mlroseplant

Although some of the items I may post on here in the near future may have been purchased some time ago, these were actually purchased fairly recently, in June. I got these Bebe (model designation unknown) wooden mules via ebay, for about 45 bucks by the time you include shipping.

I would say that these have effectively become my backup pair of walking shoes, but it has been a rather long road getting there. The specs would indicate qualification for such: 4 3/4" heel with a 1" platform, giving a rather shallow rise of 3 3/4". Put that on top of a 1" broad heel, and this would seem to have a great deal of utility. However, out of the box (or bubble wrap, as the case may be), the leather was so stiff that it caused minor injury for quite a while after about a mile. Finally, I have got them to where they will not cause me harm after a two mile walk. I even worked a farmer's market in them and they weren't terrible.

I have had to add foot cushions in them because they have stretched out to the point that they're a bit too big, but with that addition they seem to have settled down quite nicely into everyday shoes. But they are extremely loud. At 5:30 in the morning when everything is quiet, I would guess you can hear me coming from a block away. I would guess that this will change when reheeling is necessary.

I thought of you yesterday @Jkrenzer. Mine's a lot smaller, but potentially just as problematic. Although I was actually wearing stilettos (believe it or don't), I was only after a six-pack of Guinness stout, so my view was not obstructed.

It seems like an exceptionally bad place to put that, heels or no heels. I shall have to check and see where they have placed the drain in my local favored beer cooler and take careful note of it.

Evidently, I have been studying this for two years, and I think I finally understand how this walking gracefully business is supposed to work. Being able to actually do it myself is another matter altogether!

On 8/7/2023 at 5:16 PM, Jkrenzer said:

I wiped out on a grate inside local grocery about a month ago carring a case of beer. Never saw it. Went down hard on my left hip and ended up with a deep bone bruise. No damage to my heels and saved the case of beer. Bruise lasted two weeks turned many colors. 

Message, bring you cart in to the beer cooler, watch wear you step but seriously keep wearing the stilettos. 

Was it a French drain inside the cooler then? Or just a regular round drain?

I wasn't so much making a statement about having to reheel shoes as I was about evidently having significantly changed my walk in the past year. Even after 11 years, I still have days when I feel like I'm walking poorly. Not every day, though. The increased life of the top lifts is just serendipitous.

Once again, it is now time to talk about heel top lifts, or tips, or caps, or whatever you want to call them. I have noticed that over the past year mine are lasting significantly longer than they used to. And by significantly, I mean twice as long or better.

Since I've been going to the same cobbler for a decade, we can eliminate that variable from the explanation. As further proof of this, I have two examples of stock heels that have lasted significantly longer than the first pair (when I have bought duplicate shoes).

Shown in the instant case with pictorial evidence, I got the stock heels on my BCBGirls "Bonny" sandals (pair No. 3) to last for 42.7 miles before they completely disintegrated, vs. 21.0 miles on the previous pair. Typically I would get about 40 miles out of replacement Vibram heels on this same shoe.

Another example is my True Religion mules, which are now my second most durable shoes ever, with 121 miles on the clock. The last time I had these reheeled, in September of 2022, I got 44.8 miles out of the previous Vibram heel caps. Now, less than a year later, I have logged 69.7 miles on the new Vibram heel caps, and they are still not all the way worn out.

My cobbler is not really happy about this, but it has nothing to do with his work, whether good or shoddy. It has everything, I believe, to do with my recently refined style of walking. It is difficult to change the way one does something as fundamental as walking, and I'm still working on it, but evidently something has happened. I've noticed that even the heels on my work boots are lasting way longer than they did before.

I cannot tell you the exact mechanics of it, but in an effort to keep my knee as straight as possible when the leading foot touches down, I have tried to improve my ankle flexibility. I believe this has resulted in a much gentler heel strike, and therefore less wear on the heel cap. I believe I also look better aesthetically, as a bonus.

The tar-filled control joints on a concrete city street. Or where they have patched cracks. Wearing bifocals and trying to see what you're about to step on while trying to hold your head up high so as to appear confident and have good posture.

10 hours ago, Cali said:

Baking soda.  Sounds almost as much fun as surfing into jellyfish.

Hey thanks! I hadn't thought of that, though it now occurs to me that my grandfather made some sort of a poultice out of baking soda (and maybe other ingredients, too) when I had accidentally kneeled on an anthill as a kid. Everybody at work said Benadryl. For some reason I cannot tolerate Benadryl, but I bet topical baking soda will be just fine.

Today I will post a random musing, having nothing to do with high heels. As a reasonable man, I know that wasps are important critters in this world, but I hate those little f**kers. I was helping my 14 year old the other day (he has a small lawn care business), and I got into a wasp nest somehow. I'm not allergic, but every place I got stung itches like crazy still, several days later. I don't mow grass in high heels. Sorry to disappoint.

I am pretty solidly a size 4, otherwise known as a size 27(!). In pretty much any brand. But I have to buy ankle jeans, otherwise they're too long. I am vertically challenged. But as I proved yesterday at work, this old man can still go places normal men (as well as our lone woman apprentice) can't g0. They don't call me Squirrel for nothing. A nickname I have been unable to escape.

On 7/28/2023 at 7:00 PM, Cali said:

I considered wearing the skinny jeans and knee highs.  

Today the nurse told she remembers me from the last time in early February when I had boots and skinny jeans. She was jealous I was so skinny. I just had to laugh.

They say skinny jeans are out of fashion, but were they ever in fashion for us over 50s? I like how these Loft jeans *almost* make me look like I have a backside. Mine fell off about 20 years ago, if I ever had one. I realize they're not quite skinny jeans, but they are close.

14 hours ago, chesterx said:

Been a while since my last post, but nothing of interest had occurred during any of my outings, of which I still do every weekend. This past weekend though I endured a 1st, a broken shoe. On one of my favorite shoes no less. My black David Charles wedge suffered a broken strap while shopping. It wasn't a catastrophic failure, fortunately, it just all of a sudden felt super loose while I was walking. I was able to complete my shopping, albeit taking very ginger steps. Its bound to happen again eventually I suppose. I wore these more than any of my others, plus they got wet a few months back during a rain shower, so that probably didn't help. Definitely going to start a search for another pair of black wedges, they are just too versatile not to have in my wardrobe.

We have missed your input, as things have been slow around here lately. However, high heel failure (at least with the more delicate shoes) is common. It seems I am always piecing one pair or another back together at any given time. As I've said many times, it all comes of walking in shoes that are not really meant to be walked in.

On 7/30/2023 at 11:01 PM, HappyinHeels said:

mlroseplant, 

I’m not surprised you were running out of room as I remember your heels neatly arranged in a small basement. Those heels look fantastic on you and is definitely something I would wear. The bottom reminds me of my Jessica Simpson “Wenda” sandals which are 5.6” high and make some noise in the pavement just like yours. I have worn them with jeans quite often a few times while shopping and it’s a thrill interacting with people who like my sandals. When you wear something like that you gotta own it. Pound the Iowa pavement with those heels my friend. HappyinHeels 

I almost have it back under control. I built a couple more shelves, but I need to build yet another couple more, and do some purging.

I do think those big 'ol Pradas look better when they're actually on than they are sitting on the shelf. I might even try them for a farmer's market night. I think they'd do ok. My wife basically doesn't say anything anymore. For one thing, she has figured out that it doesn't seem to hurt sales one little bit.

I have put a pause on buying any new shoes for a while. I now have 100+ pairs, and I have run out of storage room. To that end, I decided that I needed to start wearing the shoes that I have, rather than keep wearing the half dozen favorites over and over again. I broke out the Prada mules, which have always been comfortable, but not comfortable for me personally, because I always feel slightly ridiculous when I wear them--they are huge! Six inch heel, 1 1/2 inch platform, and nothing delicate about them. Anyhow, here they are, in all their huge glory, and yes, I am wearing a bandaid, or sticking plaster, because a mile and a half into my walk, these otherwise benign shoes decided to bite me back.

5 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

Who is Carl Perkins?

Carl Perkins is the man who actually wrote the song. Elvis made it rather more famous a year later. 

I have not been dutifully recording my new shoe purchases as they have come in, and certainly not in order. You will forgive me.

Up today are my Michael Kors wooden sandals, model name unknown. I believe these are from the actual Michael Kors line, and not the cheaper "Michael" or the "Kors" line. I have no idea, nor do I care, what price range these were when they were new, but the seller was sure proud of them, asking damn near 100 bucks. I watched them for several months, and then I finally offered her 50 bucks, which she took. I'm definitely into wooden sandals these days, but not for $100 I'm not.

These were originally slingbacks, but they had absolutely no reason to be, so I cut them off and made them into mules. They come up so high on the foot that a slingback serves no function and detracts from the look. They have 5 5/8" heels (a discounted number because of having no footbed padding) and 1" platforms. A rather unusual 3/4" square heel rounds out the package. That's not really a pun, but whatever it is, it's intended.

This gives a good amount of steepness at 4 5/8", and it feels like it. I might wind up wearing these a lot, or I might not. Aside from the steepness which I still must get used to, they are quite tight, and a pain in the neck to get on and off. As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing with this type of shoe, because if they fit perfectly out the box, they will be too loose after a few miles or hours of wearing. I can feel that they will be way more comfortable after a time.

Anyway, I think they look pretty cool for casual shoes, and are in that Candies style that I adore in my mind. I have a feeling that if I could go back in time and actually see girls actually wearing Candies, they won't look as good as I remember. I think pretty much all of my wooden heels are improvements to the breed.

19 hours ago, Cali said:

"Well, it's one for the money two for the show
Three to get ready now go, cat, go
But don't you step on my blue suede shoes
Well you can do anything but ..."

No, it was the 1956 cover by Elvis.

I assume that you are stating your preference, but I personally prefer the Carl Perkins version. In any case, if I were to going to wear blue suede today, it would be sandals.

8 hours ago, Cali said:

I felt like channeling my inner Elvis and wore these blue suede JS stilettos today.

A woman walking her dogs in front of my house said "oh those are cute."  😁

Are you quite sure you weren't channeling your inner Carl Perkins?

Here are some pictures showing only my "expensive" wooden heels. Not that I paid anywhere near retail for any of them, but somehow I've got 'em. 2 pair of D&G, 2 pair of Miu Miu, 1 pair Alaia, and 1 pair Prada. The ones I've worn the most by far are the Miu Mius (both pair). I believe Miu Miu is Prada's cheap line, "cheap" being a relative term. For some reason, every pair of Miu Miu I own works with my feet perfectly. Too bad that they're so expensive to buy in the real world, and that 95% of Miu Mius are butt ugly.

My least favorite out the half dozen are the D & Gs. One pair I've never worn out because I feel they're too girly. Or at least I did when I purchased them. I don't know if that would bother me anymore. Combine that with the fact that they are super obnoxiously loud, and they thus far have not been my choice, ever. The other pair of D & G (the bluejean denim ones) is super high and has a minimalist strap to hold them on. At first blush, these would seem like good things, and perhaps they are. The problem is that the padding on these sandals is very thick and squidgy. This makes them somewhat awkward to walk in. I feel it would be much better if one's feet rested directly upon the bare wood, as God intended.

The Pradas are super high and super clunky, but easy to live with. I haven't worn them a lot because of their looks, but they don't seem to suffer from any design defects functionally.

Which brings us to the last pair, the Alaia sandals. I paid quite a bit of money for them, sight unseen and used. It turned out to be a lucky gamble, but they have not become the staple of my summer wardrobe that I had thought. For one thing, they're quite steep, and I have been slacking for the last few years. I might have to give them another chance now that I've gotten myself back in shape again this year, high heel-wise. The other thing is that the way my right little toe hits the strap causes some issues that I will not explain in detail now. It just goes to show you, things that seem ideal sometimes turn out to be less so, and vice versa.

I have always had a fondness for wooden heels. Perhaps it was because they were very much in style in the early 1980s when I was an adolescent. Lately, I have enlarged my collection of wooden heels by 50%, to a total of 18 pairs. I'm only including shoes that contain actual wood or a wood composite. I have quite a few more pairs that are fake wood or wood-like materials.

I'll have to give that a try, luckily these are real leather.

Welcome back! It's a little thin on active members these days, but we still maintain a good conversation. Perhaps you might remind of us your background and style preferences.

In this particular case, a Band-Aid (sticking plaster) would do the trick just fine, I just don't want it to necessarily show, and they always do, a little bit, if they are to be effective. I have had it happen that by wearing the shoes with a Band-Aid, it eventually brings them out of their cantankerous state, but then I've also had it happen, like @Jkrenzer fears, that it just stays that way forever. Since this leather is so soft, I do have some hope that it will be the former.

There's nothing going on today, so I guess I'll post the church OOTW. This is not the first time I've worn this basic outfit, but it is the first time I've worn it with these shoes. They are the fire engine red Via Spiga closed-back sandals. Another pair of shoes I really didn't need, but they caught my eye, and I got several compliments on them, even from my mother.

Although the leather is buttery soft, the strap bit into my left little toe by the end of the service. Not enough to cause a blister, but enough that I was ready to take them off. Otherwise, they seem quite easy to get along with, being a 5 inch heel with a 7/8 inch platform. The balls of my feet were unimpressed with the steepness of the shoe, as were my ankles. It's just that one strap that caused me an issue, and I believe that may resolve itself with time.