mlroseplant

It can be done, but must be done carefully, or you'll break that front strap, and it might not happen immediately. It might happen while you're out and about several days later, and cause you great anguish. Don't ask me how I know this.

What I would suggest doing, since you say they're just a little bit tight, is to use the Steve Method. Actually, I'd probably use a modified Steve Method, since it's just that thin little strap in the front. The Steve Method, as promulgated by @Steve63130, is to squeeze into your sandals, get into the shower, and soak them real good until the leather relaxes a bit. Then you can kind of scrunch everything around like you want it. After that, you should wear the sandals continuously until they dry, and that should stretch them out, pretty much in one shot. This process will take several continuous hours, so don't begin unless you have the time.

Since you just need to stretch the one strap (technically two, I guess), I don't think you really need to take a shower in them, you could get the same effect simply by getting those straps good and wet with a rag, or by immersing your toes in a pan of water or something.

Again, it's very important that you don't remove the sandals until they are completely dry, or they may become a shape that is not the shape of your foot, and that would be bad! I think this method should work fairly well for you. Good luck! And thanks to Steve!

2 hours ago, OldMountain said:

Having said that, please enlighten me, which Lobo did Mariah wear, are these tricky to walk in?

I am no expert at Loubie identification, but I do have the internet to help me! They are definitely not Lady Peep, which has a much smaller platform and thinner heel, and is actually a pretty good looking shoe. They are also not Lady Daf, which has the big platform, but again, a much thinner heel. The only model I could find in a brief search that had a big platform and a thick heel like that was the Altavera, so I'm going with that, until corrected. I'd never heard of this model before, and I can't say I like it much! Forgive me, I'm not trying to stir the platform pot again, please don't take offense if you love this model.

I'm happy your trip went well! I'm also glad that the truck performed well, and had had a modern drivetrain put in it. As a old pickup buff, on the one hand, I kind of hate to see it when a truck like that is "rodded," but I also realize that the original drivetrain is not practical to drive on today's highways. I suppose without the drivetrain swap, the old girl would probably be in the junkyard, so all is well!

Ok, I get the point now! Before, I got the idea that you were talking about being aware from a safety standpoint, much like we stress in the construction industry, to avoid getting run over by a dump truck, or on the street, avoiding situations where we might come to some harm by traffic, or by people. I see now it was somewhat less complicated and less sinister than I thought. Thanks for the clarification!

9 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Hi All,

Last Friday (9th June I picked up my "Gwyni" wedges from the Aldo store and wore them out of the store I was so happy with them but forgot to bring my phone inside the store. Yesterday (12th June) I went by the store and asked Jackie, the manager I've know for a few years now, to take my picture with the new wedges and she gleefully did. Then her associate Maria also came over and complimented me on a great purchase. I'll post this picture soon. I walked out the store and could hear someone behind me about 50 feet/15m or so and he got into the van parked right next to me. Sitting at the driver's wheel was a woman who had to have seen me. I don't have a beard but do have a smaller moustache. I had on bootcut jeans, a tangerine polo shirt, a thinner strap watch, and my new Aldo "Gwyni" 5.5" wedge sandals. Just opened my car door and got in but it was still an exercise in adapting on the fly. I had never had this exact thing happen to me before but it is a lesson in keeping your focus and not letting anything break your stride. Remember act like you belong and from that point forward the confidence only builds. HappyinHeels  

Forgive me for being a little thick, but I don't quite understand what happened. You were in the Aldo store, you left the Aldo store, someone was behind you, and happened to be parked right next to you in the parking lot. I must be missing something. Was this person following you on purpose? I don't get what there was to adapt to or focus on specifically.

Naturally, one should always be aware of his/her surroundings, that's just good sense, but I don't quite get the gist of this particular story. Could you please explain further?

I had been wearing stilettos before this picture was taken (slightly thicker than your shoes, though, at 10 mm), but given the hilly terrain of the place I was visiting, I switched to those sturdier heels pictured, and I'm really glad I brought them with me.

Your post got me curious about the skinniness of my stiletto heels, so I measured some. It seems my favorite width, or at least my most usual, is 10 mm, although I do have some that are skinnier that that. I even have one pair that are 6 mm, which are surprisingly easy to walk in! It would seem that heel width alone is not a good predictor about how easy a pair of shoes is to walk in.

I think it's just certain types of plastic that cause me a problem, some seem just fine. The boots I was referring to, where I nearly ate it several times in the supermarket, had substantially thicker heels than stiletto, but wow, were they slippery! I still have small nightmares about it.

Hello Craig, and welcome!

18 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

 

4. Slow down. (avoid running in high heels, especially not on marble or polished floors. The taller your heels the slower you'll be. slow down and enjoy your shoes. As per rule 3 its often practical to take a longer route if the floor is better, or there are no angled pavements, or no loose stones etc...Speed will not negate rule 5. If you fall over then you won't save any time and it will be embarrassing)

 

I do have some "slow shoes," but I still need to get from Point A to Point B in a reasonable amount of time. I generally walk fast in heels, and can run if necessary!

18 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

10. Wipe your feet! (whenever its wet outside and you enter a building carefully wipe the soles of your shoes dry on the floor mat, this is all about the toe area sole.  The only grip in a stiletto is from that toe area and if its a smooth wet sole, or maybe in autumn has a slippery leaf stuck to it as then you're on a skating rink! When its dry no problem)

 

The only time I've ever gone down is right after I entered a store when it was snowing out. Believe it or not, it was not the toe area that got me, but rather snow/ice stuck to the heel which did not get completely removed by the floor mat at the entrance of the store.  I have since learned to take it real easy for that first 20 steps after stepping off the floor mat under those conditions. On slick, highly polished tile floors, you can almost experience the same effect if you're running certain slick plastic heel tips, typical of what comes on most shoes from the factory. I have a pair of boots that was actually dangerous to wear in a certain supermarket I frequent, and I had several close calls. After I replaced the heel tips with hard rubber, the problem was solved.

19 hours ago, nzfreestyler said:

7. Never carry awkward objects. (Small weights on your sides is ok - eg bags on your elbows/forearms. Back packs are not practical. If you must carry a bulky or heavy object have someone help you. Get someone in flats to help. If you are both wearing high heels then carry such an object by taking a side each and walking forwards with it between you - except for doorways. When wearing heels don't carry anything in front or behind you, whether you're on your own or helping. Carrying stuff is the biggest nuisance/ limitation of heels.)
 

I guess I've violated the hell out of that rule for years! Don't get me wrong, carrying a cello in heels sucks! I've just gotten used to it over the past several years.

A useful guide, to be sure, and I thank you for it, but as with so many things in life, an absolute set of guidelines doesn't apply to every person 100%.

8 hours ago, jeremy1986 said:

Looking great!

Thank you!

29 minutes ago, SF said:

I like the sandals in the last (bottom) photograph......  sf

I also prefer, just on pure looks, the Michael Kors sandals in the bottom photo. Howevaaaahh, given the terrain of the place (in the foothills of northern Georgia), the sturdier-heeled Vera Wang sandals were better friends to me. Walking down some of those hills, I could definitely feel the thinner heels flex noticeably. But you wouldn't know anything about hills in San Francisco, right? In fact, I don't even know how you do it. Hard core as I am, I don't think I'd wear heels while visiting San Francisco. Horrors!

Hi all, I am back home now, after a very long drive. Here are some more photos from the retreat, that are relevant to this forum. 

55 minutes ago, SF said:

Sis doesn't wear heels?????   Nice pictures....     Nice heels...   A guy who plays music AND works on cars!!!   Good show....    sf

Oh, no! Sis absolutely wears heels! But never for a casual occasion like this one. You see how everyone is dressed.  Besides, the venue was challenging, even to me. It was in the mountains of northern Georgia, and we were in several different buildings. I did quite a bit of walking, up and down stairs, and across hilly terrain, often carrying my instrument to get to my next appointment. It was not a place for an occasional heel wearer. 

1 hour ago, at9 said:

What was the work by RVW? His Tallis Fantasia is one of my all time favourite pieces and I love a lot of his other works.

@Thighbootguy

We had an oboe playing the second violin part, because he was available right then, and another violin wasn't. It actually sounded pretty cool that way!

I had a wonderful time playing music this weekend with a bunch of very talented people! Plus, I got to wear heels all weekend!

Here are a couple of photos. The first is a quintet playing a Ralph Vaugh Williams piece I'd never even heard of before. It was really neat! The woman to my left playing violin is my sister. 

The second picture is my sister and me singing Bach (in German, no less!)

Haha, I'll offer the other extreme: I largely put the boots away when the temps reliably rise above freezing! Anything above 50F (10C) is fair game for sandals if I feel like it, which I usually do. 

On 6/3/2017 at 6:00 AM, JeffB said:

Cool! Were those shorts you wore in that picture?

Yes, they are the same shorts I wore in my "photobomb" a few posts back, in my flawed attempt at Korean style. I hope they came out rather better with an untucked short sleeved shirt. 

Hello from Atlanta, GA! I was at a giant Asian supermarket and took the opportunity to get in a selfie, with help from a couple of cans on the shelf. 

3 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

mlroseplant,

So what do the folks of the neighbourhood say about the the flashes of heel fashion in that part of Iowa?? Your style is definitely more edgy than a small town would expect but much appreciated by me anyway. Keep struttin' your stuff in the driveway!  HappyinHeels

Actually, believe it or not, they accept me rather well! Of course, at my house, the real force to be reckoned with is my 8 year old son. He's a real glad-handed. A guy in high heels is a secondary consideration!

8 hours ago, Histiletto said:

Most of the heel brands and outlets I favored have abandoned the styling I prefer in order to follow their idea on today's fashion cycle, which tend to look a bit deformed in my perception. Thus going from store to store hasn't been as fruitful in finding the heels I want to accent my appearance. I wonder if the market had actually been demand driven, would I have to wait for the cycle to change to find the heel styles I want? Then again, the cost would be higher to accommodate the process. Occasionally, I find my preferred styles in the clearance areas, sales sites, being sold by Ebayer's, or by on consignment sellers wanting to liquefy their investment(s) or to make some room available in their closet for their next purchase(s). However, I have been active in the Italia Boutique auctions and other European high heel sites when I can afford them. I may be fanatic about the styles I prefer, but it keeps my budget in some degree of balance most of the time.

I find myself in the same predicament these days. I prefer the styles that were popular a few years back. For one thing, heel heights have been lowered in general (Louboutin and the like excepted), and I just don't like anything lower than about 12 cm. This has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you can get models that are a few years old pretty cheap, and often they're brand new or barely worn. On the other hand, finding some of the stuff that you really want can be nearly impossible, because it's gone! There are a couple of non-current shoe models that I've been searching for for literally years, with no luck. Until the style trends change, I imagine it will only get harder and harder to find the stuff we like.

Still, it's better than it was back in the dark days of the mid 1990s. No online shopping/searching, and heaven help you if you wanted some stilettos higher than about 8 cm!

3 hours ago, Puffer said:

I couldn't help noticing your phrasing here, mlroseplant.   You almost make it sound as though your son was calibrated (as with a thermometer) by his school!    Although I am aware that, in the US at least, the concept of 'graduation' sometimes takes the historic transitive form (i.e. a college 'graduates' its students), it is now usual (and universal in the UK) to express the concept intransitively, i.e. that the student graduates.   The 'was' in your construction makes all the difference.

And when I see in your post in another topic: 'I was contacted by a young woman we know who has just graduated from college this month' it is clear that you 'swing both ways'!

Anyway, congratulations to your son - and to you for your very public heel wearing.   Detention excused.

After reading your reply, I decided to do a little research into why I phrased the sentence like I did, and I guess I am showing my age. My present recollection has been refreshed, and I now remember being taught a long time ago that the transitive form was really the correct way of phrasing it--in other words the institution is the party doing the graduation. However, I see that this way of phrasing things has largely fallen out of fashion, much like wearing high heels on a regular basis. I stand (elevated by a few inches, as always) corrected!

20 hours ago, Thighbootguy said:

That's asking a lot in a turquoise top and a mini skirt, but well done just the same.  

When I compare the pictures in your most recent post with the ones in your immediately prior post I see an age difference (just based on the clothes) of at least 30 years.  I struggle with my selecting clothing that is for a person much younger than my chronological age, but then you are only as old as you feel, and I couldn't wear this stuff back then.

 

That kind of hits home, as I struggle with the same issues myself.

Last fall, when our church was still searching for a new choir director, the church hired this young gal just graduated from college to fill in as choir director during the search for a permanent person. At the first rehearsal in September, she had each of us choir members introduce ourselves, and had us answer two questions: 1) What is your greatest weakness, and 2), What is something you've done in the past that you'll never do again?

The usual answers were something like what you'd expect, for example, chocolate and skydiving. When it came to my turn, I answered, "Wearing age inappropriate clothing, and once I tried wearing flats," as I sat there wearing tiny shorts, a tight t-shirt, and high heels. It was good for an actual, genuine laugh, anyway. These people know me, so it was not a nervous laugh. 

My reasoning, and I've discussed this productively with my wife, is that I like to see women dressed in this way, why wouldn't I try to emulate that style? I've still got the body for it (Well, almost. I'm still chasing that perfectly flat stomach, but I'm close), so why not?

My question to you, @JeffB is, do you use the same process when you put together your outfits, in other words, do you sort of copy an outfit that you like that you've seen on somebody else, and if so, are the women that you copy of a certain age range? Or do you just dream up an outfit from your head? You always do such a nice job of looking put together in a way that I often do not. Thanks in advance!

8 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

mlroseplant,

Sounds like we have another Jim Cornelison (the Blackhawks singer) in our midst! Your son's graduation was a heel of a good time, right? Were those the same ones you were wearing in the driveway?  HappyinHeels

There have been many pictures taken in my driveway, but what I wore was very similar to the first picture, only with different colors and different shoes (second picture).

Here is another young pianist I found on Instagram. If you want to see a lot of pictures and videos of an attractive young woman playing in heels, visit @lolaastanova on Instagram. I looked up her YouTube channel, but it seems that channel is much less about fashion than is the Instagram account, which is only natural, since Instagram videos are one minute or less.

Here is a video I found on YouTube, showcasing her talent and her fashion. She's obviously enormously accomplished, but I have to say that Yuja Wang pretty much owns her in the classical genre.

My son was graduated from high school yesterday. Although his mother has complained about my footwear in the past, fearing backlash from his peers, it has never happened, and it's over now anyway, so I didn't think twice about wearing my Michael Kors single band stiletto sandals (not mules, believe it or don't) that are light brown in front, fading to black in the back. They are quite high, but quite comfortable, as the front platform reduces the height difference to just over 4 inches.

That's a good thing, too, because it was quite a long walk from the nearest available parking spot to the field house, where the ceremony was held. On this long walk, I could hear some girls behind me continuously giggling, but it turns out that they were giggling about something completely unrelated to me. I'm sure that some of the thousands of people there noticed my shoes, but no one said anything, and no one acted inappropriately. In fact, I got way more attention when it came time to sing the National Anthem, people kept turning around to see where this booming, classically trained voice was coming from! Turns out it was this scrawny little guy wearing high heels.

I do not have any pictures to show you that show the shoes. When most people take pictures of such an event, they're not really concerned about showing my shoes, and this day was not about me in any case. My outfit wasn't a lot different than many other pictures I have posted on here before anyway.

For the first 15 years of my career, and this is my 21st year, I was a Red Wing man. Because I have a small and slightly narrow foot for a man, Red Wings were my friends. They made several styles I liked in my size (which in RWs is 8B). Notice I used the past tense. About 5 years ago, Red Wing discontinued some models I liked, and they cut the size range on several others. Plus, they began to make a lot of their boots in China. If I'm going to pay the kind of money they want for those things, I want U.S. made. Also, having my actual size would be nice, Red Wing.

Therefore, I'm still kind of in limbo. I have been wearing Doc Martens lately, with spotty success. I had a couple of bad pairs of Docs, as I mentioned above, but some have worked out OK. I also have a leftover pair of American made Red Wings that I wear somewhat regularly, but they are huge logging boots (rated for fighting wildfires, I might add), and they are really not that suitable for the kind of construction work I do. Plus, they collect mud like crazy! I will have to look into some alternatives. I might try Keen. A lot of guys seem to like those. It's all a matter of who makes my size, and if not, do they have any women's boots that are any good.

I just HATE shopping for work boots. I'd much rather shop for high heels, but I guess I'll look at the bright side--my wife will not complain about how much money I spend on work boots, no matter what the price tag is! It will be a conflict free transaction. I'll have to let you know what happens.

Thank you for all the replies, and especially for your thoughts @MackyHeels. Once again, I hope your experiences and level of acceptance will continue to improve as time goes on.

So here is a picture of me and the young lady in question, at her graduation dinner with her parents and about 40 other people. In this photo, she is wearing heels and I am not, which is a reverse of the usual situation. My wife requested that I wear flats for this occasion, so I of course complied.

Unfortunately, as far as heel wearing, our cultural norms have been a bad influence. When she first came to the U.S., at age 18, she wore heels all the time, like many Vietnamese women do in Vietnam. Not super high ones, but always something with some sort of heel. Now, the heels only come out for very special occasions! Oh well, what are you going to do? At least we feel comfortable teasing each other about our preferences.