mlroseplant

15 hours ago, Cali said:

Thinking about getting these. Any comments?

Funny banter about the color. Before I scrolled through all of that, I suspected that the color was supposed to be sort of pre-distressed. However, I can see another problem completely unrelated to color. Since I know you like to try things on in person, this isn't really a problem, you will know right away. The boots are fairly slim fitting on the model. Your calves are rather bigger than your average female model's. Is this going to be an issue?

On 1/12/2023 at 5:05 AM, Jkrenzer said:

They don't burr so actually don't snag on carpet.  My floors at home have throw rugs and mostly bamboo with tile in the water rooms, kitchen and bath. Bamboo is much denser than oak and does not Mark. I've damaged oak and cheaper laminate with even plastic tips as they do wear and do have steel pins as well.

Still, love the look and sound. Many women have told me they like them too. They look good since the match up well with the main shaft. I don’t do these on my covered heels. I have a whole series of pumps and boots with the same heel and have been converting them as needed.

I don't think I've ever damaged a floor with my heels, but then again I do not like the "worn" look. Those heel tips get replaced long before they ever get to the point of any metal showing. Also, it probably doesn't hurt that I weigh a mere 135 lbs.

16 hours ago, pebblesf said:

I would agree, these boots are not feminine, but still have a bit of an edge with the nice pointed toes and conservative heels.  I think you can wear these for any occasion, love how they look over the nice tight jeans.  Would love to wear them myself.  

Here's three of us for "not feminine." I wore boots very similar to this every weekend when I used to play in a country band back in the day. Back, then, the pants were full and on the outside of the boots of course.

13 hours ago, Puffer said:

Yes, the boot raises you above the ground by 8".   We all accept that.   But the effect of your 'high heel' is a rise of around 4" only because of the platform sole.   If (with your boots on), you stood on a piece of wood 2" thick, you would now be 10" off the ground - but your heel rise would still only be a modest 4".

There is no need for further debate, let alone disharmony.   You like what you have - good.   But such an extreme platform style is not for everyone.

While we're still on this, another way of saying it is "steepness." In other words, the angle of your foot when wearing the shoes. So, the angle of your foot when wearing 8" heels with a 4" platform is the same as if you were wearing  4" heels with no platform.

Fun fact--a 4" heel does not make you 4 inches taller, due to the dangle of the angle, and it depends upon individual foot measurements. However, a 4" platform gives you the full 4" of increase in height, no trigonometry necessary!

I've kind of always wanted to try metal tips, but I'd be afraid that the things would skate right out from underneath me on a tile or polished concrete floor. Especially if you add in the least bit of snow or ice.

I've been to a podiatrist twice, and unless something really bad happens, I doubt I will ever go to one again. Perhaps I've just had bad luck, but both times I left the appointment(s) deciding to take no action to fix my problems, or wound up finding solutions on my own. Then again, I've been relatively lucky. My feet are neither super attractive, nor are they super ugly. My arches are neither super high, nor are they flat. I can deal with everything from zero heel to somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 1/2". My walk is neither pronated nor supinated. I wear out shoe soles very evenly. No need to rotate my tires every 6,000. And, as I said before, ever since I developed the golf ball exercise, et al., my feet no longer hurt at the end of a long working day.

I post these photos not to show off any heels, but to show off my new winter coat. I finally found a coat that I actually like. This one I got from Macy's online for about 100 bucks. It's Tommy Hilfiger, size Medium. I like the fact that it has a belt, and the belt sits kind of high on me, which somewhat balances out my long torso/short legs. It has an inner liner which can be zipped separately, so you can wear the coat unzipped yet still be covered. It may be totally useless, but it's kinda cool. The big furry hood can be detached if desired.

27 minutes ago, kneehighs said:

I asked ChatGPT to "type and educated response to this message" The message was your post copy and pasted into the Chat GPT prompt window. Here's what it responded:

 

That's very impressive. However, you can tell that I didn't write it! I also found it cute that it recommended consulting with a podiatrist as one of the options when experiencing high heel discomfort. I understand that there are podiatrists out there who are pro high heel, but their number is probably about the same as rotary dial telephones in use in 2023. But still, I'm thinking that this answer could not have been generated by a machine even just a few short years ago.

Further thought on the general subject:

By the way, I am on my way back to being in halfway decent high heel condition. I have seized the opportunity every time the wind hasn't been blowing too hard to take walks around the neighborhood. It comes back reasonably fast. My fingers still feel like little blocks of ice by the time I get back home, though.

On 1/4/2023 at 6:24 PM, wood&metal said:

I was doing well with the stamina part....that is, until I trashed my right foot getting down off a ladder last summer.  I thought I was at the last rung, and wasn't! 

I had a dinner to attend last night and wore cowboy boots, which was the first time I've worn anything other than sneakers since.
Not much walking or standing involved, and still those whopping 1.5" heels <insert sarcasm> were a bit much on my right foot, anyway..

I'll get back to it eventually.  At this point I am just happy to be back to getting my daily walks in, and making usually four miles (+ or - a bit), albeit, with a little pain.

I think we've all done that at one time or another. Usually, it only results in surprise, and saying, "Lucky I didn't get hurt!"

I have linked a video to an exercise that I do to strengthen my feet. I don't know if it will work in your situation, I did not really develop it for ankles, but it does work them. I came up with this technique to try and deal with the constant foot pain I used to have from my job, having to walk miles and miles every day on concrete in work boots. Anyway, I don't think it can do any harm, even if it isn't designed to do exactly what you need. It may take some time to get to the point where you can pick up the golf ball easily and hold it. It took me a rather long time to get there, but I feel it was worth the effort. Hopefully this link works. You Tube age restricted my video when I tried to upload it to there. Can you imagine?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gw9mnmywjb1g5yp/FootExerciseGolfBall.mov?dl=0

As a locally famous men's clothing seller used to say, "It's about the cost per wear." His pitch was that his suits were the most expensive, but that they were the most carefully tailored and the best quality, therefore you could keep wearing them for 20 years, yielding a low cost per wear number.

When it comes to high heeled footwear, I am not convinced that there is even a correlation, much less a direct mathematical ratio, between price of the item and durability of the item. Sure, expensive shoes are made out of nicer materials, look better, often feel better, and are generally more beautiful to all of the senses, but that cost per wear number? It's all over the place. Some of the most expensive shoes I've owned have proven to be the least durable, and some of the cheapest have proven to be almost indestructible. The formula works for many things, but its application is suspect when it comes to heels.

When it comes to the instant case, these Fluevogs will never do well in the cost per wear analysis, even at 1/4 the price, because they're something that you wouldn't wear every day. Even in just plain black, they are a bit too much of a novelty item to wear with anything and everything for the vast majority of us.

20 hours ago, Shyheels said:

I would not say that style preferences - platforms vs single soles - is geeky at all, but a fairly broad style debate. This is after all a fashion website, and matters of style, colour, ornamentation are part of the discussion. 

Geeky, to my mind, is when you start doing things such as measuring the width of your heel to debate how many millimetres wide is a “true stiletto” instead of merely a high heel, and start splitting hairs and getting into verbal semantics. 

Let's not forget the detail of "with a caliper."

I know that we've discussed this subject before, perhaps a number of times, but I'm bringing it up again for two reasons: 1) We might have some new folks here who have never thought about this before, and, more importantly, 2) I am a victim of not following my own advice.

I have said many times that in order to gain stamina in high heels, one must walk in them. A lot. To the point where you're on a first name basis with your cobbler because you're in there so often. Once you've achieved the ability to walk a couple of miles without thinking too much of it, then we can talk about standing. For many people, the thought of walking a couple of miles in heels just doesn't compute. To them, it's foolish talk, practically impossible, and if they were forced to do it, severe damage or at least severe temporary pain would occur. And they're right. It would.

I can now sort of understand this thinking, because it has happened to me. For a number of reasons, December was a non-heel-wearing month for me. I walked on December the 1st, and I walked on December the 31st, and that was pretty much it. Other than that, I wore heels to church for an hour a week, and that was pretty much that. I was a little bit disappointed that when I showed up to choir rehearsal in flat boots, nobody seemed to notice. That hasn't happened in years.

The point is, when I took my walk on December 31st, I could definitely feel it, even though I only walked a scant mile. So yeah, I can understand why somebody would be ready to get out of their 4 inch heels after an hour. That's me right now. Hopefully not me in a couple of weeks.

One Christmas Eve picture, and one Christmas Day picture. You can sort of see my shoes, but not really. I did enjoy getting to play with the boy on both days. He's growing up fast.

1 hour ago, Pointer7 said:

Hi All again, 

I've finally been out! Went to a couple of shops in my flats wearing black tights considering a supermarket with a trolley tonight so I can film myself....

I hope no one thinks this is strange but I'm quite interested in the shoeplay side of things and I enjoy slipping the flats on and off which is why I try and film only my bottom half (hate seeing myself on camera!) so the camera in the trolley is ideal as it also hides it from other people 

 

The shoeplay thing is not that strange, I don't think. Not compared to a lot of stuff. Good luck with your putative filming, but I must warn you--it will most probably turn out to be way less interesting than you thought it was going to be.

12 hours ago, 6inchheel said:

Okay, agree to disagree, platforms like these my not be for you but to me they are nice to wear. 

Agreed! We are on here because we enjoy wearing heels, whether they are 1 inch or 9 inch, platforms or no platforms, stilettos or wedges! Trying to knock the next person through condescending comments because of what they like is dumb 

I didn't get the idea that anybody was trying to knock you personally, but people do seem to have strong feelings about the platform thing, and always will.

Having said THAT, I could make a logical, unbiased, objective argument that extreme platforms kind of miss the point of wearing heels in the first place, at least aesthetically. All of the extra bulk sort of cancels out the visual lengthening of the legs. It's very difficult to walk normally in such shoes, and for some reason, they seem to be way more sensitive to small pebbles or twigs upon your literal path in life wanting to cause you to turn an ankle. That is what I think.

Evidently, there are a sizable number of people who either visualize the world completely differently from me, or use the qualities of thick platform shoes to advantages I didn't know they had. For example, it seems like every pole dancer who wears shoes (and many don't these days) has gone to a 4 inch platform with an 8 inch heel. I always wondered why, it seems like normal heels would be way more attractive. By the way, I'm talking about the competition/fitness kind of pole dancer, like you can see on Youtube or Instagram or such. After watching enough of these videos, I began to realize that the way in which they use these extreme shoes actually lengthens their line and actually provides mass at the end of a lever to accomplish a certain style of visual art. None of it really involves normal walking, though.

Another area is fitness competitions, or even body building competitions. Platforms everywhere. Not super extreme ones, but plats nonetheless. And finally, here's the kicker: Every beauty pageant contestant in pretty much the whole of southeast Asia wears sandals with enormous platforms. It's like a de facto uniform. And some of them seem to be able to walk quite well in them. So somebody, perhaps numbering in the millions of people, must think that this style of shoe somehow accentuates the positive. I am proven wrong that I can somehow be objective about my own feelings.

It still doesn't mean I have to be dishonest and say "Oh I love those shoes," because I don't. But I'm glad you like them, you're the one who bought them, you're the one who is wearing them. But do be careful walking through doorways!

Oh, good grief! This discussion has been going on since the Jenny days. And I'm sure well before the internet was a thing. We evidently are all true brothers here, because we seem to enjoy arguing a lot.

Merry Christmas, everyone! For some reason, my whole family is already awake at this hour, which is unusual. And it has nothing to do with Christmas, since all of our gifts are over at my parents' house, which is half a mile from here. We are not six years old anymore.

Today, my thoughts are not upon gifts, but upon what I really need to get rid of, and there's a lot. Since this is a shoe site, let's stick to shoes. Let's pretend for a minute that I have to get rid of 50% of my shoes. I'm not saying that I'm actually going to do it, but let's pretend for a short time. Which ones would go, and which ones would stay? That is a more difficult thought exercise than one might imagine.

Ok, the first to go is easy. A couple of pairs of nostalgia shoes, ones which I no longer wear, but keep around because they represent some important turning points in my life. Also, I own several pair of what I call "aspirational" heels, which are shoes that I can't really wear, but aspire to gain the skill someday. I don't really own any fetish shoes, but these are bordering on that. They'd be gone, in my imaginary purge.

OK, so now what? The decisions are still not getting that hard, do I really need like 12 pairs of nude patent pumps? I could get rid of 2/3 of them without much problem, and I still would have round toe, almond toe, and pointed toe to choose from. It just wouldn't be quite the subtle palette of beige and the subtle difference in heel shape that I now have the option from which to choose.

I could also get rid of anything with more than 1" of platform. Some of these I actually enjoy wearing, but I don't necessarily like how they look. I've never had any huge platforms, like what used to be popular around 2010 or so, but I've a number of plats that exceed 1" in thickness. I am thinking of YOU, Prada wooden mules, with your 6 inch chunky wooden heels, and your inch-and-a-half honking wooden platforms. But wait, am I going to get rid of those before I get rid of some others? Because they are actually a blast to wear, and they're an all-day shoe. I just hate what I see when I look in the mirror, sort of. I am being too hard on them. I don't actually hate them that much.

I have a whole bunch of little tiny stiletto open toed mules that don't actually get that much wear. Now the decisions are starting to get hard, because in my fantasy world, that's all I would ever wear. But we could stand to get rid of most of those. While we're at it, let's get rid of most of the wedges, too. They're practical (in most cases), but they don't get a ton of wear, either.

I guess that wasn't all that hard. I just divested myself of half my shoes! Will I actually do it? Nah.  .  . it's just a thought, y'all have a Merry Christmas! Or whatever holiday you celebrate.

5 hours ago, Cali said:

This is not a look that will help pave the path for more men to wear heels. The dainty purse looks out of place and balloon pants ... come on.

This is about as good as a photo of a guy playing a round of golf in stilettos and a midriff.

What needs to be out there are photos of "normal" men in "normal" attire doing "normal" things in a "normal" way AND in heels.

Firstly, no, it's not comparable to a photo of a guy in a crop top and stilettos playing golf. Or doing anything else for that matter. But secondly, there ARE photos of people out there in "normal" life. Many of us post them quite regularly. Some of us actually show our faces. But we're not on Instagram or TikTok, nor do we particularly want to be.

Kind of reminds me of that college kid who stopped me on the street years ago. Maybe he was trying to impress his girlfriend, but for some reason, he came up to a total stranger and asked me, "I guess you like all the attention?" I told him without missing a beat, "Actually no. I'd much rather people leave me the hell alone." I didn't mean it to come out quite that harshly, but that poor kid had to skulk away with his tail between his legs.

Now that I've had a chance to mull over it for a few days, I am less enthusiastic about Mr. Millet's outfit. It's a bit baggy and sloppy for my taste, especially where the shirt is tucked into the pants. I think the reason why we collectively sort of hate that handbag is because it's daintily out of place with the rest of the look.

Also, once again, like so many other looks put forward by social media when it comes to "heels for men," it's honking big heeled boots, long sleeves, and long pants.

On 12/19/2022 at 7:14 AM, Shyheels said:

I wonder if the smaller percentage of heels over five inches is a sign of your establishing a sort of personal style - settling into a heel height that feels right to you, aesthetically and physically, after the initial rush of blood. 

I must admit to having bought more than one pair simply BECAUSE they were super tall. I won't do that anymore. I am thinking specifically of a pair of Aldo oxfords I used to have. They were at least 5 1/2 inches (with a platform, of course), and I thought I liked them until I saw myself actually wearing them. I can't remember whether it was a photo or a video, but it was something that somebody else had taken, and it was a wakeup call. "Holy crap, those shoes are ugly! Why did I every buy them?" And of course, I had to admit to myself, I bought them pretty much because the heels were super tall. This has happened on more than one occasion over the years. I am a slow learner.

Also, as a further thought, I actually wore flat boots to my several musical rehearsals last night at the church, in preparation for Christmas Eve services. This has not happened for longer than I can remember. I had to load/unload six different instruments, and it was snowing rather heavily at the time. Call me a wimp if you must.

Yeah, that outfit ain't bad. I might wear something similar, but probably with pumps or sandals instead of those really chunky boots.  I do appreciate how straight his knee is midstep. But what the heck, it's Instagram, you never know what that looks like in real life.

I typically do not keep great records about the stats of my heels. I have actual inventories going back to 2015, back when I had less than 50 pairs of shoes, but unless I comb through the lists, I don't really know what I had back then versus what I have now. One thing that surprised me however, was the fact that I really don't have very many pairs of pumps. It feels by the seat of the pants, that I have bought a hell of a lot of pumps in the past year. I know I have worn pumps way more than I used to in the past year, but they still make up a mere 18% of my collection, up from 13% two years ago. Reality does not match up with feelings in this case. Another surprise after having gone over my spare records, I used to own a lot more heels that were higher than 5 inches compared to what I have today.

15 hours ago, Peeptoe said:

Went shopping and dropped by DSW to try on some shoes. Ended up with these two pairs. 

I needed a new pair of black pumps and the Jessica Simpson shoes fit really well in a sz 12. I find her brand typically runs too narrow for my feet most of the time. 

The Madden Girl shoes are a sz 11 and are snug but not uncomfortable. So I wore them to an outdoor mall that I needed to stop at to break them in. I only needed to visit two stores there. But they were comfortable enough that I browsed a few others as well. I got a compliment from one of the young ladies in one of the stores that I stopped in. At one point the buckle on one shoe started to rub and the block heel took a bit of getting used to. 

I was actually going to wear the JS shoes around the outdoor mall but even though the fit was perfect there was a bit of slippage at the heel as I walked from my vehicle so I went back and changed. I'll have to try some inserts for some grip on the back of my heel. 

I often have the same problem with pumps. I don't think my heels are unusually narrow, but I tend to step right out of them in the real world, especially if I am wearing hosiery of any sort. And speaking of the real world, what you experienced is what I've been preaching for 10 years. Once you step out of that car and walk across the parking lot, all them dishes you washed while wearing heels, all of the floors you mopped, all that vacuuming you did, it don't mean a thing. Mainly because it ain't got that swing.

1 hour ago, kneehighs said:

Age range of 14-21 is GenZ.  😀

After rereading my post, it does seem rather self-contradictory. It wasn't meant to be. What I really meant to say is that all age groups seem more accepting than they did 10 years ago, including the dreaded Boomers, I don't see a hard generational line there. On the other side of the fence,  the Gen Zed folks include those who have asked my 13 year old why his dad wears "booty" shorts and heels in a somewhat derisive manner. My point is, Gen Zed it not at all a homogeneous group, any more than any other age group is. In my own defense, wouldn't I have to actually have a booty in order to call them booty shorts? Mine fell off a long time ago.

I meant it to be a completely separate thought and observation that it has been my personal experience in the last few months to have been approached by total strangers who happen to be younger girls.

All right, folks, it is STAT time of day. When I was compiling these, I realized that I am a complete amateur compared to JeffB. I think he kept track of every aspect of every shoe or piece of clothing he ever bought, including how many times he'd worn a particular item. Information that would be quite valuable for a hoarder like me, so that I could have actual evidence of a reason to divest myself of a number of items. Alas, my record keeping, while not nonexistent, is severely lacking compared to the pros. And we won't even get into the non-shoe part of my wardrobe.  .  .

I decided to compile data on four metrics: Actual heel height, as measured up the back of the heel (in a plumb line, of course), effective steepness of the heels (thereby taking into account a platform, if it exists), type of heel, and style of footwear (pump, sandal, etc.). One thing I just thought of is maybe compiling data about platform shoes vs. single sole. I have never owned any truly giant platforms, but have been moving away from my formerly favored 1 inch plats in favor of single soles lately. Well, sort of. We'll get to that in a minute.

So here are the numbers, and I will mention again that the present count is 99 pair, the percentages may not always add up to exactly 100%, due to rounding:

Actual heel height

<4" 15.2%

≥4" - 4.5"  25.3%

>4.5" - 5"  32.3%

>5" 27.3%

In addition to these stats, I can state generally:

Low heels (>2" - <3")  6 pairs

Mid heels (≥3" - <4") 8 pairs

High heels (≥4") 85 pairs

Effective heel height (steepness)

<3.5"  18.2%

≥3.5" - 4"  30.3%

>4" - 4.5"  40.4%

>4.5"  11.1%

Heel type

Stiletto  38.4%

Slim (near stiletto)  5.1%

Tapered (much thicker than stiletto, but substantially thinner at the bottom)  29.3%

Block  7.1%

Wedge  20.2%

Footwear description (these definitely don't add up to 100%, as there is quite a bit of overlap)

Pump  18.2%

Open toe  58.6%

Open back (mule or clog)  57.6%

Lace-up (oxford or derby) 7.1%

Boot (all styles  from shootie to knee boot)  6.1%

A word about my boots, since I know there are a lot of people on here who wear boots exclusively: I have four pairs of true boots, two over the ankle boots, and two knee high. The remaining two I consider shoes, but some call them "shooties," that is, they stop below the ankle, but are sort of in the style of boots. Sorry to disappoint, I don't really like boots all that much. I wear them when it is necessary to deal with cold or snow out of utility. In my ideal world, I'd wear sandals 365 days a year. I don't foresee me ever moving away from Iowa, so that's not going to happen.

Back to my tendency of getting away from platforms--yes, my total collection is less platform-y than it used to be, but what do I actually wear the most on a day to day basis? That's where it gets a little subjective, because I don't keep records of that sort. My general sense is that most of the time, I wear open toed mules with a modest platform (.75" - 1"), and with an effective steepness of 3.5" - 4", even though the stats for the entire collection would indicate higher and thinner on average. We'll never truly know for sure. Pictured below is most of the collection, but just a bit of it is in a different location. Excuse the mess, who am I kidding? I'm never going to clean that up all the way.