mlroseplant

20 hours ago, SF said:

mlrose....  I also love the thong styles..  Very pretty (can a guy wear pretty shoes?) sandal...  Most of my heels are the thong style.  Good luck on your search.  sf

I suppose a guy can wear "pretty" shoes, as well as "cute" shoes, but there are some places I still won't go. Anything adorned with flowers, for example.

Yeah, I'm having a hard time finding thong type sandals with a decent heel on them (4" or higher) that are not meant to be fetish shoes. Here is an example of something that I would buy if I could find it, and believe me, I've tried.

10 hours ago, Cali said:

I love my block heels. Enjoy wearing them. About 20% of mine shoes have block heels. These are today's shoes, my Steve Madden Manner's, wore them to work, doctor's office, and post office. Got two pairs, chestnut and tan.

Not the same thing. Your shoes overall are more rugged looking, platform-y-er (yes, I just made up a word), and just more balanced looking. The shoes the girls are wearing in my picture above attempt to be these little delicate, wispy things (kind of like the girls themselves), but then they have this HUGE HONKING HEEL ON THE BACK. It creates a very jarring, imbalanced look to me. A much better execution of this type of single strap shoe is shown below, modeled by a different somebody I actually know.

I have decided that I don't much care for the block heeled sandals that are in style this year. I think they would look much better with thinner heels, or at least a little bit of taper to the heels. On a brighter note, there is one girl in this photo that I actually know, and I have never seen her wear heels of any sort until now.

Even though I have 8 1/2 - 9 USW feet, I've never found anything at a thrift store in my size that I've wanted to buy. Then again, I hardly ever go to thrift stores. My wife, on the other hand, makes it a hobby and goes several times a week, which must be the way you have to do it, because she comes home with cool shoes and clothes all the time. Too often, in fact.

I hope everything turns out satisfactorily. That leg looks gnarly, even from Iowa! As usual, the major thing lies hidden beneath the surface. Good luck with that.

Jesus, Cali! What happened?

Being as it's Wedge Wednesday, I guess my choice of footwear is decided, then! I was waffling back and forth between two choices, but now there's one less thing to decide on this incredibly hot and humid summer day.

On 7/16/2019 at 3:51 AM, JeffB said:

Interesting! I haven't flown anywhere since 2003, but I thought female flight attendants no longer wore heels like what that young lady sported, or, at the very least, nothing that high.

Back when my ex-wife worked for AA, 20+ years ago, female flight attendants were required to wear heels in the airport. Nowadays, I doubt they're required to wear them, though some still do. Somewhere in my own thread, I noted that not only did one of my flight attendants on my flight to Korea wear substantial heels in the airport, she actually worked a Trans-Pacific flight in heels (lower than her airport heels, of course).

The Asian airlines still require heels in the airport, but none of their "dress" heels is anything to write home about--I've never seen one exceed 2 1/2", and I think they are provided by the airline, as you don't see any variation at all like you do among American flight attendants.

5 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

AzShoeNut,

I'm sitting here in my Daisy Duke shorts as I spent a while cutting grass. My legs are always smooth. Swimmers don't like lots of body hair. I love my wedges but don't have any plans to go into the big city. I am planning to go to our land in far northern Wisconsin Different environment but I could still wear both. HinH

Although I love my shorts, I never wear them while mowing. Of course, all of our equipment is walk-behind, as we've made a business of mowing small lawns with small lawn mowers that the big lawn care companies won't touch. Perhaps you may be on a tractor or ZTR, that would be different. I was reminded of the reason for my rule the other night when I had finally figured out why one of our string trimmers was not running very well. I went to test it out, that's right TEST it, not actually use it, and I wound up flinging some debris into my leg, and it left little marks that lasted a week! Not attractive. And that is why I don't wear shorts when mowing. Part safety, part vanity.

My thinnest heels are some Aldo booties I picked up on ebay some time ago, model name unknown. The heels on these booties are 1/4" or 6 mm wide at the tip, and are 5" in height, with no platform. The shape of these heels are a bit different, being a square cross section. Oddly enough, they are one of two pairs of shoes that I own that I haven't worn outside yet. In both cases, it's because I don't feel comfortable walking in them--they are just too steep for my skill level. Also, I think the extreme setback style of the Aldo's heels doesn't really help much.

My second thinnest heels are Steve Madden Barbb mules, 5/16" in diameter, and 4 1/2" high, no platform. I have 3 pairs in 3 different colors. I wear those regularly and love them. The thinness of the heels doesn't appear to make them hard to walk in at all, you just have to be super careful about cracks and gaps in walking surfaces.

14 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Nice going on wearing your chunky heels on grass. I haven't worn a heel like that on grass in a while rather I've worn wedges on grass either to a few people's houses, on some vacations, and to a few outdoor weddings. It has been drier here in Wisconsin as well after months of above-normal rainfall. I've been outside every day this month doing a gardening project. It involved putting weed-block fabric down and then installing decorative stone and mulch within those flower beds so I can eliminate weeding. Plus, a friend here suggested I get some sun on my legs HinH

"Above average rainfall" is a mild way of putting it! However, I think I'm going to have to actually water my garden, like, today! We're not supposed to get any rain for a whole week. Actually, it's my wife's garden. Do you remember that big tree in out back yard with the swing and all those weeds under it? It's now a rose garden. Doesn't look too bad, really.

As far as sun on one's legs, since I have to wear long pants for work, I often have severely uneven colors top to bottom, and actually have to resort to covering up my top half at home to let my legs catch up somewhat.

11 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

They are good cheap brands. Problem is they will bill you on a regular basis even if you don't purchase anything. They are set up like clubs. It took me awhile to get out of one.

I'll stick to buying their shoes on as needed (who am i kidding, we don't need heels) off of ebay or other 2nd hand sales.

Hey Joe, how durable are they? You say they are good cheap brands. I've had some cheap-ass shoes that have lasted a good long while, and then some rather expensive ones that are simply not up to the task of real life. I know you actually wear your shoes.

I just couldn't help myself, and I wore the Alaïa sandals again last night, this time to a church function that was outdoors, and mostly on grass. I got by with it because it hasn't rained in several days, and the ground is firm enough to wear thick heels on without even bothering to take weight off of the heels when walking. After about three hours of wearing them, my little toes were feeling slightly squished, but no flesh wounds, so I think we're getting there! I'd better lay off for the next few days.

Had I known it was Wedge Wednesday, I might have actually worn wedges today. I strongly considered it, as I went to the all-church picnic this evening. However, I was really wanting to wear my Alaïa sandals with shorts, and since it hasn't rained in several days, I figured I could get by with a separate heeled shoe, even on the grass, so I did.

On 6/24/2019 at 5:28 AM, mlroseplant said:

An update on the Alaïa sandals: They are still a little snug, but I can wear them now without breaking the skin. I had to lay off for about a week because they wore some holes in the tops of my right foot toes. I got a little too rambunctious with the break-in. I'm still a little leery and don't want to wear them every day just yet, but they haven't left any wounds on my feet since I gave them the week's rest. Their appearance is smaller than the rest of my shoes, but it may just be my perception. The length is absolutely spot on for me, and the upward curve of the shoe matches my foot well. This is with no fitting aids at all. They are marked 38 1/2, which was taking a pretty big gamble, but I think it worked out. If I'd have had a choice, I might have gone for a 39, but certainly no bigger than that.

I wore them to my son's school open house, which I thought about twice for the sake of not wanting other kids to tease him. However, at this late date, that ship sailed long ago, so whatever. He needs to learn how to deal with that sort of thing anyway. I got a few stares from kids (obviously not my son's classmates--they don't seem to be all that interested these days), but none from adults. Or maybe the adults are just better at hiding it.

I used to catch people taking or attempting to take pictures of me all the time. I haven't noticed it lately. Which means that either I don't care enough to really notice, or people care less than they used to. I too, am probably out there somewhere on the Internet, probably in one of those "People of Walmart" videos.

13 minutes ago, p1ng74 said:

Yeah I’ve done it before and couldn’t be bothered to push the car into the garage.  Plus it is really hot and stale in the garage right now.  I blow out the important stuff with compressed air just in case.

I've never actually done any major engine work outside, but pretty much everything else gets done outside because my garage is filled up with old 2 stroke Lawn-Boys. I have a similar problem with them that I do with shoes. BTW, I hate to disappoint, but I do all my auto work in ratty old tennis shoes! I am glad to see you wearing hand protection, though. Let us know how the project progresses! We've actually got quite a few gearheads on here.

I own the exact model of high heel shoe stretcher shown in Cali's second link (the FootFitter). It works pretty well, it seems like a quality item. In fact, I bought my shoe buddy one in a smaller size for her size 5.5 shoes, and she loves it too. The only problem I can see is that is it only goes up to size 11, and that's U.S. women's 11. Your (Jura's) feet are EU 45, which are what, like a 14 or 15 equivalent? Being as the thing only stretches stuff width-wise, it might work ok, but I couldn't guarantee it. They do expand out quite a way, far enough to ruin your shoes if you keep on cranking. I don't think that would be an issue, even on size 45. I just don't know if it would be the right shape to stretch exactly what you need it to stretch. If you have a few extra quid to throw at it, it might be worth a shot.

Oh, and one more thought, they do sell them singly. I noticed a number of complaints in the comments section about it not being a set of two. I never bothered to get a second one, because I guess I'm not in that big of a hurry. I can stretch them one at a time. There's no left and right.

Are you actually having to assemble that outdoors? I've seen it done, but it's a bitch keeping everything clean.

8 minutes ago, Cali said:

I'm surprise they let you in the store.

I only managed to sneak in because they don't have the budget to employ a greeter full-time any more. 

8 minutes ago, Pierre1961 said:

I am also worried about wearing heels could do,to my body. And even more because I like quite,high heels. 

Nothing bad is noticeable so far. 

What execises would you recommend if several days with flats can't be avoided? 

And just a remark: after several hours in heels,it difficult to return to flats physically AND (!) mentally! As if I had to loose my real identity  

Do you experience such a feeling? 

Pierre 

That's an interesting question about the things I do to make wearing heels easier and better. Maybe I should make a separate post about it someday, with illustrations. I feel like the three most important things I do are: 1) A yoga routine that includes lots of the pose Downward Facing Dog. This keeps the back of my entire legs flexible and supple, as it's a stretch that's basically the opposite of wearing heels. Also, it encourages me to find a good posture with my shoulders and neck when I'm standing up, as I tend to have a natural slouch. 2) I move a golf ball around with my bare feet, sometimes several times a day to strengthen the muscles in my feet. 3) When I brush my teeth in the morning, I have an electric toothbrush that stays on for 2 minutes. So I balance on each foot for 1 minute in heels, just like you might for a field sobriety test. It seems kind of silly, but I do believe that over time, it has improved my heel wearing experience.

And yes, when it's time to take off the heels for whatever reason, that's a sad time of the day!

5 hours ago, kneehighs said:

What’s the difference between that standard and saying  “you’ve got to remember that Tory Burch makes heels for other women, not you, not me?”  Granted...her target audience may be females, but the key takeaways of her message stays the same regardless of the sex of the listener.  

You’ve probably got a point about trust.  I wonder what her behaviors are like when no one else is looking.

I can't really say why this woman rubs me the wrong way, and it's not really important. I do find it interesting, though, that she mentions that a woman might get some pushback for trying to look decent. Which makes me realize that a person, male or female, probably just can't win if it comes to being a little bit different from the norm. While I have often lamented the fact that I, as a male, am always going to attract a certain amount of unwanted attention because of the way I dress, I have come to realize that even if I were a woman, I would also most likely attract a certain amount of unwanted attention because of the way I dress.

1 hour ago, JeffB said:

Absolutely nothing I'd say.

Maybe so, but just in case, I need to make sure it never happens again! I have a reputation to uphold, after all.

Actually, I purposefully chose to wear flats and "normal" clothes to a city council meeting last week to make a case about some zoning issues in our neighborhood. My neighbors know me, but I didn't want to take the chance of prejudicing our issue with council members who don't know me.

It's remarkable how similar some of our routines are, even though we don't really know each other at all. I too worry a bit about what wearing heels might do to my body, and I do regular stretching and exercise to combat the possible effects of heels. I also do exercises to enhance my heel wearing experience, although I can honestly say that wearing heels hasn't ever caused me much of a problem physically.