mlroseplant

9 hours ago, pebblesf said:

True, but he just rejoined us after being away, so just wanted to encourage him....

Ahh, that's right. Didn't catch that the first time.

On 3/1/2020 at 7:33 PM, Jkrenzer said:

Thin heels don't mean hard to walk in. The rise is shallow, you'll go through tips quickly though.

I have found this to be true also. It seems that other design factors in the shoes determine how hard they are to walk in, moreso than just the thickness of the heel.

10 hours ago, pebblesf said:

 Hope to see some pictures of your boots...Don

That seems rather unlikely after over two years, and a total of two posts.

5 hours ago, chesterx said:

Happy Birthday to me ....

 

 

Yeah, you could use a fill, but isn't that a bit of an extreme measure to disguise that fact?

Sorry. Is it too soon? Hope everything's all right.

9 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

I like wearing pink too.   I wonder if a lighter colored belt would look better with the totally pink-toned outfit.  

I thought the very same thing, but alas, I don't own such a thing at the moment, so I figured black and pink weren't a bad combination, especially with my wristwatch.

__________________

Later on that day, as the temperature was unseasonably warm, I decided to break out my new shorts, which are Banana Republic (size 4P), and are in a dressier style than that which I am wont to wear. I needed to purchase comestibles for the coming week, so I headed to my usual grocery store with a list. On such a warm day, I figured that there would we a number of people dressed in shorts, but much to my surprise, I was the only one. I ran into an old family friend whom I hadn't seen in quite some time, a lady of about 70, and I chatted with her for about 10 minutes. No one said anything about my attire or seemed to stare any more than normal.

After I finished my shopping, I was in the parking lot, loading my groceries into the trunk of my car, and a 30-something woman and her husband passed by me. The woman, who happened to be wearing high heeled sandals (with skinny jeans), said "I like your shoes!" I replied, "I like your shoes, too. Thank you so much!" They kept on walking, I returned my shopping cart to the appropriate pen and departed. Today, the weather is a bit cold for shorts, but the time is soon coming.

Our church has three services every Sunday. They are basically the same service with three different styles of music. Oftentimes, for one reason or another, I have to attend more than one of the services. Usually this has something to do with musical performance, but one constant is that I pretty much have to show up to the traditional service at 11:00 every Sunday no matter what else I've had going on the rest of the morning. When it so happens that I need to go to the 8:30 service, do my thing, leave, and come back at 11:00, I often do what I laughingly refer to as a "costume change." Just like any rock star would do.

On this particular Sunday morning, it just so happened to be about 45º (7º C) and sunny by about 7:30, so I decided I was wearing sandals, and I wound up wearing this totally pink-toned outfit (except for my belt and my watch). I started out without the necktie, but decided it looked better with the tie, even for "rock-n-roll" church. As I gave myself one final look-over in the mirror on the way out the door, I thought, "Wow, this is pushing my look a little bit further than I thought, both in terms of color palette and silhouette." But by then it was too late, because I was on the verge of running late. And wouldn't you know, despite my concerns, I got like 4 compliments on my outfit that morning, which is unusual. On a usual Sunday morning, I sometimes get 1 comment, sometimes not.

When I got home, my wife didn't even comment on my clothing, which is also unusual. I had a cup of coffee, practiced my cornet (which I used at the 11:00 service), and changed out the pink pants and shoes for a charcoal gray suit and heeled loafers, and the wife and I went to the 11:00 service, where nobody said anything about my outfit at all. And why would they? This is what I typically look like pretty much every Sunday.

20 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

I can still get around in Mandarin, which is the only one I know.  
 

East Asians seem to have adopted certain western ways, and where it conflicts the old association has been thrown out relatively quickly.  Weddings come to mind - I only see the western use of white for purity now (both for the bride’s dress and flowers) whereas in traditional Chinese custom the bride wears red.  For anyone else to wear red would be a faux pas, and also there would be no black/white attire or white flowers, as those colours are associated with death.  Wearing red I think is still dangerous in modern times, as I have seen the bride changing from white to traditional red garments for the reception/dinner.  

Looking back at my own wedding in Vietnam, my wife wore white, à la Western style, our "bridesmaids," which were not really bridesmaids at all, but the closest equivalent to a Western wedding, wore bright red áo dài, the Vietnamese traditional dress.

For our American wedding, which was a small ceremony necessary for the type of visa we chose to apply for, my wife wore a shockingly neon fuschia áo dài. Oddly enough, at the end of our Vietnamese wedding, we were driven away in a fancy car, but at the end of our American wedding, we escaped on a motorbike. That's completely backwards!

On 2/26/2020 at 5:28 PM, p1ng74 said:

The video ends with giving the girl white flowers.  In Chinese culture this could be a dangerous insult, as white flowers are reserved for funerals.  Is it the same for Vietnamese?

I finally remembered to ask, and my wife looked at me and said, "What the heck?" It's one of those examples of American vernacular that she doesn't get quite right intonation-wise, but it's super cute. Anyway, I guess there is no prohibition on white flowers in Hanoi. She thought it was a strange question. I'm not even going to say that this applies to all of modern Vietnam, because they could well have other customs in the South, and I'd have to ask other people about that.

Just out of curiosity, which Chinese language/dialect is your Mother Tongue, and do you speak more than one Chinese language/dialect?

10 hours ago, chesterx said:

This was one of the longest outings I have had, at nearly 11 hours. Every time one of my outings has come to an end I felt sad that I was done, but not today. My pinky toes were beet red, but no blisters, so I'm calling that a win.

Oh, do be careful of those little toes! They can only take so much abuse, and then they turn on you. It's taken me a few years to undo the damage I did wearing shoes that pinched my little toes, particularly my right one. This was after I got rid of the offending shoes.

At least he didn't give her a knife! That is the one gift I know that will get you into some serious trouble in Vietnam. I really don't know about the white flowers, I shall have to ask my wife when I get a chance. I am happy to report that I will be going back to a normal 40 hour week next week, so I might actually get a chance to see my wife for more than just a few minutes here and there. I hope she likes the new shorts I bought better than she liked my new coat and hat.

9 hours ago, fashionablefun said:

I feel like Asian women are more enthsiatic about high heels than Caucasians. 

I think it makes a good deal of difference where you are in the country, and whether the Asian is an import or a domestic. I can tell you that Asians born and raised in Asia, or at least Southeast Asia, are way more likely to wear high heels on a regular basis than are people of Asian descent who were born in the West. Of course, that's a very broad statement and can be disputed quite easily on an individual basis, but that's the general feeling I've gotten being married to a Vietnamese and having visited Vietnam 12 times. I think the same largely applies to other Asians, too. I know the Koreans love their heels as well. And very short skirts.

The three people who are the most truly enthusiastic about me wearing heels are all Vietnamese, ranging in age from 24 to 44, none of them were born in the U.S, but all of them actually wear heels, like, all the time. Also, none of them are my wife, who is less than enthusiastic about my heel wearing. There are a couple of white ladies who are a close second in their enthusiasm, they are both in their mid-50s, and neither of them have ever worn heels to any real extent at all. Go figure.

10 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

It’s way too much too fast.  I’m suspending most of my shopping activity for a while and give her a chance to breathe and let her have a voice in all this.  She’s a bit shocked that I have interest in fashion and doesn’t quite know what to make of it.  

Haha, I came in from choir rehearsal the other night wearing my newly purchased coat and hat (with boots over my pants, too!), and my wife, who was still at work when I'd left the house, said, "I need to start saving up money to send you to Thailand, so you can finish the job." I think she was joking.  .  .

19 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Came across this news article today:

https://news.yahoo.com/super-high-heels-free-women-says-shoe-king-145018895.html

CL talks within the context of women, but could the same apply to men too?  

 

Oh, absolutely I think it applies, and probably moreso than for women. Those few of us men who wear heels do not do so because we feel we are obligated to, but rather quite the opposite. I can't think of a thing about wearing heels that isn't "freeing" in some way. Mentally and spiritually, of course, not physically.

17 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

I'd agree with your sentiment as far as the comment could apply to men too, except considering the source. 

Loubitine is on record of being anti males in heels.

Still can't figure out why, a guy designing sexy heels only does so because he's attracted to them in a deeper way. Expect he has a fetish for shoes, just saying. Can't see why that should preclude who wears them.

I can't be bothered to look this up, but wasn't that quote or quotes from quite a number of years ago? I'm not saying that he isn't still to this day against men wearing heels because I don't know, but I know that I have changed my mind about many things as I have aged, maybe he has too.

I don't know how I feel about skirts and such, these 8 years later, now that I wear heels all the time without too much self consciousness. I think I could probably look good in a skirt, maybe rather better than some others, but I just don't really have any desire to, and creating one sort of artificially by going out and buying a skirt at a thrift store just so's I could try it out seems to me to be .  .  . rather foolish. It would create way more complication in my life than there is already. I get enough of a thrill with wearing shorter shorts, and for some reason this is more acceptable to the wife than wearing any kind of a skirt would ever be.

Perhaps one of the reasons why the whole boot thing is a nonstarter with me is because I am so used to seeing boots worn on the outside of pants at work. Although not in the majority, it is not at all uncommon to see a worker wearing his work boots on the outside of his pants. Add mud to the equation, and that figure goes up to nearly 100%.

10 hours ago, KneeBooted said:

I haven't posted in a while but I’ve been present just reading through other threads when I have a moment here and there.

Work has been and will continue to be busy for the next few months. Combine that with family life and unfortunately this forum is getting crumbs at the moment.

I apologize for that but wanted to provide an update. I finally got a pair of boots and wore them over jeans, albeit they have only about an inch heel.

I have been on the quest for an engineer style boot. I wanted something mid calf and with a zipper, as I prefer that to the combat boot look. I originally found some Frye boots on Poshmark, but they were listed for $200, and I just couldn’t bring myself to make a reasonable offer, as nice as they looked.

Fortunately, patience paid off and I found a pair of J. Crew boots that I was able to get for $75. I wore them under jeans to work on Friday, but wore them over jeans today for church. For once, I thought this look was more feminine than my wife thought it was.

Either way, as usual, there were no negative comments, although I did get some noticeable looks. None of those looks however were of a negative nature from what I could tell.

Feel free to let me know what you think.

I think it looks all right. Not something I would ever wear to church, but you know, the world has largely passed me by in that regard, I understand that. You just look like a guy who wears jeans to church, and I don't mean that flippantly. There is absolutely nothing about this outfit that distinguishes you from the million other guys who wore jeans to church yesterday. So the question is, what are you going to do to mix it up a little next time?

I know it doesn't sound like it, but I'm trying to be supportive--I think you can definitely push your envelope a little further with good results.

I think the basic problem with these shoes is that they look cheap. It seems to me that if you're going to attempt a shoe like this, it had better be very well made. Just looking at how the toes kind of curve upward at a pretty good angle, these would be very disappointing to see in person, and practically impossible to wear, even for the person with the most flexible ankles.

That looks like something you'd find me in on Sunday mornings. Definitely well done! I know how to do that look, mixing men's more dressy/formal clothes with feminine aspects. What I have a lot more trouble with is more casual outfits, particularly in the summertime.

16 hours ago, kneehighs said:

Speaking of Vietnam, this video popped up in my recommended videos in YouTube.    Reminded me of you and your wife.

 

 

 

 

Like the disclaimer says, a strong sense of humor is suggested! Believe it or not, my wife and I met on one of these types of dating sites (not this particular one), and I still think it's absolutely amazing that we actually found each other. I don't know about THIS particular website, but others I had experience with in the past were cesspools of humanity as far as I'm concerned. I have no idea how legitimately sincere people actually met each other.

The part about taking her to Vietnamese karaoke was accurate, except for one important detail: Every single sound setup in Vietnam or elsewhere in the world designed for Vietnamese karaoke has the echo turned up to the max. They think this makes a bad singer sound acceptable, and a mediocre singer sound good. I can assure you, IT DOES NOT. What it does do is make a good singer sound bad. And when I say the clip about the karaoke was accurate, I mean it. Yeah, that's what the young man is feeling right now. In 5 or 10 years, he will be listening to the same people sing the same songs on the same bad sound system, and it will turn from exciting fun into something cringeworthy. But then, I'm looking at this from my personal perspective as a musician.

And yeah, they do care what other people think, that's why no heels for me in Vietnam, and she doesn't really like me to wear heels when we visit other Vietnamese people here. I couldn't give two craps about what the labels on my clothes say (although if it has the union label, that's a plus), I drive an 18 year old Buick by choice, and I live in kind of a dumpy, old house (but in a nicer neighborhood than I deserve). That is not true of most Vietnamese. They like to show off their designer labels, etc. Again, a generalization, but largely true. I don't know exactly why this is.

If, heaven forbid, something happened to my wife and I was trying to find another woman from Vietnam, I would NEVER, repeat NEVER use one of these dating sites. EVER. I now have enough of a social network, I wouldn't need to anyway. It makes me shudder a little bit thinking about it. Long live my wife!

All joking aside, these are a fetish item. Would you really wear these things on a regular basis? I doubt it. Treat the investment accordingly.

I originally answered this about two years ago, and amazingly enough, my answer remains the same--I have two pairs of men's sized shoes, 1 pair of Church's formal black oxfords, which I have had for over 20 years (yes, they are THAT good, or at least they used to be that good), and the same pair of Adidas tennis shoes. The Church's have not been worn in over a year, and that is because I didn't go to Vietnam this year with my wife (where I am not allowed to wear heels), and nothing else of such importance has come up where I needed to wear them. Believe it or not, I actually really like those shoes, and used to wear them a lot. The only thing I've got against them is that they're flats, and I ain't got time for flats anymore. The tennis shoes are yard work beaters now. I haven't actually played tennis in several years, though I aspire to return to the sport someday. Any other athletic endeavor I participate in, I do in my bare feet. Well, except for bicycling, but at my level, it doesn't really much matter which shoes you wear to ride a bicycle in, so typically I either wear flat sandals (more about those in a minute) or my beater tennis shoes. Occasionally, very occasionally I will wear wedge sandals to ride a bike, depending upon.  .  . things. I do not make it a habit, though I think I care less and less each year how odd it looks. I have said before that you have to go to Asia, or possibly Europe, to see even women riding a bicycle in heels, so I won't do it here. I might change my tune on that, we'll see.

Beyond those two pair, I still own about the same number of flats that I did two years ago--2 pairs of work boots, one pair of casual full coverage shoes, two pairs of thong-type sandals, both fake leather, no rubber ones. I quit buying real leather flat sandals a few years ago because I don't wear them often, and in any case, they just don't last very long before they are getting raggedy looking, so I don't want to spend the money on despised flats. And, as I mentioned two years ago, none of these shoes except for the Church's and the Adidas tennis shoes are technically sized as "men's" shoes. With narrow, short feet, I just buy women's sized shoes for everything anymore. Should have thought of that years ago. I guess I did think of it years ago (about 8 years ago, to put a number on it). I should have thought of it 30 years ago, it would have made my life incrementally better.

9 hours ago, chesterx said:

 & 1 pair of rubber boots for when its too wet for even my beaters to endure, although they can be  worn by both sexes i suppose...

Oh yeah, forgot about those, I have 1 pair of rubber boots somewhere, and snow boots (which are women's sized, but totally unisex). I have not had need for the rubber boots at work for several years, thank goodness. I have another pair of rubber "rain" boots that I use occasionally around the house or for setting up at a farmers' market (wife's business, and it's often heavily dewed grass that we set up on) that have a slight wedge heel. Don't know that I would wear them to work, though. They are simply not heavy duty enough for construction.

17 hours ago, RonC said:

I think #3 is probably a very big issue.  I can't compare it to women wearing men's clothing, because they do that every day without question (there was an ad on this site that I looked at the other day that was selling direct copies of men's shoes for women.  Wing tips, brogues, etc.  Sad IMHO.) 

You mean this one? I saw that too, and thought more or less the same thing, but was still interested until I saw the the shoes pictured are the highest heels they seem to make (way too low for me to even bother), and that the average price of a pair was about 500 bucks. No thanks!

Referencing the last paragraph in the above post, I went to my barber this week. Through circumstance, the barbershop where I've been going for more years than I care to remember has been bought out by a woman, and I've continued to go there just because I like the place. The proprietor wears high heels to cut hair in nearly 100% of the time. Nothing too outrageous in height, usually 2 or 3 inches difference, often she'll wear a 4 inch heel with a 1 inch platform, and that's almost always a wedge.

However, I thought these boots she was wearing on this particular day were worth a post. I did not post all of her out of privacy concerns. She got these boots for Christmas from  her husband, and I won't get into the complicated story, but she had a request to wear them and wound up wearing them right to work. Some other customer asked her if she was going to wear them all day, or whether they were just for show, and she said definitely she would wear them all day.

Usually, we sort of struggle to have a conversation, as we really have nothing in common, but that was not a problem on this particular day. I only wish I had worn something nicer than my plain Coach Rana clogs.

On 2/19/2020 at 12:16 AM, Cali said:

The driveby compliments works both ways. I give many of my compliments this way, mainly because we are walking in different directions.  I get many of my compliments from men in this fashion. Today I guy pass me on his bike and by the time I hear "I like your jacket" he was already far way.

We won't talk about the antithesis to this, the driveby insults. Haven't had that happen for quite a while, thankfully.