mlroseplant

I've had quite a bit of opportunity to walk on snow and/or ice as of late, as we got a foot of wet, heavy snow here a week and a half ago. I can say that the trickiest part is when you come out of the snow, and into a store with an asphalt tile floor. Or walking into your garage with a smooth concrete surface. Watch out! You will wind up on your backside before you even know what is happening. I'm not embarrassed to wear heels in public, but I think I might well die of embarrassment if I fell down while wearing heels. After all, that's the first thing one does in such a situation, right? To look around to see if anyone saw? HA! I really jinxed myself, I think. Just after I wrote the last reply, I walked into a Kohl's, and just as soon as I hit the polished tile, I darn near landed on my backside. I had to back up and do a second wipe of the feet on the entrance mat. I really jinxed myself, I think. Just after I wrote the last reply, I walked into a Kohl's, and just as soon as I hit the polished tile, I darn near landed on my backside. I had to back up and do a second wipe of the feet on the entrance mat.

I realize this thread is pretty old, but I feel I must comment because of my own experience. My oldest son, who is now 13 (gasp, when did that happen?), loved to wear very girly clothes when he was little. My mom, who was by profession a theater costume designer, made him a very flashy red sequined skirt, and bought him silver sequined ballet slippers. He loved to wear this outfit, and did so often. His mother (now, unfortunately, my ex-wife), approved of his choice of clothing, but my dad hated it, though he tolerated it. I remember he often fussed at my mom for making those clothes. This went on for long enough that Mom made more "girly" clothes for my son in bigger sizes, because he grew. Eventually, as my son entered elementary school, he decided on his own accord to give up the skirts and the sequins, and is today my harshest critic about my choice to wear heels. So, you just never know. Why traumatize kids over silly things? They are what they are. I am proud to say that my teenaged son is one of the kindest, most empathetic kids I know (even if he thinks his Old Man is a nutter).

I just received a sort of compliment from my wife today. We went out Christmas shopping, and I wore my new Nine West oxfords with a 4.75" heel. After we got back home, she actually admitted that she didn't think she could hack wearing such high heels on such an excursion (she was wearing 3 inch heels). She is not thrilled with my heel wearing, but she accepts it, and I actually caught her trying on my heels when she thought I wasn't looking. Unfortunately, I'm about a size and a half bigger than her, so we can't share. Don't know what to think about that. I'll hope for a positive spin on it.

On the left, my two pairs of Sofft Avianos (my start in public heeling). 3.5 inch heel with platform. Got them in black and brown, and I wouldn't hesitate to visit Disney World in these shoes. They are so comfortable. I have worn the heels out on both these pairs, and need to visit the cobbler. Next, we have the Sofft Willa. It's a shootie, 3.5 inch heel without platform. I had a period of adjustment getting used to these. They're not that high, but for some reason, I didn't take to them naturally. I put in gel pads under the ball of the foot, and also heel liners. With practice and conditioning, I can wear them well now. I love the look of them. Not too feminine, but still pretty high. One slot further to the right, we have the Eurosofft Sacha. Eurorsofft is the lower level brand of Sofft. These shoes haven't got quite the quality of the regular Sofft brand, but they're pretty nice. I bought them in 9.5 women's US size. In retrospect, I should have bought size 9. I use ball-of-foot padding, plus I stuff Kleenex or something else into the toe of the shoe to make it fit right. With these modifications, I can wear this shoe just about anywhere. Not quite as comfortable as the Avianos, but close, and makes a much nicer clacking sound. The next pair to the right are Sbicco Huttons in dark brown. These are a clog type shoe with a 4.5 inch heel. I have yet to wear these out. No, I'm a liar, actually I wore these to a rehearsal with my church choir director one Friday afternoon. These are made in the USA, but they are not really high quality. Also, they are silent when you walk. I don't really like that so much. I like to make a little noise when I walk. Next are the Nine West Oxfords I just purchased last week. They have a 4.75" heel with a .75" platform. They are patent leather and quite flashy. I've become enamoured of these heels, and have worn them quite a bit in the last few days. Last, on the far right, we have the Calvin Klein Briah. Don't know whether to call it a pump or a "shootie," but they are the highest heels I own, at 5. 25". Maybe I should have gotten a size bigger than the 9 I got, but I've managed to stretch it with a ziplock bag filled with water and a freezer, and now they don't make my toes go all numb. Love the height, but the Nine West oxfords are so much more attractive and impressive. Happy heeling, everyone!

I've already crossed some boundaries that I didn't think I'd cross, and one of them is wearing some 5 inch heels with a pretty thin heel (but certainly not a stiletto). A month ago, I could not have imagined wearing such shoes out. It would be very difficult for an ordinary person off the street to find these very masculine, but maybe I'm going a little nuts right now, since I've gotten either no reaction or positive reaction so far to my choice of footwear. For right now, I really can't imagine wearing high heeled sandals. I prefer going barefoot in the summer. Maybe that's why people don't say much about my heels. I'm already an oddity with the bare feet. Maybe they just figure, "Hey, that's just James." My line that will never be crossed? Wearing short shorts with Candie's type mules. Would love to do it. Ain't never gonna happen. Ever. I don't want people to look at me at say, "Ewwwwww!" LOL

Pumpcat and ilikekicks, I'm a former skinny like you guys, and I want to get back there again. Ever since I married a Vietnamese gal, I've gotten a bit of a belly on me (I really shouldn't blame my wife, it's probably just age and laziness). I have the same problem as you: I cannot find clothes (or shoes) that fit me in the men's section. Luckily, my mom is an expert seamstress, so I can deal with most things. Mom has learned to deal with my choice of footwear, hehe. Sorry to drag this thread a bit off topic. I will reiterate that I would love to be able to wear tiny shorts in the summer. Ain't gonna happen. Haha.

My evidence is merely anecdotal, and therefore has no real scientific value, but I cannot deny the evidence in my own life. I started heeling publicly about 6 months ago. OK, I started wearing heels at all about six months ago. I'd flirted with the idea since I was a teenager, but I couldn't come to grips with my desire to wear heels until this year. Now that I have, I've found that my health and fitness have improved markedly. I'm not that much lighter, but I am thinner. I'm more fit than I used to be. I find myself doing weird things like taking a parking spot much further away from the store just to be able to walk that extra little bit further in heels. Am I the only one? Does anyone else like walking in heels so much that they actually go out of their way to be able to walk further than necessary?

@ dbert: http://www.amazon.co...p/dp/B0083RX8DS

I'm actually seriously considering ordering them in flat black also. I absolute love these shoes! I would encourage you to order them if you like the look.

By the way, I don't know what size they measured the heels on, but on my size 9s, the heel is 4 3/4 inches, not 4 1/4 inches like the information says. I am really happy about that. I showed them to my sister this evening, and said, "Aren't these the hugest heels you've ever seen in your life?" She wondered how I could walk in them, but it's really not a big problem with practice and experience. These shoes really don't hurt your feet if you're used to heels.

I wore them with light colored jeans, which I had my mom hem to my exact desired length (I thank my mom for many things, the least of which is her acceptance of my heel-wearing). In the winter, I usually wear a dress (collared) shirt. In the future, I might also wear a jacket, since I have many to choose from. I don't have a really good fashion sense, so I'm still experimenting. My wife doesn't really love my heel-wearing, but I think she does like the fact that now I make an extra effort to look good compared to the past. I am not yet ready to wear my heels with my suit and tie that I normally wear to chruch. I do wear heels to choir rehearsal on Wednesday nights, and have received no comments as of yet. I would totally love to wear these patent leather oxfords to church someday, but I am the songleader, and front and center. We'll wait and see. My church family is an accepting bunch. They haven't ex-communicated me yet, haha.

I've only been wearing heels publicly for half a year, but yeah, my tendency is to go to a stiletto. I'm not at all there yet, as I don't think I look good in stilettos. I have bought some thinner heels recently, but nothing that you could call a stiletto. Other than shoes, I don't have a desire to wear anything "feminine." I do have a desire to look good, though. ^^

Name: James Age: 44 Gender: Male Location: Iowa, USA Occupation: Industrial Electrician (among other things) Height: 5'6" (167 cm) Weight: 150 lbs, 68 kg, 10 stone, 10 lbs. (would like to be an even 10 stone) Shoe size: US women's 9, Euro 39 (or so) What's your favourite heel style: stiletto, though as a man, I don't wear stilettos What's your favourite shoe style: Mules Do you wear your heels outside: Yes, daily. What is: (a) Your favourite heel height: 5 inch. ( Your highest heel height: 5.25 inches How often do you wear: (a) Your favourite heel height: Not often. I mostly wear 3.5 inch heels outside. ( Your highest heel height: Too soon to tell. I just got my super-tall heels. I don't yet know how often I'll wear them out. Do you wear socks, hose, stockings or bare feet with your shoes: I would prefer to wear everything barefoot. However, as a practical matter, I'm wearing the shooties with thin socks. The mules I wear barefoot. Anything else you wish to add: I've loved high heels from a very young age, and love to see women wear heels. It's been only this year that I've decided I'm going to wear them myself publicly. Maybe someday I'll wear stilettos, but I don't think they look good on me. I'm short, but very masculine. I also love going barefoot, and I'm a barefoot runner. A man of extremes?

I just got these Nine West oxfords via Amazon. They are the hugest heels I've ever worn in my life. They measure every bit of 4.75 inches, or 12 cm. As luck would have it, the very day they came to my house, we had a really bad snowstorm, and I wasn't able to try them out outside of the house for several days. It's still very sloppy out, but I decided to wear them to the mall to go Christmas shopping. I brought my 3.5 inch "comfort" heels as a backup, just in case. I didn't need them. I came away from the excursion with no blisters and only a wonderful achy, tired feeling in my feet when I got back home. I'm seriously considering getting these same shoes in flat, plain black in addition to the patent. It's funny, I'm pretty comfortable wearing heels in public, but I'm not ready to choose a color other than black or very dark brown.

Yeah, I guess that just means I need some boots, doesn't it?

--at least in heels. We just got a foot of snow, and I don't want to ruin my shoes. Bummer! I did make it to Wal-Mart in heels last night. I didn't buy anything, but I did a few laps around the store. It's not the same.

Several of my Vietnamese FB friends seem to be into cosplay. They generally post attractive pictures. Some of them even wear heels! Vietnamese girls tend to wear heels more than American girls anyway.

All my heels except one pair are mules. I wear them barefoot, always. The one pair of shooties that I have, I wear with very thin dress socks.

Ha! Thanks guys! I really appreciate the support. However, I have fooled you also (completely unintentional). They are actually mules, which I love. All my heels are mules except for one pair. The first place I wore this particular pair out was to church choir rehearsal. My friend complimented me on my "cool boots," until I pulled up my pantleg to show her their true nature. Then she thought they were crap. No! Just kidding. They really do look like boots, don't they? Now that I am much more comfortable wearing heels out, I may have to have at least one pair of jeans hemmed a little shorter.

I am happy to report that I walked 1.3 miles in these shoes this morning, with no problems at all. Unfortunately, I was only able to manage a leisurely 2.6 miles per hour average, so I don't imagine I got much aerobic benefit. When I first got the shoes, about a month ago (they are Eurosofft Sacha), I could barely make it around the block without some problem. I wish they were a little bit higher quality on the outside, but the inside of the shoes are very comfortable, and they make a very nice clicking sound, which I like.

For me, it is none of the things you listed, although it's true I find the very thin end of the heel very sexy. I like two things: 1) The athleticism required to walk well in stilettos. I do not get a kick out of tottering like some do. I really dislike it when people can't walk properly in their heels, and 2) the sound. Especially stiletto mules. There is no happier sound than a woman (or man, for that matter) walking briskly in mules, giving the alternating click/slap sound.

I have wanted to discuss this topic with someone for a long time, but until I joined hhplace, I really didn't think I could find an interested audience.

Here is the subject: What elements make the most attractive walk in heels? I know the answer to this question is a little different for every person. I personally find an athletic walk very attractive. There is much advice out there in internetland to take shorter strides when wearing heels, but that really bugs me. My goal (and also how I like to see women walk) is to take long strides when wearing heels, as if one was walking in bare feet or flats.

I have studied this quite a bit, trying to figure out why I like some walks better than others, and the one thing I have come up with is this: Imagine the feet as having four points of contact with the ground, heel and forefoot of both left and right feet. To me, the sexiest walk has no more than three of the points in contact with the ground at any given time. Let me explain further.

When taking a step forward, the leading foot steps forward, with the heel about to touch the ground. At the same time, the forefoot of the trailing foot is pushing, propelling the person further down the road, so to speak. When the heel of the leading foot lands, it is basically doing nothing to further forward movement. It is the trailing foot that is doing all the propulsion at this instant. Now, here is the point which is key: Before the leading forefoot lands, the trailing heel lifts off the ground. At this instant, there are only two points of contact with the ground: The forefoot of the trailing foot, and the heel of the leading foot. A fraction of a second later, there are again three point of contact with the ground again, as the forefoot of the leading foot contacts the ground, just before the trailing foot is lifted to take the next step. The most extreme example of this can be viewed here, where there is a substaintial period of time where there is only one point of contact with the ground between strides. This is easy to see because of the angle of the shadows. Pity the video is so short.

won't even talk about the run, which is pretty impressive. The walk before the run is the one I try to emulate. Her walk is not really very feminine, but I find it so attractive. "You got to swing your hips now" ---- not necessarily.

Another walk I rather like is here:

She has a rather bouncy walk, and I think she walks really funny in flats, but I forgive her because she's Asian. I have a thing for Asians. Well, I'm married to one.

Last example I give is something which should be sexy, but is not. And the reason is because all four points of contact happen just for an instant simultaneously. Makes for a clumpy walk, in my opinion.

OK, I'm a liar. I'll give one more example of something that drives me crazy. This crossover walk business. How ridiculous. It even looks ridiculous on the runway. Nobody walks like that in real life, and certainly not for miles, like I walk. Here is a scene from the movie "Boondock Saints 2." Wow, it's a really sexy scene, but honestly, who would be doing this crosswalk bullsh** to approach one's profesional adversaries? Ultimate scene totally ruined.

Now, I don't mean to say that one needs to walk athletically all the time. For example, when one is in the supermarket and is looking for something, it's OK to have the four points of contact on the ground. I'm talking about walking at a good clip, when going somewhere.

I look forward to different points of view about this subject. Let's make a chain, now. It's easier to learn than your ABC's.

We're you one of the ones that used to join the group of us that got together in her chat room on Spin Chat almost every Saturday night? Which, by the way, is still active even though not very bursy these days.

Yes, Bubba, I remember you. I was one of that group. A very minor player, to be sure. My handle was Mistomax (Mr. Max) at that time. It's hard to believe that Mr. Max is now a teenager instead of a toddler, and that I'm wearing heels out now, and my ex-wife (Mr. Max's mother) has pretty much given them up, except in professional circumstances.

So whatever happened to Jenny and Debbie and crew?

Hope you and your family are well. Good to meet you again.

Yeah, I wish I could wear those tiny shorts that many of the young girls wear these days. However, no amount of surgury or hormone treatment could do anything about these stumpy bow-legged gams of mine. Ewwwww! Not a good look. So I think I'll just take a pass on the whole thing, OK?

I remember the first time I ever saw myself in a mirror while wearing heels in the house many years ago, I was so disappointed. The difference between how I looked (ridiculous) and how I felt (sexy) was so shocking that I swore I would never, ever wear heels in public. Ever. When I made the decision to go ahead and do it a few months ago, despite my long-standing vow to the contrary, I spent quite a bit of time videotaping myself to see if I could in fact pull it off without looking absurd. What I discovered is that I've been walking around for 40+ years looking absurd, even in flats. I have a terrible walk! Why didn't somebody tell me this years ago? Haha. With lots of practice and experimentation, I am happy to report that I look much better now. However, I've never thought to pay attention to my head. I shall have to review the footage to see if I need some more fundamental work. Video. I'm telling you. It's the way to go. Plus, it will give the neighbors something to watch.

I went into aldos last year. I figured a needed at least one pair on mens shoes. I have 50 pairs of girls shoes. All the time I was there, I was lusting after the high heels.

You're not the only one that hates mens shoes!

Haha, my wife just bought me a pair of "men's" shoes that are so uncomfortable and stiff, I wish for my heels the whole time I'm wearing them. Actually, I think they look pretty nice, but I don't like wearing them at all. The things we do out of love. )))))

I would have put "disapproves, but tolerates." It is probably most descriptive about how my wife feels. However, that was not a choice. I have always loved heels, and I finally said to myself that at the age of 44, this is just something I'm going to do. I took a deliberate and gradual approach. I started off with normal men's clogs, which is a bit unusual here in the Midwest U.S., but not noteworthy. Then I happened to see a pair of black clog-style shoes in DSW that seemed to fit the bill for the next step. They had 2 1/2 inch heels, but were still very clogg-y looking. My wife thought they were a bit femmy, but she said "OK, if that's what you want." The next pair of "heels" I bought was a step forward with the wife, as they were exactly the same heel height (2 1/2"), but she thought they were more masculine looking. I wore both of these fairly constantly for the better part of a year. Then last summer, after perusing a number of websites, I bought a pair of clog style shoes (black, of course--black can't offend anybody, right?) that looked almost identical to the pair that my wife approved of, except these had a distinct heel of 3 1/2 inches high, and about 1 inch in diameter. I think they are still pretty masculine looking (which is the look I'm after), just with a higher than normal heel. My wife was working the night shift at the time, so I had lots of time to practice and get used to them. My parents saw them long before my wife did, and they didn't particularly like them, but they have since come to be at least "neutral" about the subject. My wife's reaction was about the same at a later time. But, good woman that she is, she said, "Oh well, if that's what you want to do, it's your choice." If she's ashamed to be seen with me, she doesn't show it. We recently visited some friends who are Vietnamese (as is my wife), and naturally, you leave your shoes at the front door. My wife had also chosen to wear a clog-type shoe with a similar heel height to my shoes. Our host took a look at the shoes resting on the floor, and said, "Hmmmmmm......two high heel......which one belong to anh James, and which one belong to chị Mai?" The conversation which then ensued is best left for another thread, but the point is, my wife doesn't particularly like it, but she also seems to accept my elevated heel wearing. With one exception: We will be traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam to visit our family in February. She has already made it quite clear that I will not be bringing my heels with me, not even the 2 1/2" clogs I love so much. I can understand that. Northern Vietnam is every bit as socially conservative as the U. S. was in the 1950s. I am happy to honor that wish. It's no problem with me, or as the Vietnamese would say, "Không có vấn đề gì." I will miss my heels for about 3 weeks however. Thanks to those who made it through this rather long post.