mlroseplant

Marawa the Amazing has been around for quite a while. And she is indeed amazing! It is in this sort of capacity that I find heels the most attractive. 

3 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Dr Johnson described an essay as a 'loose sally of the mind; an irregular undigested piece" and Montaigne was famous for his rambling digressions so you're in good company!

1 hour ago, Puffer said:

I don't think that you have anything to apologise for!   Your posts are invariably literate, interesting and informative.   And, if (when!) they become tangential, I for one usually enjoy the meandering.   My comment above was primarily aimed at those with rambling tales (especially without proper paragraphing and punctuation) or who fail to carry out any reasonable proof-reading.

Oh for the days when everything was inscribed by hand on vellum by patient monks!   And then along came Mr Caxton ... and whoever lays claim to the (not-so) smartphone.

It's always hard to tell in print, but now you know beyond any doubt that my post was a joke. How do you British folks say it? I was winding you up a bit, or something close to that. Here in the States, we would say I was poking you in the ribs. I don't know if that translates directly, but it probably does. I always enjoy both y'all's responses to anything here on the site.

Whatever the case may have been in each area of the country, that was my experience growing up, and in any case, I guess it doesn't do any good to lament the past. Even had I been bold  enough to wear sandals all summer long, my options back then as a boy were rather frightening. I  still won't do the rubber thong/flip-flop thing. So maybe it's all right that I stuck with my tennis shoes (paired with striped knee high socks) all summer. Made for some mighty weird tan lines.

47 minutes ago, Puffer said:

Perhaps it would be better if we concentrated on improving the accuracy and clarity of our writing and speech, in terms of presentation, vocabulary, spelling and grammar.   Poor communication, if not miscommunication, so often undermines what is otherwise something worth reading or hearing - and that is as true of this board as it is of anything else.

I apologize if my clarity is sometimes lacking. I know that my sentences are full of parentheticals, thoughts off to the side, and so forth. There is a good reason why I have a thread entitled "The Ruminations of Melrose Plant." To know me is to love waiting for me to finish the end of my sentence. I shall try to do better in the future.

On 3/28/2019 at 12:52 AM, Mr. X said:

Here is my latest purchase.  I abolutely love these!  The are Ivanka Trump brand and they are in mint shape!  The only pronlem is they are small and tight.  They are not my size and are roughly a half size too small.they fit fine in the back but the problem is the toe box. My toes are pretty cramped.   I am hoping they stretch out a bit.  I knew they were small when I bought and tried them on.  But I just couldn't bear the thought of passing up these beaties and letting someone else have them!  Plus I bought them second hand and only paid $15.  So if they don't work out it is no harm no foul.  But I sure hope they do!  If worst comes to worst I can admire these on a shelf or something.

Hopefully, they will stretch out with wear. I have not had good luck patent leather stretching out, especially with the leather puckering like that. If it were regular calf leather, I would say absolutely, just be patient. Maybe you will have better luck than me.

No pre-pay here, though I think most places up in Des Moines require you to pre-pay. Also, we do still have roadside self-service vegetable stands. On a sadder note, we have to keep the church locked up tight, we have had trouble with burglary and vandalism in the past.

However, let's not over glamorize the past. It wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't all that great, either. I don't think I could have worn what I love to wear 30, 40, 50 years ago. Not without daily/hourly ridicule and derision.

23 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

I put my knees together, point the heels out right and left, and dig in with the heels.  It’s a routine I deliberately practice every morning after doing floor exercises, and I like the ankle workout.  

It took me a bit to figure out what you were talking about, but I think I have a mental image of it now. If I understand correctly, you're talking about going into a squat from a sitting position in order to rise to a standing position. I'll have to experiment around with it, but I am not sure that I have the hip flexibility to do it quite that way. I did have another idea in the meantime. I got the idea from watching hip-hop style dancers on Instagram. I searched there on purpose because I know that style of dancing often has the dancers rolling around on the floor. Logically, this led me to ponder, "Well, how do they stand up?" From what I have observed, I figure that if you can make it from your butt to your knees somehow, getting to a standing position with a minimum of awkwardness is a piece of cake! The most novel way I saw to get on your feet from a seated position on the floor was to go into a bridge pose (a sort of backbend), tuck your feet close to your butt, then lift your upper body and rise to a standing position. Yeah, pretty cool, but I won't be doing that anytime soon.

23 hours ago, SF said:

OK, heres my "two cents."  I have always liked sandals, boots and pumps not so much.  A native to California, the weather is warmer than other parts of the country and conducive to lighter clothing.  As a child I wore sandals (mostly rubber "thongs") and went barefoot a lot.  As I grew up I noticed that the gals wore "different" shoes than the guys and I eventually started to wear gals shoes - sandals, and love it.  

Out here in CA, one can wear sandals year round most of the time, especially here in SoCal.  The past month I have routinely been out in heeled sandals, so glad that warmer weather and summer is here.....   Here is a pic of one of my favorite pair of sandals......    

Have fun all....   sf

Yes, as my ex-wife is from Orange County, I can totally understand what you mean. I remember looking at pictures of her as a child (late 60s - early 70s), and I do not recall a photo in which she was wearing shoes. We used to laugh about that. If for some unforeseen reason I moved to southern California, I would probably never wear enclosed shoes again!

However, as I've mentioned, the social culture here in the Midwest was completely different. Guys just did not show their feet. Girls were certainly allowed to, and encouraged to.

On 3/25/2019 at 9:27 PM, Tech said:

Today I've seen a member post that he has been out with his "accepting" girlfriend and have seen others say "My accepting wife"...

Why does your footwear have to be "accepted"?

I wish everybody would stop using these derogatory terms to describe what you put on your feet like you have some sort of disease!

What terms do you personally use and/or have seen others use that create negative images that shouldn't exist?

I guess I never thought of "accepting" as being a negative term. I would use the term "begrudging" with my wife. I kind of say that in jest, maybe about 80% kidding, as I seem to have worn her down over the past several years. It has become a seldom discussed topic, it is just an everyday part of our lives. However, I would love to make it up to "accepting!" Seriously, I do understand what you're saying, but I guess I just don't make a big deal about it any more. I don't even get upset when people refer to me as wearing "women's" shoes. Whatever.

18 hours ago, Tech said:

Perfectly said. Sadly for every 1 person taking a picture of themselves out in the real world, far too many are hiding away in their bedrooms taking 1000 pictures of their feet, thinking anybody cares about it. In 15 years, I "think" I can count on just my hands, how many members actually "Just get on with it" instead of hiding indoors.

Can this possibly be right? I know I'm a small minority, but I didn't think I was quite that small of a minority, particularly here at HHP. As an aside, I don't really see the point of pictures of just feet, unless they are accompanied by other photos to show the whole of the outfit, and the foot picture is meant to show a closeup of the shoes (New Shoes/New Boots thread excepted). Evidently, some people like them.

Somebody needs to make a video tutorial entitled something like, "How to Get Up Off the Floor in High Heels Without Looking Like a Total Moron."

17 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

I have done this several times, problem I have is the more wear the more comfortable so restarting has been an issue for me.

Ain't that the truth! I'm especially noticing that with the Steve Maddens. I'm having to wear them for a short time every other day until they soften up a bit in places. The new BCBGs are quite stiff compared to the old ones, so I think it's going to be the same process for those as well.

I, too, have sometimes struggled with the idea that life would be much easier if I just gave up heeling forever. In some ways, it certainly would be. Although I have a tolerant wife, she would certainly be the first to cheer if I decided to throw away all my heels. However, that probably ain't gonna happen. I just enjoy pretty much every aspect of wearing heels, and I'm going to go so far as to say that it is indeed a part of who I am as a person, rather than just being a habit or addiction that I really should give up like smoking. Particularly since it neither in any way physically hurts anybody, nor does it hurt me. Well, it might not be the greatest for me physically, but we won't go down that particular rabbit hole at this time. It certainly does not hurt me in the way that say, drinking a quart of whiskey every night would.

For me personally, I don't think I could get by simply being an observer at this stage of my life. I think I now have too much skin in the game. I realize that I'm in a different place than you are right now, but I would caution you @jeremy1986 against purging your collection completely.

I can certainly sympathize with the opinions expressed in this thread, even if I might push the boundaries somewhat further than just wearing heels. In general, I am just a guy in heels--no fingernail polish, no makeup, no skirts or dresses, no long hair (don't really have a choice about that, other than a wig =))))). In the summer, I do often sport shorts and heels, and my heels in general are less rugged looking than boots with block heels, but I consider myself fairly conservative compared to many members here.

I'm not a really big pump/court guy, but those are really very nice. High enough to be high, but not so extreme as to be totally impractical for everyday ordinary wear. A couple of things--first, how close are they to your usual size? I've found that Aldo, especially older models, can tend to run quite small. I've heard that at some point, they readjusted their size numbers to be more in line with everybody else. Second, may I gently suggest that you consider shaving the tops of your feet. I did this for several years before I decided I had the confidence to shave the entirety of my legs. Of course, I know nothing about your particular situation and/or desires, so feel free to disagree with my advice.

I think Spring might be here! I took an early morning walk in my newly re-heeled Miu Miu mules (5" heel, 7/8" platform). The temperature was crisp (35° F, 2° C), but quite nice compared to two weeks ago. The mules are actually a little too big for me, but I stuffed some dryer sheets in the toes, which works surprisingly well. It actually brings the bend in my foot slightly backwards into perfect alignment with the slope of the shoe, in addition to keeping them smelling fresh. These are walking shoes for sure!

Sorry about the slightly odd pose. It's a little tricky to take a photo with the self timer on the phone with no tripod. At least I managed to soften my "resting bitch face" somewhat. I know y'all are a relatively forgiving bunch. 

Hello all, the last three pairs of shoes I purchased were not anything new and exciting, but rather exact replacements for shoes I really liked, but that have just plain worn out to the point of unwearability. All three pairs I purchased were open-toed mules, if you can believe that. I have provided pictures of new and old. I found all three pair on Poshmark, and had given up on ever finding any of them again after looking for years on ebay. And yet, there they were on Poshmark. I could not help myself.

First up is the Steve Madden Crunk. Unfortunate model name. 4 1/2" heel, 1" platform. The old pair was purchased way back in probably 2013, and were my first pair of, for lack of a better term, "Candies style" mules. At the time, they were super radical for me, and I never figured I would wear them outside of the house. Eventually I found a pair of long flair jeans that didn't catch on the shoes when I walked. Hindsight is 20/20, and I now realize that the attention those odd, 1970s style jeans attracted was probably more than just wearing the shoes for everyone to see. Oh well, I survived intact anyway. What I discovered once I did start wearing them out is that these things are just not very durable. It didn't take them long to start looking pretty raggety, the upper liners wore out, I wore through the sole, the footbed liner had to be reglued several times, and I had them reheeled once.  The new pair I got was almost brand new, and was about $20. I will not be wearing the new pair as walking shoes. They just won't take it, and I have other shoes that are better suited to that purpose now.

Second to be noted are the True Religion mules, 4 3/4" heel, 3/4" platform. These are sort of the least liked of the three, both in terms of the shoe itself, and the condition of the shoe as purchased. I've had a couple pairs of these shoes in the past, the first pair was exactly this model, but orange. I got rid of them fairly quickly, because not only did I think I would never wear a pair of orange mules out and about (I certainly would now), but it just seemed like they never quite fit right. This was before I got a high heel shoe stretcher, and before I had an instinct as to whether a tight shoe would ever fit right eventually. Last year, I saw an identical pair in dark brown for cheap, and I snatched them up. After a considerable break-in period (they were really quite snug at first), they became a very comfortable longer distance walking shoe, and I wore them a lot. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I lost a heel tip early on a walk one evening, and by the time I realized anything was wrong, it was too late: The heel on that shoe had been severely damaged beyond repair, and I had to throw them out. I found this newest pair, identical to the brown pair for very cheap (they were not cheap when new), and thought they looked a little raggety, but took a chance on them because of the price. As it turns out, they're not so bad, and as they're already sort of "distressed" from the factory anyway, a few scuffs here and there doesn't really affect the overall look of them. Not super crazy about the style, but as I said, they are super comfy walking shoes, and whoever wore them before, and they seem to have been worn quite a bit, broke them in already for me, as they fit perfectly from the beginning.

Last, but not least, are the BCBGirls Bonny beaded mules. 4 7/8" heel, 1 1/4" platform. These have turned out to be my favorite of the three, and have proven to be the most durable--sort of. I have glued them back together several times, but they seem to hold for a considerable time between. I know it doesn't seem like it's possible, but these are an all day walking shoe, and I have proved it by wearing them on our trip to Chicago last summer, wearing them all day for two days in a row, and walking (at least according to my phone) around 10 miles and 20-something-thousand steps. They are about the most impractical looking things ever, but somehow they are not. Again, when I purchased them years ago, they were quite radical for me at the time, and I haven't really brought them out until the last couple of years, but I wear them several times a week all spring, summer, and fall. So when I saw a practically brand new pair in my size, still with the box, I knew I'd better buy them, as I might not ever find them again. I bet that model is 10 years old if it's a day. The asking price was $75, which seemed awfully steep to me for the bottom line of BCBG, but I kept my eye on them, as they'd been for sale for some time. I eventually talked the seller down to $60, which was still more than I wanted to pay, but I knew I would eventually get my money's worth out of them, it wasn't some whimsical purchase. When I got them, it looked as though they had either just been tried on, or maybe worn to an indoor party once--practically perfect in every way, like Mary Poppins.

It's not quite as exciting as getting something completely different, but it is satisfying to know that I've got 3 pairs of shoes I know I will wear a lot. I'm still on the lookout for one more pair that I wish I'd have bought a duplicate of when I had the chance a couple of years ago.

And now for the question of the day: How many of you have purchased identical shoes to replace ones that you love?

In my experience, there are as many different reasons why many women do not like to see their man in heels as there are women. A big chunk of them, however, fall into the category of, "Oh, what will the neighbors think?" Or friends, or coworkers, or whomever. My ex-wife, who is one of these people who is intolerant of intolerance, strongly disliked my heeling, and you would think she would be the first person to support such an endeavor. Well, she is--for everybody else but me! Certainly, her objection had nothing to do with feeling protected or not, as that just simply wasn't my job by the time I started heeling (we were already divorced by that time). I think she just didn't like it, and that's fine.

I am convinced that a good part of women's objection to men in heels is that they're simply not used to seeing it. I think there is a shock value there, and people in general tend to react negatively to things that they don't expect to see. Think of the first men who wore earrings. They took a lot more shit than maybe we remember. Today, no one thinks much of it. In our case, I don't think there is a great deal we can do about it--there are simply not enough of us to really make a dent in a significant percentage of the population. To some extent, we will always be thought of as being a little eccentric, only a few will actually think, "Hey, that's really cool!"

If you are already thinking about wearing shorts and sandals, you will probably go ahead and do it at some point. I was the same as you--I started out with little, not really noticeable heels, and just gradually got more confident and less caring about other people's reaction to me. I still don't wear skirts or dresses, but I do wear shorts with heels all the time in the summer. It's a look I've always liked, and lucky for me, it's become a much more acceptable look than it used to be. I have always just used a regular razor to shave my legs(keep it separate from the one you use for your face, though), with some of that extra-slick shaving cream I'm sure you can find most anywhere.

14 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Curiously enough I did wear sandals back then and never thought anything of it. To be sure, I did embrace the hippy era quite enthusiastically. But I never had any grief over it. Indeed, it wasn't until I started reading things here on HHP about sandals that it occurred to me that there was any sort of discouragement of men wearing sandals. First I heard of it.

I can't really speak to anything outside of the Midwest USA at that time, perhaps things were different elsewhere. I'm sure things were different even other places within the U.S., like Florida or southern California. Unfortunately for me, my reality growing up where I did was that boys and men did not wear sandals, unless you were an eccentric, and even then, it wouldn't have been anything I was remotely interested in wearing.

I find it interesting that all of the conversation, boot vs. sandal, seems to center around the temperature and relative comfort, but that's not really my motivation. The fact is, I do wear boots all summer for the majority of my waking hours because I have to, and sometimes, if I am very unlucky, they are the knee-high, rubber variety. Maybe we can talk about socks sometime!

I got to thinking about it, and I think my love of sandals started very early in life (as did my love of heels). When I was very little, in the 1970s, and for that matter, well into my high school years in the 1980s, it was quite fashionable for girls to wear sandals or even go barefoot all summer. This is a complete reversal of the norm from 50-100 years earlier, where it used to be that "Boys go barefoot, girls wear shoes." By the time I came along, girls had somehow co-opted the social acceptability of going barefoot, and boys did NOT go barefoot or wear sandals in public, with some narrow exceptions for the beach or the swimming pool. It just wasn't done, unless you wanted to be made fun of. Even back then, I thought this was very unfair, but I also didn't have the fortitude at that time to not conform, either. Does this sound familiar at all? I don't have any evidence to back me up on this, but I get the feeling that sandals weren't really a "thing" you saw on the street every day in America until the 1960s, and by then it was largely a female fashion, with the exception of the brief Hippie era in the late 1960s-early 70s, and even that was kind of a counter-cultural thing which was never really accepted mainstream.

I believe that my desire to wear sandals as much as possible is a subconscious reaction to the culture I grew up in, rather than any desire to feel more comfortable. It just so happens that during half the year, it is more comfortable. It could also be because I have always carefully protected the appearance of my feet. I can remember in my early 20s, long before my sandal wearing days, if I went out somewhere for the evening, like to a bar or club or some such place, one of the things I did to get ready is to make sure my feet looked good with trimmed toenails and such "just in case." The word "pedicure" had not yet entered my vocabulary, but that's in fact what I was doing. I imagine I was in the great minority of guys worrying about such things. Now that I can wear sandals in public, perhaps I feel like I need to make up for lost time.

It wasn't as bad as I expected. I didn't cringe nearly as much as I thought I would. Then again, being from where I am, I am used to cringing a lot these days, so maybe I have become jaded. My favorite line was, "Don't cut [your chinos] too short at the ankle, though, like the young kids do." And then one of the photographs shows a presumably over-50 gent with his chinos ROLLED too short, something that T.S. Eliot suggested nearly a century ago. 

I suppose I should let it go, but I was actually considering the purchase of some Adidas Stan Smiths. It's what all the Vietnamese kids in Hanoi are wearing. 

Winter is almost over, and despite this having been one of the snowiest winters on record here in Iowa, I have managed to avoid wearing boots all winter in my free time. I, of course, am required to wear boots for my construction electrician job, but it hardly counts as I have been fortunate to work inside this winter. With the exception of having worn flat heeled snow boots for actual and active snow removal, I have not worn boots out and about all winter. Unless the specific outfit dictates otherwise, I have gone through the entire snowy winter wearing clogs or mules. I've only gotten snow down my shoes a few times, but that doesn't bother me too much. I have worn full coverage shoes where style dictates, I just don't feel that wearing mules with a suit and tie is an acceptable look. I have my heeled oxfords and loafers for that purpose.

Why I should be so proud of my accomplishment, I have no idea. I own probably a dozen pair of high heeled boots, including two knee high pair, which I have in the past worn regularly on the outside of my pants. But deep down in my heart, I'm a sandal/barefoot kind of guy, and I am slow to warm to the idea that I'm going to have to cover up my entire foot for a half a year. Pun intended. My poor boots were kind of lonesome this year. I cannot say whether this will be a future trend, or whether it's just a mental accomplishment where I can now say, "I did it," and then next year I will go back to wearing boots in the winter.

I guess I shouldn't be so negative about these articles where men try high heels, but after reading through the replies here, I think that yeah, in almost every case, the men wearing heels fall into one of two categories: 1) Unapologetic heel wearers who otherwise dress outlandishly, or 2) more mainstream guys who take some sort of "challenge." This includes fashion reporters who are assigned by their bosses to try heels and write an article.

I don't know why I should be negative about any of this, but I can't help myself--that's just my initial reaction to most of these. Why the gaudy lime green boots? Who is going to wear those, like, ever? As Shyheels and Puffer opined, it must be somewhat of an excuse to make sure that people don't think he's taking this too seriously, when what we as a community could really use is something that might make your average guy think, "I wonder if I could pull that off myself?"

I will admit, however, to being part of the problem half of the year. In the winter, I could be a fine ambassador for "normal guys wearing high heels." However, in the summer, I admit to pushing the boundaries more than a bit, especially for my age range. I therefore only have so much room to complain.

On 3/13/2019 at 5:20 PM, Jkrenzer said:

Anne Michelle are comfortable, had more than a few pair, but they last very long if you wear them out and about. 

I think there's a typo in this sentence. The question is, what was your true meaning? I can read this as, "Anne Michelle are comfortable, had more than a few pair, [and] they last very long if you wear them out and about." OR, it might be, "Anne Michelle are comfortable, had more than a few pair, but they [don't] last very long if you wear them out and about."

I have never actually owned any Anne Michelle, though I've perused many for possible purchase, but I suspect, given the context and the price range, that you meant the latter.

Amen to that! Almost all of our snow is gone, finally.

I have never read an article about men in heels that I was completely happy with, and I wonder if I will. I'm sorry, those aren't high heels. There, I said it. If 2 inch, broad heels like that are causing you serious discomfort, then either the shoes fit very badly, or you have serious foot health issues. I am sure the drama was mostly concocted to make the story either more presentable or more interesting. Yawn. At least it was mostly positive. It's just too doggoned bad he couldn't have run into one of us during his week of exposition. That would have made a much more interesting story.