mlroseplant

That's very funny. I don't know why I remember that, I can't seem to remember anything else these days.

And now, for what might be the final word on the so-called stiletto wedge, I dug my wife's shoes from Vietnam out of the closet to see if their actual appearance matched with my memory. It pretty much did, but they weren't quite as stilleto-y as I remembered. Yes, they have a fairly narrow heel, especially for a wedge, but they are no more narrow than the blue suede mules I posted above. They are also a very unimpressive 3 3/8" in heel height, but my wife never did wear what I would call "high" heels, even when she wore heels every day.

This thread is starting off like a herd of turtles! Part of it is because I just don't have a lot of material at the moment. It's cold outside now, it's a busy time of year in general. I'm not really stopping to take pictures like I have in the past.

However, I do have some news about the Nine West "Sizzle" oxfords in the original post. They have been resoled and reheeled (5th set of heels). I was beginning to think that the shank was giving out on the right shoe, but my cobbler thought it was all right, he said my soles were so worn out that he wasn't surprised that they felt a little "off." A 2 mile test confirms that they definitely feel way more solid now. Who knows, maybe they're good for another 200 miles! Not holding my breath on that one. I'm back to posting pictures from the top of my washing machine for now.

On 12/19/2023 at 3:18 AM, Puffer said:

Melrose: I am still interested in knowing your opinion of the wedge sandals I pictured above, given your ambivalent view of wedges.   Something you would wear, or not?

I get a really strong feeling that we've had this discussion before, but I'm unable to find any proof of it in a reasonable amount of time. I even seem to recall saying that I'd like them rather better if they had a thong toe piece. Anyway, yes, I'd wear them, but I don't know that I'd actually pay money for that privilege. Not crazy about the square shape, but it's not severe, so it might be all right. The skinny straps might be uncomfortable after a time, or they might not be. I do not know how much this answer differed from my previous answer.

I'm trying to figure out just exactly where one would wear such an outfit.

I was a little bit curious to see just how narrow my skinniest wedges actually are, and I have come to the conclusion that they simply don't achieve stiletto status in any dimension. If you will refer to the picture below, you can see that the middle of the wedge narrows more than the part that actually touches the ground. This narrow part measures 7/16" wide, or just over 11 mm. The heel cap measures 5/8". This is obviously skinnier than the Victoria Secret "stiletto" wedge, and yet even it is still too big to be a stiletto, so not only is the marketing a contradiction, it's an exaggeration in any dimension. That being said, I think that the VS wedge is well proportioned, attractive, and not enormous. They should make all wedges that way, they just shouldn't call them stilettos.

I shall have to check one of my wife's many closets, I believe she may have a couple pairs of actual "meat cleaver" shoes, as Shyheels so aptly and humorously called them. If I find them, and if they are indeed as narrow as I remember, I will post a picture. They are buried in a closet somewhere because she brought them from Vietnam 15 years ago, gave birth to our son less than a year later, and her feet grew a size larger permanently. It's a common problem, I understand.

The whole disrobing thing was just really weird. Other than that, the interview was OK. Does anybody even wear a three piece suit anymore?

I have a love/hate relationship with wedges. I treat them as second class citizens in my collection, but at the same time I feel more comfortable wearing them, especially with shorts. I know it is very silly, but somehow I feel less self-conscious when wearing wedges with shorts as compared to shoes with separate heels. I have no idea why this would be, as I'm sure the subtlety is lost on anybody outside of the shoe/fashion world. As we've mentioned before, wedges can be more practical when walking on surfaces that are not hard and flat. That's the love part.

The hate part is, I just don't generally like the way they look, especially as you increase in heel and/or platform height. They get enormous looking. Maybe that will make them popular this year, as enormous shoes seem to be very much in fashion right now. This effect can be somewhat ameliorated if the wedge is somewhat sculpted and narrows somewhat as it nears the ground. Along with this enormity, I have never found a pair of wedges above mid-heel height that don't feel somewhat clumpy to walk in.

Wedges comprise about 10% of my shoe collection, and they are all sandals, save two pairs of clogs. They also tend to be significantly lower, on average, when compared to my separately heeled shoes.

20 hours ago, pebblesf said:

Well, I will not blame it on the boots...  I was so upset when a heel gave out on my favorite pair of Sam Edelman black knee high stiletto boots.  I feel these are quality boots, the issue is that perhaps I need to lose a few pounds or stop abusing them on rough city streets.  My suspicions were confirmed when one of the heels broke on my favorite Nine west stiletto ankle boots as well.  I was crushed when the cobbler said they could not be repaired.  I guess the lesson I have learned is that when I find a pair I really like, buy two pairs!  I love many different styles of boots, but am extremely fussy at the same time.....

Just because boots are expensive, does not guarantee quality, or a good fit, or comfort for actual walking any distances.  On the other hand, it is so frustrating to see a great pair of boots (visually anyway) only to discover they are cheaply manufactured...

I have a couple of thoughts there. Number one, I don't weigh very much, and I have broken my share of heels. Number Two, when I say "broken my share of heels," I don't mean the actual heel of the shoe. I've had a couple come loose over the years, and once I had a heel cap come off without me noticing, which destroyed the heel, but most of the time what fails is the shank. Since your Nine West booties could not be repaired, I am guessing that is what happened. Once that breaks, yeah, it's pretty much game over.

The shank is the bit of metal in most high heels (and sometimes in flatter shoes as well) that runs longitudinally from the front of the shoe to the back, and provides rigidity to the sole of the shoe, especially that part that does not ever touch the ground. Imagine, if you will, a world in which high heels did not have shanks. This would allow the sole to flex, and therefore the heel would be allowed to wobble in any direction that the laws of physics dictated during your stride, and particularly inward toward the ball of your foot. This is why one needs to pay particular attention to wear on the heel caps. If one is wearing much faster than the other, that is bad. By then it's probably too late, but at least you won't have been caught far from home with a shoe you can't walk in. I've limped home with a broken shank on a couple of occasions in the past. It's one of those situations where you hope nobody sees you, because you can't really explain to every passer-by, "Yeah, my shoe broke."

I continue to do research on high heel durability, and I have changed my walk over the years so as not to be so hard on heels. Nevertheless, I still continue to have a certain number of failures. I think it's the nature of cost vs. physics. Yeah, somebody could make a shank that would never break, but I don't think it would occur to anybody to do so. I doubt that any manufacturer ever gets feedback like that.

I have not tested this completely enough to know for sure, but I have high hopes that a solid wooden sole and heels will last virtually forever, as it needs no shank to stiffen it. Unless the wood just breaks in half (which is definitely a possibility), there's really nothing to go wrong there.

Oh boy, I have a long list, but we'll truncate it for now. Anything with the name Michael Kors on it. Really cool looking, prone to quick failure. Anything with the name Jessica Simpson on it. Again, prone to premature failure. The Vera Wang Lavender series. For that price point (around 300 bucks), they are very disappointing in their cheapness. Prone to early structural failure.

I don't know the entire story since I walked in on the middle of a conversation, but there was some discussion about slight hue variation in these light colored booties. This conversation went on long enough that I actually sat down to wait, as my old bones were weary from working outside in a ditch for eight hours. And it was really over nothing that could be seen without the aid of a microscope. I am guessing it couldn't have been anything Marty (the cobbler) did, because she wasn't angry or irritated, she just kept agonizing over whether the shoes needed to be thrown out. They didn't. Marty convinced her to let him try to even out the color, and she went on her merry way. That is all.

I haven't got a lot this week, as I've been absolutely exhausted from my new job, but I did make it over to the cobbler on Thursday, which is the one weekday I don't have to cook supper. I brought him two problem children, and it was half good news. My oldest pair of heels is still savable, but the ankle boots I brought him are landfill material. Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him about @Cali 's issue with the hollow molded plastic heels, and how he handles that. I'll have to ask next week when I go to pick the shoes up.

When I walked into the shop, there was another customer already there to pick up a pair of ankle booties in a light beige with pointy toes and block heels of about 3 1/2 inches. She was wearing very similar booties in black. I could tell that she is a regular, like me, but that she is a much more difficult customer than I am.

I have occasionally seen a man in slightly higher than normal heels, but it's been a while. I have never personally met another man (with the exception of @HappyinHeels) wearing anything more elevated than what you described. Not counting the 1970s, of course.

It will be soon once again time to visit the family in Vietnam. It has been 5 years for me, thanks to the pandemic. Could I get away with wearing heels in Vietnam, at least in the city? Probably. Will I wear heels? Absolutely not. Although the time is long past when my wife has even bothered saying anything anymore, it goes without saying that she is there for the purpose of visiting her mother, not for answering stupid questions about her silly husband.

Another high school band concert last night. Amazingly, there were lots of heels! Of course, they were all low- to mid-heels, but it was pleasantly surprising, especially when the band director put, and I quote, "Flats are preferred over heels" right in the email reminding students of the dress requirements for the concert.

I have come up with a temperature guide for myself. If it's at least 40º (5º C), I can and should wear sandals, regardless of the wind speed. In calm conditions, sandals are fine down to 32 (0 C). Colder than that, and I'd better wear a closed toed shoe of some sort. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10-15º (around -10º C), I'd better wear socks, which does limit my choice of footwear.

This guide only applies to walking. It does not work well for standing. Nothing works well for standing in cold weather. It also does not take into account any precipitation that might occur. Cold AND wet feet are double-plus ungood.

Haha, if the recipe calls for 3 cloves of garlic, I'll put 6. Haven't gotten any complaints so far!

The general size of arteries still does not explain why I can get by with uninsulated boots at work, while everybody else is freezing their feet off. Meanwhile, I have to dress more heavily than everybody else to function properly, and thank goodness for those chemical hand warmers that you can stick in your pockets.

The concept of this blog seems very simple, but how to begin? At least I managed to come up with a wacky title.

I have been meaning to feature the following shoes for a long time because they are among the first heels I ever purchased with a serious intent to wear them in public. They have also turned out to be, thus far, my most durable pair of heels.

Though I have mentioned them many times in passing over the years, let me formally introduce you to my Nine West “Sizzle” oxfords in plain black leather. I purchased them on January 4, 2013. Going back through my records, I evidently paid $99 for them from Amazon. This was probably pretty close to full price, which is something I never do anymore. However, in retrospect, I can’t say that I didn’t get my money’s worth.

My motivation for buying these particular shoes has been lost to the sands of time, but I can tell you that this was my second pair of this model. The first pair I had was black patent, rather than just plain black, and was U.S. Women’s size 9. I always thought that they were a bit too tight, and so I got rid of them and got the instant shoes in a size 9 1/2. I did that often in those days, that is, bought stuff in 9 1/2 or even 10. I am not sure why, but I would never make that mistake today. I am pretty clearly and solidly a size 9. As a result, I have to wear thick socks with these oxfords. This is simultaneously a plus and a minus. I hate how the shoes are really too big, but on the other hand, the cushioning provided by thick socks may be the secret to why they are an any occasion, all-the-time shoe--in the winter, anyway. Just so you know, just so you do not doubt my proclivities, I never wear these, ever, from about mid-May to mid-October.

What would a Melrose expository post be without statistics? Here are the numbers: 4 3/4” heel, 3/4” platform, for an effective steepness of right at 4 inches. Diameter of the heels is about 3/4”. I have had them reheeled three times, and am very, very close to needing No. 4. I have walked 191 documented miles in these, plus any number of undocumented/incidental miles. I feel like they are going to fail sometime on the next reheel, and I will be sad when they do.

I think I have worn these in every situation that I normally encounter in life, and some that I don’t normally encounter. I have worn these with men’s suits to church, and I have worn them with jeans for my neighborhood constitutionals. I know I have worn them on at least one occasion to work the “big” farmer’s market, which involves standing for five hours. I have worn them on a walk that exceeded 5 miles, 6.1 to be exact. I have only ever done this with 3 pairs of shoes over the past 11 years. After all this use, they still shine up pretty well!

I didn't wear the boots in the snow--I wore clogs. The snow wasn't too deep, so I figured I'd wear my very high platform clogs, and the strategy worked. I did not have a previous picture of my giant Sam Edelman platform clogs, so I had to take one in the time honored location of the washing machine. Then I switched to the boots for church, and wound up wearing those well into the evening, including testing out my son's new-to-him, but very old, motorbike. I still say it's not all that fun to ride a regular motorcycle in heels.

Here's something strange about how I'm built. The snow started falling on Saturday afternoon, but none of it stuck to the ground because the temperature was above freezing. As it continued falling overnight, the temperature dropped down to about 25º, or -4º C. I wore my clogs barefoot, and they were high enough that I didn't get any significant amount of snow in my shoes. I also wore medium weight gloves. Not super heavy, but some amount of insulation in them. By the time I got back home, my fingers were like little blocks of ice, but my feet were slightly damp from sweating. How is this even possible?

Sunday's outfit. You can't really see the outfit because of the coat, but it was rather cold and snowy yesterday. It seemed easiest to wear my Vince Camuto knee high boots. The platform clogs I wore on my morning constitutional seemed too casual for church, but they did leave some nice looking footprints in the snow.

Edit: And once again, I have no idea why certain random pictures load sideways and can't be turned, at least not by me.

12 hours ago, Puffer said:

I quite agree about the pathetic quality of (most) moulded top pieces and I was not seeking a source other than out of curiosity.   But, if they don't exist, I must question how a cobbler would replace worn/missing heels without adopting a solution such as mine, as simply cutting a larger piece of suitable material to size does not solve the fixing problem into a hollow heel.   I use softwood (as distinct from hardwood) simply because the right sort of offcuts are always to hand in my workshop and shaping is easy.   I can't see why a harder wood 'plug' would be beneficial as it is only there to be a foundation for the new top piece to be screwed or nailed into.    I suppose that one could put plastic wall plugs into the exiting holes and screw through the new top piece into them, but my solution is somewhat stronger.

I'm probably headed up to my cobbler this week or next. I will ask Marty how he deals with this issue. Somewhere in my collection I must have hollow heels like that, but nothing that I wear regularly.

22 minutes ago, Puffer said:

You have asked this question before, in 'New Heel Tips'.   As I said there: 'Easier [than filling the cavity with a mixture of epoxy and sawdust] is to shape a piece of softwood to fit the cavity and wedge/glue it in.   Then add glued-on rubber or composition heel piece, preferably also nailed into wood with brass nails.'

I have done this successfully on a couple of pairs with hollow plastic heels.   I have yet to find a source of moulded plug-in replacement top pieces, which obviously come in a myriad of shapes/sizes/fittings to suit the original boot or shoe.

And even if you could, why would you? Those stock heel tips are crap! Although I don't do it myself, and after 11 years I seriously doubt I'll start, Vibram or other such material as replacement heels is superior in every way to these little things with nubs on them that come from the factory.

One question, though. Why specifically softwood?

I have started my exhibition/blog project, and it is harder than I thought. Since I'm writing offline, I just have to make myself type out some words on the page, and then rewrite it later, or it will never get done.

I notice that there is a spot on this website for blogs, but nobody ever reads that stuff. I was thinking of putting it in the "For Everybody" section. I think that's a practical and appropriate place for it to go. What say you?

Last night was the first jazz band concert of the season. My younger entered high school this fall, and for the first time experienced the pressure of actually having to audition to get into a group. I was seated on the very wrong side of the auditorium, but oh well. Good pictures shouldn't be the major part of the experience anyway.

I can report that there were at least three girls wearing what you could call heels at the concert. There may have been more, but it's awfully tough to see into the back row, and I didn't hang around any longer than necessary. I would estimate the total number of girls participating in this concert was about 30. There were no boys wearing heels except for me.

I managed to capture in incidental pictures, and then zoom in on later, an example of what was the highest of the heels, worn by the vibraphonist, who appeared to be a senior. Pointy-toed suede or faux suede boots. There was another girl in a different band who wore fuchsia mules with 3 or 3 1/2" block heels. The prescribed uniform for all of the jazz bands is "Solid black with a splash of color." I found it interesting and admirable that this girl chose her shoes as the splash of color. I'm gonna guess they were prom shoes, and have only been worn one other time.

I guess heels are not completely dead yet, they are just on life support. One could say that during my own high school days, something closer to 15 girls out of 30 would be wearing heels. Yes and no, because the majority of those would have been 1 1/2" or less, and can you really call those heels?

I have yet to summon the energy to start my bloggy thing, but I have taken a few pictures this week. Yesterday's hurriedly thrown together outfit is as follows: Nine West "Versell" sandals, and yes, I am still somehow wearing sandals in the middle of November, and the rest is some hodgepodge of button down shirt, black trousers that may be a little on the short side, and some tie that I selected at the last minute when I realized that my t-shirt was showing through the outer shirt.

I have said before that I don't wear these sandals often enough, but oddly, my own mother told me I ought to get rid of them. I asked her why, and she said, "They look so uncomfortable!" I gave her one of those looks like "Where have you been for the past 15 years?" We then had a conversation about the onset of dementia.

15 hours ago, Mr. X said:

Here are my latest. The brand is just fab. The heel Is a bit chunkier and measures in at five inches with no platform. These are quite high and difficult to walk in. And this coming from a guy who is comfortable walking in heels. I will definitely need to practice with these babies on my feet.

I also have a pair of Just Fab sandals which are quite steep, but I find they are designed in such a way that makes it a bit easier than the numbers would suggest. I hope you have luck with these.