mlroseplant

An update on the situation: It got much worse after my post of more than 3 months ago. It didn't affect my life too horribly much, but I remember some loooooong days at work, where I was not able to walk normally. The boots that I was wearing at work had a higher than normal heel, but nothing more extreme than an ordinary pair of logging boots. I began to question whether my radical high heeling days were over (I never wear flats outside of work). I found it hard to accept, and difficult to believe that after over 4 years and thousands of miles of walking in truly high heels, that the mild steepness of my work boots was the cause of my problems.

I switched boots again, to something like a normal work boot (almost flat). As it turns out, that seems to have solved the problem, but not for the reason that I thought. I am slowly, day by day, returning to pain free feet, even though I wear and walk a good distance in substantially high heels after work daily. I think it was in the soles of my boots, particularly the material they were made of, and not the height of the heels, and possibly the cheap construction of the boots. I didn't think a boot sole could be too soft or too bouncy, but that seems to be the case. Only after I switched back to "real" work boots did I notice that I could no longer feel individual pieces of loose gravel beneath my feet. It wasn't a week until my feet started feeling incrementally better, and now I'm back to 80% of where I was before this whole problem started, even though I've gotten lazy about icing my feet every night. It just doesn't seem necessary.

With any luck, the problem will disappear entirely over the coming weeks, and I can continue wearing my heels without guilt.

2 hours ago, gj said:

I agree :-) I'm wearing them almost every day. They are great.

I've had my eye on those boots for some time now, I really like the looks of them, but I have not purchased them because they are way too high to wear to work, but I bet I wouldn't wear them at home, either, because.  .  . they're not high enough! But I really do like the look of them. I bet they're all day comfy, too.

Found these Dolce & Gabbana knee high boots on eBay. They're exactly what I'm looking for. Block heel that's not too clunky but very high, little or no platform. Trouble is, they want 500 bucks for 'em. I don't think so. 

Goodness! That was a surprise. I have nothing else to say. Except that despite going to bed at 9:00, I haven't slept one minute. Now I'm on HHP. Reckon I'll have to call in sick tomorrow. This is not good. 

I have decided that this winter, it will be the season of clogs. I bought two new (to me) pairs on eBay, and it seems both will work out. Both are right at 5" heels, with a 1" platform, which is perfect for me in the comfort range.

The black ones are Coach, model name Rana. The brown suede ones are Gucci, model name unknown, but made in Italy. The Guccis required some work with the shoe stretcher, as they are quite narrow, but they don't seem to pinch me anywhere. They are currently at the cobbler, being reheeled. Well, what do you expect? I only gave 55 bucks for them, but the upper is perfect. They were obviously worn a few times. The Coach clogs I have worn out a few times already, so I know they're good. They were virtually brand new, no visible wear on the bottoms. 

Also, I got some True Religion leather slides for next year. They make a satisfying noise when you walk in them. 

Maybe I'm doing something wrong. When I click on your link, I am taken to the Wolford site as expected, I can see the word "Men," and there is stuff below it to click on, but after that I see nothing but the same incredibly leggy and thin female model. Where are the male models, so that we might know how these things actually look? On Steve's site, there are many pictures of males modeling the products.

I voted early last Wednesday, in my bib overalls and work boots. Nothing to tell, really. I feel like I need to get dolled up at least a little bit to wear heels, and there simply wasn't time, as I came right from work, greasy, matted hair and all!

1 hour ago, meganiwish said:

HeelsWearer, I wasn't in any way intending to do you down.  I should probably also have responded with a simple answer to your straight question, as quoted in the above post, and for that omission I apologise.  To answer you, you had no need to apologise, since it's neither taboo nor against the site rules for a woman to post in the men's section.  How else would we put them straight?

Megan, I've yet to see you give a simple and straight answer to anything, and for that I admire and appreciate you. 

6 minutes ago, swedeheeler said:

Best part of it all. Was worried to get homo label of my mom but she defended me from my brothers comment about brokeback mountain with the words "you're absolutley not gay"

I really don't care whether people think I'm gay, I know who I am. My wife seems to care a great deal. My construction worker friends are quick to point out to people that I'm not gay, should the smallest hint of the subject arise. People are funny.

More importantly for you: I think it sounds like your mom is supportive in a way that gives you confidence, and that is nice. My family is also supportive of me.

I am done wearing mules with bootcut pants. It is my high heel history and heritage, I know, but I'm done with it. For some reason, I've always been attracted to mules, and my first several pairs of heels were backless clogs, and I always wore them with bootcut jeans, in order to be a little more subtle. No more. It is so much nicer to wear mules when you are not always worried about whether the hem of your pants is about to get trapped in the back of your shoe. I'll still wear bootcut jeans with.  .  . well, boots.

Good for you! I'm glad you had such a successful party, and received positive reactions.

Upon further consideration, 95% of the time, I've been asked one of the above questions while at a bar, and it's always been by women. It may be that alcohol has had something to do with this. Ya think?

Yes, it seems like a double standard without knowing the history of why this rule came about, and how this site has changed in its membership and focus over the years. If one is new to the site, one might wonder why we even have a Girls section. It did once serve a useful purpose, but that was ruined by a few asshat boys.  So yes, girls can post anywhere, and we welcome you! Boys can't post in the girls section.

I've had 1, 2, 3, and 9 many times, asked by strangers, and 8 and 10 fairly recently, asked by people who know me. I have one friend who actually wanted me to wear different shoes because I would need to drive. I was wearing 4.5" wedges. She did not believe I could drive in them. People are funny.

Just as long as they don't start asking, "What would Joe do?" I wouldn't want that kind of pressure. 

It's normally not my thing, but I do rather like those boots. However, I think you are now running into the dilemma that is modern adult Hallowe'en. During this one day of the year, a man feels like he can get away with wearing something that he otherwise couldn't, and that's probably true. The problem is, where do you go from there? You can't very well show up on All Saints' Day in your Hallowe'en costume, can you?

It's a tricky business, wearing heels as part of a costume, because it's all supposed to be a bit of a joke, isn't it? And of course, as you and I know, it's not a joke at all, so how do you make the transition from humorous costume to real life? In any case, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time, hat or no hat. Good luck!

It seems to me that the punishment here was not so much being forced to wear heels, but to humiliate the young man, and in our culture one of the easiest ways to do that is to somehow imply that a male is somehow not masculine enough, and that being anything like a woman is just horrible. This attitude is what has to stop, and it is particularly rampant in my chosen field, construction. I wouldn't think that fraternities are much better than construction workers in that regard.

I haven't posted in quite a while because my life has been rather boring, yet at the same time stressful. I work long hours and have to do a lot of walking on concrete, so when I get home, I don't really feel like going anywhere unless it's absolutely necessary. I often fall asleep before 9:00, which never used to happen. Also, during this time of busy-ness, suddenly I've had a change in my attitude toward heels. For the first time in four years, I don't feel like I need to wear heels every second I get the chance. For the first time in four years, I've been going barefoot at home 95% of the time.

Don't worry, I still won't be seen out and about in less than 4 inch heels, but I've just had fewer recordable adventures as of late. Stay tuned, as I've just bought some new shoes for the first time in several months!

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!