freestyle75

Hi,

thanks for your answers. To be honest, I am not sure whether I am going to be too scientific about the whole thing going forward. After all, it's about having fun. We didn't do any videos, I was more interested in getting the tips from her while I am walking than to later be able to watch me walk on my TV. Doing a first video would imply that I put my videocam (or SLR for that matter) somewhere, e.g. a parking lot, and then start practicing to later see how I was doing. Not sure about you guys, but I won't be doing that ...

Besides, she also told me that it already looked *very* good (not only for a guy, but also for the girls attending), and that the main thing I had to work on was a) my speed of walking (which is common, too fast), and b ) the overall posture, but not that much for the latter one. What I found very much fun was to walk in a straight line instead of the regular way I walk. I tried it this morning with my (regular Oxford) flats when walking from the parking lot to work, and with flats, it's just plain silly. As much as it became "natural" with heels, it feels quite "unnatural" with flats.

Mind you, I have been walking in heels now for 6 years (and quite often, and not only at home, but basically every time I am doing stuff on the weekends), so there is not such a steep learning curve for me anymore. The only thing that will progress with time surely is the ability to walk in higher heels. One comment from her that I forgot to mention: If you are buying heels and just stand in them (leg in a straight line, knees NOT bent), and after just a few (like 3 - 5) minutes your legs ache and you need/want to bend your knees, the heels are probably a bit too high for you. With one of my heels (the last pair), it felt that way. This can be trained, but it takes time and practice. Not so much in the actual walking process, but rather for the muscles to adapt.

On a completely different note, I have ordered Louboutin Bianca boots that are due to arrive tomorrow till 12 p.m.. My second pair of Louboutins, but my first pair with stilettos. Gosh, I am sooooo much looking forward to it. They will be delivered to work (easier to pickup because of FedEx delivery), but I cannot open the box until I am home. This will be a very hard day for me tomorrow...

So... I just was at the high heel training. In a nutshell: The main advantage is that

1. you have got ample space to walk along a "catwalk" (not comparable to one's living room)
2. you have got someone watching you and giving you instructions on how to improve your walking style

The training was setup as a personal training, meaning that I had full 2 hours of undivided attention of a teacher who has studied sports & dancing. She also wore heels and had an amazing walk - it looked quite effortless.

Me... well... I wanted to learn how to walk in my most difficult boots/shoes, so I took about 10 pairs of those shoes/boots that I either haven't worn yet at all, or have worn them, but had some difficulty. The whole meeting took place at a community center where they also teach dance classes, so there was ample space to walk.

We started off by me walking with the boots that I came with, which were quite easy to walk in - just for the teacher to take a look at how I normally walk. We then did some "warmup" exercises, which is something like standing up on your toes, then bending your knees, then getting up again, etc., so your muscles (especially the calf muscles) get warmed up.

The whole exercise part makes sense if you go for higher heels than you normally wear, as you can train your calf and ankle muscles, so they can deal with the higher height of the heel. Anyway.... it was then that I switched to a pair of stiletto heels that I haven't worn so far for various reasons. First, "stiletto" still feels felt a bit too feminine for me to wear outside, second, I so far lacked the stability of my trusted block heels and wasn't sure whether my walk would be "clumsy" at best.

First thing (and also the question that I started this thread with): You walk in heels as you would walk in flats. No different shift of weight. This heel-to-toe thing also works weight-shift-wise, so you do NOT go heel - toe - shift weight to toe. Rather you go heel, partial shift of weight, toe, full shift of weight, just as you would normally do.

As I have walked quite a lot in block heels, it only took a few times walking up and down the room to "get" the way I have to walk in stiletto boots. Nice. The teacher said that weight-shift wise and how I would walk, this would be great already, but that it would look nicer to walk in a line, and to keep the posture more "up".

Meaning (posture): I tend to look down when I am walking. To see where I am going, but also to avoid stepping into dog excrements This way, my whole posture is more downward-bent, which doesn't look nice. So the teacher first worked on the posture, meaning keeping (mostly) a straight back, and also looking more towards the horizon instead of the next 50 inches of where you are going.

Regarding the virtual line, I just finished a drawing to explain:

Naturally, we walk like the leftmost illustration shows. Once people start to hear that in heels they should "walk across a virtual line", it often happens that the left foot is a bit skewed to the right, and the right foot to the left (second left illustration). This is also heavily dependend on the shoe that you are walking with.

This happened at first quite a lot with my stiletto boot, but not at all with my block heels (we tried several pairs to see the difference).

There are two different textbook-approaches or "schools" (opinions) on how the ideal walk-along-a-line walk should be done: The Berlin and the London school.

The Berlin school keeps the foot straight when walking the line, whereas in the London school, the left foot is skewed a bit to the left, whereas the right foot is a bit skewed to the right. Both ways are "right", and it depends on what feels more natural to you when walking.

Personally, I felt that with the London school type of walk, it became more difficult to balance the weight onto the full foot, and not only on the side of the foot.

Finally, there is the exaggerated walk that you see on the runways. The trainer paid close attention that this was NOT happening, as it looks a bit strange if you are walking this way along a street.

Another thing that she corrected was the length of stride and the speed of walk. Yes, often they say that with heels, your stride "naturally" becomes shorter. But the effect that happens is that you are only taking baby steps which you then try to offset by walking faster. The better way is to consciously take (a bit) longer strides, but walk slower. There is a fine balance between too short and too long strides, so these cannot be explained in a text, but it was great having a trainer who could give me that guidance.

After some boots with a short shaft, we also switched to some very short ankle boots (the right pair in this picture) that were the most difficult to walk in, as there is not much stability in the whole shoe. I wouldn't have managed to walk in that shoe for longer periods, but once the trainer noticed that I had some difficulty, she took an extra half an hour to do some practices in this pair. Yes, we also did the exercise where you place a book onto your head and walk the catwalk up and down - without the book falling off your head. I managed to do this even with the most difficult pair. They are still the most difficult, but manageable now.

When switching back to my ankle boot Pradas after this extremely difficult pair (Pradas, which I had considered "difficult" cause of the nearly non-existent platform before), it felt like I would switch to sneakers. When I did the walk then, she trainer was in awe at how I walked.

We ended the training with some relaxation movements for your feet. Get one of these to do the same at home.

To summarize: If you have the chance to visit such a training (preferably a personal training), I can wholeheartedly recommend it. For me, my most difficult to walk in boots/shoes became either enjoyable or at least manageable, and the way I walk has changed considerably. I am certain that from now on my stilettos won't be sitting in their boxes as they did before.

Even with the designer boots (and I am certainly shopping in that segment), I have noticed that apart from the classic models, many of the 2015 fall/winter edition boots really were NOT my taste. Here the fugliest or most unpractical boots that I could find on one site:

Prada, Gianvito Rossi and Valentino clearly take up the 70s vibe with the patchwork boots. With the Valentino boots, I even like their shape (round toe, block heel), but the coloring...  although I first thought that this style only lasts one season, normally what happens is that the lower tier brands (Zara, H&M, etc.) will produce knockoffs a year later. So it *could* happen that we will see these styles in highstreet shops one year from now. But I hope not.

Giuseppe Zanotti's open-everything boots are nice for summer, but in winter? I don't know.

Jil Sander's fake snake leather also doesn't really vibe with me. I don't like the form of the shoe, the color and the texture. Complete fail.

Then there are the really strange color boots such as the one from Marc Jacobs. Same boot in black: great. This color? I don't know.

Chloé and Stella McCartney go for the granny-look. I don't want to be shot in those boots.

Marni is both impractical and doesn't really look nice in my opinion.

Normally I buy quite a lot of boots in fall/winter, but once you have the classic models "in stock", you are only looking at the current fashion trends for any additional buys, and I don't like what I see. Nonetheless, I spent quite a chunk of money this season, by going for the classic models.

I don't speak Italian, but you may want to try out Skype with the translate function. Skype will take whatever you say in English, translate it into Italian and actually SPEAK in Italian to the one you are calling. If he/she replies in Italian, Skype translate the voice to English and reads it to you.

This way, you can talk to them directly. You will need Skype, some credits on Skype to make a local phone call in Italy, and a very good headset (preferably via USB that uses digital sound recording) with microphone, so the Skype software will be able to pick up your voice perfectly. As long as you stick to simple grammar & sentences, you may be able to actually communicate your issue to the manufacturer.

You can get the Skype translate preview here. A video on how it works can be found on the same page.

True story: Net-a-porter was selling Karl Lagerfeld shearling lined wedge booties back in Februray 2015.
At some point, they only had ONE size 41 left in stock, but kept the price of a hefty 545 Euro (591 USD). I emailed them whether they would be willing to reduce the price by 20 %, as I would be willing to buy them at that reduction. They replied and told me that I can either buy at full price or leave it. Early March, the boots were still online, and from one day to the next, they were "no longer available (this article has been sold out and is no longer available).

I know that theoutnet often sells stuff that wasn't sold on netaporter at a much reduced price. So I kept looking on that site whether they would reappear, but they didn't. At some point, I stopped looking at that site. Few days ago, I receive an email from the outnet, titled "Jetting off this season? Shop winter city break essentials by Tory Burch, Stella McCartney & more". I clicked on their link, and in the "new additions" category, I found the Karl Lagerfeld pair in size 41. ONLY in size 41. One pair. Last pair. Sounds familiar? Riiiiiiiiiight. Price? 208 Euros (226 USD). Yeeeeeeeesssssss !!!!!!

And here they are....

According to the site, they fit small, but I think that they fit TTS... just perfect :-)

I was on a business trip in London this week and had four hours to spare between the end of the meeting and me having to be at Heathrow airport. As Harrods was close, I got a cab there, dropped off my baggage and went to their "Shoe Heaven". I didn't really want to buy any expensive boots from designers, as the British pound is currently quite expensive for Europeans (+ 40% on top). Still... I found a pair from Kurt Geiger that I liked at that were quite cheap in comparison.

Mind you, I was dressed in a "smart casual" outfit, so just regular Oxford business shoes, dark chinos, etc. --- Normally, if I try on heels, I try to go to the store already wearing some, which makes it much easier for me (but I think also for the store assistant) to take the awkwardness out of the whole situation.

In Harrods though, even with my business outfit this was made an extremely pleasureable experience. I asked the store assistant whether they also have these boots in size 41. She returned with the box and said "yes, we still have them in your size. She opened the box, took out the left boots and asked me "would you like to try them  on?". She was very friendly throughout the whole sale.

If I am in store, I always try on, but with me sometimes having no other chance than to go there in a business outfit (when on business trips), I have also had negative experiences. This one was really great though.

The only thing... when I got to Heathrow airport (Terminal 2), I noticed that there was a Kurt Geiger shoe store IN the terminal (behind security), selling the same pair tax free. Well... didn't know that before...

Congrats! Although I am not a big fan of open toe boots, the design is really cool! And I can also very much relate to you trying to hunt them down - I've had similar experiences with things that I saw somewhere which I desparately wanted to have.

At 14 cm in heel height with no platform - are you actually going to wear these or are these more like an art object (owning a piece art and being able to look at it is also quite pleasureable)? -- I've some boots from Alexander Wang which I also bought from the outnet, which I can definitely not walk in, but they are still a piece of art...

Found this:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/startling-survey-reveals-more-quarter-6497382

and two radio DJs sharing their opinion on that:

http://www.1013.com/media/podcast-marcus-and-sandy-MarcusAndSandy/32-of-men-want-to-wear-26379854/

I would have expected something like 5-10%, but the North West of the UK seems to be full of (closeted) heelers

And you still want to resurrect the conversation?!

Most girls dislike their boyfriend wearing heels, some tolerate it, very few embrace it. I guess with the comment she made, you are in the "dislike" section. Of course feel free to resurrect the conversation, but I don't think that the outcome will change. Even if you talk her into allowing you to wear heels for Halloween, the underlying "just no" thingy will still be there. Three future fun scenarios:

1. You ditch the heels and become plain vanilla. All is good, you marry her and live happily ever after.
2. You don't ditch the heels, but also never manage to come clean with her. But you like her too much, so you marry her, have a couple of children, build a huge heels collection somewhere hidden in the new house you bought. 10+ years later she finds your heels collection. You come clean, she divorces you and you are broke. Broke - but at least you still got your heels.
3. During halloween, she falls down a staircase, hits her head and when waking up again, suddenly likes you to wear only heels. Her first words after recovering are "Men in heels, yes, yes, yeeeeess!!!"

Number 3 is very unlikely. You will probably end up with #2, like some people in this forum. Sad, but true.

I am still single, which causes some problems, but definitely also gets rid of many others ...  in any case: GOOD LUCK!

It does pair quite well with a skirt - that's why I initially bought a poncho, as I saw it in an advertising campaign from a German fashion brand. I've taken a couple of snaps from their current advertising video, which also features the poncho + skirt combination:

I forgot to share with you my newest additions... although bought at separate days and totally different stores, both are from Prada.

Please forgive the color-inaccuracy, both boots are black.

For those of you that follow me, I bought the left boots at the store that was recommended to me by my personal assistant from work. Originally I was looking for the Miu Miu booties (posted under "new shoes"), which I then ordered online from a different store. But while browsing the boots, I really liked the left Prada ones, so I bought them.

Today (after a not so great week at work), I took a day of vacation and drove to an outlet mall. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that the Prada boots (right) were marked down by over 50%... and with my large size (US 11), I even was lucky that they still had a pair in stock. Although I spent lots of money on shoes/boots in the past few weeks, I told myself that this is the last pair I am buying till end of year and took them with me (for those following me in the freestyling section: Yup, I went to the outlet mall with my Chloe boots, skinny tech leggings, a turtleneck shirt and a fitted duffle coat - looking at the Prada booties, the sales lady asked me whether the heels weren't too high for me, to which I replied that I am quite used to such heights. I have definitely reached the point where buying shoes in a store - no matter which type - has just become business as usual. Probably also the way I was dressed made it easier of course).

@mtnsofheels: Thanks for the note, this is quite a relief for me. I guess there would even be better suited guys for that coat, e.g. thinner than I am, maybe with hair that is not yet that gray, etc. -- but then again, I now do have the confidence to wear something like this, which is one of the most important things about freestyling.

@BelleDeMer: Thanks for the compliments about the awesome coat. True, the price *is* steep, but then again, these are the types of things that come, are here for a single season, and are sold out very quickly, not coming back. Then again, on a more deeper level than just the superficial fashion-thingy, I just discussed with a friend today that at the (managerial) level I am currently at the company, I wonder whether the additional discretionary income is worth all the things that I am giving up (not much time left e.g. on the weekends, not much time to visit or do something with friends, etc.), and the things that I now see that are just on that managerial level that make me stay awake in the night (discussions about people getting fired, etc.). We both agreed that as much as the material things are nice, you shouldn't lose yourself in the process of becoming "one of the managers" or earning big bucks. It's just not worth it.

I know that this doesn't help you much, but when you see someone running around in a similar coat, just think of the fact that the person wearing it might just have these material things to enjoy life. That doesn't have to be bad, but if I could exchange any of the things that I have bought against e.g. a meaningful relationship, I wouldn't even have considered buying it.

I contacted the teacher and she replied today that she is not available anymore in October, but that I may send her possible dates in November for a personal training which lasts 1 1/2 hours (priced at 160 EUR = 180 USD). Her normal classes are priced at around half that price (but you have a group of people), so it's not too bad in terms of pricing, as she has to rent a studio space in a dance studio where you have enough room. 

She also replied that she has had a number of men visiting her classes for various reasons (she didn't go into detail), so it's not a big deal to her.

I just sent her a number of dates in November - I will let you know how this went.

Thanks for all of your replies guys!

Couple of answers: True, a pair which is so expensive should last much longer, on the other hand even IF Ermanno Scervino would replace me the money, I wouldn't be able to get this pair again, as I bought it two years ago. I haven't walked extensively in those boots, but - judging from what all of you are describing in terms of weight shift - I did indeed walk wrongly in those boots. Of course I first put down the heel, and then the toe, but I don't do it much different to putting down heel-toe compared to walking in sneakers when it comes to shifting my weight. Once the heel hits the ground, my weight shift starts. This seemed to work for all of my other (lower) heels, but that's what probably killed these (high) heels, not how they are made -- very much to my dismay.

Don't laugh at me, but I am actually considering taking a personal "high heel trainer" lesson. They offer classes for women around where I live, and they also seem to offer personal lessons (but didn't state the price on their website), so it might help me to have someone take a look how I walk and give me some tips. This way, I may even become a totally stiletto fan (which I haven't walked in outside of my home so far. I liked the Ermanno Scervino boots very much as they were no stilettos, but also no thick block heels - just something in the middle).

Regarding my cobbler: Well, I left the boots with him. I know that he has strong opinions about "how bad" everyone nowadays produces shoes, and that "quality has gone down dramatically" in the last years, etc. etc., but despite all of what he says, he also makes tailor made boots (I got two pairs of him), and he has become a good friend in the recent years. Probably also because I am one of his best customers .... anyway.... I told him that these are my absolute favorite boots, and that he really, really needs to restore them back to their original shape. He promised me to do his very best, and I am certain that he will invest extra time in getting the heel attached as best as humanly possible. For any other cobbler, I would just be "yet another customer" - and probably even a strange guy wanting to get "his" heels restored... I am probably going to drive down to my cobbler in 2 - 3 weeks from now and will let you know the outcome then.

The fur vest is really nice... oh well... *sigh*... too many nice things this season. I totally like the 70s, so I've been buying lots of flared pants / jeans, but then again, there are many things I've been hunting for in the previous years that suddenly appeared this season (like the Esprit crepe blouses that fit me and don't have any bust darts - bought 3 in black and 3 in white... or the Palazzo pants from Strenesse, the Ponchos and Fedora hats...)...

You nearly buying the Belstaff turtleneck - I can only say: Great minds think alike . If you would like another inspiration: Get a Poncho and a Fedora hat. These are totally in this season. Take a look at the video from Tom Tailor - at 0:23 you can see her outfit with a turtleneck poncho and the Fedora hat (and nice heels, but probably unusable if bought from Tom Tailor quality-wise). I tried to get the Poncho from Tom Tailor (even mailed the headquarter), but exactly the poncho from the video will NOT be produced. I now bought this one from Blonde No. 8...

... which is totally soft and really nice. I can wholeheartedly recommend it. I bought mine from Amazon (in XL), but it was the last one. If you know a store that carries that brand in Berlin, you might wanna give it a try. The matching Fedora hat I got from Luisaviaroma (size L equals 59 cm head circumference).

Speaking of shopping... as I noticed that I start losing the overview of what I already own, I got myself one of those tiny tablets and put (nearly) all of my stuff that I bought (at least the ones that I bought online where I still got pictures) onto the tablet, which I can now carry when I go shopping, or if I want to put together an outfit. As an example, this is the first 1/5th of my sweater / knitwear page, sorted by color (starting with black):

The "Hallhuber card" is credit card size, pictured here just for size comparison reasons.

Hmm... thanks for your answers so far. The "heel to toe" answer doesn't come unexpected, anything different would look quite bizarre

BUT: You can walk heel-to-toe without actually putting much weight on the heel (similar to walking on your toes only), so the "heel-to" part is only for show, the weight actually pretty much only resides on the ball of the foot, which is then the "toe" part. Imagine walking in one of Zanotti's heel-less boots - this is the way you would have to balance your weight.

My question therefore is: If you walk in (extremely high) high heels, do you put the weight only on the toe / ball of foot, so the heel as such pretty much doesn't have to bear much of your body weight?

This is how it is described in many online sites on "how to wear high heels" (especially the stiletto ones), so I just wonder whether there is a big difference between how you balance your weight when walking in 2 inch block heels vs. 4" stiletto ones...

Hi everyone,

you will probably laugh at me for asking this question, but I am serious. This question came up when I had a discussion with my cobbler on heels and how they are produced, especially the high heels (> 12 cm / 4.7 in).

So... let me start at the beginning. Two years ago, I ordered a pair of Ermanno Scervino heels priced at a little over 900 Euros (1.000 USD), so not necessarily "cheap" boots. I already liked how they looked on the picture, but when they arrived, I offcially declared them my most beloved pair - they fit like they were made for me, are easy to walk in (because of the hidden platform), have a beautiful leather, I constantly get compliments on them... I digress. They are my MOST favorite pair.

During the Vogue Fashion Night three weeks ago, I considered this night the right moment to put on my favorite pair of boots again, walking around Düsseldorf, probably not more than 800 meters (0.5 miles) or so. While walking, I suddenly discovered that the right heel was kind of "wobbly". While trying on different shoes in a store, I looked at the boot and discovered that the right heel had become lose at the rear of the boot, shown with an arrow here (didn't take a picture, sorry):

I immediately bagged this pair and put on shoes that I bought in the store. This week, I went to my cobbler (who really is a genius when it comes to modifying and repairing shoes), but even he couldn't provide me with much hope. He said:

"First, the heel on these boots has just been nailed / glued onto the boot, not screwed. Considering the height of the boot, the attachment therefore is not strong enough. It will be very difficult to fix this, as there is no way to attach the heel in a way that will be strong enough that this doesn't happen again soon. I can try to put in a screw, but even then the whole boot is not built in a way that it will support it. The heel & screw may hold, but the leather may break. It's always the weakest part that breaks first. The boots they produce nowadays are not built for walking long distance, but rather the typical 'red carpet' situation where you take mini steps, are extra cautious and don't walk long distances. That's what these boots are for. If you wanted to build them with enough support so you could walk miles and miles in it, you would have to use totally different materials which could easily double or triple the price of the boot."

Okay, that for me already was a bummer. But then he added:

"So... how did you walk in these heels? Heel first and then ball of the foot? Or basically ball of the foot at the same time as the heel? -- these types of heels must be walked by placing your main weight onto the ball of the foot first, so not placing your weight onto the heel first, otherwise the heel will break sooner or later"

Next bummer for me. I am now at 140+ pairs of shoes but my cobbler basically told me that I am walking wrong in heels. I always thought I would walk "right" in heels.

Just like any shoe,

• I place e.g. the right heel first,
• then put weight on the right heel and in a (in a lack of a better word) rolling motion, place down the ball of the right foot,
• then shift weight from the right heel to the right ball,
• put up the left shoe
• and then put weight onto the left heel, repeating the above steps, just for the left.

According to my cobbler, this works with thicker block heels that aren't too high, but with high heels, this is most likely a guarantee to damage the heel at some point in time. As I remember funny youtube videos where girls walk in heels the first time, they always place down the full shoe (heel + ball of foot) at the same time (taking mini steps), which looks as if they cannot walk in heels.

So... do I need to rethink how I walk in my high heels ? -- please do not laugh at me, I never gave a thought to how I walk till this happened, and I am quite sad at the moment that I am probably about to lose my favorite pair...

Chapeau! - I like that look very much. Since the start of the ESPRIT #ImPerfect campaign (at least in Germany), I have been thinking about a fur vest as well, but ended up buying the H&M fur jacket that they currently sell. So I am completely with you on the fur part.

When temperatures drop a little more, I would exchange the blazer against a heavy knit sweater or a knitted turtleneck sweater (like the one from my clothing stash from Belstaff) that is also longer overall - I think this would improve the overall look.

Do you walk in these heels long distances in Berlin or are these more the type of going-out-to-a-club heels?

I like that my feet look much smaller in heels. Quite funny story: When I was buying my Chloé boots (heels) the other day, I went into the store wearing my Lanvin sneakers (no heel). The guy in the store looked at the Lanvin sneakers like this... , handed me the size 11 Chloé boots and said "they will never fit".

I stepped into the Chloé boots and with a small hissing sound my foot was seated nicely and comfortably in the boot. Not too small, not at all. Just my feet suddenly looked 3 sizes smaller. The guy then looked like this: ... and said "wow. Your sneakers make your feet look really large"

I guess the main difference in fashion between feminine and masculine clothing: Masculine clothing tends to make things appear bigger (shoulders in a jacket, squarish cut of jackets, feet in boots, etc.), while feminine clothing manages to make things smaller, e.g. by close fitting shirts, intelligent cuts, tailored/fitted jackets, etc. Apart from that, female fashion is much more interesting when it comes to variety. Variety of colors, materials, cuts, and sort of "available models" (e.g. consider a men's shirt vs. the variety of women's blouses).

So - do I feel feminine? I don't know. I am transgendered, but I didn't transition and you wouldn't notice if you saw me in the office. At age 40, with gray hair and much less hair than 10 years ago, I prefer a buzz-cut nowadays. Do I feel masculine if I run around with a chain saw to cut trees in the garden of my parents? Not really.

But... when I get up in the morning and feel like I would like to wear heels today, and I am able to do that (e.g. on weekends, no office work), I feel complete. It sounds weird, but dressing the way I want to provides me with expressing part of myself that would otherwise be lost. Don't know whether that's the feminine part, but once I realized that this was an integral part of me that I could act on (in public, without any problems), my life became better.

Received these beauties from Miu Miu in the mail today. I truly love the current 70's trend ...

Hi Robbie,

thanks for the article, it really is a confidence booster if not only we (in this forum) are telling the mantra that we can wear this, but that this is now also catching up as a trend in fashion in general. When I look at the designs for "gender-neutral" clothing though, I think that the designers are really trying a bit too hard to make it fit to everybody, in a sense of "every body". After all, I am sewing my own clothing as a hobby, and girls just do happen to have a different body form than guys. So the one-size-fits-all approach for unisex clothing often leads to quite "rectangular" cuts, so neither guys nor girls clothing has much of a form or definition left. But it's exactly that which I like - I like my coat, jacket or shirt to be fitted, and not hang loose as if I was just in the first semester of fashion school. I also wouldn't like clothing to become totally gender-neutral at all, as a well fitting dress on a beautiful girl is as nice as a good painting to look at.

So... I see this as a first step. Maybe the first step for the general public to become more accepting is to move into the "neutral", boxy-cut territory before moving into more (currently) feminine looking things.

anyway - thanks for sharing!

I like the second outfit very much (geez... you are more bold than I am wearing those pumps, however I also haven't found a pair yet that I really liked and that would fit great), simply because the contrast of the leather vs. the suede looks very nice. However you should consider a different shirt that becomes wider towards the bottom. Yes, I know, difficult to find for men, but it would look better. Cool hat by the way... I just recently bought my first Fedora hat :-)

I would probably buy those:

... available at Sarenza France for 59,99 (Search for XTI Emilie-28575)...

@csizma: The boots would be a bit too pointed for me, but overall they fit you great - it's hard to find overknees that fit well!

@everyone:

The Prada boots arrived on Thursday, one day earlier than the tracking stated.... and they fit great - not too large, not too small, just right. Still, they are more difficult to walk in than the stiletto taupe suede boots I already got, as the platform is lower. Needs some more exercise :-)

Maybe to give you an insight as to why I am ordering boots that are 7,200 kilometers (4474 miles) away from me and dearly pay customs... I had seen a picture of Olivia Palermo in a blog wearing black leather leggings plus taupe colored high heel suede booties from Christian Louboutin (left picture) and immediately liked the outfit. When I (at that time) searched for taupe colored booties with a platform, the only ones that I could find were the ones that are the outmost left out of the three pictured here, from a noname brand. Very difficult to walk in, not a stellar quality. Some time later, I found some boots from Giampaolo Viozzi, an Italian designer shoe brand with a quite solid quality that looked pretty much like the ones Olivia was wearing - but I have never had the guts to wear them so far, even though they are really nice (because of the stiletto heel). So... when I saw the Prada boots, I immediately fell in love with them as they are the same color, but due to the heel make it easier for me to wear them.

 Picture on the left: Olivia Palermo, picture to the right: noname shoes (left), Giampaolo Viozzi (middle, via Luisaviaroma), Prada (right, via Saks NY)

Once I wear them, I will share the outfit in the freestyling section.

New skirt and new top. Actually, the black top I am wearing was a skirt before... let me explain: I ordered the skirt and liked the material quite a lot (it's satin-like, but without too much shine), so I thought "do they also have a matching top?" - they didn't. So I ordered the largest size skirt, took it apart, and sewed a top from it (which nobody recognizes ).

Second outfit, more of a "don't think too much about the outfit, just put it on and head out" type of style:

The boots are the ones that I also posted in the new boots thread.