mlroseplant

Sorry but I got a good kick out of the no desire to wear heels in public...

...I wear heels every day. (I dress as a man though), BUT sometimes when I come home I just think how awesome this is that I can do this and I don't want it to end. Then sometimes I want more. I see a great hi heeled sandal and want for that but I know it will never happen.

So this is almost like a drug or addiction.

I'm in the same situation at almost the same age. I also wear heels every day, but otherwise dress and present as an average man--in other words, no skirts, makeup, or nail polish.

However, I know what you mean about the cool sandals. I do wear high heeled sandals, but there is a limit as to what I feel I can get away with. Then again, I am now wearing stuff that only a couple of years ago, I would not have dared to wear, like stilettos and somewhat feminine sandals. So perhaps it is a quest for ever-increasing thrills.

I think I have pretty nice legs when I'm standing still, but unfortunately I am somewhat bowlegged, and I have a rather stiff walk. I probably don't look nearly as nice as I feel when I'm wearing heels or short shorts.

Here is an example of the countless high heeled motorbike riding women in Hanoi. Not a great picture, but I do value my life over a higher quality photo.

Girls in Vietnam do it all the time, every day. Automatic scooters are becoming more common, but the semi-automatic 4 speeds are the norm, where you have to shift with your left foot and operate the rear brake with your right.

Yes, it's true sometimes your feet swell during a flight, but I've never had any trouble except on a trans-Pacific flight of 13 hours. I've never had any difficulty getting my shoes back on on a domestic flight.

I've only had to retire 2 pairs so far, in 3 years. One was a pair of ankle boots that were rather cheaply made, and the other was a pair of sandals that were also lowish quality. Otherwise, I just keep replacing heels, and keep wearing my other shoes, which now number about 30. I would say that about half that number have had the heels replaced. I've had one pair of boots resoled. Oh, and there was the one pair of sandals where the strap broke the other day.

I am going through the same dilemma. I have sworn, in the past, that I'm going to quit buying heels lower than 4 1/2 inches, because anything lower just doesn't look right to me. However, it takes so much effort to maintain the physical fitness required to wear such heels all the time, I think I'm finally cracking and am willing to wear some lower heels.

I think it is more the WAY he did it. First he acted like he was texting. Then I could tell he was zooming in on something on his camera. All the time avoiding looking at me after I saw that he noticed. Then was the gradual working the phone up and turning it in my direction while looking the other way and then taking the pic. This all took a good 15 minutes at least. I new he was working it and I thought about moving to the next table and should have.

I think I would have been OK with it if he had just taken a pic instead of trying to act like he was not taking the pic.

It reminds me of this little black kid that yelled out "boy got on girl shoes" about 20 yrs ago. Just a feeling that has never gone away and neither will this one.

I am willing to accept criticism but the way this happened I just did not like it.

After all I live my daily live in heels And yes I get a few double takes or someone turns and looks as I pass by. I would to if I saw ME walking thru home depot.

I just hope nothing bad happens when my wife or kids are around.

Yeah, that would bug me too. I don't know how I would handle a situation like that. Probably differently than I would have a year ago.

One of the very few negative experiences I've had was when I was with my wife and one of our kids. Guy had some nerve saying to my wife, "Did you know he's wearing women's shoes? That's kind of gay." My wife shushed me, and nothing came of it. I'm still at a loss to know how to react to that one. Obviously, some people cannot be troubled by etiquette of any sort.

I have returned from my annual visit to Hanoi, Vietnam. The family is fine, they were of course thrilled to see us, and sad to say goodbye at the end of three weeks.

As I have mentioned before, I do not wear high heels in Vietnam, at my wife's request. I do push the envelope slightly in other ways, but that's for another post. For the past three weeks I have worn my "men's" dress shoes, trainers, and thin-strapped leather flip-flops which are actually women's sandals, but my wife didn't say anything, nor did anyone else. What I'm getting at is that I've worn flat shoes for three weeks.

This time around, I didn't miss the heels as much as I have in past years. I even wondered if I had lost my passion to wear them. I waited about 24 hours after returning home to put on some heels.

The good news is that I'm still pretty much a heely guy. Can't really see me wearing flats unless I have to. The bad news is that three weeks away from heels has taken its toll on my ability to wear heels. We went to the mall today to purchase a new tablet. It was a situation where I could have worn my highest, steepest heels a month ago without even thinking about it. Today, I wore moderate heels, and I was feeling it by the time I got back to the car. Guess I need to use this time to get back intto shape！

It's unfortunately part of modern life. You're going to get your picture taken. It's undoubtedly not the first time. I'd just let it go next time. Then it won't really be negative. Either that, or ham it up!

To be fair, I find that when I take a photo on my mobile phone in the "portrait" orientation, no amount of manipulation seems to be able to turn it the necessary 90 degrees when uploading to this site. I find this is true even if I transfer the photo to my computer and mess with it there.

I do not have this problem when the photo is taken with a regular camera. As a result of frustration, I now only take shoe photos intended for this site in the "landscape" format.

Steve, your story (or rather, your wife's story) is a good one as well. As for Miss Hotgirl, mentioned just above, she is going to have to go through life looking a bit like an idiot, because she has p***ed me off for the last time.

On a more positive note, once again, Hanoi is a very good place to see a ton of heels!

The way that high heeled footwear has affected my personal life is twofold, and they are completely different concerns:

1) Like one of the above posters mentioned, I have often caught myself wasting a lot of time not completing necessary physical tasks because I don't want to change out of heels. This problem has been largely alleviated with my purchase of Doc Marten boots with a 3 1/2" wedge heel. These allow me to do pretty much any activity, be it mowing the lawn or shoveling snow, in heels. Also, they are casual enough and subtle enough that I don't feel like I have to completely clean up and dress up to wear them out. I won't wear "normal" high heels out unless I'm quite presentable.

2) I will admit it, I give women who wear heels on a regular basis a little extra credit where maybe it's not deserved. This point was driven home with some force this week, when I realized I was accepting behavior from someone in my life that I really should not accept just because I like to see her in heels. It is not the first time it has happened, and she is not the first person it has happened with. I aim to make sure it is the last. High heels are nice to look at, but they are not worth extending courtesies and favors to those who really don't deserve them.

I had an interesting experience last night, on Lunar New Year's Eve here in Vietnam. We visited my wife's uncle right after midnight. The Vietnamese are fairly superstitious, and exact who is the first visitor to your house in the New Year is important.

This uncle has a youngish daughter, 28, who is single, and is all about fashion and dressing like a Hotgirl. She has been my on and off nemesis for the past 8 years, but she is also one of the very few here who knows how I dress in the U.S. Last night, she did not disappoint, and wore a low cut, short floaty dress with 5 inch peep-toe sparkly pumps (1" platform). Although she loves to wear "ambitious" shoes like that, she's not really very athletic, and doesn't walk well in them.

I joked with her a couple weeks ago that maybe I could give her some instruction about how to walk more gracefully in her heels, and she actually admitted that perhaps she could use some help. Last night, she excused herself for a few minutes, and promptly tripped over the door threshold and fell down right in front of me!

Given our sometimes adversarial history, I couldn't help but feel a moment of delight, but I have to admit, I wish I could be a little bit more like her--she got up, and didn't seem a bit embarrassed. Unfortunately, she didn't allow me to take any pictures, but I'll be meeting her again tonight, so we'll see what another day brings.

Of course, my wife rolls her eyes at the whole thing, but bless her heart, she is very tolerant of me.

Okay, guys, you've convinced me! I'll buy a pair of the Classique pumps and see what they're like. The only decision left to make: black matte or black patent.

Assuming they fit well, wouldn't the obvious answer be, uh, both?

Sort of reminds me of the late great Freddie Mercury.

Haha, the same exact thought crossed my mind!

Not a big fan of the crop top on a guy, even on Freddie, but the rest of it is OK.

I hate to offset the subject, but I have a good story. Several years ago, I was working at a John Deere plant. It was quite a large place, and we had a golf cart to go and fetch things. The foreman sent me to get something or other, and I had to use the golf cart.

The cart was parked facing a wall. I asked the foreman, "How do you get this thing in reverse?" He didn't answer my question, but asked, "Haven't you ever played golf before?" I said that I'd played golf since I was six years old, but that I'd always walked. He looked at me incredulously, and asked, "Huh.....well, how do you carry all your BEER ?" (facepalm)

It's hard to believe, but yet another year has passed, and my family will soon be on its way to Vietnam to visit my wife's family during the Lunar New Year, commonly known as Tet holiday. Many of you have heard this story before, but although she tolerates my choice of footwear here, my wife does not allow me to wear my heels in Vietnam, and that's probably right. We are a little bit more live and let live here in the U.S. At the place where I will be staying, my white face, blond hair and blue eyes attract enough attention already. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I went walking down the street in 5 inch stilettos.

I'll still be in touch, but from the other side of the world for about three weeks.

I am guessing that they are very nice, but couldn't say for sure without seeing the actual heels.

By all means, start a thread! I've got 3 pairs of thong heels myself, although mine are not nearly as radical as those pictured here.

The question is rather vague, but however it is meant, the answer is "yes."

Hello Billy, and welcome. Cutting right to the chase, you must realize that your inner self isn't going to change just because you get rid of some shoes. In my experience, it isn't like a habit the one needs to quit, like smoking. It is a part of one's being. This isn't ever going to go away. I know, because I was in your "shoes" 20 years ago.

What makes you so sure your girlfriend would dump you if she knew about your differing fashion sensibilities? And also, if you would, please describe how things would work out in a perfect world, as far as not having to hide. Do you wish to wear your shoes out in public, or just around the house?

I guess it depends on your hand type. Lots of young men in Vietnam keep their nails on the very longish side for males. By "longish," I mean about 5-6 mm, and it doesn't look too bad.

My own hands have gotten so thick and meaty from years of manual labor that I wouldn't look good with long nails at all. I do try to keep about 3 mm nails on all but the little finger of my right hand, but that, as with TBG, is for fingerstyle guitar playing, not for the look.

After reading the replies and having given it some thought, I think it has something to do with society's idea of "manliness." When I'm in boots, tight jeans and a trenchcoat, I'm really only pushing one part of one envelope--the heels. When I'm wearing short shorts, shaved legs, with a fitted t-shirt and high heeled sandals, I'm pushing many envelopes as far as what people expect to see a man wearing. Perhaps this explains my general feeling of being more confident in the winter--I'm just less radical.

There are still some women out there who do not like to see a man wearing sandals of any sort, even the heavy, ugly, flat things that pass as acceptable footwear for men. I'll give them a small benefit of the doubt--most guys do not take care of their feet adequately, but I do.

On the other hand, even if I were a chick, wearing what I like to wear in the summer, I can imagine that I would still receive some unwanted attention.

Those here that wear heels in public, more power to ya, but I would bet, more often than not, that you get known as the crazy guy that wears womans shoes and boots. Some poeple will get used to seeing you around, and realize you are harmless and chat with you from time to time and to some point accept the shoe wearing, but I doubt there are very many people that high fashion is the first thing they think about when they see a guy in heels. For the most part most people are amused by the oddity of it all.

Yeah, that's probably about right, and that's ok. If people just leave me alone, I'll be happy with that. Doing something different always has its price, but also its rewards.