mlroseplant

7 hours ago, balletboot said:

Got out shoping today for alittle bit before I went to my dentist appointment!

Somebody is going to ask this eventually, so I may as well save them the trouble and get it out of the way. Did you wear this ensemble to the dentist, and specifically the shoes? If so, what, if any, was the reaction? Also, while I love the color of those shorts, have you considered shortening them a bit? I think it would make proportions.  .  . well, more proportional. Then again, opinions are like, well you know how the saying goes, so take it with a grain of salt. I have to give you props for wearing shorts and heels. That was a huge step for me.

On 6/27/2021 at 4:03 PM, Puffer said:

Is that a stall catering for 'persons of restricted growth' being set up to the left?   Hi ho, hi ho ...

I know it was meant to be a joke, but I'll explain anyway, as if it were a serious question. This picture was snapped as we were tearing down and packing up for the day. Usually, my wife has customers right up to quitting time, so we are often among the last to leave. This was the case last Saturday, so that's why it looks less like a farmer's market, and more like a couple of oddballs who have set up tents in the middle of nowhere.

Since you have shown interest in such things before, I am attaching a picture of a little rig I fabricated to solve a problem at this market, which was not having enough electricity for everyone who wanted it. On that pole, there are three 120V, 20A circuits available. My wife needs two of them for her fryers. Since this space is used as a campground during the county fair, there are also two 120/240V, 50A camper (Recreational Vehicle) receptacles on that same pole. This is the same receptacle that 99.9% of electric stoves in the U.S. use, unless they are hardwired. I simply created a small panel which plugs into this receptacle, and splits it up into four 120V, 20A circuits. Now there's enough power for everyone! No more fighting.

I have an interesting discovery. Everyone else in the world probably already knew this, but patent leather sandals seem to be a great choice to wear in less-than-clean conditions, such as setting up a booth at a farmer's market on a grassy field after it has rained.

My wife is a vendor at two different farmer's markets this year, one of them is on concrete, one of them is on grass.  Saturday morning is the time of the grass one, and I try to get there by 6:30 a.m. to make sure we've got our spot by the power pole.  What that means is, 90% of the time during setup, the grass is quite wet, either from dew or from rain. Typically, I had been wearing PVC rain boots to set up, because I really hate getting my feet wet. Last week, the weather was very, very hot, so I was wearing shorts even in the early morning. I didn't want to mess up any of my good shoes, and I also didn't want to wear tennis shoes because they'd just be soggy in a matter of minutes. I decided to throw on my rain boots with my shorts, which looked completely ridiculous for a couple of reasons, but that was not my chief mistake. My chief mistake was not wearing socks. Not only did my feet get wet within minutes anyway from the sweat, but the right boot wore a hole on the inside of my ankle which was so painful that I wound up ditching the boots and just going barefoot for about the last 25% of the setup. The wound has yet to fully heal, now 8 days later.

Fast forward to this week, and I was faced with the same situation, only I had made an important discovery. While wearing my nude patent leather Söfft sandals to do something in the yard (I can't remember what it was, perhaps watering the garden), I had stepped in some mud that I didn't notice until later. I took some of those Clorox wipes (which, despite the name, do not actually contain any bleach), and shut my mouth, that dirt/mud just wiped right off of that patent leather, like it had never been there in the first place. This got me to thinking, maybe I'll try these for the tent setup, and I'll put up with the wet feet just this one time to see.

These sandals, surprisingly enough, seem to be the perfect farmer's market shoe, at least during the hot days. Barring any hidden thistles or some such thing, what I discovered was that yes, my feet get wet, but they didn't stay wet, unlike the soggy tennis shoes or regular leather shoes, because the patent leather does not absorb any of the water. With a wedge heel of just 2", I can walk on any surface, lift things, or haul the trailer across the yard just like I would in flats. In addition, the soles of these particular sandals are sturdy enough to push in tent stakes with my foot, which is a definite plus for this activity. Try that in rubber flip flops or Crocs! I feel like as long as I don't trip on anything and actually gouge the leather, all of the grass clippings, dirt, and mud will wipe right off without a trace. Too bad my other Söfft patent leather wedges have a cork heel. I'm pretty sure that would be ruined in fairly short order under these conditions. Something to think about in future.

2 hours ago, Puffer said:

A bad start, but I'm pleased to know that your English lessons were not entirely wasted! 👨‍🎓

Aw, COME ON, man! You know I write in the vernacular on this site! 🤣😛🤣

And besides that, I was actually making a subtle reference to the NRBQ song, later covered by Bonnie Raitt, "Me and the Boys." But there was only one of him, so I couldn't very well have said "boys," init?

Me and the boy went to a farmer's market last night. Well, we're sort of forced to, since my wife is one of the vendors! Wandering around and observing, I was surprised to see several people, perhaps half a dozen, wearing heels besides me. Furthermore, I wasn't wearing the highest heels in the place, I was actually outdone by a couple of ladies. Keep in mind that I had to set up the tent/booth, and I've discovered it's best to keep my heel height moderate, as there are a number of heavy things to unload and carry.

In our free time, my son and I sampled some of our neighbor vendors' products, and we wound up on social media, voluntarily. However, they cut off my shoes. Hmmm, never had THAT happen before (sarcastic comment, if it's not clear in print)! I wonder if it was on purpose?

This is kind of an old social media challenge, I suppose it started on TikTok or something, but you are supposed to open a bottle using your foot somehow, or at least that's what I think the challenge is. I just ran across this video yesterday by accident, and this is pretty impressive. I wonder how many tries it took to get it right? And then when she did connect, it tore the heel tip right off her shoe! I wonder how many folks out there in the general Instagram population noticed that?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CGDHlpcKS-y/

12 hours ago, Cali said:

So a new thing for me at Costco. The membership woman checking membership cards at the door told me she doesn't know many customers, but she knows me;  I don't need to show my card.  Wonder why?🙃

My Costco gal told me it was because of my wonderful smile (I was wearing a mask at the time). I wonder why she didn't like to say the real reason out loud? What she should have said is that she knows me because I am the guy with the striking Asian wife who never wears the same dress twice to visit Costco. That in and of itself would be highly distinguishing!

4 hours ago, Isolathor said:

It has been popular (that means streetshots of high heels) in the UK and Germany too, but that was at least 5 years ago. The sites are all gone by now, together with most of the forums with the high heels theme.

I suppose things come and go with time, which is why you are here! We seem to be relatively eternal for the internet world. It's crazy, it's going to be 20 years very soon, and more than 20 if you count the site that this one grew out of.

In other news, I have largely been wearing shorter heels this summer. I am doing this for two reasons. One, because as many of you know, I went on a little spree last spring and bought several pairs of Söfft mid heels for reasons unknown even to me. I now feel like I need to wear them. Two, because I am trying to reinvent my walk, and it seems much easier to do in shorter heels. I guess we can add reason Three, it temporarily absolves me of guilt for still not being able to walk in several pairs of shoes I bought in the last year.

4 hours ago, Isolathor said:

Anyway, it would be kind of pointless in this forum, because the streeetshot section isn´t frequented that much and there is almost no interaction. I stopped posting there, the section is simply not alive anymore. 🥺

I never posted anything in the Streetshot section, it was on here. You'd have to scroll back a few dozen pages to find it. Evidently, the whole streetshot thing is big in China, albeit with a good deal of cooperation from the photograph-ees. TikTok/Douyin is a complete fantasy world, though. What I see with my own eyes in the real world does not match up in the least with what you see on social media. Nevertheless, I have learned a thing or two about what makes a nice walk from Douyin girls, so it hasn't been a complete waste of time.

It is interesting that one simple event would spark such a wide variety of opinions, ranging from "Get over it" to "I wonder what the greater implications for societal norms are?" Honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal, but it did give me something to write about, didn't it?

The one thing that nobody has brought up which was actually one of my greatest concerns at the time is how did the photo come out, if indeed one was even taken? If the purpose of the photo was to send it around to friends and make fun of me, then I suppose it doesn't matter how the photo turned out, as long as it showed all the necessary elements: The heels and making it clear that I'm a man. And possibly my shorts. However, even the People of Walmart type photos have to be of a certain quality to be successful.

Having taken a number of candid photographs over the years, it is extremely difficult to get a good one without some cooperation of the person being photographed, especially heel photographs. I am specifically thinking of years past in Vietnam where I was trying to give members of this forum an idea about Vietnamese street fashion and heel wearing habits. I never had a street photo turn out very well, as least not to show what I wanted to show. I am genuinely curious to know if our putative photographer in the instant case got what he wanted, or if he was rather disappointed and the photo is deleted now.

4 hours ago, Isolathor said:

That was impolite for sure.

But let me wander of course for a bit. When i take pictures of my wife in high heels we are often joined by other who take pictures of this session too, at least 90% without asking. But my wife enjoys it and even poses for them, i guess for a female it comes as a compliment and not as a moment of weirdness.

Obviously quite a different situation than me buying bolts at the hardware store, but I do find it a bit strange, nevertheless. Pre-pandemic, my wife used to have me take a number of pictures of her after church on Sunday morning, to show off whatever outfit she was wearing that week. I cannot possibly imagine somebody approaching us during this time to start snapping pictures. Even if they asked, it would be a little weird. Thinking further on the subject, if such a thing were to ever happen, my wife would probably enjoy it, because then she would get to beat me over the head with it. "Anh yêu! See! I am more beautiful than you think I am." I am sorry I cannot convey vocal tone or accent for comic effect.

On 6/13/2021 at 7:57 AM, p1ng74 said:

Yes we have the same social norm of having friendly conversation at the checkout line here, and I have lost count the number of times we have talked about my boots.  But I also suppose Texans have an appreciation for cowboy boots.  
 

It’s a shame the man behind you wouldn’t make contact, because he missed out.  If you are as cool in person as you are online, I think he would have found you friendly and relatively normal, even if you are wearing heels.  He could have had a good conversation, rather than creep with this camera phone.  Every time this happens, it is a small missed opportunity to normalize heel wearing a little.  And every time you have a more normal interaction with someone in line, while wearing heels, it makes a contribution to normalizing heel wearing, even if the conversation has nothing to do with shoes.  

You will find, like Brad Paisley once sang, that I am so much cooler online.

10 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Did you literally catch him taking the photo of you, or did you just hear the click of the photo app?  Even if you just heard the sound, I would agree with you that there is a very high likelihood that he was snapping a photo of your heels, especially if he was avoiding you afterward.  But I would hate to falsely accuse someone, so I am with you, I’d just move on.

For what it is worth, I can’t imagine a situation where I would be offended by a stranger taking my picture.  People can have many reasons for taking your picture, ranging from mere curiosity to admiration, and I might even be flattered by it.  But I also think that the behavior of sneakily taking a photo of someone without having the guts to make eye contact and say hi to them can be creepy, depending on who you are and who this comes from, and people really shouldn’t be so socially awkward if they have good intentions.  

18 minutes ago, Puffer said:

I rather agree that taking a photo without 'permission' may be considered intrusive, if not exactly rude, although of course there is nothing unlawful or illegal about it, at least in the UK.   But the idea of making more than mild eye-contact with a stranger, let alone saying 'hi', would be anathema to many if not most UK citizens.   I guess that a furtive glance and/or pic would be the norm here, with no words spoken.

'Upskirting' has recently become a criminal offence here; perhaps 'downfooting' should be similarly treated!

Evidently, there are two nearly opposite norms of social behavior at work here. Where I'm from, if two strangers meet each other on the street, it is very normal if not expected that they will acknowledge the other verbally and with some form of eye contact. It's becoming somewhat less that way as the years go by, but still more likely than not. Of course, that's a rural vs. urban thing. I certainly would not expect someone in Chicago to return my salutation, but they very well might. Or they might shoot me, one. 😂

Obviously, it depends upon the venue. You're not going to greet everybody in a crowded supermarket, but you might strike up a conversation with a stranger in line behind you. That was the situation with our putative photographer, he was the next person in line behind me as I was purchasing my two stainless steel bolts and stop nuts for use in mounting a license plate to my trailer. It just seemed strange that he was "distracted" stuffing his phone back into his pocket at a moment when we should have been saying, "Sure is hot out for being the first part of June," or some such thing.

@chesterx, I cannot recall if someone has ever asked to take a picture of my shoes. I know I've been asked for other reasons several times, but I don't think anyone specifically wanted the shoes. If they ever did, I almost guarantee it involved alcohol. The whole incident is really no big deal, but it gave me something to write about, and y'all something to reply to. It's been awfully quiet around here lately.

Got my picture taken at my local hardware store today by a man about my age or maybe a little bit older. He obviously forgot to silence the fake SLR shutter sound on his phone, and he refused to make eye contact with me after I noticed the sound.  It did not strike any bit of panic in me like it would have back in the old days, but rather, I wanted to say to him that it was rather impolite to snap a furtive photo, and I was genuinely curious to see what he had, and then offer suggestions for improvement. However, I did nothing, and continued my transaction with a cashier I’ve known for years. 

I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, I really don’t give a shit. But on the other hand, there’s a golden band to remind me of someone who would not understand. Ah....sorry.....I forgot where I was for a moment. But on the other hand, I almost wish I had grabbed this situation as a teachable moment. What say you? For what it’s worth, I was wearing shorts and high heels quite similar to countless previous photos on this thread. 

Yes, for some reason, either pair of Birkenstock heels look much better than the Crocs. I guess there's no big mystery there. Birkenstocks are, after all, a good quality leather sandal which happens to have a super ugly strap/buckle design and an unfortunate general shape. And I personally have always hated the raised rim around the footbed. It appears that the Birkenstock wedges have a somewhat softened toe line (not so blocky), and they didn't even attempt the usual Birkenstock straps. Stella McCartney took it a step further and gave her version a Dr. Scholl's type strap, which is actually kind of cute.

@p1ng74, thank you for taking the time to actually look that up. I thought I was being facetious. Evidently I was not, and didn't know it.

3 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Even though this is a forum of high heel enthusiasts, it appears the consensus here is that adding heels to crocs somehow manages to make a horrible thing worse   

I wonder what adding heels to Birkenstocks would do for them? 😆😆😆

4 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Looks like you had a good Memorial Day weekend as well as other adventures. We got back to Wisconsin on 6 May after 6 months in Arizona and visited Yellowstone and Glacier Nat'l Parks on the way back. Having been working in our yard I have been watering flowers and small plants every day as if I were back in Yuma. It's so dry here. Then I remembered your comment  about how this part of the country already had irrigation systems in place. It's called rain. Problem is that system has been off for a while!  Your son has grown taller and his mechanical ability has grown wider since I last saw him. It's really remarkable. You may need another outbuilding for future projects! It's nice to finally be entering stores and the like without a mask. It's not like that everywhere though. Conversations with my dad's family in Quebec shows they had some of the most restrictive procedures anywhere in North America. Here's hoping for normal times ahead. Laissez le bon temps ruouler! HinH 

Or we might just need to get rid of some damn mowers! We have actually talked about building a shop in the back where that clump of trees now stands. However, due to the price of building materials as of late.  .  . eh, I'm think I'm going to wait on that one.

It is quite strange to be out and about without a mask, but I think I look better with one! Vietnam and Korea sound like they're about the same way as Canada. Mandatory masks for everything still.

Welcome back to the forum, HiH, and if you ever make it out this way, feel free to stop by!

8 hours ago, RonC said:

Nice wearable sandals.  I must say I am a bit surprised with the slap on the rump!  Wouldn't have thought that was you!  lol.

I don't think it WAS me. I'm not really sure WHO that was. Like my coworker said right after, "Never underestimate The Squirrel."

I have actual news. I went out for the first time in nearly a year and a half to see some live music. My first thought is that I need to up my game, because man, I suck, musically. My second thought is that I worried way too much about what was going to happen, I tortured myself about wearing shorts and high heels to the venue (a small bar in a non-suburban part of Des Moines). I finally wound up sort of compromising and I wore my "practical" shoes instead of what my first instinct was. Whatever. I guess I'm beyond wearing the highest heels everywhere, all the time. And I think they were pretty cute! A couple of women at the venue, outside the bar where conversation could actually take place, seemed to think so. Both of these women were wearing heels, and one of them was wearing heels AND really short shorts. No way! Some of you don't think that happens anymore. I'm here to tell you that it happened, right here in Central Iowa. Unfortunately, I didn't have the wherewithal to ask for photographic evidence, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

After discussing our outfits for a while, one of the women, certainly Under The Influence, got right up in my face, and asked me, "Is that a mask you have in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" I actually pulled a mask out of my pocket, put it on, and said, "Both!", slapped her in the rump, and walked away. It's one of the most awesome things I've ever done in my life!

Not an actual picture of the actual night, but images of the rather tame shoes I wore and a reasonable facsimile of my OOTN, albeit with different shoes.

6 hours ago, Twilight said:

And just like that, I'm a grown-ass man

Forgive me for saying this, but that is possibly one of the most American idioms you could have possibly uttered, or in this case, technically, written. Dude, I totally get it, I was 40 years old before I realized I was a grown-ass man and could wear what I wanted.

On 5/31/2021 at 4:51 PM, jeremy1986 said:

Thanks 😊

Will try got to that soon. That is after all the fun part!

I realize now that the snaps from above certainly are not the most attractive angle to take of heels...

I definitely get that. I am not fond of modeling. The only reason I do it at all is because of requests from here. And as you know, my shoe pictures are almost all taken on top of my washing machine with that awful drain pipe in the background!

So many thoughts here.  .  . Sorry if I don't respond to all of them. The one that has gotten the most talk in the past 24 hours is what is it about high heels that has such a grip on us? Is it merely the feeling of the elevated heel, or is it the look of the more "feminine" style? I would guess that, like most things in life, the answer to that question is as varied as the number of people who answer it. For me, I can definitively say it is both, and it seems to be ever-evolving, and it seems to be evolving toward feminine style. I just had another gander at my shoe collection, and I can definitely see a pattern. The number of shoes that I currently own that are both higher than 4 inches AND greater than 3/4" in heel thickness are very few, and may be zero within a year, and that includes wedges, if you take into account only side-to-side width. Which is to say that I really don't have any block heels anymore that are of a decent height. Having said that, I absolutely hate kitten heels. Recently, when I was on my "practical summer sandal" kick, I bought some sandals which are a little too tall to be considered kitten heels, and the heels are just a bit too thick to be considered kitten heels, but they are dangerously too close to that style. I have never worn them. I don't know why I bought them. Which is all a very long, convoluted way of saying that it's definitely about looking a little more feminine in addition to the feel of the elevated heel. In a perfect world, I would wear stilettos every day. But then, I'm a small, slight guy, so there's that.

Speaking to the generational gap, I do not have enough data, and most of my data problem is that a large chunk of the women I interact with are of Vietnamese descent, some of them immigrants to the U.S. (like my aforementioned 25 year old friend), and many of them reside in Vietnam. I have a feeling that many Vietnamese women's ultimate go-to thought is, "OMG, what would my parents think?" And this may be the key to this puzzle. Within my wife's family, it is known in small circles that I wear high heels, even though they have never seen me in person wearing them. My wife has explained to them that I wear high heels as a form of exercise for my legs, which is not technically a lie, but far from the Truth. My now 32 year old female cousin, residing in Vietnam, once asked me about this, so I sent her a picture. She definitely seemed nonplussed. However, the fact that she even knew it must mean that my mother-in-law told her sister, and then she in turn talked about it with her daughter. I have no idea how widespread the information has become. My biggest supporters among American women seem to be on the older side, and in many cases much older than me. However, I can't speak to how any of them would feel about it if they were in a relationship with me.

On the third hand, it is very much the style in Korea for young men to dress and look androgynous, if not downright feminine. I have not seen high heels as a part of this look, but Vietnam follows Korea as far as style, and I have personally witnessed this trend amongst young Vietnamese men. The young women seem to love it, or at least accept it. Just some random thoughts, a few days after I've had a chance to digest what happened this past weekend.

It has been a while since we visited this thread, but as the Dude said in The Big Lebowski, "New shit has come to light." Actually, it hasn't, in many ways it's the same old shit, it's just being told in a different way, from a different source. Number One, and this is the old news, evidently my wife likes me rather better than I thought, and better than I deserve. It continues to be the high heel thing, and she's basically given up bothering to protest anymore, but still objects to me wearing them.

Number Two, the actual new news was a little bit harder to hear, and yet is simultaneously far less important. I mentioned elsewhere that I recently spent a fair amount of time with a young lady I've known for about 7 years. This is how I came to know about my wife's true feelings. Girls will talk, and especially when they share a common mother tongue. What I did not expect expect to hear is that this young lady told me that if she were in a relationship with me, she'd also have a problem with the heels. The fact that she even entertained a hypothetical is somewhat flattering, but what really bothers me is, this is the same young lady who has been telling me, unsolicited, for years that she likes my style, and that she doesn't feel there is anything terribly unusual or weird about me. She has said things to me in the past like, "Oh, I think it's quite normal these days." And now to come to find out that, in the end, nope, I'm not really truly acceptable.

Of course, none of this really matters one iota. I am obviously not seeking a relationship with a 25 year old girl, but out of all the people I know, with possibly one exception, I figure she'd be the most likely to truly accept me. Evidently not. I wonder how many of my other women friends secretly feel the same way. To bring some humor to this somewhat dark story, she didn't say it would be an absolute deal breaker, only that she'd have a problem with it. I have a problem with the fact that she wears Crocs all the time, and I told her so! But she gets to laugh that one off. I doubt her Crocs are a deal breaker for many guys.  I don't really get to laugh her comments off. I will reiterate that I am super glad I'm not "on the market" anymore.

Soooo.  .  . it has been an interesting Memorial Day weekend. My two sons took a road trip and broke down on the highway. I got an unsolicited compliment about my heels while out and about. I got a surprise visit from a young lady who has been featured in this thread before. And I learned something about my marriage from said young lady. After all, she shares a common mother tongue with my wife, and girls will talk. Yep, as usual, my wife cut off my shoes in this picture. That was not an accident.

Oh yeah, and I fell down and cut my damn forehead. That about rounds out the weekend!

I had no idea that Louboutin made such shoes. Ran across these on my usual searches. Unfortunately, they are not quite my size, and definitely way beyond my budget, but they are nice to look at, anyway, and they don’t even have that damned set back heel that Louboutin is wont to make. 
 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/224476043329