mlroseplant

Oddly enough, as a musician, I don't listen to music near as much as your average person. Even as I write this, the only sound in the room is the gentle "tick-tock" of the wall clock. I rarely listen to music in the car (my son sure does), and I certainly do not listen to music during my morning high heeled walks. It is the rare occasion that there is not a tune or harmony in my head, though.

I am somewhat a student of hymnody, and as the guy who has the responsibility--er, I mean privilege--of leading the hymns (the traditional ones, anyway), I try my best to make my interpretations expressive and interesting. Usually bombastic, too. It doesn't work well every time. It all depends on how well I'm jibing with the organist. We've been frienemies for 20+ years.

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

Do you dislike all music or just some types? It is certainly odd to dislike all music. I certainly don’t care for much that was written after 1985 or so, but before that my tastes are varied and eclectic - blues, jazz, rock, swing, musicals, classical, Charleston-era, ragtime etc… I must say though that hymns leave me rather glassy eyed. If I went to church at all I’d probably try to avoid any and all hymn singing …

I will turn your own question on yourself. Do you dislike all hymns, or only certain types? My personal favorites tend to have been written before 1850 or so. I dislike these modrun praise songs, although I'm pretty good at them. We get to put that claim to the test tomorrow, yay!

I consider myself to be pretty situationally aware, and I am more generally surprised at the people who don't notice me more than I am at the people who do. In my personal experience, Gen Z females are the most likely to say something if they do notice.

3 hours ago, CrushedVamp said:

May I ask a question, stated as such so you know this is not a challenge to what you said but rather a bonafide curiosity and with the utmost respect?

Isn't that the intrigue, and mystique about wearing high heels, that it's the wearing of something that can be mastered perhaps, but not every step, nor over every possible medium, and certainly having varying challenges with different shoes? 

I do not wear high heels so I cannot answer that question, but for those that do, men and women alike, isn't part of the fun treading that fine line between being comfortable in wearing them to not? To walking casually on a concrete sidewalk one moment and then having to thread grating the next? Perfectly posed one second, and then struggling to balance the next? I can say with utmost authority wearing my work shoes I barely give a thought to what is on my feet as I go about my workday, but I would think one of the huge drivers of wearing high heels is the acute awareness that you are wearing challenging footwear at almost every moment. I would think, to get to the point where you could walk anything but a slackline in high heels would get... well... boring.

I understand not wanting to look like you are doing the dying crab as you walk down a sidewalk, falling and stumbling as you go, but never fully mastering wearing of such challenging footwear would seem to me to be part of the thrill of wearing them?

I would think it would be good for ALL high heel wearers to keep that excitement and thrill. The wearing of high heels being a lifelong journey and not merely mastering them as being a goal.

 

 

 

 

I am sure there is somebody out there who takes that view, and maybe several somebodies. However, my personal philosophy compares wearing heels to practicing an instrument. When you are learning to play the piano, for example, you don't ever worry that someday you'll be too good at it, and it will be boring. The fact is, you will never get too good at it, and even though you might be world class, you still have to practice every day, or you lose that laser focused edge pretty quickly. I understand that dancing ballet is much the same way. You can't just take a week off without there being consequences.

The goal is to make wearing heels look like it's very easy, even though oftentimes it is not. What I have mastered pretty well in the last 12 years is sheer endurance. What I have not mastered is super great form and making it look like it's no effort at all. Everybody has his own idea about what a good walk should look like, but I would find it doubtful that anybody gets a thrill out of struggling, unless it's a fetish thing, and that is really beyond the scope of this forum. To pursue the musical analogy further, I don't think I will ever find it thrilling to forget the lyrics to a song in front of hundreds of people, or lose the groove temporarily.

Your thought is not without merit. What has happened over the last 12 years is that it takes a steeper heel to get that certain feeling. When I started, a 3 inch heel felt like a heel. Today, I typically don't even bother with anything that shallow. It takes at least a 3 1/2" difference between toe and heel before a shoe begins to feel like a heel, and 4" is about right. But, just like I will never be a concert pianist, you are quite correct that I will never master walking in the highest heels. Therefore, there will always be something to work toward.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

On 11/29/2024 at 1:06 AM, CrushedVamp said:

Technically I should not answer this because the question is “who wears leggings with their high heels”? I came to this site because my wife LOVES high heels and I love that she wears them, but myself I don’t wear high heels. However, that is not the case with leggings. I wear them A LOT!

 

About 10 years ago I learned that leggings under my jeans was much warmer since I work outside even in the winter. Long Johns made my itchy, and sweatpants under my jeans was too bulky, but leggings fit tight, but are not itchy, and are very warm.

 

Since then I learned what most women learned a long time ago… they are super comfortable. Because of that I lounge in them at home now. In fact, as I write this I have a pair of leggings on. But I might also mow the lawn with them on, or run to the store with leggings on even though I am a little self-conscious about them at times. Having a wife and daughters, they have long learned that after work it is "soft pants time" and leggings is just what I wear around the house.

 

Overall, I like the soft cotton type that are known as "inside leggings", and not the more nylon or spandix ones because those are too hot under my jeans. I find the kind I like at the Dollar Stores we have here, and while they are “womens”, they fit me well and are about $5 which is also nice. I have about a dozen pairs because I wear them 100% of the time from October to April, and lounge at home in them year around.

I also do this, on about the same timeline. If it's really, really cold, I'll break out the wool long johns, but most of the winter I wear cotton leggings that come down to about mid-calf. For whatever reason, my legs get cold before my upper body.

I haven't had a professional pedicure in roughly 10 years, since my favorite nail tech quit the biz. However, I learned a lot by observation in the several years I did go, and I also learned that I am very picky about who gets to touch my feet. Therefore, I do my own these days. When I can no longer reach my feet, we'll revisit the subject.

Resurrecting another old topic here. Since it has often been very cold here, sometimes I give up on actually walking outside and practice walking in heels inside. You would think that after all these years, I would have a great sense of balance. It turns out that when put to the test, I do not. I struggle to walk slowly, and have trouble balancing on one foot casually. If I think about it in advance and am prepared for it, of course I can do it, but if I walk super slowly and suddenly decide to pause mid-stride, I'm absolutely terrible! Even the pose shown here is not accomplished without thought. Some days are better than others.

I'm resurrecting an ancient topic, but sometimes it takes a long time to have relevant experience, and this company, as far as I know, is still a going concern. I have exactly one pair of FSJ shoes, and my initial experience was bad. My blue mules failed on me literally within 200 meters. Both heel tips crumbled in rapid succession. For whatever reason, I did not give up on them and put hard rubber tips on them, as I do with all of my heels eventually. Here we are more than three years later, and I can honestly say that they are one of my "go to" summer shoes. I even brought them on my motorbike trip last summer (did not actually ride in them, however). They have held up very well.

I don't believe I have ever laughed at anybody struggling in heels, but I knew from a young age that some girls were better at it than others. Today, my internal voice is much more likely to say, "Oh, honey.  .  . let's fix this just as soon as we can." I have never offered my services as high heel tutor, but I have had several students over the years. My success rate is exactly 0%. I must be a very bad teacher.

I finally grabbed another church OOTW photo. It almost didn't happen because the sun was out--again. I have mentioned before that especially at this time of year, the angle of the sun makes it almost impossible to take a decent photo in my spot at noon. Yesterday there were some thin clouds, however, so I'll call this good enough.

I had my Christmas red on yesterday, as it was the last Sunday in Advent. My Steve Madden Ronni pumps in red are finally getting some use, even though they're 1/2 size too big. With inserts, they're acceptable when worn barefoot. I almost step out of them, but not quite. Pants are Loft, shirt and tie from some Vietnamese shop in Hanoi.

19 hours ago, CrushedVamp said:

What about changing light bulbs in your home?

I have 9 foot ceilings in mine, and while I can reach up and just touch the lightbulb, I have to stand on my tippy-toes to do so. With high heels on it is possible the last part of that would be negated?

The way geometry works, you wouldn't really gain anything wearing heels vs. standing on tiptoe. Platforms change this equation, giving you inch-for-inch increased effective height, but I would say as a practical matter, any platform higher than two inches is precarious to wear in the real world, and safety concerns would outweigh any utility. Maybe two extra inches would be enough under certain circumstances. Ladders Last, innit?

On 12/19/2024 at 8:11 PM, Shyheels said:

The idea is to enjoy yourself. Looking good or elegant may be a part of that but if you’re in pain then that too is going to affect your look. I can see being stuck in heels if you’ve no back but, but if you’ve options use them. Enjoyment should be the overriding factor in fashion. If the pain of wearing heels is overcoming that enjoyment then give it a rest.

My most miserable experience in being stuck in painful footwear was going on a hike in a pair of poorly designed trail running shoes, whose poor design didn’t manifest itself in short walks around town but certainly did about five miles into a 15 mile hike. Turned my right foot into hamburger. I’d have happily changed into anything. As it was I was able to limp to a rural railway platform, wait two hours for a train and from the station back in town limp to a cab and home. A horrible experience of bad footwear.

It's funny about that, isn't it? In the past several years, I have been making notes about the idiosyncrasies of my many shoes. One of the notes says, "Not a 3 miler." It took me three tries before I realized that a 2 mile walk in these particular sandals was very pleasant, but each time I tried to go 3 miles, the silly things ate holes in the tops of my feet. The very same shoes are just fine for standing 5 hours at the farmer's market hawking egg rolls, but for some reason, there's just something about that third mile.

It doesn't take much in this day and age for someone to ask, "Why are you so dressed up?" We have always been headed toward the sloppy, but I think the pandemic accelerated the process. A button down shirt and pants that are not jeans will do the trick. The bar is pretty low. Of course, because I habitually wear heels, I'll always be singled out. I just feel like I can't wear heels, no matter how casual, and otherwise dress like I just got ripping down a plaster ceiling. So maybe the whole thing does keep me better than I really am.

Pivoting back to the true original subject, I can't really come up with more things that are easier to do in heels, but I can come up with one thing that I thought should be way easier in heels, and it just isn't so. With the prevalence of online shopping, I'm sure most if not all of you have run into those plastic air pillows they often use to pack items for shipping. I think it's a great invention, WAY better than styrofoam packing peanuts, but you have to pop all of those bags in order to dispose of them in a reasonable volume of space. I figured stiletto heels would be the perfect tool for this. Uh, no. Does not work at all. If the pillows were blown up really hard, they might work, but blown up as intended, stilettos do not cover enough area to actually burst the bags. Perhaps if you put some sort of sharp object on the end of the heel it might just pierce the plastic, but then you'd lose the satisfying BAM! It's an idea that should work, but doesn't work all that well.

I took a chance, with the volume set low, and looked up the Vixen video. Now that I hear it again, I kind of vaguely remember it. Once removed from the genre, it's not a terrible song. It has an actual tune. It's a bit cheesy (the modulation on the last chorus really solidifies the cheesiness factor), but to me it's an ok pop song, you just have to think of it as a pop song. There was no pitch correction and no quantizing back then, so most of that must have been actual musicians performing an actual song that didn't have 12 writers and 23 producers.

You are so right about the heel shape(s) being instantly recognizable. It reminds me of how my ex-wife used to regard the shoes of the 80s with disdain as being "super dated" looking. With many styles, particularly the lower heeled ones, I can't really argue with her. I am looking at my own collection, and wonder how many shoes look a little long in the tooth.

I was trying to think of anything that I can do more easily in heels besides knead bread dough, which these days I rarely do anyhow. Do I sing better in heels? I think I do, but it's probably all illusion, and there's no real way to test it. I can't think of another thing that is actually easier to do in heels. I'm trying to think through my everyday routine, and if I'm honest, there's nothing that heels don't make harder, if only incrementally.

Then it hit me. It's not something one would normally think of as being a practical use, but if I didn't have heels, I probably would not exercise nearly as much as I do. Y'all know that I like to pound the pavement in heels on the regular, and I have just thought to myself that I would probably be more tempted to sit here in front of this computer and talk about heels, rather than going out and walking in them. As an ancillary to that, I no doubt take way better care of my feet and ankles than I would if I didn't wear heels.

4 hours ago, CrushedVamp said:

My wife like to cook and when we redesigned our kitchen she wanted to put in a place to roll her dough that was a little lower than the rest of the counters so that she could get on top of it and really push down. It was a want and not a need and there really was no way to incorporate it into the kitchen. Instead, he keeps a pair of four inch heels in the cabinet underneath, puts them on and is just enough taller to make rolling out her dough easier. Its a very simple solution... 

I do the same exact thing when making bread, for the same reason.

Sometimes I forget that there is often a big difference between what immediately springs to my mind when somebody says the words "high heels," and what most everybody else thinks. Once I actually watched the video, what I found impressive is not that they're high heels (because they just aren't), but the fact that she would attempt all these climbs in such flimsy sandals of any heel height. Having worn and broken a lot of sandals over the last decade, that would be one of the last styles I'd choose under those conditions.

On 12/15/2024 at 1:26 AM, CrushedVamp said:

I think one area of high heeled shoes that has gone unexplored is adjustable high heels. One look on youtube regarding “types of mechanisms” and it is clear to see that an adjustable heel is possible.

Maybe it is adjustable in ¼ inch clicks, or a thread-out type of heel, or who knows, maybe the two means combined together so that a 2 inch heel could be extended to five inches? I could just see some interest in the same pair of shoes that is worn sensibly to work is cranked out and not so sensible at the club. Or the pair of shoes worn to work and is shorter in the morning takes on a much high heel in the boardroom later that afternoon?

I am not sure, but it surprises me that this has not been explored with high heels yet.

I have not seen a "convertible" high heel that I find attractive, and to be honest, why would I have wasted the last 12 years training just so I can wimp out and change to flats? I do admit to having brought backup shoes with me on a number of occasions, but I've never actually had to use them! Well, except for that one time, when I experienced catastrophic shoe failure. Also, I don't understand how the shanks work in these convertible heels. They couldn't be terribly durable.

I don't necessarily avoid soft ground entirely, but if it's not too inconvenient, I will definitely take a few more steps to remain on hard surfaces.

16 hours ago, CrushedVamp said:

Thank you for the welcome @mlroseplant .

I was on this site years ago, but atlas forgot what my username was so I had get a new moniker. Like then, I hope to add to the forum in a good way.

I was mistakenly thinking there was a lady who hiked the entirety of the Appalachian Trail (2190 miles) in high heels, but in checking I was sorry to see two sisters hiked it entirely barefoot. There is a HUGE difference between high heels and being barefoot. A few have hiked stretches of it in high heels, but to my knowledge no one has yet to through-hike it wearing high heels the entire way.

Not to derail this thread but if someone on here wants to make high heel history it is theirs to take!

Maybe that would generate some sensationalism for the high heel? Maybe a heel designer will take on the challenge and adapt a comfortable high heel for such a trip?

What a Victory, to stand on Mount Katahdin 2190 miles later at 5269 feet... AND 6 inches!! 🙂

I have barely walked 2190 miles in heels in my entire life on relatively flat pavement, much less in mountainous terrain. I like to think that my extensive walking in heels has got me where I am today, but I am also realistic. Also, again from experience, you'd have to probably have 10 pairs of broken-in heels to complete that trip. And that's if you're lucky.

I have continued to wear pumps this week, only now I have an actual picture! My son and I went to the mall yesterday to buy Mama a new computer. It's the first time I'd been shopping at a mall in well over a year, I bet it's been more like two years. I managed my Steve Madden Daisies reasonably well, and even got a compliment from a stranger! They are the mauve colored ones I introduced a while back, and for some reason, they do not look it in this picture. I wore the same pants and shoes Sunday to church, but a different shirt. These Maddens are becoming quite comfy to wear for longer periods of time, despite the fact that they're not leather. They're almost giving the Vince Camutos a run for their money.

The other thing of note is how much my feet don't hurt. Some of you may recall my story about going to the mall in my brand new boots 12 years ago, and nearly not making it back to the car because of the pain. I didn't think about it while I was there, but it's the same mall, we went to the same store, I had higher shoes this time, and it didn't even occur to me that I might get sore feet.

Welcome to the both of you @Goose and @CrushedVamp. It's funny that this subject should come up at this time, because I was just recounting my first time in heels not very long ago. Now, 12 years later, it's a very ordinary part of my life, but for some reason it never gets boring. I wear heels every day to some extent or other. I can't remember the last time that I thought to myself, "I don't really feel like wearing heels today."

It has been 10 years at least since I started shaving my legs. I have been shaving the tops of my feet since I was a teenager. No one has ever mentioned a thing about it except for my wife. If someone ever does mention it, I have the perfect comeback prepared. "Because hairy legs with Daisy Dukes look terrible!" Which is simultaneously the whole truth and kind of a smartass answer. My construction buddies would appreciate it.

I have actually worn pumps 5/7 days this week, and in each case, I wore them with slightly flared pants, which seems to be back in style again. Probably more radical flares are actually in style, but mine are recycled from the last time. Most of my stuff is super skinny, and I have adopted that style for the last 10 years to the point that my flared pants, of which I have only two pair left, are practically New Old Stock because they've been worn so rarely. I get by with skinny jeans better than most guys because I'm pretty small, but it is nice to have a little variety now that I've allowed myself. I will say that it is much easier to get flared pants on and off that it is skinny jeans, and pointy-toed pumps do go rather well with flared pants.

One has to be careful with round toes and flared pants because under the wrong circumstances, it looks like you have no feet. I do not have my flared pants hemmed super long, They're an inch to an inch and a half off the floor. Certainly not the style of the early 2000s, where the ideal was to show just a tease of heel between the floor and hem. You could barely see little pins sticking out, leaving the gazer wondering whether the wearer had mere kitten heels or proper stilettos. In some ways it was alluring, and in others it was frustrating. Not so with the latest iteration of flowing legged pants.

I have been mainly wearing Steve Madden single sole pumps this week, but I did break out the much neglected Nine West Plantera platforms also. My favorite pumps, from a fit standpoint anyway, are my Vince Camuto Carra stacked heel pumps. They are very pointy-toed, so they work well with flared pants. They are single sole with a slim, tapered heel about 5/8" wide in plain black leather. They are remarkably tall at 4 3/8". I say remarkably because when you glance at them, they don't look all that tall. It can take you by surprise when you put them on. They are pretty steep compared to what their styling would suggest. If you scroll back to my October 2nd post, you can see pictures of them. I haven't taken any new photographs since then.

The crazy thing about these pumps is that they fit. When I used to see women who wore pumps every day, I think this is how they must have fit. Not tight in the toes, and yet I don't walk out of them with every step. It's like I can just slip them on and go. Or I could, were they 3/4" lower. I still have to warm up in them before I step out of the house. What I'm saying is, unlike most of my other pumps, I do not have to wait for my toes to rearrange themselves inside of the shoes for a few minutes after I put them on. And, they're the only single sole pumps I own that I've actually walked in for exercise. I may be wrong about this, but I believe they're the only pumps that I've worn for a full day all at once. Unfortunately, they are beginning to suffer from that flaky deterioration that so many non-leather linings exhibit. It's not that bad yet, but eventually I suppose they will become unwearable.

I plan on wearing pumps again to church today, we'll see what I end up wearing. In the meantime, it's going to be clogs for my morning constitutional. I still prefer shoes that do not touch the back of my heel.