mlroseplant

I've always liked that single strap with the closed heel style. I've thought about getting a similar pair many times.

Today's feature has a bit of a strange story. I bought these BCBGirls mules (model name unknown) to replace some Jessica Simpson mules which had catastrophically failed. I wore the JS mules just about everywhere that summer of 2017, including on a road trip throughout the Midwest and into the Deep South. I was very sad when they broke, and I could not find a suitable replacement pair. What I did find is this BCBG pair, and I was very high on that brand at the time. I still like it, and the shoes tend to fit me well, but as it turns out the shoes are not as bulletproof as I made them out to be at the time.

As this point, you're probably asking yourself, "Where is this rather long-winded setup going?" It is going nowhere. That's it. That's the end of the story. I got my BCBG mules in the mail, looked at them, tried them on, and put them away. For nearly seven years. I'm not sure why. I decided to pull them out last Saturday and wear them to go grocery shopping, just to see if there was some reason why I'd never worn them. There wasn't. I then wore them to church the next day.

The question is, why did I never wear these even one time in seven years? I'm not 100% sure. It may be that they are slightly dressier than the shoes they were intended to replace, and they are mainly ivory instead of tan, which may have made a difference to me back then. It may be because they are snakeskin print, which I still don't like as well as smooth leather. I will never really know, but I am now presenting these as New Sandals.

The numbers: 4 5/8" heel, 7/16" wide, putting it toward the bigger end of the stiletto range, and a 3/4" platform, for an effective heel height of 3 7/8", which is well within my heel wearing capabilities. The heel and platform are molded as one unit, and I fully expect that to break one of these days. I noticed a little bit of a hot spot forming behind my right big toenail, but that spot has been somewhat of a problem for me since I was in my early 20s. I think it's me, and not the shoe. Typically I can put a Bandaid around that toe so that it doesn't really show, and I'm good to go. In fact, I now have a list that reminds me what comfort or fitting aids I need to wear with which shoes. It's come to that, I guess.

This week's church outfit continues on the same theme of button down shirt with a tie, but with different colors. Specifically this time, the whole outfit was based around the shoes, which I wanted to try out because although I bought them at least five years ago, I've never worn them until now. I'm not entirely sure why that is, there appears to be no fault with them. I'll have to post them in the New Sandals thread when I get a chance. They're BCBGirls, by the way.

When I thought about what to wear with these shoes, I could have sworn I had some cream colored pants at one time. Evidently not, or I got rid of them at some point. So I just held a sandal against each of my pants, to see which was the most suitable with the color. The pale pink ones got the nod. I decided to go with a darker, contrasting color for the shirt and tie. No comments, but that's pretty usual.

Everybody is different in his wants and needs. I have never bought a pair of shoes thinking that I couldn't wear them out at some point. Besides, have you seen my house? There's no room in there to feel pretty! 😆

Nope, nope, nope, nope. You gotta let it go. Do not approach either man or woman in heels and expect to talk. Women are allowed to do this and get by with it. We are not. It's just the way of the world. MAYBE if you're actually wearing heels yourself, and discernible heels (in other words, you'd better be wearing something 3 inch or higher), you get to compliment and walk away. Otherwise, you're just a creep. I've been on the giving and receiving end of that situation. Sorry if I seem a little harsh, but this is a hard and fast rule.

A couple of days ago, I was preparing to make some bangers and potatoes with Guinness stout as an ingredient in the recipe. As the last minute, it became evident that earlier in the week, I must have drunk all of the Guinness. Oops. A quick run to the grocery store was necessary. While I was there, in my Bebe wooden heeled sandals, I spied a woman wearing some giant wedges. And by giant, I mean probably 5 1/2" heel, 2" platform. They were cork, and the single wide strap was made of clear PVC. She wore them with ripped skinny jeans and a denim jacket. I was in a hell of a hurry, so more than that I cannot tell. Even though I never saw her face, I did not guess her to be a very young woman.

16 hours ago, pebblesf said:

I want to wear them more publicly, but lack the confidence, skills to rock those heels properly.  I'm getting to the point where I have the confidence to rock red boots in most public settings, but my skills just won't allow it.  I just can't seem to break the 5" heel barrier.  I have no problems with my 4.5" nine west black stiletto booties though...

Yeah, I'm kind of with you. I pretty much stop at 4 1/2". It's not that I can't physically walk in 5", but not up to my own standards. I always say that I'm going to master 5s one of these days, but I'm not really serious about it. I have way too many other things to worry about that are way more important than getting another 1/2" on my heels.

Yes, I still go to an actual physical bank. My particular bank is small and locally owned. I have not interviewed anybody from the bank, but it seems that even though any restrictions we had due our Public Health Issue are long over, people still prefer to be served in the drive though, so much so that on Saturdays, you can only use the drive through. There are people still working inside the building, but if you want to see somebody on Saturday, you have to call and make an appointment. I wonder if The High Heeled One works on Saturdays, and if so, does she wear heels when no customers can see her?

25 minutes ago, Puffer said:

Very nice 'footwear'!   I don't wish to (re)open a debate but I would regard them as 'shoes' rather than 'sandals'; having an open toe is not in itself the criterion.   But who cares, they look great.

I suppose as long as we keep it out of the boots section, it'll be all right then, init?

There is a distinction in my case between "favorite type of heel" and "most often worn heel." If pragmatism were never a concern, open toe stiletto mules, no platform, between 12 - 14 cm. Ironically, I own almost no shoes that technically fit that description--one, because they are kind of hard to find, and two, because I consider myself barely competent to wear 12 cm, much less 14.

What I wind up wearing the majority of the time: Mules, in one form or another, but with thicker, wooden heels, and usually with a small platform <3cm. Closed toed clogs in the winter, and open toed wooden sandals, usually without a backstrap, in the summer.

I'm sure that's a typo. The way I remember it is by the same method I use to transpose Celcius degrees into Fahrenheit. With inches-cm, I just remember that 10cm≈4", and then go in multiples or fractions of that. Also, just by dumb luck, 5 1/2" equals almost exactly 14 cm. 5 1/2 happens to be one of my favorite heights, so I happen to know this.

It is also true that 19mm and 3/4" wrenches/sockets are fully interchangeable. 11mm works pretty well 95% of the time as a substitute for 7/16".

It has been a long while since anybody has posted here. I have a few pair to catch up on, so I will try to get those posted soon. Up for inspection today are my Steve Madden Britt single strap sandals in electric blue. Not something that I would normally buy, but I've always wanted to try this style, and I saw these on Poshmark for $25. I actually received them about two months ago, but haven't pressed them into service until this week.

They feature 4 1/2" heels which are pretty slim at 5/16" in diameter. You don't get a whole lot more "stiletto" than that. Of course there is no platform, so you get the full steepness afforded by that heel height. In many ways, they are the same to walk in as several other styles of Steve Madden that use the same basic design, but I think if I were actually paying good money for these, I would have gone down half a size. These are 9, and I really could use an 8 1/2. After a time, I get a slight gap behind my heel, causing the ankle strap to work harder than it ought to, which causes my skin underneath the ankle strap to suffer.

They are not super uncomfortable, I wore them for a couple of hours with no real issues, but they certainly did not wow me in the comfort department. I'll see how they do next time I wear them. To be fair, I did not vet them at all before I wore them outside, and that can often end badly. I got by with it this time.

I have always wanted a single strap, closed heel sandal. All the girls are wearing them. OK, maybe 10 years ago. I did not envisage that my foray into this style would be electric blue velveteen, but there it is.

I seem to have the opposite problem from the rest of youse. The single strap across the toes doesn't bother me, it's the ankle strap that causes me some discomfort. After a time, it starts digging into my skin, but only while actually walking. Part of the problem may be that these are size 9, and I really need an 8 1/2 in this style. Perhaps a ball-of-foot pad might remedy this, but it seems unlikely that I will wear these a whole lot, so it may not be worth messing with. They are actual leather, so it may become necessary to use such a fitment aid in the future if I wish to wear them at all.

If it was red week last week, I guess it is blue week this week. Part of that has to do with what happens to be hanging in my wardrobe that hasn't been worn in a while. I still haven't got things 100% back to the way they were before I was compelled to move everything when we had to have our sewer line replaced.

So I figured, "All right, let's do blue this week." Then I realized I've only got one pair of blue shoes left. The other, which I sort of had in mind when I thought I'd do blue, disintegrated within a very short period of time and I had to throw them out. I'm still somewhat disappointed by that. The one remaining pair is ok, but I need to wear a bandaid in a certain spot, or it rubs holes in my foot. While I was trying to remember where that spot was, it occurred to me, "Hey, wait a minute. You've got a brand new pair of blue shoes you ain't even worn yet." And indeed, I did.

I bought these Steve Madden Britt sandals a couple of months ago. The only problem was that they were unvetted. I had briefly tried them on when I first got them, but it is risky to wear something like that out into the real world. I threw a couple of bandaids into my pocket, loaded up the car, and headed out. It was fine. Sometimes you get by with stuff.

I have an update about the banking gal. It would appear that she's for real. I went in there with my son to deposit money he'd earned from mowing grass. This was on a Friday afternoon, and I'd just gotten home from work, and was not dressed up at all. I think I had on a t-shirt and jeans with my sort of house slipper style thong wedges, about 3". While we were waiting, the High Heeled One appeared again. This time, she was wearing single sole D'Orsay pumps that slightly exceeded 4 inches in height. They were not stilettos, but they were slim (not block) heels. She had on dress pants and a nice blouse, no jacket. Again, even though I was technically wearing "heels," I did not feel I was up to snuff enough to make any sort of comment. Next time I go to the bank, I shall have to make sure I'm better dressed. This gets me all nostalgic for the days when we used to get paper checks and had to go to the bank at least every Friday. No, not really.

Interesting talk about red shoes. I only own black boots, but I just counted, and I have 5 pairs of red shoes. They don't get a ton of wear, but as you can see from last week's photos, they do get some. The two pair that get the least wear are the most casual shoes of the bunch. Go figure.

13 hours ago, pebblesf said:

I love wearing my stiletto boots, but beat up the heels fairly quickly...

I am in the process of doing a semi-scientific durability test on my heels, but I can tell you already that stiletto tips just don't last very long, even with my careful stepping and light weight. A heel with twice the diameter of a stiletto will last at least 5x as long, all other things being equal. In my personal experience. Your mileage may vary.

Crocs actually do make some regular looking shoes (not many). I've never considered them special enough to warrant much of my attention. I have never seen an oxford style from them, I am curious.

13 hours ago, Puffer said:

Melrose:  can you please clarify what the 'public health issue' refers to, and its impact   Is this to do with Covid?   

The public health issue that made us all stay home for a long while and quit caring much about fashion. It is my habit to name it somewhat cryptically in order to avoid stupid political exchanges. I won't even call them arguments. I was referring to dysentery, of course. 😛

21 hours ago, Bubba136 said:

Over time, there have been several questions that keep popping into my mind concerning your situation as covered by your posts here that I have been hesitant to address.  The comments above present an opertunity to mention two that I have been curious about.  1) given the location where you usually take your pictures and the close proximity of your neighbors house to your driveway, I have often wondered if your neighbors are aware of this activity and give you any feedback?  And 2) while living with a reluctantly supportive spouse — but one that really would rather not have to deal with the situation— for over 36 years, I realize that there is a point where tolerance has been stretched almost to its limit, how do you deal with this situation? ( l learned early on where these limits were and vainly tried never to exceed them, which at times was extremely difficult.)

Ok, fair enough. 1) The driveway has become a thing now, I guess. It has largely replaced the drainpipe that @Puffer has admired for so many years. I suppose I could turn 90º and have the background be the deck and the back yard, but that is often littered with cast-off motorcycle parts and other junk like used oil bottles. I probably wouldn't take any pictures at all, except for this group. The driveway is a compromise between decent photo quality and spending lots of time to grab a few snapshots. My wife used to make me go to the park almost every Sunday after church and take photos of her there, which she would then post on social media. For a number of reasons, this stopped after our public health issue reared its ugly head.

But I still haven't answered your question. Our neighborhood is fairly static. Typically, houses only come up for sale after a death. Therefore, my neighbors are long familiar with me, and don't question why I have a tripod set up in the driveway. They probably know. Frankly, it's still a little embarrassing to think about a 56 year old man taking selfies, but ah well.

2) As I alluded to earlier, my wife is a bit of a fashionista, or used to be. For reasons I won't get into, that is largely no longer the case. Sometime around 2018 or 2019, I got to a point I wanted to get to, as far as pushing my fashion limits, and have pretty much stayed there. Of course, the public health issue changed everything, and it seems since then, my fashion choices are not a subject of discussion anymore. I naturally know which situations require me to be invisible, and in which situations I can do what I want. The subject has not really come up for a long time. She doesn't even get mad when I occasionally get a new pair of shoes in the mail.

The skirt, on the other hand, that's a one-off. I'm not really being serious. It was truly an experiment, and my wife certainly doesn't need to know about it. It would be foolish to upset an equilibrium that largely works for us. She rightfully has other, more important things to criticize me about.

And now, a question for you. As I recall, one of the stipulations between you and your wife was that the kids never know about your fashion proclivities. How did you manage to wear heels at all during that couple of decades of child rearing?

I guess I didn't realize that toes had a box.

On 4/30/2024 at 3:11 PM, HappyinHeels said:

Mlroseplant,

Well-done on your whole-hearted JKrenzer endorsement! Practice over time makes just about anyone master a skill whether it’s walking in heels, learning electricity, or delving into amateur radio. Time spent in heels will also tone those calves. Keep it up! HinH

I don't believe this should be phrased in the future tense. Haven't I done enough time already? 😆

20 hours ago, Bubba136 said:

Great look.  Appearing in Church dressed like that must make more than one woman jealous because everything matches in good taste and, I would guess, not one female would be wearing higher heels than you do.

WOW.  What a great look. Going anywhere wearing that outfit would take a ton of courage.  Especially to Church service .  But, then again, you have been wearing heels to church for a long while, I doubt the skirt would raise many eyebrows.  Any criticism given might be along the lines of the skirt is way too short for wearing at a religious service.  (You should submit the picture of you sitting on the motorbike to the Best Dressed contest.)

I think I told the story about when the 40-ish woman wanted to compare heel heights at church, and as it turns out, she severely underestimated the general height of my heels. As an aside, her kid is graduating high school this year, my kid is a freshman. It just tells you how old I am compared to most parents.

It is really unlikely that I will wear that skirt beyond the confines of my driveway. The main limiting factor is not the church, but rather the fact that my wife would probably kill me. I know at least one neighbor saw me out there with the tripod capturing the above images, but the wife was working. She has no idea. As far as the length, we are several inches from that being a concern. As a normal congregant, I could get by with wearing much shorter to church. Not that I would, but I could. As the public face of the church via livestream, however, I don't know what the limits would be, and I don't intend to find out.

And now, it is time to reveal the week's truly interesting event--my "new" motorbike, which broke down after only having owned it for one week, is now back in service.

Actually, that's not the news. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. I just wanted to see what it would look like. I don't hate it.

12 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Don’t like it when a company makes a shoe which does fit me but it comes with an ankle strap 1-1.5” shorter than normal. It’s relevant if one has to perforate some extra holes in the strap. Don’t see a lot but it’s annoying. HinH

12 hours ago, Cali said:

I have a new pair in my closet waiting for an old pair to give up a strap so I can lengthen the straps that came with the heels. Or maybe I'll just pick up a pair of old shoes at a yardsale.

Gentlemen, if I have a problem with straps, it is usually the opposite problem--I run out of holes before the strap is tight. I suppose this, among other things, is why I favor mules.

I find myself very short on time this week, but I'll make a quick post about last Sunday's outfit, with a teaser/promise of more to come. Shoes are Via Spiga, and I got along with them a lot better than I did the last time I wore them, comfort-wise. Pants are Loft, and shirt and tie are no-name Vietnamese. They are not actually unbranded, but they have some silly, so-very-Asian name like "Caring Known" or something like that.

I am not sure how I missed this post for nearly a week, but evidently I did. Thanks for sharing your story.