mlroseplant

The latest up for display are some shoes that I ordered right before I left the country for a couple of weeks. They came in the mail while I was gone. I would not have normally done that, but these red Steve Madden Ronni pumps came up in my Poshmark feed, and I really couldn't pass them up. I don't have any red pumps, and for a mere $18, I thought maybe it was time to try. I have this exact model in beige/nude, so I knew what I was getting. Or so I thought.

These roundish-toed single-sole pumps have 4 1/4" stiletto heels, and they are noticeably thicker heels, at 3/8", than most Steve Madden stiletto heeled models, such as the Daisie. They are pretty comfortable for what they are. I wore them about 3 hours yesterday at church. Now for the bad part--they were advertised as being size 9, what actually came was size 9 1/2. I thought it would be ok, but after about 20 minutes, it was obvious that they are too big. They might work well as-is worn barefoot, but with stockings they are clearly too big for me. Both heels were slipping with every step. Luckily, they are of such a design that this is merely an irritant, and not a showstopping embarrassment. If my pants had been a couple of inches shorter, that could have been a bad look, but I don't think anybody noticed. In fact, I got zero comments, which surprised me a bit given their bold color.

After getting home from church, I fiddled around with various inserts and techniques. I think they'll be ok in the end, but I sure wish stupid seller had gotten her ad correct. I would never have bought these if I had known they were 9 1/2. Still, I'm not giving up on them yet. I really like the color and style, and it's not like I paid $100 for them.

I am back in the saddle, sort of. Even though I had very odd periods of sleep on Saturday, I had a lot of total sleep. Sunday, I arose very early, but managed to stay up the entire day, with only two 20 minute naps. Today is my first day back at work since returning to the U.S. We'll see how that goes.

More importantly to y'all, I spent some time in heels for the first time in 15 days. That time off has not done me any favors. Also, my trumpet playing really sucks after 15 days away, but I digress. I really wanted to hit the ground running, er, walking as soon as I got home, but I know better than that. That first day back is basically wasted. I did no walking on Saturday. I forced myself to go out Sunday morning, and it didn't hurt a thing that the weather was quite a bit nicer on Sunday. Still, it was a shock, being used to temperatures in the mid 20s, and then coming back to minus 10.

I walked my "short" loop Sunday morning of 2.2 miles/3.5 km, and I was quite slow and my feet were tired when I was done. I did very little walking at all when I was in Vietnam, so not only was I out of heel practice, I was out of walking habit in general. I didn't have much time to be discouraged, though. I had a church service to play, for which I had zero rehearsal. I went over my music one more time, and finally elected to wear my Zara suit with my brand new (to me) red pumps. They came in the mail while I was gone. I will have to give details in the New Shoes section. The angle of the sun at this time of year just gives me fits trying to take pictures in my usual spot at the noon hour.

On 2/17/2024 at 5:01 AM, kneehighs said:

I've been in Istanbul for awhile now.  I've seen 2 girls decent beautiful heels here. That's it.

And not Constantinople. . .

Sorry, I love that song! 😁

Day 2 of being back. I thought I was doing pretty well yesterday, but that was a grand delusion. It's just as bad as any other trip that goes through that many time zones. We'll see how today goes.

My State of the Heels address, southeast Asia edition: To begin with, I have always admitted my love for Incheon Int'l Airport (ICN, in South Korea). It is by far our usual transit airport, based solely on usual ticket price. While staying at Incheon, there are any number of shops, eateries, places to sleep, and there are always very interesting outfits and heels to look at. Until this year. The airport itself is under major construction, so the amenities are limited, but more importantly, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE KOREAN GIRLS? Every single girl I saw was wearing baggy jeans and trainers (or worse). This is supposed to be the land where there is no such thing as a skirt that is too short (even in winter), and where women are known for wearing their heels everywhere, even to climb a mountain! I'm not saying things are quite that bad in Seoul, but I used to be able to count on even the airport crowds as a gauge of current fashion. The only people who were wearing heels were the flight attendants, and even the "airport" uniform shoes have never really been all that impressive in Asia. I was bitterly disappointed.

However, I can report that in Hanoi, heels are still very much alive and well. It's just that about 80% of them are hideous. The other 20%  are obviously shoes that are several years old, and they still look nice. I did not manage to get a picture of what is the typical modern heel, and I had a great deal of trouble trying to find it on the internet. Maybe it's a Vietnam only thing, but the most poplar heeled shoe these days by far looks something like this, but with a round toe.

https://www.asos.com/us/raid-wide-fit/raid-wide-fit-maya-block-heel-mary-janes-with-embellished-buckle-in-black-patent/prd/203151762

These seem to be wildly popular in both slip on and Mary Jane styles, 90% of the time in black patent leather. Also very popular is a loafer with a very thick, lugged sole, and a little bit of a heel, but not much. The main feature of these shoes is that the heel is wider at the base than it is at the top. Very, very odd looking. I haven't seen such shoes over here yet. Hopefully never.

I also noticed this year that it seems to be a fashion city of extremes with the girls. If you go out to Hoan Kiem Lake, or to a shopping mall, or a semi-nice restaurant, you will see girls dressed nicely. There may be some questionable taste, but they did make the effort. That's about a third. The other two-thirds are girls dressed as unattractively as possible. Shirts and pants that are three sizes too big, worn with either Crocs or super thick soled boots. This "fashion" sure seems to have a grip on Hanoi at the moment. It's everywhere. The boys, of course, look the same as they always did--indifferent. I think that remains the same the world over.

Included today is the only picture I manage to capture of heels in the real world on a motorbike. It just so happened that I was waiting at a red light, and somebody with non-hideous heels was nearby. Her shoes must be several years old. They are not flashy or noteworthy, but they're just--tasteful. Just an ordinary woman going to work. Or in this case, probably coming home from work. I will leave it at that today.

Hi everybody, I'm home again! I have no idea how we managed to make it home on time. Every flight was late, and how we managed to make our connections is nothing short of miraculous. It was literally a matter of minutes, and sometimes seconds, in each case. And somehow, all our luggage made it right there with us! Unreal.

I will try to get some stories and pictures on in the next few days, but right now I'm dealing with 13 hour jet lag. I need to take a nap already.

11 hours ago, Cali said:

I don't know why keep doing this. I had a 4 hour break to fill on Thursday so I went shoe shopping. Looked at a large Macy's. The section of non sneakers (trainer) is so small now. Short heels or ugly shaped heels.

Looked at several other shoe brand store ... NOTHING.

Then went to DSW. Again the sneakers must be breeding at night and spreading through the store. Nothing of interest

BRING BACK DECENT HEELS NOW!!!!!!

I'm afraid it's no better on the other side of the world. The styles available in the stores are absolutely awful. Like you said, short heels and/or weirdly shaped huge heels. They're everywhere! The only good thing I have to report is that they are indeed everywhere. Heels, though hideous, are still alive and well in northern Vietnam.

I actually had some exposure to "lean" lately, but don't know if I want to go to all the trouble to attempt to post a photo. I don't know how to make the phone do what I want it to do without severely compromising image quality. In any case, I think I'm preaching to the choir when I say that unless one is cocking a heel to one side to pose cutely for a photo, lean is bad.

In the instant case, the story involves my fashionista friend from Vietnam, the image of whom is memorialized elsewhere. I noticed fairly soon after meeting that day that one of her boot heels was a bit wonky. It appeared to be attached to the boot at a non-perpendicular angle. She said that she had had these boots for four years, which is quite a long time when you're talking about the price point that she's able to afford. I had plenty of other more important things to talk about in a limited time, so I didn't even bring up the crooked heel. She compensated well for the defect, but it was obviously there (obvious to people like us, anyway). The way she gets away with it is a certain amount of skill for sure, but also the fact that she doesn't wear her heels like I wear mine. I guarantee you these boots rarely see the light of day. They are for show, they are not a way of life.

Hello all, here are some more boots for all you boot people. True 10 cm/4 inch heels on these. Shoe shopping was a bust. Current styles these days are frankly hideous, and kind of low, too. My friend agreed. Plus, I really don’t really need to buy any more shoes. Anyway, a good time was had by all. I’m ready to come home. More details to come later. 

Hello all from Hanoi, Vietnam. It has been a mostly joyous trip, as this is the first time we’ve visited since the pandemic. When I get back, I might tell some stories and share a few photos, many of which have nothing to do with high heels. In the meantime, I will share a photo of my fashionista friend, wearing her boots which are convertible from knee high (shown here) to thigh high. Haven’t actually seen that yet.

The stiletto heels on these boots are not super high, but she and I, having no ruler in our possession at the time, estimated them to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-9 cm. I *can* say with certainty that she has improved her walking technique in heels substantially in the last 10 years. We have a plan to go shoe shopping (for the both of us) possibly tomorrow. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen. My main obligation while I am here is to my family and particularly my mother-in-law, who is not in good health. But y’all enjoy this picture!

Yeah, I use the Saphir stuff. I tried it on a whim a couple of years ago, and I’m sold. It does have an extremely strong smell, though. 

As I've gotten older, I care less and less about absolute correctness, and more about whether the thought was understood. Perhaps this is because I've been married to a non-native English speaker for 16 years. I am quite sure that everyone who heard the quote understood his meaning, whether he actually said "for a man" or not.

What I have great objection to nowadays is that many young people write so poorly that one can't understand the meaning. My 15 year old may not always put a period at the end of a sentence when he sends me a text, and the capitalization may not be 100% there, but at least he writes in complete sentences. I've never had to ask for a rewrite to understand what he is saying. I've had some bosses at work about which I cannot say the same.

13 minutes ago, dww said:

Would love to know what would be said today, with all this can't say this or that and things have to be correct like cannot say man has to be person or persons, or maybe they might want to known as goldfish or oranges etc.

Oh, that's an easy one! It's still elegant, but is gender neutral.  "One small step for a man, one giant leap for humankind." You're still allowed to be a man, after all.

13 hours ago, kneehighs said:

Here's a good article on the recent history of heels for men on the runway.  It's from V MAN which was a reputable status symbol before social media took over in fashion. I'm sure many here will exclaim "gasp, how ugly and disgusting" per usual....

https://vmagazine.com/article/the-mens-heel-renaissance/

Aw, shoot, it's just fashion shows. You have to have outlandish stuff, or what would be the point of it? I doubt anybody would want to see me in a generic suit and tie on the ramp.

Although it's not exactly as far as the moon, I will be on a jet plane bound for Vietnam in a matter of 48 hours. I doubt I'll have anything worth posting between now and then, at least as far as photos go. I will be able to check in and post text easily for the next two weeks, should the opportunity arise. The reason I say this is because:

I am considering not taking my computer this year. It's an extra pain in the neck going through security, and I can't really think of any reason why I can't do everything I want to do with a phone, with the possible exception of posting photos on here. I'm really trying to recall why I thought it was worth dragging that thing along with me every other trip previously. I wonder if my wife will want to take hers this time. She has a fancier phone than I do.

2 hours ago, Puffer said:

Thus demonstrating the difference between 'a man's boot' and 'a male boot'.   I suppose too that one could say about a heel-wearing man: 'one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind'.   (A pity that Neil Armstrong spoiled such an apt quote by saying '... for man ...'.)

Cut him a little bit of slack, for he was working under slightly demanding conditions. Also, I do not take small steps for a man with 28 inch inseams.

The existing rod is not very big. Eyeballing it, it appears to be about 4 mm. I agree with you, it could be fixed. Technically, you are correct. However, my general feeling is that it would be very much like fixing my son's 1972 Suzuki T350, which has been resurrected from the dead half a dozen times. I don't like riding that thing to Des Moines, much less anywhere substantial. You can't trust the thing not to break down at any moment.

How would these shoes be any different? Supposing the broken heel were fixed, and fixed well. What is to say the other heel isn't going to break next month? Or what if a shank breaks? I don't want to have the same feeling every time I wear those shoes that I do every time we ride that damned motorbike.

Moving forward, right after I broke the heel, I put together this ensemble for church, which included my Steve Madden Daisie pumps in tan patent.

7 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

There won't be sufficient depth on either side to withstand the bending moments. Fine if you're just sitting around but Melrose wears his heels in daily manner  

1 hour ago, Puffer said:

I have done this on a heel thinner than Melrose's, inserting a 1/8" steel rod.   There was no issue with strength or bending but getting everything true and in register was the problem, which is why I am doubtful of success.

There is an additional issue, as Krenzer alluded to, and that is the fact that there is an existing metal rod in the heel that does not extend all the way up the heel. I have not done a full forensic analysis, but it appears that the heel snapped off at about the end of this rod. Even if my measuring and drilling were perfect, there is the issue of how to get rid of that existing rod. You certainly couldn't drill it out, and I don't have the means to press it out, the plastic is 11 years old, has been exposed to extreme heat and cold cycles, &c., &c. I'm thinking this is the end of the road.

I have come to the conclusion that there are no high heels which will last forever, unlike Shyheels' hiking boots. These fell just shy of 200 miles. I figured they would fail eventually, but I figured it would be at the 250 or 300 mile mark. In second place is a pair of True Religion mules, which currently sits at 170 miles. In distant third place is a pair of BCBG mules which only made it to 111 miles, and its replacement has already shown signs of premature failure at less than 70 miles.

My shoes failures tend to fall into one of two categories: Shank failure or what I will call aesthetic failure. I've had several shank failures over the years. Worst case scenario, it involves a limp home similar to what I experienced Sunday. Aesthetic failure just means that the shoes have gotten so ratty looking from hard use that they are not presentable anymore. The amazing thing about the Nine West oxfords is that they actually still looked good after 11 years and nearly 200 miles. Oh well.  .  .

I had the weirdest shoe failure I've ever experienced in my life yesterday. As you can see below, my heel snapped clean in half while out for my Sunday morning constitutional. There was no precipitating event, no stumble, no trip, no step in a hole, it just broke suddenly. Naturally, it broke when I was every bit of a mile away from home. I came this close to calling my wife, but I chose to tiptoe all the way back home. I'm sure I looked a bit strange, as I was unable to keep a completely natural gait. Of course, the sun had risen by that time, so I was quite easy to spot from a distance. However, the broken heel only slowed me down by three minute for the last mile home. I was very surprised. It felt like it was taking forever to make it home. The GPS said otherwise.

As many of you might recall, these are my most durable shoes, and I just spent 50 bucks getting them reheeled and resoled. I believe I said it out loud, which probably jinxed it, "You watch. Now that I've had these things refurbished, they will break on me somehow." They made it 196.1 miles in total, 195 of which were quite wonderful. I shall miss them.

I actually did the "chick" thing yesterday, and wore sandals with a heavy coat to the grocery store yesterday. Evidently, I am not the only one who has warm feet. I am feeling much better the last couple of days. I might actually survive my outside assignment at work in the coming week.

Speaking of boots, I actually got some new ones yesterday, the details of which are listed in the "New Boots" thread. Of course, now that I have shearling lined boots, no snow is predicted at all for the next ten days.

Surprise! It's me, posting in the Boots thread, which hardly ever happens. Yesterday, I received a new pair of knee high boots, bringing my total to four. Plus one pair of ankle boots which I haven't worn in a very long time.

My reason for purchasing the boots, for which I paid 60 USD on Poshmark (about twice what I would normally be open to for shoes), was that even though we had all of this snow around here recently, I have yet to break out my actual snow boots. I haven't needed to. I've been living in my Easy Spirit knee highs for the past three weeks, and they're just fine as snow boots, except for one thing: They are not warm, having zero insulation. Therefore, when I saw these vintage Cobbies Boots come up in my feed with the faux shearling lining, I decided that I probably had to have those.

Exactly how vintage they really are is not clear to me. They were sold as New Without Tags, and they obviously have never been worn outside, even for 20 steps. I don't know exactly when Cobbies became defunct, but they don't look like they're from the 90s (when parent company U.S. Shoe was purchased in a hostile takeover), they don't look like they're from the 80s, they look like they might actually be from the late 70s. They do not list the country of manufacture anywhere that I can find. For size 9 boots, they are a little tight, but not overly so. The other thing that makes me think these might actually be that old is the fact that these are the only knee high boots I've ever had that are actually tight around my ankles and tight around my calves all the way up. I could wear leggings with these no problem, and they wouldn't look stupid. People used to be a lot skinnier back then, on average.

The stats: Heel height is 2 3/8 inches, or basically flat, haha. These are supposed to be my snow boots, after all. Heel width is about 1 1/2 inches, and the heels themselves are the fake stacked leather look, so contrasting color to the rest of the black boots, which are real leather that looks and feels to be fairly high quality. I haven't worn them off of my property yet, so I have not discovered if there are any unpleasant surprises to be had. I'm sure I will let you know if there are.

22 hours ago, Bubba136 said:

Shortly after I began exploring high heels online, I discovered Jenny’s website where I found a picture of a black patent pump with the highest heels I ever saw.  In the picture, the heel was piercing a pool ball.  It was the most beautiful high heel shoe ever.  
 

Discussing the picture with others in the chat room, I Learned of a place called “The Little Shoe Box” in England that made shoes like those.  I found their website and catalog on line and saw that I could buy a pair of black patent pumps with 7” heels exactly like the ones in the picture.  They were expensive but my desire to have a pair overcame my hesitation to spend that much money on a pair of women’s shoes that I would never wear out.  They are handmade and the most beautiful, highest quality pair of heels I ever bought.  
 

The Little Shoe Box website went silent shortly after I purchased my shoes.  People living in London that were familiar with this place told me that they had gone out of business.  They even knew the persons name.  What a shame that his craftsmanship would no longer be available.

 

 

 

 

I remember that picture! I too, was quite impressed. Of course, this was before I became an actual wearer, and I was living my high heel life vicariously through my ex-wife, and Jenny's website. I would say that I was wasting my time wishing things were different, but I can't go back. Besides, it just wasn't my time yet.

I think I'm back! We'll see how I feel by next Monday, but the sinus pain I've endured for the last three weeks appears to be gone.

I had a committee meeting at the church last night, and I got a message from the chair during the day, asking if I'd mind climbing on a ladder in order to take the Christmas trees that are (were) in the sanctuary down, as part of our activities. As a result, I hemmed and hawed around, and finally decided to wear flat boots to the meeting. Not completely flat, but essentially flat. I mentioned this when it ended up that I didn't have to step one foot on a ladder. I don't think that fellow appreciated how grumpy I was having worn flats when it wasn't necessary.

Congratulations @AlexC94. I can't walk in such shoes. My limit is about 4 1/2". I have several that are higher, but I just haven't gotten around to spending the time and effort to get them to the place where I would be willing to be seen. Even the 4 1/2s I won't wear unless I'm in really good practice. Which has not been this month, due to a combination of illness and bad weather.

Speaking of 6 inch, that's getting up to the height where foot size has an absolutely huge impact on foot angle. In my case, I think it's not physically possible to have a heel higher than 6 inches without some sort of a cheat. Certainly going to a 7 inch heel would require a larger foot than mine.

I have always been a little bit curious about some of the Pleaser/Devious shoes, particularly the oxfords. They are advertised as having 6 inch heels, but just looking at them, I'm saying "no way." Not in my size, anyway. I almost want to buy a pair just to put a tape measure to it.

12 hours ago, Puffer said:

If the new footwear looks unisex and passes for men's style, why did you buy from the women's side rather than the men's equivalents?   Is it because they fit or look better, or simply because you want to wear 'women's' footwear exclusively?

If it's unisex looking, I don't care whether it's labeled for men or for women, or neither. I can tell you that I haven't bought men's shoes for a decade, simply because I have a short and narrow foot. Therefore, the exact same style works better for me in USW 9B than it does in USM 7D. Technically, I'm a B-and-a-half width.

I did dig out the Eastland loafer-esque sort of casual shoes that I wore to Vietnam the last time. With a little TLC, they should be quite adequate for the job. They are technically "women's" shoes, but my wife has never mentioned anything about them, so  they must pass well. On the other hand, I bought these Nike "cheer" shoes on a whim, simply because I didn't have any decent looking sports shoes, and I thought these were kind of edgy in my own way. My wife thinks they're absolutely great! I don't think she has the foggiest clue as to what they're actually for.

In case anybody is interested, the cheerleader shoes look like they have a split sole with no shank--the idea of which kind of intrigued me when I bought them. However, this is a mere aesthetic feature--the sole is stiff all the way down the foot.

It's not that I don't have or can't get shoes, I just don't want to bother with something I'll wear for 2 weeks, and then never again. Perhaps I need to dig out what I wore 5 years ago to see if they're at all serviceable and somewhat attractive.