mlroseplant

Farmer's Market OOTW. I have a couple of interesting notations. First of all, I am just not too sure about these shorts. I've had them for a while, but have never worn them before because they were too tight in the waist. I have recently dropped a few pounds for reasons I can't really explain, and now they fit OK. At least in the waist. Looking at them in this photo, I feel everything else is too big, and cut too fully. I don't know, I just don't like them all that well. Except for the full sized pockets. No dumping change when you sit down in these shorts.

This week, I got in a conversation right off the bat with one of our early customers about my shoes. It was the usual "I don't see how you can do that and remain a normal, upright, pleasant person" kind of exchange. Since the market hadn't officially opened, I had a little more time to talk, and I attempted to explain how I approached wearing heels from a different place than most women, talking about social constructs and expectations.  .  . I'm not going to do that again. I'm sure there are some people out there who are interested in such things, but they are probably few and far between. She was pleasant enough, but obviously had no idea what the hell I was talking about, or didn't care. Which is fine. She can marvel at my endurance in high heels without understanding how I got here.

So, I wore my favorite Bonny mules for the first time to the market, just to see if they were really as comfortable as I always say they are. The Bonny No. 3 is not fully broken in yet, so I did bring a backup pair of shoes and a couple of Bandaids just in case. I wound up using the backup shoes, but not for the reason I imagined. As it turns out, both heel tips came loose before the end of the night. Not a big deal, I think it's because they are New Old Stock shoes, and the wooden heels have probably dried out and shrunk somewhat over the years, losing their grip on the heel tips. Same thing happened with Bonny No. 2. But I had to finish the night in low heels. :((((((

4 hours ago, hiddenheels said:

Sorry, do not like posting pics.

 

Got used to the skirt and heels I was wearing. Was quite comfortable in them! The heels look "manly" and the skirt was denim, also somewhat "manly". I don't know... My original plan was another skirt and stiletto heels, but wasn't too comfortable with that, whereas I think this worked well. I had fun. No one said anything.

First of all, congratulations on your successful outing. Even without pictures, I'm sure you looked just fine. And if you didn't, I guess we'll never know, haha.

I don't really like posting pictures of myself, either, but I have gotten used to it, and now do so on a regular basis. Actually, it's not the posting  pictures that bothers me, it's the taking pictures part. I don't have a nice smile, I don't know how to pose, and I certainly can't enlist any help from my wife in that regard, not after I complained every week for years when she would drag me out to the local park to have me take pictures of her.  I am not sure what your personal objection is, but I can tell you from experience that taking photos of yourself is a very valuable learning experience if you care the least amount about how you present yourself in public. Better yet, take a video. THAT can be an eye-opening experience. And it doesn't necessarily have to do with heels or skirts or anything like that. For example, I never noticed how badly I slumped my shoulders and put my head forward when I walked. Now I know what to work on. That really has nothing to do with heels, it's more a health thing. We should stand up straight in general for better health. You may not have that problem, I'm just giving that as an example.

For the second part, it's funny how we assign certain clothes or shoes as being more radical or controversial than others, when this is probably not the case. People who are receptive to a guy in a skirt and heels are not really going to put the finery on it as to whether the guy is wearing stilettos or block heels. Same goes for people who find the idea repulsive or merely weird. They're really not going to notice the exact style of shoe or skirt. I do this all the time myself, don't get me wrong. I'm guilty of the same inner head game, but it's kind of silly.

21 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Do you all get red wasps up there?  I’ve never had a black/blue wasp even get anxious, unprovoked, but the red ones cannot be trusted.  

We don't have red wasps up here. The only black or blue species I can think of we call mud daubers, and they are pretty mellow. Most of the rest of them are yellow and black striped, and can be aggressive at times, especially during this time of year we're coming into soon.

I have a "boot friend," who is always trying to convince me to wear thigh boots. The problem I discovered (besides disliking the style for myself), is that thigh boots for your average person are crotch boots for me. I don't seem to have this problem with knee boots, so maybe I just have really short thighs with normal sized calves/shins.

I really wouldn't mind wasps all that much, but why do they have to be so angry? If they would just mellow out a little bit, I probably wouldn't kill them every chance I get.

That IS a nice color. It seems like there are lot more colors of pumps (and shoes in general) than there used to be. And that's even if you don't count the gaudy, busy, multicolor designs that seem to be everywhere as well.

Thanks, Joe. You are right, those shoes would have gone well with my "BluBlocker" outfit from Sunday. The color of the sky and the color of the coolers just happened to add that little bit of extra, and that was a complete accident. That picture is straight off the phone, no filters. That's just how it came out.

Here is my church OOTW. I seem to do the blue thing in slightly different permutations on a fairly regular basis, and here is what I came up with this week. FSJ blue mules, Buffalo pants (Costco), polo shirt from Vietnam.

The only notable thing that happened today is when I was getting out of the car after coming back home. As I was unloading my stuff, a wasp started harassing me. I had a bass case in one hand, and my bucket full of music/equipment in the other. I wound up stabbing the top of my foot with my own stiletto heel. That felt awesome. At least I didn't get stung.

Time for the latest installment of Farmer's Market Outfit Of The Week. I try not to repeat too often, but I'm sure it happens. I know I've worn the Michael Kors tan wedges before, the shorts before, and the olive t-shirt many, many times. So even if this is not a repeat, it's close.

It was a beautiful even here in central Iowa last night. Low 80s for temperatures to start off, a good breeze, and plenty of sunshine. In fact, I want to say it's the first truly decent weather we've had all year on a Thursday night. The State Fair hasn't started yet, so the people came. And they came, and they came, and they came. By my estimation, we sold about 750 egg rolls last night. Once again, my outfit and shoes did not seem to negatively affect business.

Despite my lack of time to do anything, I got three comments. One from a six year old girl early on who pointed out to her mother that I was wearing high heels. And that's it. Either it was that uninteresting, or the mother shushed the daughter hurriedly. I didn't actually hear any shushing, but I was kind of busy at the time. Number Two was from a customer, a woman about my age who asked the usual question of how I can work in those heels. We had a short conversation about heels during our financial and culinary transaction. She said she actually still did wear heels for special occasions, but she said she could only do about THAT high (held her fingers about 2 1/2 inches apart). My wedges are 4 1/2 with small platform, making them right at about 4 inches steep.

Number Three was when I was going to fetch my car from a nearby street so we could load up and go home. Two college age girls were walking behind me somewhat when I heard one of the shout out something. I didn't pay that much attention, but evidently she was yelling at me. What I finally was able to discern was, "You look fierce" and "I like your shoes." I thanked her and her friend, and went on my way. Both were very attractive young ladies, and both were smiling. I sure didn't feel fierce, I felt like I just got run over by a truck, but whatever.

I must be gaining some stamina, because the last time I wore these shoes, the balls of my feet felt quite uncomfortable by the end of the night. This time, they were just slightly ragged, and now the next morning I can hardly tell I stood in 4 inch heels for nearly six hours.

Oddly enough, and I suppose that we all are odd in some way or other, I really do not get a kick out of wearing heels while sitting. As I am writing this, I have my bare feet propped up on the adjacent piece of furniture to where I've got my backside planted. I do rather love the sensation of wearing heels while standing or walking.

23 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Due to image size limits I was unable to show these yesterday. 

Now there's a color I had not really considered before, but may in the future. It goes so well with denim.

7 hours ago, pebblesf said:

I would like to do this someday as well, but am afraid of the horrifying results!

Ummmm, yeah. It can be horrifying. I admit, I am probably way too hard on myself, but it's taken me 10 years to figure out how to walk, and I still ain't really got it right yet.

I have to admit to taking quite a bit of video of myself lately, because I realize I need to improve my walk. It's very instructional when a person sees himself as he actually appears.

That is also my style--sort of. But I have to agree with Bluejay, just shave your legs. If you're just chillin' on your deck, and wanted to show us your shoes, don't bother. It's kind of a pain in the rear. But if you're actually out in public, please do. To be sure, there are some members here who will violently disagree with me on this one. And it's fine to be wrong about something that doesn't, in the grand scheme of things, really matter. 😂😂😂

22 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

In the break room. It's been exillerating wearing heels at work.

I actually think I'm a bit more productive. Not sure why other than the feeling of high heels on my feet seems more natural when I'm in an unloaded position. I have a reasonable arch.

That is one thing I always wondered. I know you favor stiletto heels that are around 5 inches tall. First of all, I can't even walk in 5 inch heels properly, but even supposing I could learn, I don't think I could actually wear them to most places where I usually wear heels, because I spend a good deal of the time walking or standing. I find that 3 inch or lower I can almost ignore completely, but as I get up to 4 inch, it becomes quite noticeable after a couple of hours that I'm wearing heels. My question is, am I to understand that you spend quite a good deal of time sitting in your heels, as compared to standing or walking?

22 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

I just canceled this order. They asked for 10 more dollars. Claimed material costs. I may have paid the price if it was listed that way, changing in mid stream is bull.

Yeah, I'm trying to imagine my wife having a sign up that says, "Egg rolls, $2 a piece." And then charging $2.50 at the counter.

I feel that I already have way too many shoes, and I know you have several times what I have. Do you ever get the feeling when something like this happens, "Ah well, I didn't really need those anyhow." I know I do. Doesn't keep me from looking for the next pair, but sometimes it's a bit of a relief to have an order cancelled.

First of all, I would like to say "welcome." I say this with some puzzlement, as I see you've been here for nearly 7 years, so perhaps "welcome back" would be more appropriate.

It all depends upon what kind of shots you would like to get. If you are currently using a phone propped up in a supermarket trolley (or grocery cart, as we would call it over here), I am guessing that you are not wanting a documentary-type video where people can see your entire body, and you walk around and talk about things. I'd go with p1ng74's suggestion in that case.

There has been at least one thread in the past about ballerina flats, so this is not unprecedented. I didn't participate because I've got no basis.

19 hours ago, Cali said:

Steve Madden Lure purchased in 2019. I don't wear them often.

1/2 inch platform, 5.5 inch heel.

I found a red pair on Poshmark that was actually my size! Unfortunately, it sold some weeks ago. Or maybe fortunately. Suede doesn't generally work well in Iowa, anyhow.

On 7/23/2022 at 5:49 AM, Jkrenzer said:

It's the weak spot. Every mechanical thing has its weakest region based on the stresses in the part. You are fatiguing the metal with every step. Bonny no. 1 apparently had a large stress cycle that shortened its life. I'm not surprised it's on the same shoe, we all walk differently on each foot. In my case the heel tips always wear faster on my left shoe. It could also be just random, i.e. flip a coin. If it's heads the 1st time it's still 50/50 each time you flip it again that it will be heads, no pattern until it happens 3 or more times.

We're working on No. 3 right now, but it's going to take a while to wear the new ones to failure. 116 miles sounds kind of impressive, but it took me about two years to do that. I do have other shoes, after all, and I'm lazy.

18 hours ago, Cali said:

Or it could be from driving.

15 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

 No real physical loading driving, engineer response after scientists comment. Yuk Y uk

13 hours ago, Cali said:

Uneven loading on the heel and torque from changing from gas pedal to brake pedal.  I can feel and see this on some of my heels from driving.  And 99%+ of the time I'm driving in heels.  (Experimental based science.)

What is unknown is the condition of the shank in the left heels.  Do they show stress or not.

I'll go ahead and put this to rest. I didn't drive in these shoes. I'm not saying it never happened, but certainly not enough to make any difference, even if we assume that the act of driving somehow made a difference. To answer the other question, I did, in fact, tear apart the left shoe on Bonny No. 2, just to see, and there was no visual sign of damage to the shank. Not that there wasn't damage, but I don't have instruments to measure it. I did have a little fun playing with the heels to see just how important that little metal strip is for keeping everything in place as it should be. Bonny No. 3 feels much more solid under my feet, so I'm guessing that even the left on Bonny No. 2 was flexing more than when new.

Ships still sometimes break in half at sea, so I suppose it's a bit much to expect a mass produced silly fashion item to last indefinitely.

This is what shank failure looks like--for the second time. The heel was plenty tight to the sole, even after all that walking and a fourth set of heel caps. That little strip of metal is key to the structural integrity of many heels, and certainly of this model. The failure was in exactly the same spot as the last pair, and on the same shoe (the right). I am a bit surprised about that, as this pair was never subjected to trauma, as was the last pair.

I had an incident with Bonny No. 1, overstepping the bottom stair and doing violence to the heel. Bonny No. 1 didn't fail right away after that, but it was soon after at only about 50 miles. The fact that Bonny No. 2 failed in the exact same way somewhat puzzles me. Also, the fact that it was on the same foot gives me a little cause for concern. I need to examine some of my other shoes to see if perhaps I'm walking funny on that foot.

At any rate, the first picture is what happened to the heel (exaggerated for photo purposes--it wasn't actually that bad while I was walking the last tenth of a mile), the second picture is the shank of Bonny No. 2, third picture is the shank of Bonny No. 1. As you can see, they broke within 1 mm of the same spot. How weird! I'll start working on Bonny No. 3 right away, to see if there's a pattern.

14 hours ago, Cali said:

@mlroseplant it looks like you are on vacation in the Caribbean with those shorts.

I like my wedges, they are some of the easiest heels to walk/ work in.  But some days are stiletto days, especially with short shorts. 

Hello, I'm Melrose Plant, and I approve of this outfit. What are the shoes?

Changing it up a little bit with colors I don't normally wear. These mint green shorts mimic white pants quite well in their ability to attract spilt food and dirt in general. I think they might look better if I were darker skinned. Pairing them with sensible shoes led to an evening of zero comments. Shorts are some brand called Dept 222. Sandals are by Söfft.

Ooh, that's pretty hard to look at.

It was a sad day in the world yesterday. My BCBGirls Bonny mules, my favorite pair of walking shoes, yielded up the ghost by shank failure. As many of you may know, it's not totally bad, because I still have three identical pairs in reserve. Two down, three to go. I was slightly disappointed that the right shoe failed at only 115.6 miles, but I suppose that is actually pretty amazing considering the design of the shoe.

I only wish they had lasted another 10 miles, which would have made them, at least temporarily, the most durable heels I've owned. As it is, that honor is still held by my Nine West oxfords, which are still kicking, and actually remain quite presentable if you polish them up. The Bonny No. 2s, on the other hand, were not really presentable. They were pretty much trashed, and I would never actually wear them in public, if you don't count walking around the neighborhood.

I guess we get to start on Bonny No. 3 now. It will take a while for them to get soft and pliable like the No. 2s were. And it will be interesting to see if they last about the same amount of time and mileage.