benno

I'm not trying to look down my nose at people.

Waitrose is the nearest supermarket to me. I was explaining why Whittards is in trouble. They are a Tea and coffee specialist yet the goods they offer are lower quality than Waitrose own brand which are half the price. I am happy to shop in Waitrose knowing that the food they sell is better quality... I am putting it into my body after all. Also it is worth noting that Waitrose do seem to treat staff and suppliers with a fairer hand.

I won't try to sum up the problems Woolies had, this link says it much better and with more humour than I ever could.

I have no problem with cheap shops. We rarely by any expensive clothes. Most of the clothes my girlfriend and I buy come from charity shops or Ebay. We do buy a few quality pieces to use as foundations for our wardrobe but are in no way snobbish about where we shop. Primark gets used lots for basics like underwear, tights, jackets and accessories. Neither of us earns a big wage.

Barratts never had anything I have liked until they started stocking other brands. Is it a bad thing that they lose out if they refuse to react to trends and ideas with the same speed and accuracy as Topshop or Office? If they are a shoe shop should they not be leading the way instead of rehashing other peoples designs but in poorer quality?

I have always been a follower of the shoppers mantra of 'Buy cheap buy twice'.

^^Very nice, but I am strictly an NK and CL girl!

Why just NK and CL? There are so many other great designers. Louboutin set a trend but has gone way off the boil recently.

I don't think it's a particularly bad thing that some of the least interesting shops on the High Streets of England are closing down. Woolies was always a last resort. I haven't bought anything in there that was cheaper or different than anywhere else. Barratts has always sold cheap and pretty tacky shoes. Since the likes of Office opened up selling far superior fashion focussed shoes at similar prices they were always gonna suffer. Faith used to be major player on the high streets. I found that in the last 5 years the quality of design has fallen and the shoes are copies of other high street shops whereas they used to be copied directly from the catwalks. It's possible that as brands that delivered high quality goods realised that its possible to hike up the prices, by making things seem more covetable, that cheaper brands raise their prices and suddenly they are too expensive. High Street shoes used to be a max of £50 but now nothing decent is less than £60-80. I tend to wait for the Kurt Geiger sales and swoop in and buy a few pairs or buy something nice off Ebay. Whittards... An over priced retailer of tea and coffee that is not as good quality as the stuff in Waitrose. They also sell twee china that my Nan wouldn't even want. I do feel sorry for the people that lost their jobs, but don't mourn the loss of the shops.

I've been buying tons of shoes. Started buying and selling on Ebay to make profit. £400 profit on the 1st batch of shoes. All are UK 7 or 8 as they sell to women and men so twice the bidders. Any that are 'must haves' get kept and any that I kinda like I just wear (carefully) until I'm bored and sell them. I will take some photos and post them up soon. Just bought some Leatherworks classic lace up boots in black leather with 5.5 inch heels. They are so D R E A M Y. Regards, Ben

I still don't see how driving in any kind of heels is safe unless the car has been converted to hand controls.

Attached are my favourite Brian Atwood's from his current collection. I love the fold down pop stud boots! Annoyingly all the shoes in the photos are size 40 which is my size. Also worth looking at Rupert Sanderson. Some of his shoes are so covetable. See the attached black and white boots. I'd even break my 'no zips ever' policy for them. It all makes me want to go to college to design shoes.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I will give him a ring and go and see him next week. Thanks again, Ben

Ebay, Ebay, Ebay. Just type in Fully Fashioned.

I also found a site called ho-hose

Nicholas Kirkwood is a great new designer. A friend's girlfriend was wearing some a couple of weeks ago. The design and craftsmanship is stunning (to me).

Is Achilles called 'The Craftsman' and in Well St? I have loads of friends that live about 2 minutes from Well St. I'm in London next week. I'll pop in and give him the business. Thanks, Ben

Hi Beegirl, You sound great! Think of it as a hobby rather than a fetish and it might be easier to get along with. I've known people with far more destructive and downright nasty fetishes. My girlfriend and I have the same size feet and that wasn't by accident. Now we share shoes and have quite a few matching pairs. It's a strange, strange world and loving shoes is just one of the better slices of the cake. Good luck, Ben

Hey guys, Stripper heels to me are anything with the sole and heel all as one piece of moulded plastic. I think they were originally made by Pleaser. Everyone else copied them, from high street sell out shops right through to Chanel. I have worn a pair to fancy dress that were the classic 6 inch with a 1.5 inch platform. Really really comfortable and deeply padded with a suede footbed. I own less comfy trainers! Roz, I'd say all the shoes apart from the Tribs are really stripper! Thanks, Ben ps. the last 2 of Roz's list are verging into Pub comedy Tranny miming Shirley Bassey hits. pps. The attached Giambatista Valli are high class 'stripper inspired'. They live in a different world and they aren't squirted out of a plastic machine.

Hi Guys, I have just bought some boots from Leatherworks. They are as the attached Photo but in black leather. They fit like a dream on my feet but the calfs are too big making them a bit baggy. The whole point (to me that is) of these boots is that they should be tight around the leg. I was hoping to get them made tighter. There is a seam up the back of the boots. Could they be unstitched and cut and then sewn up? The only thing I want to avoid is zips. I hate zips on boots. I've looked at a few old posts and seen the name Achilles mentioned. Does he still exist and if so would he be able to do something like that? Hope everyone is doing well. Cheers, Ben

Try ioffer.com for some 'replicas' just type in Tribute Too and some should appear. Check out the seller feedback before buying. Thanks, Ben

I have it on my HD.

Hi Vector, If you have seen worse then please post them in this thread. Regards, Ben

They are so lovely! Not jealous, just envious. Promise you'll wear them well! Regards, Ben

Well done... Congratulations Marcus! I think you should go out and buy yourself some gorgeous shoes as a reward for all the hard work. Warmest regards, Ben

Sod the nice legs... It would take a V8 Epilady and some nice drugs to make them work.

I was answering directly to the Pot calling the kettle black comment!!!!

You creepily fiddle about with badly dressed computer lesbians in your spare time, yet have the cheek to lecture me on life.

Second Life offers the chance to interact and learn from other characters controlled by real people.

A.Wells... I see you edited your post to remove the part accusing me of double standards. Thankyou.

I'm of the heterosexual persuasion, but am fascinated by clothing and what it can do to our emotions. I have gone shopping while wearing a skirt and high-heel boots, exactly 5 times. It felt good and I had no negative feedback, but I've deceided to restrict myself to shoes. Really sexy shoes. I like pumps and high-heel clogs. Spike-heeled boots that reach the knee are cool, too. I have religious faith, but feel that what I am doing is part of life's experience.

Jesus wore sandals and a dress.

I say go for it.

I would have thought that as long as your not interested in passing off as a woman and are sexually straight, then no monotheistic religion in the world would have any cause to complain.

Regards,

Ben

HH,

Oh, he's not sour. You just have to get used to his humo"U"r is all...

One CAN learn a lot about style from him, though.

Thank you Scot.

I agree with kneehigh's comments - Ben, I have seen several replies from you of this type in my short time here and have to ask, what made you so sour?

The alleged sourness came from seeing so many awful photos and the masses screaming 'great look' when they clearly looked anything but.

I guess some of my humour gets lost via the internet's faceless typed landscape.

You sound like the potty mouthed fashion police over at The Fashion Spot who just screamed "eww" at the thought of men in heels. Such criticism is useless and wont help any of the men here improve their appearance.

How about something instructive and educational instead of something so hollow and self-righteous?

edit: not trying to sound contentious, just wondering. It is after all, hhplace...not exactly a mecca of creative style wizards (myself included).

I will try to be more constructive in future, but I wear heels and try my best to encourage other to do the same with some dignity and not ending up looking like a car crash waiting to be beaten up by idiots that don't see it as a right to wear what you like. If the whole outfits gels then the wearer looks like they know how to dress instead of looking like a bloke with a shoe fetish. As such they will probably get away with their teeth intact.

I hope everyone understands.

Thanks,

Ben

Submit your entries. Here's 5 to start you off. The winner receives the worst pair of shoes known to mankind, a box of matches and some petrol. Good luck, Ben

I have read that they are a powerful signal for those that fetishise the vagina and the penis, in one little cutout. All contained within the world's favourite fetish... The high heeled shoe.

Alliteration is a god given skill.