no idea how or why, but my feet have definitely gotten smaller. Not necessarily better, but smaller for sure!

51 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

I could compare what you describe to the very old fashioned bicycle saddles I use - Brooks of England, the same leather saddles they have been making for over 100 years. If someone who does not ride were to hop on my bike and go for a spin they would think the saddle was diabolical, and marvel that anybody could ride a bike with a saddle like that. Yet properly broken in those saddles are fabulously comfortable. I regularly put in 100+ mile days on my bike and never give the saddle a thought. 

I used to have one of those! On an old lugged frame Gitane from the 60s or 70s. I agree with you whole-heartedly, except for the 100+ mile days. You may keep those! I tried to be a serious cyclist once, and I just don't love it enough.

And now, I will do some actual rumination. That is the title of this thread, after all.

I have decided that I might be a freak of nature. Recently, I have been thinking about how my body reacts to being in heels for long periods of time, and have decided that, in general, it reacts pretty well. To be fair, I do not have the opportunity to wear high heels all day, every day, as my profession won't allow it, but on those occasions where I have worn heels exclusively for a week or so, I seem to come out the other end in pretty good shape, and it's only getting better as the years go by.

This seems to be the opposite experience of women heel wearers I know. Even my best shoe buddy, a 43-year-old daily heel wearer, has already contemplated at what age she might have to give up wearing heels except for special occasions. Right now, she would not even consider wearing flats to work, but her work doesn't involve much standing or walking. And yet, even she didn't even consider wearing heels as her main footwear on our recent trip to Chicago (see directly above, no we did not go by ourselves), despite 25+ years of almost daily heeling experience. Whereas I, with a mere 6 years part-time experience, wore substantial heels the entire time with no deleterious effect, and I really could have done much more. How can this be?

It may be that my body is simply more adaptable to physical stressors than the average. This is probably true, though I don't feel I am anything beyond the range of "normal." It may be that I'm at the upper end of the range, however. Whenever it becomes necessary to do unusually hard physical labor at work or at home, it seems I usually feel better (or at least not as bad) the following day than do many others. However, I think the secret lies in my approach to heeling compared to all but the tiniest fraction of the heel-wearing population. I have always approached heeling largely as an athletic challenge. For sure, I also like the way they look, but it's always been the women who can walk in heels as if they were the easiest thing in the world who have impressed me, and from a young age I always wondered if I could do the same thing.

When I started heeling publicly, my heels were all very androgynous, and not too high. After gaining enough confidence to venture out, I put some miles on those 3 inch heels. Hundreds of miles. I developed an acid test for new shoes: If I couldn't walk two miles in them in reasonable comfort, they were gone. I got rid of some shoes I really, really liked because of this. Gradually, over 6 years, my heels have gotten higher, but my standards have not gotten lower. I reject a lot of shoes still, and it is always disappointing.

Not that I haven't had pain from wearing heels, but it has pretty much been all my fault every time, especially in the beginning. I remember in particular buying my first pair of boots, and wearing them right out of the store and into a shopping mall where I had several errands to run. The brand new boots were much higher/steeper than what I was used to at the time, my errands took longer than I anticipated, and I thought I was going to DIE before I got back to the car. My feet hurt so much that I thought I had done some permanent damage. I hung my head in despair and defeat, thinking, "OK, this is why women bitch about wearing heels." Now I realize that this experience was totally due to lack of training/preparedness. An analogy would be trying to run a half marathon when the most you had ever run in your life was a 5K. Luckily, I didn't get too discouraged, and continued toward my heeling goals within a day or two. Today, that same excursion in those same boots would be entirely forgettable and ordinary (and pain free!).

I have a few nieces who claim they want to be able to wear heels like me, but none have been willing to do what I have done, so unfortunately I do not have any evidence, scientific or otherwise, to back up my ideas and assertions about how it is possible to live in heels in relative comfort. I have only my own experience to go by, and only a handful seem to believe me that I actually enjoy the feeling of wearing heels, even after the second mile.

I haven't had a dog since I started wearing heels publicly, but I would wear heels to walk the dog, if I had one. What's the use of wasting a perfectly good walk by wearing flats? However, if I had to go over non-paved soft terrain, as pictured above, I would opt for wedges. I would be mortified if my shoes looked like that, ever! To be fair, I have quit mowing lawns in heels some time ago, opting for work boots instead.

I wondered this myself. I'm pretty convinced my feet have dropped half a size in the past few years. 

I see that it has been over 5 months since my last post. How does one re-enter the world of HHP gracefully? Are some words of explanation necessary? Where have I been? What made me stop posting?

The truth is, I don’t have an explanation, other than that I simply didn’t feel like posting for a while. But now I have a story that I feel is worth sharing, so I’m jumping back in. I hope you enjoy it.

Recently, I visited Chicago over a long weekend with my family and three other families. The trip almost didn’t happen due to lack of planning, but that’s a whole ‘nuther story in itself. When it became obvious that it was in fact going to happen, I had a big decision to make that most guys don’t have to make: Was I going to wear heels or not? If so, would I wear them the whole time, or would I choose to wear flat shoes to do the touristy stuff, changing into heels only for dinner and the like? Further complicating my decision was the fact that my wife would definitely prefer that I not wear heels, and the other two normally heel-wearing women on the trip, one of whom is my close friend and shoe buddy, told me right off before the fact that they were not even going to attempt to wear heels except for pictures and maybe dinner.

From the outset, I knew I wasn’t going to carry heels in a bag for pictures or dinner. I mean, why bother with that, when the attraction was actually getting to walk in them? Most women find this concept to be quite unfathomable, but hey, that’s sort of where I’m at in life. I haven’t practiced walking for literally thousands of miles in heels in order to carry them in a bag. So I made my decision. I would wear heels for the entire trip, if my feet would let me. But which heels? In the middle of August, sandals seemed the natural choice. Unfortunately, I’ve had a number of my sandals become unwearable this summer for various reasons, due to catastrophic failure. Sandals that had been my longtime friends suddenly decided to bite into my toes on a short, one mile walk. In the end, I wound up taking six pairs of heels with me, including one pair of oxfords that I knew I could count on if all else failed. Plus one pair of tennis shoes (trainers), just in case.

In the end, I showed the girls how it’s done. Not only did I stick to my heels the entire time (according to my phone, 18,000 steps and 6+ miles on one day), but I did so without any negative effects whatsoever. No blisters, no aching feet, no cramped calves. No one was more surprised than me about that. I guess all that training paid off in the end. Admittedly, it wasn’t like going to Disney World or something like this, but we did cover a fair amount of ground. It was a blast!

In non-shoe news, my wife had an excellent time, and is already planning our next mini-vacation, although she did carefully crop my feet out of every picture before posting anything on Facebook. The one photo I have to show you was taken by someone else. It shows my BCBGirls Bonny wooden platform mules, which look like they’d be the absolute worst thing you could wear for walking a long way, but are surprisingly comfortable. I’d just had them reheeled before the trip, and they didn’t disappoint. I also wore some wedges and some Michael Kors stiletto sandals for part of the time, but 80% of the trip was spent in the BCBG mules.

I would do some things differently next time, but isn’t that usually true of anything?

My highest heels all cluster around the 5 1/2 inch or 14 cm mark. Most of them have about a 1 inch platform. Even after over 6 years of practice, 4 1/2 inch difference between front and back is about the highest I can manage and not look ridiculous. The problem for me is not necessarily comfort, but ankle flexibility, or lack thereof. I have some steeper shoes. In fact, I was just giving them a try the other day, but I have to take what feels like absurdly small steps in order to not walk with constantly bent knees. Not a good look for anybody, male or female.

What I have found is that over the past 6 years, I now prefer a height difference between front and back of about 4 inches, give or take, for all day, general use. 6 years ago, or even 3 years ago this would have killed me. At first, I put a heck of a lot of miles on shoes that had more like 3 inches of height difference. As they have worn out or broken, I have replaced them with steeper models, as the feel just isn't right to me anymore.

I wear U.S. Women's size 9 in closed shoes, 8 1/2 in sandals. This usually translates to European size 39 or 40, depending.

When I see a woman wearing heels well, there is an element of sexual arousal, but when I'm wearing them myself, they are only "my shoes." They just make me happy, for some dumb reason.

I'm next door in Iowa!

This isn't really a question at all, but a report. I thought my feet were actually in pretty good shape for a man of 50 who spends 10 hours a day on his feet, working. However, I had enough niggling little concerns that I decided to pay a visit to the good foot doctor. 

As it turns out, I guess I'm falling apart, sort of. The biggest problem I have is that apparently, I have a bone spur on the side of my left heel that bothers me a bit at work mostly. I think I know how I developed it, but I'll never know for sure. It was about 12 years ago, I was going through a divorce, and I had just about run out of money, so I was forced to go on the road to find work (times were not that great in the construction industry at home). I don't remember much about the job, other than that I had to walk miles and miles every day in ill-fitting boots because I couldn't afford new ones. It was there I developed this weird injury on my heel. It bothered me a little bit for a while, and then it didn't for a number of years. Well now it's bothering me again, and evidently it's a bone spur. I'm just dealing with it for now, because any cure sounds worse than the problem. I just put a little moleskin pad over it that has a hole in the center of it to take the pressure off it. If I were allowed to wear mules or clogs at work, it wouldn't bother me at all!

In addition, I am developing a corn on my right little toe. This is the one time that I might have to place some blame on my high heeled footwear. I even know which shoes are likely the guilty parties. I haven't gotten rid of anything yet, but I'll have to consider it. So I'm also taping both little toes at work to prevent my boots from rubbing, and also to try and bring them back straight. They tend to fold under, and are developing a hard crease on their undersides. 

Also, I have fungal infections in both little toenails. I'm going to beat that, though. I have a plan. I'll let you know by Christmas whether it worked. It's already 100% better after a couple months of massaging almond oil into the nails for 15 seconds twice a day. The podiatrist suggested I switch to Vicks Vaporub, which has been proven in studies to knock down the fungus, and in some cases, cure it completely. Also, tea tree oil seems to have the same effect. I'm now using both! Stay tuned. I don't have room in my life for ugly toenails!

To round out the visit, my right big toenail has changed shape slightly, so that it wants to become ingrown easily. If I keep on top of it, it's not a problem. The doctor said welcome to getting old! Again, nothing to be done. I have taken up yoga so that, among other things, I can continue to be flexible enough to take care of my own feet. Only now, I have to make sure I have my glasses with me in the bathroom, as I can no longer see what I'm doing without them. 

Growing old is not all bad, but it does have its challenges!

I have three thoughts:

1) I think that is definitely one of your better outfits ever. The whole thing rather suits you well. 

2) I guess I never worry about being "overdressed." For one thing, it's tough to do it with shorts, although those shoes are pretty fancy (and awesome!). I am also probably just accustomed to seeing it because my wife and my best friend, both Vietnamese ladies in their mid 40s, overdress by most people's standards almost every time they leave the house. 

3) I notice you said you had never worn those shoes before this outing. You're a braver man than I! I don't do that anymore because it really sucks when you get about a half mile away from your car or other means of transportation and realize that there is some fitment issue with the shoes that did not reveal itself just walking around the house. Or when you discover that the heel or sole of your brand new shoes is unusually slick, and you're at the far side of your favorite supermarket that has waxed tile floors! As a result of these experiences, I always take new shoes for a mile or two test spin in a less public location first, just to make certain. 

Keep up the good work! Well, I guess it's not really "work," but you know what I mean. 

17 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

When I was a kid all shorts were this length. I remember when they got longer thinking, why?

Indeed. When I look at my high school annual(s) and see pictures of me on the tennis team circa 1984-86, we all wore shorts of this length, and we typically wore basically the same style and length off the court as well. 

17 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

Nicely done Mr X

You just need to get some sun on those pins of yours! Perhaps some fake tan?

Perhaps this comment was made facetiously, but what is the deal, especially in this day and age when we know about the dangers of skin cancer, with insisting that people be tanned? There is not a thing wrong with pale legs, if that is one's natural color. 

Not only do I wear high heels to the dentist, I've gotten a bit of a reputation there. The dentist himself has never actually said anything, but the dental hygienists, who are all women, look forward to seeing which shoes I have selected "this time."  I try not to repeat a pair of shoes when I go there. My long-time personal hygienist even admitted that I inspired her to try heels again for the first time in years. I haven't actually seen them, but she told me she bought some wedges, and enjoyed wearing them. 

I only wish that my old dentist had not moved away before I started wearing heels. She always wore heels to the office. Not super high ones, but they were always very stylish and somewhat trendy. 

I just did an inventory, and I have 52 pairs. The number changes fairly regularly, both up and down. I feel like it's not quite enough. I'd be happier at around 75 or so.

Looking through my collection, I don't have any terribly "girlie" shoes, though my definition might be skewed. Some would say if it has a noticeably high heel, it's girlie. I nominate these two because 1) they're both mules, which has got to be the girliest general category, right? And 2) because of their color and heel shape. 

In the first photo (center), we have our cheap knockoff of a Steve Madden Barbb, discussed elsewhere on this forum. These qualify because they are a light pink patent color, and the heel is super thin. Other than that, I don't think they're particularly girlie. I wear the black ones often in the summer with dressier stuff. The lighter colored ones are new. 

The gold thongs probably qualify for the bling factor with the gold colored fringe, but I don't feel they're so much "girlie "as they are "old lady at a casino," if only the heels were short wedges instead of 4 3/4 inch stilettos. 

Since I wear heels every day and everywhere, getting "caught" applies only to a certain segment of people in my life, and that would be my coworkers. I work construction, so I am unable to wear high heels at work. I have attended some outside of work get-togethers in heels, but it's unusual. Every once in a while, I'll run into somebody from work who doesn't know I wear heels. I've never really gotten a comment about it one way or the other.

On 4/21/2018 at 10:22 AM, SF said:

Yep, beware - when you post pictures they may (will) show up anywhere that you least expect them....  Over the years several of my pictures that I have posted here at hhplace have mysteriously appeared on various sites (pinterest and google for example).  The fact that they were there bothered me for a while, but they were nice pictures and I got over it.  Privacy IS a thing of the past.  

And as others have said, when you are out in public and photographed - you are own your own.....

Who is John Gault???   ha ha     Take care all...   sf  

Who is John Gault? HA! Haven't heard that one in a while. 

13 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Look great, I'd be surprised if the plastic soles don't crack on the black pair. There's not much give, I have a few. When they crack there is a noticeable snap, but then suddenly they become easier and more comfortable to walk in.

Oh, don't even say that! I bought these mainly because I lost three pairs of sandals last year, due to catastrophic failure. I'd hate to think I will experience the same this year, since I'm not particularly hard on shoes. I guess I should expect it, walking in shoes that aren't really designed for walking. 

Speaking of walking, the weather was finally warm enough (50° F / 10° C) to go for a spin last night in the coral pair. They are already way easier to get on and off. A couple more times, and I think they will actually be comfortable. 

Springtime is here (so far in name only), so it is time for new sandals! I scored two new (to me) pair on ebay. Both of them are mules (really, is there any other kind worth wearing?) Both of them are Nine West. Both of them are non-current models by several years which I'd never seen or heard of before now. Neither has been worn much at all. The salmon colored pair is called Dance Card, and features cork-look heels of a whopping 5 3/8 inches, but with a 1 1/4 inch platform, so they are surprisingly easy to walk in. The black pair is called Versell, and I believe they've never been worn at all. There is one silver metal doodad missing on the front, so I got them for $5 (plus shipping). The Versell model has a 4 5/8 inch stiletto heel which appears to be made of molded plastic. With a 5/8 inch platform, they're right at 4 inches difference between the toe and heel, making for relatively easy walking.

Actually, I can't comment on either of these yet, because I have worn them only cursorily. Both of them fit exactly the same--tight. I can tell they will straighten up and fly right in pretty short order, but they're a bitch to get on with the multiple straps to scrunch up your foot. It will just be a matter of wearing them for a few hours, and they will be fine.

3 hours ago, JeffB said:

Speaking of practical shoes, I can't wait for the weather to finally warm up so I can break out my flat sandals which I've come to love wearing.

In theory, I like flat sandals also, as long as they are leather and fairly thin-soled. However, in practice, I rarely pass up the opportunity to wear heels, so I am reluctant to purchase flatties of any sort, for fear it will be a waste of money. I have one pair of flat sandals which never gets worn, to the point where the leather is starting to become hard from neglect.

I only like the ones at the upper end of the heel height range, which would be 3 - 3 1/2 inches, and I only like to look at them on other people (probably women, to be honest), and I don't think they look very good on me. I was considering a pair to use as organ shoes, but soon realized I'd better stick to the specialty shoes for that purpose.

My tastes have changed over the past few years. When I first started heeling, I was most comfortable in ankle to mid-calf boots with boot cut jeans or pants/trousers. However, as I have become more confident in my style, I have taken to wearing skinnier pants almost always, though I rarely wear truly tight "skinny" jeans/pants. Mid-calf boots don't seem to work out so well with slimmer pants--what do you do with them? Outside or inside? Neither looks that great on me to my eye, so I have gravitated toward either knee highs on the outside of the pants, or ankle boots. All my boots are in the heel height range of 4 1/2 - 5 1/4 inches, and are either stiletto heels, or nicely tapered thicker heels. I'm not a big fan of straight sided block heels. To me they look clunky. Oh, and all of my boots save one have a small platform, 1 inch or less. I have one pair of boots with a 5 inch heel and no platform, but I'm still working up to them as far as wanting to wear them in public without looking silly. I am aware of my physical limitations. My graceful limit right now is about a 4 1/2 inch difference between heel and platform (size 9 U.S. women's).