mlroseplant

8 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Because heels higher than 12cm look tarty and fetishy 

I knew a woman who was a true expert in wearing heels - 120mm was her usual height - and she owned a pair of those but never wore them because she couldn’t walk well in them. I think also that few women like the look of heels that high. I know some who love heels but won’t go over 100mm because they say it creates the wrong impression.

Probably the reason why they look tarty and fetishy is because almost nobody can walk in them, and what good is a shoe if you can't actually walk in it? Bingo.

Not very many years ago, giant platformed monstrosities with 15 or 16 cm heels were quite fashionable (think Louboutin Daffodile, et al.). Those were not necessarily fetishy. Heck, pianist Yuja Wang to this day wears similar for every concert, even though she has toned the rest of her look down considerably from what it was pre-pandemic. I think a lot of it has to do with not actually being able to use single soled shoes over 12 cm for their intended purpose. I would be willing to bet money that even Ms. Wang could not negotiate Hot Chicks, as least not well enough to present them in public.

I can't figure out what this organization is either, but they're the folks who also brought us National Squirrel Appreciation Day, if that's any indication. Apparently nobody paid the money to make that a thing this year, so it is now defunct.

On the other hand, since I can't determine exactly which day in May I first ventured outside in heels, maybe I'll use the 20th as my anniversary date, as it is no doubt within a week of being accurate. It will have been 10 years already, can you believe that?

15 hours ago, bambam said:

I've been wearing Danskos, and they have been working,  just not much fun, if you know what I mean.

 

The Nikes only have a 2 inch heel, which certainly helps, but they're just too gaudy for where I work. Honestly, the Danskos have helped with the Plantar pain, so, maybe those boring clogs will have to do, at least for a while.

 

Here are the Dansko clogs I own, which are no lookers, but they are effectively about a 3 inch heel. The model name is Francine. I do not know if they're made anymore.

22 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

Hi @mlroseplantThese come from FSJ shoes in China. You can ask for the same. If you want I can take more pictures. 

Sure they would match a traditional man suit. 

The only risk with FSJ is you could receive something that doesn’t fit. It happened often to me. These ones arrived with a bad balance. Heels too high: I reduced them by myself.Still 15cm,which is high enough.  I also asked a cobbler to add a 5mm sole. Now they are one of the nicest and more comfortable I own. 

I have one pair of FSJ, and yeah, it wasn't wearable out of the box, either.

I get what you're saying about increasing height very gradually. The problem I'm having is that there are a lot of shoes in my size that are about 4 - 4 1/2", or in that 100 - 115 mm range. These are your "normal" shoes. Then you can find 5" and above very easily, by looking for "fetish" type shoes. What I cannot seem to find, outside of super expensive designer shoes, is stuff in the 4 3/4" or 120 mm range. Louboutin, Jimmy Choo, Brian Atwood, and similar seem to have a plethora of models in that height range, but by the time these get mimicked by the Nine Wests and the Steve Maddens of the world, they lose just a little bit of vertical dimension in the process.

What shoes do you normally wear to work? You can, in fact, get those Dunks in plain ol' black, but perhaps sneakers at work are not allowed. I'm sure I said this somewhere before, only I can't find it now--it must've been in another thread--I've got 2 pairs of these things, and I never wear them anymore. They're just simply not high enough to bother with, for me. They served their intended purpose for one trip, one year. I will say that they are every bit as comfortable as regular sneakers, at least for a guy like me.

21 hours ago, CAT said:

If I can pull off fishnets and a leather mini leggings are no big deal casual or dressed up !

 

Ok, Ok, I stand corrected. Maybe I am too self conscious. You do tend to photobomb, CAT, but you do so in an effective way. I still ain't wearing leggings as pants, though. Just so you know.

18 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

Going from 4,5” to 5,5” is a big jump. Reaching our limit each 5mm more can be a challenge. 

About training the only and not perfect way I found is to go outside,in the dark,to rather busy places ( more secure) with the shoes hidden with boot cut jeans. That’s not perfect but better than lonely places at night or struggling in public in day time. 

 

There are what I personally consider as a good “ training “ pair of shoes 

I want those, training or not! I think they would go with my traditional men's suits quite nicely.

On 4/21/2022 at 8:06 AM, bluejay said:

I wear leggings to shop at the grocery store, mall, bank, P.O. Where ever I have to go. I like to wear leggings and will continue to do so. Why should girls have all the fun.

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

I for one, would like to see an example of how a man can wear leggings in casual situations without looking obnoxious. Or basically wearing a dress. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those.  .  .

21 hours ago, pebblesf said:

I would agree.  For me, it is a double edged sword.  I'm surely not going to get better in 5.5" heels unless I practice, but walking around a carpeted hotel room isn't much practice for sure.  Venturing outside is an exercise in humiliation because my stride is short and discomfort sets in quickly.  Maybe I need to just walk up and down the hotel hallways for awhile, but don't want to seem "creepy" or attract attention from hotel security.   Looking to find a nice pair of ankle boots with just 5" heels, perhaps jumping up one inch from 4.5" is an unreasonable expectation.  

Ah, the place to practice. For you, practice at home is not possible because of your significant other. For me, practice at home is not possible because of lack of physical space. I mean, one can only get so good walking 4 steps back and forth in the kitchen waiting for the rice to finish cooking. But where is one to go so as not to let other people see you struggling? I have been advised over the years that my habit of walking after dark is not safe, although in my location it is perfectly safe, except for the possibility of tripping over cracks in the sidewalk.

But this is a whole nuther world, this learning to walk in 5 inch heels. It ain't like when I was first starting to wear 3 inch heels. I may have looked a bit awkward, but it wasn't like I was learning how to waterski or anything. I was mainly building endurance. I could still blend in, especially in the dark. This 5+ inch heel thing is fundamentally different. You don't want anybody seeing THAT shit. So, you don't practice. And you don't get any better. I don't know what the answer is.

On 4/21/2022 at 4:23 PM, StilettoLuv said:

I wish when I joined this thread that I had read your original post in detail.

I completely understand your desire to wear the higher heels. I assume you mean those attractive black pumps in your last photo? They are really nice. 

If that shoe portion is comfortable on your feet and it's only the heel height you are adjusting to, you are correct. For me it's always been about feet and ankles becoming relaxed at the arch angle you choose and in my opinion your choice of a pump rather than a sandal will help you greatly. 

It took me a lot of practice and walking to make 5"-5.5" heels my day to day heel height and now after a lot more stretching I have these for special evenings out.

Best of luck with your practice.

Two thoughts: Number One, part of the issue that I have with my 5 inch pumps is that the back of the shoe, which I believe is called the counter, digs into my achilles tendon, due to the severe angle of my foot. So I'm thinking that a pump is not for me in this height. Or at least I need to find one that is a little bit lower cut. Number Two, what space did you find to practice in to get to where you're at?

10 hours ago, StilettoLuv said:

Thank you but there's no skill involved. Just takes a little time and practice.

There is skill involved for sure, but I believe what you're saying is that it is not simply all natural ability, there was a lot of work involved. I get this all the time with music. People will say, "Oh, you are so talented!" Perhaps, but it seems they often have no inkling of the tens of thousands of hours of thousands of hours I've practiced over the last 40 years.

7 hours ago, Pumped said:

I don't know about skill, but like I mentioned earlier in the thread, my ankles will just not flex far enough! I can slip on the 5" heels, try to walk in them and I can barely lock my knees straight. The muscles in my legs don't seem to care as I don't have sore muscles while or after wearing them. Pretty sure I have simply reached the end of the range of motion in my ankles. But I do continue to wear them in hopes something changes!

One of the things that drives me crazy about these motivational speakers is that the message is always some version of, "You can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it." Which is another way of saying, "If one person can do it, then anybody should be able to do it if they're motivated enough." Which is a load of cobblers.

Obviously, learning to walk well in 5 inch heels is not the skill level of say, becoming a professional level tennis player, but for some of us who were not blessed with naturally flexible ankles, it might seem like it sometimes. I do believe that you and I could do it (walk in 5+ inch heels, that is), but the time and effort required might be more than we're willing to pay. Also, it doesn't help that we're not 20 years old anymore.

11 hours ago, Pumped said:

I was wearing leggings 35 years ago when I would go for a run. I didn't cover them up like some guys do. I let the bulge show!

Outside of athletics, I don't see it becoming a thing. Outside of a few of us, and I might say a few of you, you will never see a guy at the grocery store or the mall wearing leggings. I don't know exactly why that is, but there is my prediction. Running? Yes. Wearing in real life? Hard no. Except for 3.

There is the possibility that Mike Myers singlehandedly ruined the whole thing for us.

https://tenor.com/bh5td.gif

I am not sure when gametes came into the conversation, but I am fairly sure that it is bordering on prohibited discussion on this forum. 😆

14 hours ago, StilettoLuv said:

I could not find a source for replacement steel heel tips. They are a solution to the delicate heels tips for those that wear stilettos consistently and often. 

I have to walk regularly through a train station that has ceramic tile floors and while the sound is amazing (but does say "LOOK AT MY HEELS") steel heel tips are frankly super slippery and dangerous for walking.

Absolutely! That would be my main concern. The idea of metal heels appeals to me, the reality seems like it might be quite different.

On 4/17/2022 at 1:21 PM, Pumped said:

My "go to" is 4". Like Melrose I started with 3: and worked my way to 4". I find it funny that I thought my leg muscles were going to explode wearing the 3" heels, and then as I moved up again the muscles were arguing with the heels! Now I can pull on a pair of 4" heels and after a couple minutes for the muscles to settle in I forget I am wearing them.

Some time ago I bought a pair of 5" heels with no platform with the intentions of working my way into them. It may have been a year and I just can not seem to wear them. It seems to me I am simply at the end of the range of motion in my ankles. nothing short of surgery will help!

 I do keep trying to wear them. If nothing else it has make the 4 heels easier to wear.

I pretty much did the same thing, and, while I do not share your pessimism about needing surgery to walk well in them, I have to ask myself if I am really willing to put in the work necessary, and especially at my age. The answer is probably "no." I have too much shit to do. Still, a boy can dream.

I know this is supposed to be about jeans, but we've taken a left turn. The problem I have with leggings is that unless I wear something very long on top, I feel like I'm showing people something they really don't need to see. The only place where this seems to be acceptable in polite society is at the ballet.

10 hours ago, pebblesf said:

Only 1"?  That's too bad, was hoping for at least 2".  

I'm not entirely sure which he was referring to, but the dunks are definitely well over 2" in steepness--I'd say at least 2 1/4." It's very difficult to get an accurate measurement due to the nature of the design. I don't have the Adidas, but from the pictures, it definitely looks like the wedge is much smaller.

I am happy to report that on my monthly to bi-monthly trip to Costco, I saw not one, not two, but THREE other people (besides me) wearing legitimate heels. All were women, naturally. One older Asian lady had on block heeled boots of about 2 1/2" or so. A 30 something Caucasian lady had on a Cotton, floaty sort of dress with plain black stiletto pumps, which definitely approached the 4 inch range. And finally, another Asian lady, definitely on the young side, was wearing tight jeans with fabric stretch ankle boots. These boots had tiny stiletto heels that were metal, nothing insanely high, but probably approaching 4 inches, maybe only 3 1/2. This is a rare occurrence these days. Three in one trip, plus me!

My ex-wife used to do only one pair of shoes. She would get block heeled pumps in the 1 1/2 - 2 inch range, which seemed to satisfy everyone in both the terminal and the plane. Except for the one time she wore 3 1/2" stilettos to work, but she did that for my benefit. I am quite certain she did not work the flight in those shoes. They seemed insanely high back in the mid 90s, but I'm sure they'd seem pretty tame now. Thanks for your answer @pebblesf

Heh, heh. High heels and shorts. That takes it to a whole different level, at least to my mind, but your mileage may vary. Going to high heels and shorts was not that big of a deal for my wife, it didn't seem to upset her to any greater degree than me wearing high heels at all. If I decided to paint my fingernails, she would come unglued, and you would think that would be way less of a deal.

I think the high heels and shorts thing isn't that big a deal to her because it was not a rare thing to see at the time. I won't say it was ever popular around here, but you could actually go out, and if you found a large enough group of people, chances were pretty good that you would see at least one woman wearing shorts with high heels, especially wedges. The other reason is that the high heels with shorts thing was quite acceptable in Asia and very commonplace long before it was acceptable here.

Oddly enough, although I wear high heels with shorts pretty much all summer, I have extremely few pictures to show. Here is one of the few with my not-very-high-but-really-cool Söfft silver sandals. I would never wear boots of any sort with shorts, Cali and I will disagree about this to the end of time, but that's ok, I'm sure he doesn't like some of the things I wear either!

10 hours ago, StilettoLuv said:

I tend to wear only 1 style.. just pointed stiletto pumps with no plaform .... but I can walk pretty much all day in this heel height.

You must go through a lot of heel tips, if you can walk in those all day! 😆

I realize that it's probably a little too late by now, as you are probably already doing what you've decided to do, but I just wanted to interject a thought in here, and that is that you have to sort of already know in advance what you're capable of, endurance-wise. There is no way I know of to be able to tell without the benefit of experience.

I've told this story on here several times, but I think it bears repeating for those who haven't heard it before. When I first started wearing heels regularly, they were in the 2 1/2 - 3" range. I remember being very tired for a while when I would wear them for any length of time, but they weren't bad, I didn't feel any real limitation about what I could or couldn't do because of my shoes. One day, I decided to buy some Big Girl shoes, boots with a 5" heel, 1" platform. So basically, 4" heels. This was a few months after starting my heeling journey. I decided I needed to wear these boots to the shopping mall not long after I bought them. We stayed there much longer than I anticipated, and I was standing in line a lot. I didn't think I was even going to make it back to the car, my feet hurt so much. I was very discouraged.

Fast forward about 3 years, with some experience and practice under my belt, and I wore these same exact boots to the Omaha Zoo, which is very large. I was on my feet literally all day, and did not have a single issue. But, through those 3 years of experience, I kind of knew it was possible before I ever got out of the car in the morning, so I got by with it. I can only imagine how horrible my day would have been if I had gotten to the place where I had been at the mall 3 years earlier.

In any case, I hope it all turned out well, and that a good time was had by all!

21 hours ago, pebblesf said:

So true.  Adding some nail polish will get positive reactions from everyone as well.  I was surprised at how many men and women complimented my coworker's nails on the plane last week.  Admittedly, he did a good job, picked a nice color, and looked great.  But, on the other hand, I understand Bam Bam's apprehension especially in a hotel bar.  He may get plenty of attention for sure, but most of it might be unwanted.  

Now I am truly curious about the state of the world. So AA was fine with your male coworker having nail polish? What do you think would happen if you showed up to your scheduled flight in a noticeable heel? I mean, you'd have your flat shoes to work the flight, just like the gals do, but what would happen if you just showed up one day like that?

18 hours ago, Shyheels said:

I’m old enough that I learned on film and loved the hours I used to spend in the darkroom. I also went for medium format - a Mamiya 67 and a Pentax. Having said that there is no way I’d go back to film. I know it is now sort of retro-chic, especially with millennials, but digital has far outstripped film. I’ve a full frame DSLR with which I can shoot useable fine grained images at ISO 3200 with no trouble at all - something that is utterly impossible with film. And with instant results you can see where you are, in real time, in the field. And the resolution is better as well. No comparison.

I know some people like to think the colours are better or more interesting in film, but there again with Lightroom or post processing software from DXO you can mimic the effect of any film type imaginable.

I am glad I learned on film and as I say I loved the time I spent in the darkroom but I am quite happily digital now.

Yes, you pretty much have him pegged there, but I don't know, there's a thousand other worse things he could be doing than spending his time and money on film photography.

In reply to the second bolded sentence, I suppose it's no different than the black box you can now buy which can basically emulate ANY guitar amp ever made, and do so convincingly. It's becoming more and more difficult to justify spending a lot of money on a traditional guitar amp these days.

I have a few new heels to post lately. Here is the first installment. Via Spiga booties in patent leather and suede. Bought from Poshmark for 40 bucks. 4 1/4" heels, no platform, 3/4" block heel. I've worn them out twice already in the first couple days of ownership. They are comfortable to the point where you forget, at times, that you're wearing heels. Downside is that they're leather soles, and will need replacing soon. Somebody else obviously thought that these were comfortable shoes as well. I wonder why they got rid of them. They are, perhaps, a little bit long in the tooth as far as style goes, but that has never bothered me.

8 hours ago, pebblesf said:

Doesn't seem like the insert method is going to help you much.  Are you sure you couldn't pull off some of the styles from "onlymaker" that are cowboy style with a higher block heel?  Seems like you spend most of your time behind the bar, so not many customers will have the chance to see what shoes you are wearing...

Yeah, I tried them inserts once, they suck rocks. @bambam, there is the cowboy boot thing or the wedge sneaker thing. I do not know if you wish to pursue either of these avenues.

12 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

I have long legs so there are basically no pants long enough for me to hide my heels.  But I did wear cowboy boots with 2.5" and 3" heels before wearing high heels so it wasn't a sudden thing for me either.  

I really can't empathize with you, as I have the opposite problem. I have to take every pair of pants to the tailor, and then my wife gets mad at me for that. Maybe I need to find a different tailor.

11 hours ago, pebblesf said:

I agree, a balance between comfort and style.  I get so frustrated when I have heels/boots that I can't master/walk very well in for any distance.  

This is sort of the reason that I'm trying to expand my skillset. I want to be able to wear the shoes I like whenever and wherever I want. I get it!