mlroseplant

1 hour ago, redandwhite said:

Love them. Michael Kors?

They sure are! Model name is Oksana. I have them in black, also. Here is a photo comparing heel heights between size 5 1/2 and size 9, and it also shows the sandals a little bit better.

1 hour ago, Jkrenzer said:

Kinda miss the original point of this topic.

Do you suppose Mike Pence has ever worn heels? Come to think of it, if I were visiting Mayo Clinic, I would certainly wear heels. Actually, I hope I never have to visit there. That would probably mean something bad happened.

I guess I am back! I walked over 3 miles in my Bonny mules yesterday, wearing my new Talbot's "Perfect" shorts. Whereas two weeks ago, I would have had trouble completing such a walk in heels, I've built my endurance back up to where it wasn't a problem. In fact, I was still smiling when I returned home. I know I've said this before, but it still continues to amaze me that, despite their looks, the BCBGirls "Bonny" mules really are the perfect walking shoes. You're not going to walk 15 minute miles in them, don't get me wrong, but for normal speed walking, they are good for as long as you want to go.

And now about the shorts. I bought a number of new shorts for this summer, all of them in a dressier sort of style than what I've worn in the past. This particular pair is labeled right on the inside "Perfect Short." I found this somewhat humorous, because they are NOT perfect. For one thing, even though they're size 4P, they are pretty loose on me, even in my current enlarged state. Second, the back pockets are stitched shut, which I can easily rectify, but still. Third, they are a little bit on the long side for my taste. I don't feel like I can wear longer shorts because my legs are short enough as it is, without chopping them off visually in the middle of the thigh. With modification, they might be close to perfect. Time to see my tailor!

Sometimes, you just can't win for losing. I cut my nails down to about 2 mm so they wouldn't interfere with my piano/organ playing, but would still be functional enough for guitar. Yesterday, I used my leaf blower, and when I pulled the starting rope, I managed to catch the middle fingernail on my right hand on something-or-other, breaking it off (through a glove!). I had to cut it down to the quick, and then some. Oh, well. Good for keyboards, OK for brass, where fingernail length just doesn't matter, bad for fingerstyle guitar. I better work on improving my flatpicking technique for the next two weeks until the thing grows out again.

On 4/24/2020 at 10:52 PM, Pumped said:

I like messing with my nails. i do give myself manicures, but I also do some glue on fake nails from time to time. I have some full cover nails that I use temporary adhesive and they come off almost too easy, but no damage to my nails. I experimented last weekend with glue on acrylic tips and acrylic filler. It was fun to do, but it is hard on my nails by the time I remove the fake nails. i only wear the fake nails at home, so on one day, off the next.

Here is from last weekend,

Those definitely aren't bad for fakes. I have seen a lot worse, even done by a professional. For whatever reason, I have always liked long nails. As with the attraction to high heels, it's probably pointless to try to figure out why, but it could have something to do with growing up in the late 70s, early 80s, when long nails were much more in style than they are today. I guess there were fewer buttons to press back then, who knows? At any rate, I had decided that during this time of social and work isolation, that I would grow my own nails out a little. I have always kept my nails a bit on the long side for a guy, but nothing too crazy or noticeable, usually about 2 to 3 mm. I wanted to see if I could get them out to 5 mm from the free edge. The longest I ever got before was 4 mm, right hand only, but due to my job, one of them broke at that point. However, this time I made it not quite to 4 mm, both hands, and decided to chop them off because they had begun to interfere with my musical instrument playing. I thought about this for several days, and realized that playing music was more important to me (especially during this time of insanity) than having long nails, especially given my ugly hands. Here's what they looked like about a week before I cut them. Left hand looked similar.

16 hours ago, RonC said:

Most of my dislikes have been mentioned here already, and I despise them.  But I need to add flatforms.  Geeze, I hate the way those look.  And of course, it seems the girls love them.  Sad.  

Oh yeah, I forgot about flatforms. My little gal who was wearing my boots a couple of months ago, posted elsewhere, is a HUGE fan of flatforms. And Crocs. And Birkenstocks. Good thing she's cute, or she would not be allowed in my house anymore. I'm only about 80% kidding.

Did anybody mention jellies? You know, those clear plastic shoes with holes in them that maybe you should wear to the swimming pool (and nowhere else)?  I'm also on the fence about these clear PVC/Lucite heels that seem to be in style lately. Even the designer level heels seem to be incorporating this clear PVC portion. I guess the sandals are OK, and the closed-toed ones are OK from a distance. However, it's a little disconcerting to actually be able to see the smashed together toes inside the shoe when viewed close-up. I'm not sure that's a good look.

20 hours ago, RonC said:

While I like the look of those, I certainly couldn't run in them as they would be flying off my feet.  Anything that doesn't hold secure at the back of the foot just tends to kick off my foot when I walk.  Something about the way my toes work I would guess - I just don't grip well with them?

 

Something about these particular shoes just fit my particular feet, I guess. There was no gripping required. The instep strap fit snugly, to the point where you really couldn't get these on or off hands-free.

10 hours ago, SF said:

Bottom line, we can all thank communist red china for the terror, lies and misery they have inflicted upon us.  communism is BAD for children and other living things....   sf

We might get dinged here a little bit by management, so let's not get too crazy, but I must point out that Communist Vietnam has done rather better than almost everybody with this pandemic, so it's not as simple as all that. They are every bit as awful as Communist China, as far as the government goes.

23 hours ago, Cali said:

And you haven't been working on a ladder?   JK

 

If you will excuse me for a few minutes, I will go get a 4' ladder and bite your ankles!

____________________________________________

UN-MERGING THE REPLIES

___________________________________________________

I have finally managed to break in my second pair of BCBGirls Bonny mules. As I mentioned before elsewhere, my beloved Bonny sandals have become somewhat tired, and a little ratty looking, although they're still not to the point where I absolutely wouldn't wear them out in public. By chance, I wound up buying two more NOS replacement pairs, and I had forgotten how long it took to break in the first pair. The leather underneath the beading is heavy and quite stiff, which is probably why they have lasted so long, despite fairly constant use. Believe it or not, once properly broken in, these are all-day, multi-mile shoes. Admittedly, they're not great for non-paved surfaces, but that is expecting way too much of something like this. I am now working on breaking in the third pair, which is just as stiff as the first two. According to my records, I got the first pair nearly 5 years ago, so it's possible I'll be able to wear Bonnys well into my 60s.

3 hours ago, w6ish said:

the jeans i'm wearing in the video are like painted on and leave nothing to the imagination-that much sexual energy is way too much for the lads here.  (i've already been given a warning for being too sexy!)

as for the friends: they are all, indeed: very strange.  i don't do "normal".

as for the gal who shot the vid, and who had the meltdown, and who told me to never call her again...  yes you guessed it.  she called on Saturday and we're going out somewhere today.  maybe i can find out more about what sent her on such a tizzy.

I should probably stay out of this, but I'm not that smart, evidently. In the gentlest and most respectful way possible, may I suggest that it's not the actual pictures themselves that cause a problem. It is your constant and insistent dialogue, directing us specifically about what we should be paying attention to in said pictures, and why we should be paying attention to that, that causes the problem. And it ain't the high heels, if you get my drift.

2 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

What did you step on?

I am idly curious about this as well, but again, I would suggest you refrain from answering, as I'm sure the management would rather us not go down that rabbit-hole.

Ohhhh, this is a tough one. My first reaction is to say Birkenstocks, because that is the shoe I first had a sort of violent reaction to. In 1990, I had a chance to visit Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as a chaperone to a high school student group. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned more practical German in three weeks than I had in four years of study at college. However, there were these.  .  . sandal-thingies that it seems everyone was wearing over there, often with socks. I remember thinking that I was glad we didn't have these things in the U.S. And then, wouldn't you know, just a very few short years later, they started showing up EVERYWHERE. Arghhhhhhh! With the passage of time, they don't seem nearly as bad as Crocs, but I'd still ban them if I could. I also hate kitten heels, but they are way down the list. Rubber flip flops (thongs to some of you) are generally hideous, especially when they get the least amount of wear on them (which takes about a week), but I rather like the very thin-soled leather ones.

This is way too hard a question for a short answer!

Hopefully we have come full circle, and now we all understand one another. I would like to leave this discussion with one final thought. I realize that social media has become an integral part of the way we interact and communicate with each other, and indeed with the world. However, let us not place upon it more importance than it deserves. It is in many ways a fantasy land, having little to do with real life and real social interactions. This is of course not universally true, and maybe not even mostly true, but it is certainly somewhat true. Let me give you an example from my own life. If I were to post the following photos on my Instagram or wherever, one might come to many different conclusions about my social life, and most probably all of them would be wrong. The fact is, I have no "social life" with any of these girls, even though it certainly looks in these photographs as though I do. The problem with social media is that there is often very little backstory, and to me that is most of what makes up worthwhile and valuable social interactions.

14 hours ago, Cali said:

It depends on the type of heel.  Block heel boots and booties, some wedges, I can forget thinking about them. Stilettos and and other small heels, no.  I need to watch where I put my foot. I can even run in some heels.

13 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

Yeah I've run in 4" heels before.  It's not as bad as it sounds actually.  

HA! That reminds me of a pair of Söfft sandals I used to own, model name Calvados, right at about a 4" heel and a bit of a platform, for 3+" difference. As far as being light on your feet, you could do just about anything in these heels, including sprint. I don't know what it was about those shoes, but you could actually run for an extended period in them. I finally trashed them out a couple years ago, they were just no longer presentable, aesthetically. I have not really tried to run for more than a few steps in any of the shoes I own presently. I don't think it would be advisable.

15 hours ago, Puffer said:

I suppose that you could readily justify wearing heels at a meeting where your expertise was being called upon on the basis that those needing help ought to look up to you!

Even wearing heels, there are not too many people who have to look up to me physically (at least of the male gender). I have come to find out, however, for the first time in my 25 year career, that quite a few people do look up to me existentially. I hope that my hat size continues to be 6 7/8.

9 hours ago, Pumped said:

As to weight gain or loss, I have lost about 10 pounds in the last couple months. I am still working, but am home for a 3 day weekend. Plus I used to be out of town 1 or 2 nights a week. We are not at a total lock down so doing some odd jobs and minor remodeling now that I have more time. That and not eating at restaurants 7-10 meals a week has helped shed some pounds. I was trying to lose a bit of weight, not trying very hard though! I am down to 175 pounds at 5'10".

My weight appears to have plateaued hopefully. I have been walking a lot more in the last week, in heels of course, and I am happy to report that I am back to the point where I can again walk 2 miles in heels without it being a big deal. I had lost that ability over the past couple of years.

52 minutes ago, JeffB said:

I'd say that depends on one's point of view. Some would say a high heels begins at three inches while others would say four.

It's inflation. Back in the day, 40 bucks would buy you a very nice pair of 3 inch heels, which were considered pretty high.  Now, 40 bucks won't buy you a cheap pair of 4 inch heels, which are considered just the beginning of high!

It seems to me that this discussion has gone way off the rails. On my morning constitutional, I had thought about some things I would like to write, but then after logging on and seeing all the replies, I scrapped that plan, so here is Plan B.

Have we gotten to the point where we are not allowed to criticize anything without being criticized for it? I actually took the time to look through Mr. Ayala's Instagram, and you know, it's not that bad. I think Kneehighs picked THE worst possible photo to share as far as the WTF factor. I'm not sure if that was purposeful or not. Would I ever personally want to present myself in this way? Hell no. For one thing, I don't have the proper social circle to do so and get by with it. Second, I don't want to look unusual, I want to look great! Third, I do feel like I'm an ambassador and advocate to my community for expansion of tolerance in men's style. It is not my main motivation, but the thought is with me fairly constantly. I cannot be effective in this role if I don't conform to at least some of the standards of "normalcy." Many people do not have this sense of obligation, they are just doing whatever they want no matter how outlandish, and they will always be marginalized because of it. That is their choice. I'm mainstream, right here in Middle America, baby!

10 minutes ago, p1ng74 said:

LOL I am empathizing with your initial reaction and confusion, and trying to explain his train of thought, though I don’t agree with it.  I guess it’s not helpful, sorry.  

Haha, I knew what you meant. Language is an imperfect means of communication, even in the best of circumstances.

It does happen every once in a while, but not as often as you'd think, after all these years. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, if you "forget" you're in heels too often, you might take a step in such a way that might be rather inadvisable while wearing heels.

7 hours ago, SF said:

For me, the super high heels (over 4 inches) just don't appeal.  Never tried a pair either, so I do speak from a position of ignorance.  Heels that high, to me, just look uncomfortable and do not appeal visually.  

Personally, as a guy who is already too tall (6ft 3in) I wear heels that range from very low to 3 inches max, preferably around 2 1/2 inches.  I just want to enjoy the experience of wearing nice looking shoes that are comfortable and stylish.  Not to look like some type of a "giant" creature form the black lagoon, and scare all the kids.  Unfortunately, for some folks a guy in high heels is scary enough!!  ha ha....   

Enjoy your heels whatever height they may be....   sf

2 hours ago, p1ng74 said:

LOL yeah this is why I would never wear platforms, I am already 6 feet tall without heels and don't need any more height.  But I love the feeling of heels, not purely from a height perspective, from the angle of the feet and the overall proportions of the body. 

To be sure, guys, I understand where you're coming from, and why you wouldn't want to wear platforms. Howevahhhh, as others have proven before mathematically, and I have proven using the Thomas Edison method of trial and error, I'm not going to gain any more than 3 inches of height ever, no matter the craziness of the angle of my shoes, just as long as I don't wear any sort of platform. Of course this is on a U.S. Women's size 9, larger sizes may gain slightly more than that. So SF, you have my permission to try out those 5 inchers. It ain't gonna make that big of a difference.

I missed an opportunity to wear heels to another unusual place--work. I am now actually working from home (instead of merely pretending to do so), as my Project Manager asked me to help pre-fill some paperwork for when we do get back to work, hopefully June 1. I borrowed somebody else's work computer, and struggled with it for two days before I finally called IT for help. They had me come up to the shop with it, which turned out to be the best thing I could have done, the IT guy got 'er all fixed up and working for me.

As you can imagine, my dilemma was this: Do I wear heels to the shop or not? After considering several options, I decided not. Instead, I wore my slightly heeled new-ish work boots, mentioned elsewhere on this forum, with straight leg jeans. The reason I decided not to wear heels was because I was not coming to the shop in a position of strength--I needed somebody's help to do my job. If it had been the other way, in other words, if I'd been called to the shop because somebody needed my help or advice, I would have seriously considered wearing heels.

20 hours ago, kneehighs said:

I agree with you on the italicized.  Historically, assimilation within our local tribes is and has always been realistic.  "why aren't you wearing your heels today" is a common level achieved among veteran members.

From my end, the sales volume achieved through social media influence proves social media can change behavior, especially among GenZ and Millennials.  Less so among Gen X and Baby Boomers.

Imagine a newbie coming here though and reading the hateful comments? It's basically saying, "you can't sit with me".  How does that align with the purpose hhplace has carved for itself over the last 2 decades?  

 

 

It's funny you should mention it, because I'm not really worried about Millennials and Gen Z. I pretty much got them covered (or they pretty much got me covered, depending on your point of view), acceptance-wise. None of my son's friends (Gen Z), either male or female have a problem with me, and boy was his mother sure worried about it when he was still in school. It turned out to be a non-problem. None of my wife's family cousins (Millennial) have a problem with me, and they're in conservative Vietnam. I'm not saying they don't regard me as their "weird uncle," but they range from enthusiastic to at least keeping their mouth shut. It's people my age (Gen X) and older who are tougher nuts to crack, in my experience.

To be fair, I don't think we make "hateful" comments on this forum. The closest we come is, "Holy smokes, that looks terrible." Is that hateful, or just a fashion opinion? And usually, we go on to say why we think it looks terrible. And then some people disagree with that opinion. I think people wanting to explore HHP get that. I don't think we are forced to accept every outfit presented on here as being equal to the other, and it's not like we are saying we hate the person wearing a given outfit. What if Mr. Ayala had been wearing Crocs? We'd all go "Yuck!", and no one would even question that.

I have pondered this on numerous occasions. I know others have other measurements, but for myself, I consider 4 inches or higher to be a "high" heel. Less than that, and it's a "mid" heel. Considering platforms, Ive spent much of my life wearing "mid" heels, I admit it.

13 hours ago, kneehighs said:

I don't think his status will suffer much despite the haters.  Here he is with a Playboy Playmate.  Haters gonna hate.

EDIT: by status I mean his relationships (despite wearing heels).  At the end of the day, love and relationships matter more than haters.  Plus, low odds his income will be affected by haters either--creatives enjoy more economic freedom to be different.  I'm happy for him.

 

 

I'm happy for him too! I am very slow to criticize another's fashion choices when mine are a little out there as well. I realize that you enjoy finding people whose style is unusual, perhaps bordering on the bizarre, and sharing their images with us. There is nothing wrong with that, and there is nothing wrong with people's reactions to it, be they positive or negative. If I look at it as art, that is the whole point, to get a reaction, to create an emotion. That's fine. I have no problem with that. However, I'm going for something a little bit different in my daily life, and I dare say so are you, maybe you could call it "applied art?" Haha

I am not out to hang around with Playboy Playmates or make some kind of appearance. I of course dress for myself, but you know who I'm after? Do you know who I'm really trying to convince? It's the fat, balding middle aged men and the gray-haired old ladies that some on this board complain about constantly. Instead of dismissing them, I try to interact with them. It's the force of my personality and the kindness of my actions that makes ordinary people say, "Yeah, he's a little strange, but you know, he's all right." To me, THAT is what will change people's minds over the course of time, not some guy on Instagram, which, if we're honest, is pretty unrepresentative of the real world. It's guys like you and me, and Bubba, living our lives not for shock value, but because we just like the style. I think that's why Bubba reacted so violently to this picture, it's because this picture and our life experience are so far removed from one another.

2 hours ago, Jkrenzer said:

The topic is the question.

Aha! It all makes sense now. I did give them a fair shake for work, but I eventually came down in the "not a fan" category. And certainly not for home. I did get a lot of comments on them for the couple of years I wore them to work (see above). If I wanted the same effect now, I'd get some packer boots. I assume your objection is on looks, and not necessarily on feel.

On 4/21/2020 at 6:02 PM, Jkrenzer said:

Nope, a simple answer to the question. 

A simple answer to WHAT question, exactly? 

Little off the subject, but I am sorry to report that I have managed to gain 7 pounds in the last month. That may not seem like a big deal, but on a guy my size, that is fully 5% of my total body mass. I am convinced that the reason for this is due to physical inactivity alone. I am not eating really anything different than I normally would, I am not one of those people who sits around snacking all day long when I'm at home. They say (whoever "they" is) that weight loss is mostly about regulating your intake of calories, and possibly the quality of the food which contains those calories. I'm here to say that it isn't true 100% of the time. When I was at work, I would walk at least 10,000 steps a day, sometimes approaching 20,000. Our building is 1/4 mile long, our electrical room is on one end of the building, and as a foreman, I have to go visit other parts of the building on a regular basis. For the past month, my average has been more like 1,500 steps a day. I realize that our phones are not the most accurate pedometers ever, but this is for comparison purposes only. 12,000 steps a day vs. 1,500 steps a day. 7 pounds heavier. Not a coincidence, I think. Time to reverse the trend. I've already taken 3,300 steps today, and it's only 9:00. Wish me luck! I have bought way too many new shorts to wear this summer to have much of a belly.