mlroseplant

I actually wore boots last night for the first time since early Spring of 2018. It's not that I hate boots, but perhaps I don't have the right boots any more for my style. Of course, last winter I challenged myself to see how long I could go into the winter and not wear boots, and I wound up making it all winter. The other problem is that most of my boots are what you'd call "calf high" I guess. This is fine if you're wearing boot-cut jeans, but look dumber 'n hell if you're wearing skinny jeans. Like many of us here, I started out wearing exclusively boot cut jeans in order to minimize the visual impact of my heels. When I bought all of my boots, I certainly didn't see any need to buy tall boots, as they were going to be covered by pants anyway. Now, of course, it's a completely different story. I hardly ever wear boot cut jeans, I own only two pairs of knee high boots, and I don't love either of them. As I mentioned before, I have stopped buying shoes temporarily, so I'm certainly not going to invest in any new boots this year. I do need to address the fact that my sandal collection is getting a little thin, though! Boots do last a lot longer than sandals.

11 hours ago, Shyheels said:

You’re quite welcome to some of our rain...

You can have ours too!

@Cali, as the weather gets colder, have you considered bundling up on top, but continuing to wear shorts down to a lower temperature? I like to call it the "Korean" look, since you see this so commonly over there. I like the idea of doing that, but the reality is that my legs get cold faster than my torso and arms, so I would rather wear short sleeves with long pants, comfort-wise.

On 10/19/2019 at 10:00 AM, Cali said:

@mlroseplant I would also suspect that another reason is that the heels they are making are not tall enough.  I'm have trouble finding heels that are 3.75 inch tall, let along 4+ inches. Sometimes you just have to make sacrifices for your kids.  Just be glad that "band" is not very expensive compared to other activities.

 

Yes, I find myself saying more and more these days, "Wow, those are really cute! If only they were an inch higher." I think I came along at a time in history when heels in general were much taller than any other. I say this because we often romanticize the 1950s with its ubiquitous stiletto heels. There is a woman from my hometown who has started a sort of historical group, and people have given her thousands of photographs from the 1960s and older. One thing I notice about all the pictures from the 1950s and even into the 60s is that if the picture was taken at any sort of semi-formal event--even just going to church on Wednesday night--all the women were wearing dresses, and almost all of them were wearing high heels. Thing is, the heels just weren't very high by our standards. I didn't see any that were much over 3 inches.

My mother was definitely a heel girl back in the day, and when I see old pictures of her in high school or shortly thereafter, she was always wearing the highest heels of anybody in the group. Again, not that impressive. I never saw my mother wear anything higher than 3 1/2 inch, ever. I don't really think they were available through "normal" channels. Pretty much the same thing for the 1980s--heels just weren't as high as we remember them when I look at old pictures and ads. I mean, there was Baker's and Wild One, but you really didn't see the highest models they sold all that often on the street. Then about 2000 - 2010, somewhere in that range, heel heights just exploded, usually with platform, but even considering the platform, they were MUCH higher than any time before or since. 4 inch was suddenly kind of low, and even the high school girls, if they wore heels at all (many didn't), were all tottering around in 5+ inch heels. That's about the time I came along as far as wearing heels myself, and I must admit, it's kind of a letdown when, like you said, now it's hard to find even a 4 inch heel in mainstream outlets.

This has been a strange year for me. I won't say I've backed off wearing heels, but I sure have backed off buying them. This is for several different reasons. The main two reasons have everything to do with money. I haven't had the overtime that I've had in the past, so I have far less discretionary income. Furthermore, because my 10 year old son has started band this summer, I have spent my shoe money on instruments and accessories. Even though he officially only plays the tuba, I have bought, count 'em, THREE horns this summer/fall. Naturally, we have begun to collect a certain make (Conn), and we're only interested in instruments manufactured before about 1970. We've enjoyed the heck out of all of them. They just don't make 'em like they used to, UNLESS you're willing to spend like $10,000. In that case, in many ways, they make 'em better than they used to. That is many times more than my entire shoe collection is worth.

Speaking of shoes, now that sandal season is almost over, the Alaia sandal I bought back in June have finally become truly comfortable. I wore them for several hours a week ago, and I wasn't ready to take them off when it was time. I look forward to wearing them for many years to come. That was a case of having some experience and intuition about what was going to eventually work.

On 10/12/2019 at 8:28 PM, Heelster said:

Funny you should mention Logger's - The ones I usually see barely make 1-1/2"s but I did get notice that a steel mill has recently banned those from the mill.

As well they should! Those are horrible, horrible boots for a place like a steel mill, and it has nothing to do with the heels--it's the gigantic, aggressively lugged sole, just waiting to trip you up on steel grating. Don't ask me how I know this. I have limited my purchase of logging boots to exactly the one time.

1 hour ago, JeffB said:

WOW! How high are those heels? Five, six inches?

Yeah, those things are pretty giant. I'd have to see them along with an entire outfit. There is so much real estate on the sides of those shoes that they might wind up completely dominating whatever else you are wearing. They look like they fit very well, however!

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

Exactly and for that ever to change fundamental shifts both in fashion and in perceptions of masculinity, on both sides of the gender divide, would have to take place throughout broader society. Don't see that happening any time soon. 

And even if it did, I believe that a good number of us here on this site would still not be happy with the result. There was, within my own lifetime, a period where men's shoes sported in some cases substantial heels. This could theoretically happen again, but if the huge, clunky style were my only choice, I don't think I'd bother with heels at all.

I am usually with you guys on things like this, but in this case, I'm going to rise to Jeremy's defense (defence??) and argue that we often refer to high heeled footwear as simply "heels." In the informal setting of this forum, suddenly the title makes perfect sense--much more so than an ATM machine.

19 hours ago, Logjam said:

Going for my mani/pedi in just a bit, it is 28 F right now here in the Inland Northwest. Maybe I’m getting less resilient as I get older, but the idea of being out in shorts and flip-flops is not too appealing at the moment!

I finally broke today. It was the wind that did it. Mid 30s for a temperature (0 - +5º C), and a 30 mph wind took the fight away from me, and I put on long pants and a jacket. Still wore sandals for a brief run to the grocery store, but opted for closed-toed shoes when I had to make a run to Des Moines, the nearby capital city of Iowa. It's still a very long walk if you're broken down.

3 minutes ago, JeffB said:

A golf ball? How does that work?

HA! We're both up early on a Saturday, but that's ground which has been covered before. There are two main things I do with a golf ball--one is massage and engagement of the sole of the foot. I start by placing the golf ball on the floor (a non-slick floor works more easily) and pressing on it with the ball of the foot, then rolling it slowly back to my heel. Gently at first, because it may feel strange or uncomfortable, but fairly firmly once you've gotten used to it after a time. I am really trying to knead the plantar fascia, that often problematic ligament that runs pretty much the entire sole of your foot.

The second and perhaps most important thing I do with the golf ball is I pick it up with my toes and move it around. Depending on one's natural physiology and condition of one's feet, this may prove to be difficult at first. I know it was several months before I could do it reliably, sweating or not sweating, with my right foot. It was much faster with my left foot, which is strange, because I'm right-footed. Anyway, I have no rhyme or reason at this point. I just play with the ball, picking it up with one foot, setting it down, picking it up with the other foot, setting it back down. Sometimes I see how long I can hold the ball with a clenched foot before I get tired. I just go with the flow, usually while checking social media or something like that.

I am crediting the golf ball thing with greatly improving my quality of life. Several years ago, I was at the point where it was hard to make it through the day at work because my feet hurt so much from walking miles and miles every day on concrete. Today, I never really think about that. Of course my feet get tired, just like everybody else, but I never think about wanting to sit down at every possible moment because of my feet like I did before.

I do some other things without the golf ball as well, but again, they are not necessarily regimented into a "routine." For example, every time I go upstairs, I take 30 seconds to stretch my calf muscles. While I am stretching one calf muscle, I am flexing the toes of the other foot back and forth between extreme "high heel" position, to toes folded under like a ballerina would do. As my present tool partner at work says at least 20 times a day, "I'm not saying it's right, it's just what I do." I hope this explanation has been adequate.

If you're going to do it at all, I agree with @p1ng74. You've almost got to dive in all the way and make it public. I know my wife purposefully cuts my feet off in every single picture, because she's embarrassed of me, at least to her Vietnamese family. My heeling buddy has got several pictures of me out there wearing heels, but they're not necessarily all that easy to find. Even I have to dig through her profile to find them. But I don't try to keep them secret. This website, of course, is a different story. I have no idea who may be looking at my pictures here, and I guess I don't much care.

12 hours ago, Bubba136 said:

WX newsreported today that your area is experiencing sever winter weather at the moment.  Having lived a winter or two in the middle west myself, I Wouldn’t recommend shorts and flip flops.

Looking at the weather app on my phone before heading off to work, I do see that we've a chance for snow this morning. However, I don't really expect it to amount to much, since it's 40º right now. The high winds that are supposed to kick up later on today will be more problematic. Still not winter, though.

I have long done exercise meant to strengthen my feet and ankles. I do most of my exercises with a golf ball. I started doing these exercises for reasons other than wearing heels, but I think they definitely apply to wearing heels.

So it's October 10, and I'm still wearing shorts and heels. I'm no Galina Kuteryeva, though. Temps are supposed to dip into the 30s in just a couple of days, and that may prove to be my limit, both temperature-wise and attention wise.

14 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Indeed most hiking boots have heels of an inch or just over - mine certainly do. Sturdy Vibram soles. But such is the remarkable sensitivity to any leanings towards perceived femininity in men's wear - especially as regards to heels, one of the great taboos - that any increasing in height, however small, is seen as rather daring.    

In my industry, one of the "manliest" boots you can wear are logging boots, and those always have at least a 2" heel on them. Obviously, they are a lot more rugged looking and heavier than those Gucci loafers, but still.  .  .

I guess we should be thankful to have a mainstream article which mentions men wearing heels, and the subject of whom is not wearing outlandish garb along with his heels, low though they may be.

13 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

I try to really spread out the sandals, pumps, and boots I wear so that wear is more evenly distributed. The place I first see it is the back of the heel. HinH

It is logical that the most wear will occur at that spot, because it's an edge with very little surface area where everyone contacts first (unless they are walking very oddly) with every step they take. I find the wear pattern on a brand new pair of heel tips to be unsightly, and I often use a nail file designed for artificial nails (courtesy of my nail shop girls), to take that offending rough edge off. Perhaps it's weird, I know.

20 hours ago, Logjam said:

MLR - off topic a bit, but I presume the scooter is yours - details please! And I’m happy to find another rider here! My two wheelers are a bit larger, but in my book, owners/riders of two-wheel powered machines are all part of the same community.

That picture is a crop of another picture I posted on my own thread a while back. In the past, I have ridden all over the U. S. on two wheels using bigger machinery. These days, not so much. The scooter, a Honda Ruckus (50cc), was bought for my elder son a number of years ago when he turned 14. Until this summer, it was residing at my dad's house, mostly collecting dust. After buying yet another battery for it earlier this summer, I have been using it for my trips around town. It is amazing how much gas this saves versus taking the car everywhere. It has a top speed of about 35 mph, gets about 125 mpg, and doesn't mind at all being ridden for a mile and then shut off again. It reaches operating temperature very quickly!

I wrote elsewhere that I don't truly enjoy driving a car in heels, and I really don't like riding a regular motorcycle in heels, but a scooter was made for heels, it seems! Getting back to the subject at hand, it is just coincidence that I have a picture of my only animal print shoes while sitting astride the Monster Ruckus. I would consider getting a "maxi" scooter in the future, capable of highway speeds, as it seems to fit my lifestyle these days better than a traditional motorcycle.

Not a "cheetah" print, but more of a "jaguar" print, but this is my one and only item of clothing that has an animal print of any sort.

8 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

I agree, and it did not diminish from the fact that we thoroughly enjoyed eating at all the different places I visited on our trip to London.  We were mostly eating out twice a day for a week straight, and just picking places nearby based on where we happened to be, without any real advanced planning.  We were bound to end up at the wrong place and the wrong time every now and then.  

 

Rewarding hard work ahead of those who don’t?  I’m down with that.  Unfortunately I don’t see how SS will have any money left by the time I get to retirement age.  Guess I’ll have to work harder   

Social Security will have money indefinitely, just maybe not as much money. I can see a scenario where benefits eventually get cut to say, 75% of what they are now. It's a little worrisome, but not the end of the world for me. I'm probably not ever going to fully retire anyway, as long as I can still climb a ladder. What worries me a good deal more is how I'm going to look as a 75 year old dude in heels.

2 hours ago, Puffer said:

I like pointed toes, but their 'projection' looks rather weird on sandals!

I agree with you. My heel buddy has a few similar pairs (but with a somewhat less radically pointed toe), and I think they look kind of odd with her feet, which are rather blocky.

5 hours ago, Cali said:

Wore my new leopard print hoodie yesterday. No comment on it from anyone but my heels for the day (Delicious Elowen) got several "I love your heels" and "how can you walk in those". My answer is always I only buy heels I can wear all day, at least 12 hours. Wore these for 15 hours yeasterday

Did you really get some "How can you walk in those?" comments with those boots? Sheeeeit, standards are getting low. Those are a walk in the park for people like us! Let us see some pictures of the hoodie, though. I am truly curious.

On 9/29/2019 at 11:59 AM, Cali said:

I thought I would add pictures. These are one of my MAXX OUT wedges purchase in 2015, one of my first pairs of higher heels. 

However they are failing in two places. First the heel and back of the shoe are coming apart.

 

Then the man made uppers are delaminating. 

 

I can fix the heel with glue, but how do you fix the delamination?

I feel your pain, but unfortunately I do not have a solution. I have had the same problem, or even worse with shoes that are of man made material. It's hard to tell from your picture the extent of the damage, but if it were me, I'd try super glue (cyanoacrylate) first on those uppers. If that doesn't work, I have no idea, sorry. I use super glue all the time on my shoes. Sometimes it works great, sometimes it does not. My second choice for something like that would be contact cement, but I think it would be very difficult to apply effectively in your situation.

Within the last year, somebody explained the chemistry about why most man made uppers deteriorate like that, and it often has to do with time and not wear. I cannot remember the exact process by which the stuff starts to peel and fall apart, but I can vouch that the phenomenon exists. I am the disappointed owner of some "New Old Stock" wedge thongs, which, although never worn, started to deteriorate practically right out of the box because they are probably close to 10 years old.

11 hours ago, KneeBooted said:

Well my mother-in-law has arrived and it’s also started to feel like fall. My mother-in-law is someone who I would say is not exactly open to the idea of a guy in heels.

That being said, I am not exactly wearing my 4” heels at the moment, so no eyebrows have been raised.

However, I decided to switch from my usual look of wearing Converse wedges and jeans to church. My wife likes it when I occasionally dress nicer, which is usually a button down, polo, blazer, or some combination of those variety of items.

Today was close to Fall weather, but not quite there yet. It was cool enough in the morning for pants and maybe a light jacket, but it’s warm enough in the sun at the moment for shorts and a T-shirt. So I decided that today I would wear my blazer that my wife really likes on me. It’s one of my more versatile pieces of clothing that I’ve found goes with just about anything. Today proved to be no different as I wore it with a T-shirt, jeans, and my new Naturalizer boots.

My mother-in-law mentioned that I looked nice before we left for church, and my wife thought the combination looked really good.

The heels as expected weren’t heavily noticed, being that they’re only about 2” block heels. That being said, there is one girl in the child care area that always is there to check out my shoes when we drop my son off. She was wearing some boots today, but I couldn’t get a good look to see much of the style/detail.

What made me feel good though is that a couple of people we talk to at church made it a point to say how nice I looked today! Talk about a confidence boost! Now they made no mention of my shoes, but I’m ok with that.

 

I need feedback on a shirt that I purchased. I haven’t paired it with an outfit yet, so the only picture I have is from when I tried it on in the store.

I am venturing into women’s tops, but still am struggling with finding a good fit.

This one I found at Kohl’s for less than $10, so I figured it was worth a shot.

Honest feedback is always appreciated!

 

Yes, It is nice to get compliments from people, particularly ones you see somewhat regularly. I'm not surprised they didn't mention your boots. On the somewhat rare occasions that I get compliments on my outfit, no one ever mentions the shoes, and mine are kind of hard to ignore. On the other hand, there may be those who will compliment your shoes and nothing else. I've gotten that, too.

As far as the top goes, yeah, it's probably all right for $10. I see you have the same problem as me--it fits fine in the chest and shoulders, but then there's this sort of loose, tent-like area that falls around the belly. It's not terrible, but I'm guessing that's part of the reason why you're posting and asking. My opinion, which is not worth much, is that you either want to find something that is generally looser, or is pretty skin-tight in all areas. We'll see what the shirt looks like after it's been washed a few times.

One thing I've noticed generally about women's t-shirts, and similar casual items, is that the neck hole tends to be proportionally bigger that a similar men's garment. This is one thing that I personally don't like, and I have to be careful to notice it before I get home with it. This is of course a matter of personal taste, I just don't like the wider neckline on me.

I am not a full-time heel wearer, due to my profession, but I am a daily heel wearer. When I think about all the shoes that I've owned over the years, I can definitely see a pattern. I've definitely had the most trouble with sandals. Usually, it's catastrophic failure, but I have had several pair that were still serviceable when I threw them away, but they were just very ratty looking. I can think of only one pair of full coverage shoes or boots that I've ever gotten rid of because it was just worn to death. This was a cheap pair of Simply Vera Wang calf-high boots I got very early on in my heeling life. Those suckers were incredibly durable for such a cheap pair of boots. They had well over 100 miles on them when I let them go. I believe I replaced the heel tips twice in that time. All of my other full-coverage shoes are several years old, and are in great shape. I do replace heel tips as necessary.

Sandals, on the other hand, are far less durable, with a couple of notable exceptions. My BCBGirls "Bonny" mules have been worn to death, but they still keep soldiering on with a few minor repairs, and they still look decent. I've had them for 4 years, and I would guess they have somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 days of wear and probably 60-80 miles on them. I even bought a duplicate replacement pair, but I haven't had to use it yet. The other exception is my first pair of heeled sandals, Söfft "Belicia." I'd call these a mid-heel, they had tapered block heels that were about 3 1/2" high. The factory original heel tips lasted well over 100 miles (documented)! I finally threw them away because they were so stretched out and awful looking. I have often wondered what they used on that heel tip to make it last so long. If I could find it, I wonder how long a stiletto heel tip might last using that material.

Speaking of stilettos, the one thing I don't do any more is wear stilettos if I know I'm going to be walking any distance outside. The heels just wear out too fast (typically 5-10 miles, depending on the thinness of the heel). Yes, @Jkrenzer, I still haven't set myself up to replace the things at home. I would wear stilettos a lot more if I could replace the tips quickly and cheaply.