mlroseplant

Oh, we've had THIS conversation a few times before! Cali and I have different personal styles, but in this case, we actually agree. It's not about color vs. no color. I prefer natural nails on both males and females. Some people like that extra splash of color. Have you ever met a good looking gal and then were shocked to look down and see little nubs of bitten-off fingernails? It's no different with feet. Just keep them neat and clean and groomed. Sandals are your friends!

I definitely get what you mean. My wife absolutely does not want me wearing heels around her family in Vietnam. That kind of makes sense, given the more conservative and patriarchal society there. Not really a good analogy to what you are experiencing, but an example of a seeming arbitrary restriction nevertheless.

I can also understand about the desire to protect his children from any unnecessary ribbing by classmates. My ex-wife really got on me about that when our child was high school age. I basically ignored her, and nothing much ever came of it. I wear heels to all of my younger kid's events, and he tells me that it gets mentioned every once in  a while, but he doesn't care. If kids want to be cruel, they'll find some way to do that quite nicely on their own. You're not going to ruin their lives by wearing heels. Your brother probably doesn't believe that, but you know it's true.

I know none of this necessarily helps your situation, but those are my thoughts. I guess I would try to focus on the positives of your relationship with your brother and try not to get too hung up on this. It's probably not worth it, assuming that there is no fundamental underlying problem I don't know about.

I have not posted about my favorite summer shoes in a while. This is my third pair of BCBGirls "Bonny" mules, and they are 3rd of 5, for those of you who might get that reference. Pairs 1 and 2 got worn literally to death. Well, not literally, but literally if shoes have a lifespan in the sense that we think of life. Anyway, they don't look it, but these are the best walking shoes ever. That is, if you're not in a terrible hurry. I can do about 3 miles to the hour in these pretty consistently, and can wear them all day.

I hesitate to post this on here, because I don't wish to step on another member's thread, but this thread does have the momentum, and what I have to say is on point for the most recent topic, which is Pride Month and heels (or lack thereof).

As many of you know, but some newer members may not know, my wife and I are vendors at a couple of local farmer's markets which can't truly be called farmer's markets because we are street food vendors. Egg rolls and crab rangoons to be specific. Anyhow, during the warmer months you can see me dressed typically something like the photo below (excuse the bathroom mirror, it was the best I could do). I am not the only person you might see dressed like that, but I am the only male example, and I am pretty much on display for 4-5 hours in a night.

Right at closing time, I was approached by two young ladies who must be fellow vendors on the opposite side of the street, and they wanted to ask me about my heels. Then they asked me about pronouns. I explained, patiently, that although one would think I am a member of the LGBT+ community, and it seems like I ought to be, I am technically not. I am simply a guy who likes to wear high heels. I am likely to see them again next week, and I now feel pressure to wear some more impressive shoes than I have done so far this year, now that I know somebody is watching.

I did get some compliments on my shorts from other random people throughout the evening, but we were so busy that I just kind of brushed them off. Even if dressed unconventionally, you've still got to get the job done, right?

I actually wore stilettos the other day! It's been a while since I dragged out my Nine West "Versell" sandals for the first time in a while. They are missing a tiny ornament, and they peel on my feet just a bit from deterioration of the liner, but not as bad as they used to. I should wear them more often.

23 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

I should have mentioned I didn't consider wearing heels until I was 20, so I was 40 before going open in public.

I always loved high heels as a youth but not until I experimented in college did I realize how much I enjoy wearing them too. I am convinced that male feet are actually better suited for heels just due to being stronger in general. 

This may be true,"in general" being the emphasized word here, but I sure wouldn't want to put myself up against any ballerina, no matter how amateur.

I got to thinking about Pride Month, and I had the opportunity to march in our local Pride parade as part of our United Methodist Church, and said "no thank you." I'm not marching in anybody's parade, I don't care whose it is, unless I'm playing a sousaphone in a band, and even then, I'm reluctant. Maybe they'll convince me next year.

It's been 10 years for me. I don't know at what age my parents would have allowed me to wear heels had I been a girl, so let's pretend I wasted about 30-35 years. On the other hand, there is no way I could have worn heels as a boy in the 80s. I had neither the intestinal fortitude nor the benefit of the indifferent attitude that most people seem to have today. I am pretty sure life would have been fairly miserable, so I don't really think of it as wasted time. My only hope is that I can maintain my physical faculties well enough to enjoy myself for another 20 years or so.

Covering the other topic, I really have no desire to wear heels in large groups, in the same way that I have no desire to ride my motorcycle with 50 other people. I'm funny that way.

Nah, you just need to walk more in heels! 😆

I posted elsewhere about the proliferation of platform boots on the streets these days. I don't get a ton of comments on my shoes anymore, but I got a bit of a strange one the other night at our farmer's market booth. It was quite warm, about 90º F or 32º C, and I was wearing shorts and my mid-heeled silver Söfft sandals. Some girl in a short skirt and combat boots came up to me and said, "Man, I sure wish I had worn my sandals!" And then, in the twinkling of an eye, she was gone. Yeah, I thought to myself. I wish you had worn your sandals, too, rather than those hideous things.

In a more casual setting, it is my observation that the platform trend has settled largely on combat type boots with a thick sole, and a low to mid-rise clunky heel. This can range from kinda cool to absolutely hideous, depending upon the extremism of the sole. I even saw like an 8 or 10 year old girl wearing combat boots with a dress the other day. They had 4 inch heels and 1 inch platform. On the other hand, on the same night, I saw another girl of similar age wearing a dress and cute little gold wedge sandals, so there is hope for the future.

One demographic that does not seem to have embraced the huge platform is Asian women my age. They either wear flat sandals or mid-heeled sandals at this time of year, same as they always have. Latinas wear heels sometimes. White women do not wear heels. Trainers are everywhere for all demographics. I am speaking of casual out and about situations, not weddings or church.

A couple of Vietnamese women friends of mine, who happen to be from the same neighborhood in Saigon, both love to wear heels, but they refuse to wear heels higher than about 3 1/2 inches. Maybe approaching 4. Certainly nothing higher than that. The reason they won't is perhaps not what you expect. When they wear super high heels, their calf muscles protrude noticeably, the way that a body builder's do (though not to that extreme, obviously). They find this objectionable. For whatever reason, although my calf muscles are well defined and toned, they are not bulky, even on tiptoe. Therefore, they desire calves that look more like mine. However, I think they are quite happy to do without looking like the rest of me.

I have been trying to get back to walking regularly, as in several times a week. I've been doing all right so far this year, with the exception of the month of May, in which I somehow managed only 5.4 miles for the whole month. This is an outfit I would typically wear for my constitutionals, if it were a bit on the cooler side.

Featured are my third pair of BCBGirls "Bonny" mules, which, as I've said many times before, are much better walking shoes than you'd think. The last pair of these failed at about 115 miles, which is somewhat disappointing, but better than some. I shall be interested to see if pair No. 3 lasts any longer, because I have refined my walking style and technique somewhat, and the one thing I have noticed so far is that my heels are lasting significantly longer. I've gotten 22 miles out of the stock tips so far, and they've still got plenty of material left. Typically, I would have replaced stock tips before now. Other shoes I've worn for walking this year have shown the same trend, lasting significantly longer than they have in the past. I almost want to try walking in stilettos (which I gave up doing years ago because the heel tips wear out so quickly) to see if the same is true there as well.

I wonder what it is specifically that she desires?

18 hours ago, StilettoLuv said:

Joe, your tan stilettos are lovely. You and I seem too share a love for the classic high stiletto pump. I especially love that you enjoy your high heels in public.

I finally received my Hey Si Mey 14cm pumps and I love them. I will post photos when I find a way to reduce the size to an acceptable level for this forum. I believe you said that you too had these pumps and I wondered if you have much opportunity to wear them,

I don't know if this will work for you personally, but when I email photos from my phone, it automatically asks me if I want to change the file size. Therefore, I email photos that I want to post here to myself, and the problem is solved without any sort of photo editing.

13 hours ago, bambam said:

Love this sandal style!

Well thanks! Coincidentally, here they are again, in the obligatory bathroom mirror selfie at the farmer's market.

This is the first time this year that I've worn shorts out in public, mainly because I've been very lazy about shaving my legs. I almost had to yesterday, as temps were in the upper 80s (or lower 30s C). Sales last night were respectable, but nowhere near record levels. To keep it in perspective, though, what I consider respectable now would have been beyond imagination two years ago.

This is also the first time this year that I've worn actual "high" heels to work a farmer's market. I've been very conservative thus far about what I think my endurance is, until this night choosing mid heels with an effective height of 3". These BCBGirls Poland are effectively 4" or better, but the height didn't bother me at all. Some other things did, and I might not be wearing them again in this capacity.

9 hours ago, Mr. X said:

I didn't think anyone owned any shoes these days that needed to be cobbled

Well.  .  . that's a load of cobblers.

I was going to just leave it at that, but then I got to thinking. Because I do that sometimes. I do not visit my cobbler all that often anymore. I basically use him to replace heels, or top lifts, as he calls them. However, since cobblers have become very uncommon these days, he's always crazy busy. It's the same with the watchmaker I finally found. Not too many watches out there anymore that you don't just throw away. That watchmaker has got two or three customers in there every time I drive by the place. What was once commonplace has become a niche market.

The outfit of the week is a boring earthtone theme. The short sleeved button-down has fallen out of favor these days, and I'm not 100% sure why. I believe it has gained a reputation of being something only old men wear, young men evidently preferring to roll up their long sleeves with a technique I've never really mastered. Less old man are my Buffalo (Costo) skinny pants, which are also evidently supposed to be going out of style.

What shouldn't go out of style anytime soon are my BCBGirls "Poland" sandals. The feature I like about them best is that they have these little medallions at the ankle strap which bounce off the skin of your feet as you walk, just underneath the ankle. It's an oddly pleasant sensation. I haven't worn these sandals since they broke last year, but I finally got round to fixing them. A simple glue job, with no cobbler needed.

I dunno, I guess I just felt like wearing pink today. Some of it is technically salmon or coral, depending upon your eye. Aldo mules, Loft corduroy pants, no-name Vietnamese shirt.

14 hours ago, SF said:

Well not to sound contrary, but I do.  A beautiful Grandmother clock that stays wound for 7 days and chimes every quarter hour.  Keeps perfect time too.  I love that sound.  

And yes, I see no sense in Tick Tock either.  Seems like a tremendous waste of time, but that's my two cents.  sf

What kind is it? We've got two Seth Thomas "humpback" mantle clocks, one of which chimes every quarter hour, and one Seikosha wall clock.

I have many several pairs of leggings, but for now they have been relegated to the status of undergarments, and for that purpose they work very well. I just haven't figured out how they can work in my normal preferred wardrobe at this time. Of course, mine aren't shiny.

21 hours ago, ohnoberty said:

So 2 things, first regarding egg rolls, and I'm sure I could dig through the forum and find out myself but could you narrow down the location? Even just to the State would be a start.

 

And secondly shouting at the TV or computer, oh yes! Not generally about anything in particular but just often, maybe hurling insults at the stupidity of people on the news,or even just the stupidity of people. Tiktok seems to be the home of stupid and time wasting, not that it's everyone but from what I've seen it's rife.

Do you mean, where was the above picture taken? I think it used to say right on my avatar "Central Iowa," but for some reason they made us change it a while back. At any rate we're in the Des Moines metro area.

I only ever got on TikTok in order to study the mechanics of walking in high heels, using those Chinese street fashion videos that were popular a while back. Maybe they still are, who knows? But yes, TikTok is a very, very silly place. I have no idea why people find it so entertaining. Also, I don't even understand the name. I mean, who, besides us, actually still has clocks that go "Tick, tock?"

Do any of you remember your fathers yelling at the TV? Maybe you've done it yourself. I caught myself yelling at the computer screen this morning. Do you know what it is in this world that really bothers me? When people try to sell a European shoe, such as Jimmy Choo or some such thing, and they convert size 39 to USW 9. I'm sorry, it is not, despite what half the conversion charts say. It just isn't. In fact, I'm trying to recall ANY purchase of size 39 I've ever made where I didn't regret it. I am done yelling now. In fact, I am done buying shoes for a while now.

That looks like something jazz pianist Connie Han would wear.

On 6/1/2023 at 1:27 PM, Peeptoe said:

And whatever you do.... DON'T GET THEM WET! 

 

I'm always nervous about leather soled shoes and the potential for traversing catastrophic terrain. Sorry to hear about your misfortune.  

In my younger days, I always wondered why my ex-wife was so concerned if it rained a little bit when we were out on a dressier occasion. My only experience with leather soles had been with traditional men's dress shoes and cowboy boots, neither of which seemed to be bothered by getting wet. Maybe you wouldn't want to ford a stream, but ordinary weather was not a thing I ever thought about. Until Halloween of 2013, when I discovered that women's shoes are built far less durably than men's, starting with the fact that the thickness of a leather sole on women's shoes is about 1/3 the thickness I feel is necessary to have a leather sole.

I used to think leather soles were the way to go, but I have done a 180 on that opinion. Unless you need them for dancing or organ playing, in which case you can't wear them on the street anyway, they basically and fundamentally suck.

I guess that nothing is impossible with Steve. The real question is whether anybody will still wear heels. Will humans even exist? I guess I'll be dead and won't care.