mlroseplant

I too used to shy away from sandals in my younger days, and part of that is that I'm pretty picky about my feet. Before I started wearing heels, I was unable to find a pair of men's sandals that I would be seen in. I would often go barefoot, but there was no way I was going to put those ugly men's sandals on my feet. I did eventually find a pair of men's sandals in Vietnam which were acceptable. I wore the heck out of them.

Shortly after that time, I decided to try high heels seriously for the first time. It wasn't long before I bought my first pair of high heeled sandals, and, like your first pair, they happened to be wedges. They also happened to be slides. As the collection has grown, more than half of my shoes are sandals, and most of those are slides. I'm not crazy about wedges, but they are awfully practical in the summer months when one might be walking on grass for a backyard party or something. I have a lot of stiletto heeled sandals, and quite a few wooden-heeled sandals. It may be time for another inventory soon, as I have made a lot of changes lately.

There is one thing that I haven't been able to bring myself to do, and I don't know why it's such a mental block. That is, to wear sandals when the weather is still cold, as I often see women do (usually it's in a very casual situation, like going to the grocery store). I am blessed with feet that don't get cold easily, so I could wear sandals when temperatures dictate the necessity of a coat, but I don't feel comfortable doing that, for some reason.

6 hours ago, Shyheels said:

That hasn't stopped Thighbootguy, CAT or Jeff B from wearing any damned thing they please, any time they like, and they seem to be prospering. Melrose Plant wears heels all the time. His blue collar mates know all about it, so do the folks at his church choir. He's still breathing, as far as I know.

Choices are ours. 

Wasn't it Emerson who said "What you think of me is none of my business."

It pains me to find myself in the situation where I must be contradictory, but since my name has been dragged into this conversation, I feel I must answer.

I don't disagree with you that we are free to wear what we want, the limitation on that being our own personal boldness and ability to be thick-skinned. However, when I say "free," there are limitations on that as a male, much in the same way that I am "free" to not go to work if I so choose, but it doesn't keep a roof over my family's head if I choose to exercise that freedom.

In your four examples, each of these fine fellows has a limitation on their fashion freedom, by their own admission. I'll start with myself. I am not allowed to wear heels when we visit Vietnam. That's the rules. A small price to pay for domestic tranquility. Sometimes, here in the USA, my wife will tell me, "We will be going to visit such and such at his house. You will not wear heels, nhé? Or, and here is the worst one, if I am to play or sing something at church (where I always wear heels) and she wants to video it so that she can show the folks back in Vietnam, she will often insist that I wear flats so that the people back in Vietnam don't see what a freak I am. It's no problem, I have just come to accept it, got to keep the wife happy to make the life happy. But I am certainly not free to wear whatever I want, whenever I want, and it is because I am a man.

TBG is probably the closest to me in execution, and by that I mean that he wears "alternative" clothing every day, rather than saving it for special occasions. Even he admits that there are certain venues where he will not wear certain things. That's because he's a man.

JeffB is perhaps the most thoroughly thought out dresser in this whole bunch, but, as far as I know, his impeccable style is reserved for his jaunts only. It's not an everyday thing with him. I am sure that were he a woman, he would feel free to wear the type of outfits he wears on his jaunts to work every day. Alas, that is not the case.

CAT I don't know very well, but he has indicated in his prior posts that the reason he always crops out his face in his numerous photographs is to protect his kids from possible ridicule, should their dad be discovered by accident on the internet, dressed like that. I can infer from this that he doesn't walk around his neighborhood every day wearing what we see on here, or the face-cropping thing wouldn't make a bit of sense. Again, if CAT were a woman, this would simply not be an issue.

So, you know, yeah, we're free to wear what we want in the theoretical sense, but reality often dictates that we conform to society's expectations. I guess I'm not complaining. It's actually gotten a lot better in recent years, and I expect that trend will continue in the years to come.

12 hours ago, killer heels said:

Thanks. Whatdo you enjoy about the extra high heels on your boots can I ask? UK size7/8

That's a question that is not easily explained. If someone with complete dominion over the world decreed that the maximum heel height was 3 inches, I don't think I'd even bother going through the trouble of wearing heels at all. Anything that low just doesn't give me the feeling of well-being that I'm after, and I like the look of a higher heel. It has nothing to do with increasing my actual height (I am 5'5" also).

Here is Yuja Wang playing with Lynn Harrell, who is still smooth as glass at age 70. I hope my hands still work 1/10 that well in 20 years. 

I will reiterate the observation that it is fundamentally unfair that Lynn is saddled with a long sleeve shirt PLUS a jacket, while Yuja has the freedom of bare skin if she so chooses. Which she often does! Another point of interest is that she's wearing mules, something I hadn't seen her in before. 

Here is another shorter video of Yuja with a good shoe shot in it:

8 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

I didn't think you were supposed to notice that at church.   Must have been a dull sermon.

But thanks for sharing.  Does the choir director know you play cello?  I just saw a concert on TV of Bach and Kuhnau works and they featured shots of the first chair cello doing finger dancing.  Wow have I got a looong way to go.  I don't think I have that many years left.

We're a relatively liberal bunch at our church. We must be, or I would probably have been excommunicated a long time ago!

Yes, she knows I play cello, I played cello with the choir the second Sunday she was here. My dad went up to say hello and meet her the first week she was here, and evidently, he must have bragged about me a little bit, because I was messaged shortly thereafter, and interrogated about what I can and cannot do. 

I don't mind admitting that I practiced the piece a whole lot more than I would have under the old choir director. I am newly inspired, both musically and fashion-wise. The choir is sounding noticeably better under her direction, and I'm not the only one who has observed this.

Somebody who never wears heels. Like ever. Close friend of mine. Showed up in these at church today, with glowing reviews of comfort. I know, not much to tell, but I noticed right away, and she was surprised (I have no idea why), because she was going to show me if I didn't notice.

Choir director was wearing kitten heels, but not a repeat, and not flats! And a short skirt, too!

The sudden cold weather has already reached us with a snowstorm approaching. Naturally, there are two new pairs of....sandals.... waiting for me at home. 

We have a new music director at the church. We have done without for the better part of a year, getting by on temporary volunteers to lead the choir who already had full time jobs elsewhere. So it was with great anticipation that we awaited our new hire's arrival. Well guess what? Not only is she a very talented musician, I've yet to see her in flats even once. She says she absolutely loves high heels. I asked her how many pairs she owned, but she was not sure of the exact number. I commented that I had yet to see her wear the same pair twice and she said that her collection was not quite as extensive as it seemed, and that I would be seeing a repeat sometime soon. I haven't seen a repeat yet!

She doesn't wear terribly high heels, I think the highest I've seen is not quite 4 inches, probably closer to 3.5, most are around 3 inches, but I haven't seen any kitten heels yet, either. It was pointed out by a choir member that my shoes were noticeably higher. This was on the first day we met her, and neither the comment nor the fact that I was wearing fairly giant heels seemed to faze her a bit. As I get to know her better, I might have another shoe buddy!

Ever since I reached my goal of walking 1,000 miles in high heels, I have become quite lazy to go more. I haven't taken a walk in heels or flats for nearly 3 months. I gained about 5 pounds while I was in Vietnam (all they ever want you to do is eat), and, with warmer weather approaching, I want to be able to wear my shorts without looking pregnant. So I started walking again yesterday, in heels of course, is there any other way? I am not ashamed to admit, it was a lot of work, and I only walked a mile.  Time to get back in shape!

3 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

 

As for showing my face... Everyone I know knows I wear boots and most know I wear skirts (and if they don't they wouldn't be surprised).  I started posting full pictures back in 2007.

I have the same type of situation here. Everyone knows I wear heels. I don't wear skirts, but I do wear some awfully short shorts in the summer. I live in a small town, anonymity is not possible, so I don't have a problem showing my face on here.

As far as my kids, I guess they've been lucky. As far as I know, no one has ever given my 17 year old any grief about me. I know his friends certainly don't care, and perhaps they admire me a bit. The 8 year old--too soon to tell, but with his personality, if someone ever did say something, he'd give it to them right back. 

23 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

 

In the second video, Bach (and I'm embarrassed that I can't identify the piece) the camera angle shows her pedal work.

The piece is Toccata & Fugue in D Minor "Dorian". It's the OTHER Toccata & Fugue in D Minor. In this video, the fugue is cut off for some reason. The whole piece runs about 13 minutes, depending on tempo. 

I can't play this stuff, but my sister can. She is a regular heel wearer, but only for dressy occasions. And not to play the organ. She has normal organ shoes, with about a 1" heel. 

I did some more measuring out of curiosity. In my Aldo oxfords, which are 4 1/4" heels, no platform, it yielded a gain of exactly 3". Then in my Via Spiga boots, which also have 4 1/4" heels, but with a 3/4" platform, the gain was 3 1/4". 

I am sure we could come up with a formula to predict how much taller a person would be wearing shoes having certain dimensions, @Puffer. As you suspect, the biggest variable would be the length of the foot, but I could also see another variable, which would have to do with the exact position of the ankle/pivot point in relation to the back of the person's heel. I imagine this would vary slightly from person to person. 

In any case, although my maximum height gain appears to be around 4", absent a huge platform, when I'm wearing the 5 1/2" platform pumps, I feel ten feet tall and bulletproof! I'd better watch it. 

2 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

I stand corrected, surprised, and a little bit shorter.

 

You can feel better, or at least taller, knowing that in your normal heel height range, with your substantially larger feet, the geometry is in your favor. In your size, a 4 inch heel probably yields considerably more body height elevation than my size. Which is sort of fundamentally unfair, it seems to me. Randy Newman hit the nail on the head. Short people ain't got no reason to live.

On 3/1/2017 at 7:11 AM, Thighbootguy said:

When you have some spare time... stand flatfooted in a doorway with a ruler on your head and have someone mark your height on the door-frame then repeat it wearing your 5 1/2" heels.  What is the distance between the two marks?

I finally found the time and the place to do some measuring, and the results make me want to do some more measuring, because the results surprised me somewhat.

First, the bad news: I have always been, since age 16, exactly 5' 5 1/2" or just over 166 cm. Evidently, I'm going the way of almost all people as they get older, because sometime in the last few years, I have shrunk 3/8 of an inch. Therefore, I can no longer round up to 5' 6". Not only do I have to round down to 5' 5", I now have to round down to 165 cm. Oh well. Good thing I don't mind being short.

So for the first test: Gucci clogs, 4 3/4" or 12 cm heels, 1 1/4" or 3 cm platform.  I am not counting the thickness of the inner liner on these, which amounts to an additional 1/4". The reason for this is that I want to put open-backed and closed-backed shoes/boots on a level playing field. Since it is impossible to tell on a closed-back shoe the exact thickness of the footbed liner without destroying it in most cases, I "discount" the heel height on open-backed shoes a little bit in an attempt to equalize everything. The result: Standing in these clogs, I gained exactly 3 3/4" in height, or 9.5 cm, to stand at 5' 8 7/8" tall, or 175 cm. Ok, that's about what I expected. I gained about 2 1/2" from a 3 1/2" difference in elevation between heel and toe, plus the 1 1/4" platform, for a total of 3 3/4". No surprise there.

Next up, my Nine West Plantera platform pump/loafers that I wore to the concert the other night with my coworkers. 5 1/2" or 14 cm heels, 1 1/4" or 3 cm platform. So, heightwise, they are the same dimensions as the Gucci clogs, only the heels are 3/4" higher to make the elevation difference 3/4" steeper, and you can definitely feel that when wearing them. However, that 3/4 of an inch translated into a mere 1/8 of an inch increase in head height. That was a bit of a surprise, but maybe not, considering on my Size 9 Women's U.S./7 UK feet (EU 39 or 40, depending on brand), most of that extra heel height is pitching me further forward, rather than upward. So in these, which are about my favorite dressier shoes these days, I stand a full 5' 9" tall.

Last up for the night was my Nine West Bellafina platform pumps, which are the highest heels I own, by a small margin. I've never actually worn them out in public, they show a fair amount of toe cleavage and I haven't yet found the right outfit for them, but in this case, they served a very good experimental purpose. The numbers are: 5 5/8" or 14.25 cm heels, same 1 1/4" or 3 cm platform height as the other two pairs. The result: An additional 1/8" increase in head height, or adding 4 1/8" to my stature, which is surprising. I would have expected the measurement to be nearly identical to the Plantera pumps. So I have two possible explanations: Measuring error, or a difference in the thickness of the footbed liner. I suspect the latter, as I made multiple measurements to double check, once I saw this result. If nothing else, I have worn the Plantera pumps many hours and many miles, possibly compressing the footbed liner somewhat.

What this tells me is that to gain a significant amount more height, I'd have to go to a larger platform, which I find aesthetically disagreeable. In any case, it would amount to at most one additional inch, going to a 2 or 2 1/4" platform. Not going to happen. If I do any more measuring, it will be with lower heels and single soled shoes to check a few of my suspicions. I hope this helps @Thighbootguy and @Puffer.

Good show there, TBG! Ummmm.  .  . Hey.  .  . I like your boots.

I looked up Kimberly Marshall, and not only is she a highly accomplished organist and teacher, but she evidently plays in high heels a lot for some reason. Some pieces almost seem to require high heels:

Then I ran across this video, where she's wearing pretty doggoned high heel (albeit thicker heels). However, upon closer inspection, she is using Baroque pedaling technique, using only the toes (organ pedals used to be much shorter than they are today). So super high heels in this case are no impediment to an experienced heeler. I still can't figure out how she plays that Alain piece using heel-and-toe pedaling technique in stilettos!

22 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

When you have some spare time... stand flatfooted in a doorway with a ruler on your head and have someone mark your height on the door-frame then repeat it wearing your 5 1/2" heels.  What is the distance between the two marks?

I will plan on doing this sometime soon, because now I am curious myself. Somebody at some time had a detailed post about this, involving diagrams, triangles, and stuff like that. In theory, a 5 inch heeled shoe with a platform should raise your head off the floor slightly more than the same 5 inchers without a platform. I'm going to steal Puffer's trick of using a framing square to help me get the mark, just so I don't have to try to explain to my wife why I want her to measure me multiple times. She's simply not a geek.

15 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

Yeah, and a red blinky light on my hat and a fire hose under my arm.

Red seems to go a long way.  I've gotten more askance looks wearing red than anything else.  I wore this today to go to the pharmacy and the grocery store.

Several folks at the grocery "noticed" but no one said anything.  A lot of red is not something to wear if you want to blend into the crowd (unless it's this crowd or this one).

 

Color is the one area of footwear in which I have stayed conservative. I mean, I've never worn thigh highs, but I wear super stiletto-y sandals regularly in the summer, sometimes with shorts. However, everything is black, brown, or tan. I've come a long way, but I'm still not ready for red! Shoes, anyway. Props to you for wearing it!

14 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

I think the reaction you have gotten from your co-workers ("Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch") is a sign of the respect they have for you.  However, I would expect if a discussion ever turns to your or a co-workers height, you should expect a good natured comment like "Yeah, but you should see him in his heels" which will be another opportunity for your "busted" line.

Today, one of my union brothers was in a tight spot, and he needed my help to fix his only car so he could get to work. It also happens that this brother was one of the people who was at the concert last Saturday night. While we were working on the car, I asked him if he had heard anyone on the jobsite say anything about my heels. He said that he had, but really not much. He said that a couple of guys thought it was "a little odd," but nobody said anything negative. He told me he answered them that Squirrel (my persistent nickname on the jobsite) was his own man. They agreed with enthusiasm.

5 hours ago, Puffer said:

Not so.   Anatomy and stature do not allow the full height of a heel to add to one's height when wearing that heel.   The 'ankle angle' you refer to is part of that.   The higher the heel, the greater the 'loss' in added height.   My guess is that, assuming that the heel is 5.5" and the platform 1" (so, net heel height 4.5"), about 4" is added to overall height, i.e. about 3" from the heel plus the full amount of the 1" platform - and Mlroseplant confirms 4".   If you don't believe me, try measuring your height with and without your highest heels.   (I know that, if I wear 5" heels, my effective height increases by not more than 3.5".)

This was exactly how I arrived at my approximate calculation. I counted the 1" platform at full value. Obviously, if I stood on a board 1" thick, all of me, including the top of my head, would be 1" higher than the floor the board is resting on. The remaining 4.5" must be "discounted" or perhaps more humorously, "derated," because the pivot point of my ankle is some distance in front of the back of my heel, which is where we normally measure heel height. I assume this exact distance varies slightly from person to person, but I estimated I gain about 3", give or take, from the remaining 4.5" of heel height. That's how I came up with the 4" increase in height.

3 hours ago, Puffer said:

What struck me from the group photo is that, although you are not a tall man, you appear to be second or third tallest in your gang!   The heels obviously make a difference, but not that much.   Perhaps your added stature (in more ways than one) has made you less open to any challenges, good-natured or otherwise.   Whatever the situation, you (and they) have handled it well.

Unfortunately, it's an optical delusion coupled with coincidence. Just by chance, I happen to be standing right next to Bryan, who is exactly my height in flats, or maybe even half an inch shorter. Everyone else is taller than me, even in giant heels. Just doing the math quickly, I am guessing that those shoes give me right around 4 extra inches of actual gain in height, because of the platform.

Monday morning came around awfully fast--too fast, as usual. I started in a new position at work, as part of the safety team, but that is ancillary and merely coincidental to the purpose of this post. What I really want to talk about is how the guys reacted to me, after having seen me in what must seem to the layman as ridiculously high heels. So here's what happened: Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nobody who had been there Saturday night said a damn thing. And it wasn't a strange silence, either. It was so unbelievably.  .  . normal. We'll see what happens the rest of the week. I have contacts. I will know if someone is talking about me.

Yesterday, I had a decision to make about whether I was going to wear heels to an event. One of my friends and coworkers was going to be playing with his band at a fairly good-sized venue, for a good-sized event, and a few of us made plans to go see him. Normally, I would not have the least reservation about wearing heels to such an event, but then it came to my attention that there wasn't going to be just a handful of us at the concert, but a substantial crowd of people from work, many of them travelers who most likely had no idea about my fashion proclivities. These are the same guys who gave one of the safety crew a lot of trouble because he wore jeans with fancy stitching and a few rhinestones on the back pockets one day. Would I make my future work life miserable for quite a while for just a few hours of fun? On the other hand, my general foreman knows about me, but has never seen me, and I'm sure he would have given me a hard time if I didn't wear heels, so I vacillated for a time about whether to ditch the heels.

About an hour before we were to leave, I finally decided to wear the heels, but which ones? I'd pretty much decided on my outfit, which was going to consist of skinny jeans (but not super tight ones) and a busily patterned yet not in-your-face button down black shirt, which I had planned to wear untucked. Before I even chose the shoes, I looked in the mirror, and didn't like the look. So I tucked in the shirt and added a close fitting jacket. Much better. I immediately thought that this was the time to break out the knee-high boots and wear them loud and proud, but after getting two seconds' look in the mirror, it was, "Nope. Definitely not." I tried some stiletto shoeties/booties, but they just didn't look right with the length of the pants. They probably would have been good with boot cut pants, but not these. So then I looked at my platform loafer pumps, which are about the highest heels I own. And I thought they looked far better than anything else. Wait a minute, am I really going to wear these absurdly high (5.5 inch), basically high-cut pumps to go meet a bunch of construction workers for the first time socially? Yes, I guess I am. What is it they say nowadays? Go big or go home? Something silly like this, but perhaps apt for this situation.

As it turns out, it was fine. There were a lot of people there, some I knew, some I didn't. I only got one comment from the guys, and two comments from strangers, both women. The coworker, after standing there talking with me for 10 minutes without noticing anything, suddenly said, "What the hell is that on your feet?" I answered, "Well, I guess I'm busted, let me buy you a drink, Brother." And that was almost the end of it. He did mention later in the evening that perhaps I should have worn leggings like the attractive lady that had walked past at that moment. I told him that even I have my limits, and we laughed about it. No other coworker who had never seen me before said a word, though I am sure that most, if not all, noticed. Actually, the most awkward feeling I had during the night had nothing to do with heels, but rather because one of the people who showed up was a job superintendent, and it was a little strange interacting with him socially, outside of work. He's always treated me decently, and I don't expect that to change going forward.

A random woman approached me fairly early in the evening and told me that she loved my shoes. She said it twice. I smiled and thanked her, and she went back to her table. Another random woman, several minutes later, who was wearing black Ugg boots with a Harley-Davidson logo embroidered on them, accosted me. She went on and on about how in the hell could I walk in those. I ran into her again later on, and she started in again, pulling nearby people into the conversation. She then asked me what size I wore, and I told her Size 9. So then she wanted to try on my shoes. I said, "Well.  .  . um.  .  . OK, why not?" She could barely manage to stand in them, and was unable to straighten her knees, so that lasted about 30 seconds, and I got my shoes back. Several more minutes of "How can you possibly like those shoes? My feet are still hurting from that 30 seconds.  .  ."

Since I am not comfortable asking people to take my picture, especially with the aim of highlighting my high heels, the only picture I have is a selfie in the mirror in my dingy, disorganized basement. Sorry, it'll have to do. The other picture is, as you can imagine, a portion of the group that showed up. All in all, it was a worthwhile and fun experience, and both bands were playing well that night, and the sound was good.

By the way, the general foreman I was worried about giving me a hard time for not wearing heels never showed up.

On 2/16/2017 at 8:41 AM, Thighbootguy said:

Great vid and thanks for sharing.

The look you are presenting is fine. As for the walking, you manage your heels well but, you still walk like a guy.  I have the same problem and I appreciate the difficulty of changing something you have done for your whole life.

My suggestion is to shorten your stride (take smaller steps) and don't land so hard on your leading foot.  Try walking just a little slower and reducing the bounce in your walk.  Compare your video at 00:05-00:09 with the one miroseplant provided at 00:03-00:05.  The gal manages a long stride but her shoulders remain level.

I didn't know you could upload a .mov and an attachment.  Thanks for the idea.

 

It is perhaps unfortunate that this discussion is stuck up here in the Introduction section, where traffic is more limited. I find that I still struggle with "walking like a guy," and I even struggle with whether there's anything wrong with that, because after all, I am a guy! I mean, is there a masculine way of walking which still looks graceful while wearing high heels? I don't know, and I certainly haven't found it yet, so I still strive for my feminine ideal example, as shown in the video.

I wish my legs were a bit longer, and straighter. Much of my energy is consumed trying to hide the fact that I have bowed legs. I will never look like the woman in the video, even if I were able to exactly copy every movement, simply because of the way my body is made. But I still look to her for a good example of technique.

While I don't disagree with @Thighbootguy, I think my method of getting to the same result is somewhat different. For one, I hate taking short steps if I'm actually walking from Point A to Point B. I need to get there in a reasonable amount of time, or perhaps there are others in my group who are not wearing heels, and I don't wish to slow them up. I do agree that @aristoc's walk is slightly jarring, but it's certainly nothing horrible. It's a perfectly competent, acceptable walk in some fairly substantial heels. We are nitpicking here, and I don't mind that. It's good to refine, refine, refine, same as we strive for when playing music. My solution to landing heavily on the leading foot is slightly different, however. Rather than slowing things up, I have found, after a lot of experimentation, that the problem is not so much the length of the stride, but rather the biomechanics of the stride. Although it seems counter-intuitive, if you think of propelling each step from the trailing foot, it really lightens up the step. In other words, instead of stretching forward with the leading foot, which can create that sort of stomping/bouncing effect, push off strongly with the trailing foot and let the leading foot glide to its destination naturally.

You can see in the video I shared from 00:01-00:06, due to the lucky accident of the angle of the sun, that the woman is strongly pushing off with the trailing foot on each step. You can see that her trailing foot heel lifts off the ground before the leading foot heel hits the ground in front. I do not have the scientific research to back this up, but I believe this is the secret to a smooth and light, yet extremely athletic (not to mention speedy) walk.

On 2/13/2017 at 3:11 AM, ljhh said:

I'm gonna start practicing, take videos of myself walking inside the house, because I definitely want to try again (the sensation was like my first time riding a rollercoaster haha), and maybe someday have the guts to go to more "public" places as you did to a restaurant

 

I second the video idea, if you've got the room to really walk naturally. That is the way I learned to walk in heels without looking like a complete idiot. I had no idea how strange I looked until I saw myself on video.

After you make a video of yourself, you can then compare yourself to the many, many videos of women walking in high heels in the style of your choice, and make adjustments to your own walk. Here is one of my favorite walking (well, and then running) videos which influenced my style of walking. It is a very athletic style of walk, which I find quite appealing. I know many people don't like this style of walking, but it's the one I prefer to do and to see in most situations. To each his own. Good luck to you on your journey!