benno

W giraffe, Do you have the actual shoes in your possession? I'm intrigued as to how they look. Can we have some pics?

Super congratulations for the step into the real world. My 1st real heeling was to leave the house and go to London for the weekend and the only shoes I took were 3.5 inch skinny cuban heeled brogue boots. I was the same as you. Just go out and wear the bloddy things. Nothing happened apart from people loving my shoes and bravery. Re the party: I think it's definitely public if it's a venue where you will meet people that you have never met before.

My original point was along the lines of 'do something that's not 30 years out of date and actually shock people for the better'. Maybe Madonna needs to just piss off if this is the best she can do.

We have loads and we share them. Same size feet is a wonderful thing.

Amanda, you get post of the day!

I agree but it needs to get radical. Remember how shocking Annie Lennox was in her 'ginger hair and a suit' prime? There wasn't anything really subvurtive in the Madonna video... Just over the top dancing, probably gay, men. People will watch it and think the men are just camping up a stereotype. Imagine for a minute that Madonna was with a very cute straight guy and she dresses him up in edgy but still masculine clothes and then slips a pair of amazing shoes onto him and takes him off on an adventure into another world.

Waisted Giraffe, Please let us know how the shoes look in real life. The photos on Milanoo are almost all taken/stolen from designer sites like Net a Porter. I'd be really intersted to see the actual shoes you received in comparison to the real Giuseppe Zanottis. Thanks, Ben

Yep, it's not new. I just wish someone would do something more boundary pushing and inspiring. If Madonna or Kylie or any of the new edgy ones did something shocking but visually perfect with men vaguely heterosexual it could open some amazing doors.

When done well, platforms are amazing. Have you seen the upcoming wedges from Zanotti. Looks like heels are gonna get stupid high. Love it!

Jeff, Can you use a drill and a screwdriver? If yes then just buy a few ready made towel rails, as in the 1st photo, and screw them to a wall. It looks great to have all your shoes on the wall and you can arrange them in colour order and it looks pretty. I'll try to stick a photo up but I need to tidy the area up as my girlfriend has just made a big mess packing for a hen night in Ibiza!!!

They are from Aldo (closed toe version is called Fawson) 2 or 3 years ago. Had a pair for about 8 minutes. Neither my girlfriend or I could wear them for more than 10 seconds without being crippled. The length was fine but they were toe crushers, get a size up and they would fall off. Returned them back to the shop the next day. Shame as they were lovely to look at. I'm sure other companies sold them as they were made in Brazil and I guess that lots of different Brands buy them at trade shows and put their own label in them.

I came up with something similar for our hallway. I bought a couple of lengths of wood, some towel rack ends and middle supports and some metal bars. Total cost was about £12 and it stores 30 pairs plus the ones on the floor at the bottom. Only works with heels higher than 4 inches though, but this could be sorted by moving the bars closer to the wall.

Also factor in the French Revolution when it was seen as morally wrong to be upper class. Also the many wars and industrial revolutions made it a necessity for most men to be ready for action and high heels are not really ideal for factories or war. Nothing happens overnight. We are in a great new age where it's slowly strarting to filter down that we can do as we please and wear what we wish. It's gonna get better. It's how we work as 'team humanity' (I hope).

Dr Shoe wrote:

The question I would ask though is "Do men like wearing heels?".

Judging by the way that heels for men is slow to catch on I'm guessing that the answer for all but a tiny minority of men is a resounding "no!".

I'm not so sure. I think many men who would love to try heels are too scared of the reactions that would occur if they did. I have never seen a man try on heels and not think it was interesting. Most of them have even done a little twirl and looked like they were really enjoying it. When platforms for men were all the rage in the 70s men wore them to death.

I once read about a test done on little kids. Boys and girls were all given the same dressing up box and in almost all cases they went straight for the most garish and outlandish items.

They were too young to fully grasp terms like fetish, gender and wrong, so what was going on in their heads?

Brilliant. Jeffrey Campbell must have been a fan.

Until Tom Hanks shows up on the red carpet in Louboutins LOVE it!

Wedges are amazing. When properly executed they can be devastating. I love the shapes they can create. There's so much room for playful design. There are some situations where only a wedge will do.

Nothing special. There's so many amazing simple black shoes available.

Go for it. I love Berlin. You could wear heels at 4am on the subway and no one would trouble you. Wish the rest of the world was as relaxed as Berlin.

Madonna has made men wearing heels into something trite and obvious. Awful song, awful video, fierce gay men being fierce and gay... wow! How has she done this?

I can't find the other rockers & runway thread so I'll plonk this here for the time being. http://www.examiner.com/article/marcel-ostertag-dons-heels-to-show-at-mercedes-benz-fashion-week

Not platforms. I felt fine driving in them. I just don't see why it's worth the risk of wearing potentially killer heels (pun intended) when you can put on some flat shoes.

I have driven in heels, hence my attitude. I can't think of any situation where it would be better to be wearing heels rather than flats..

The test didn't really factor in real world sudden accidents. Regardless of what they say it's always going to be safer to be wearing flat soled grippy shoes. You have a larger surface area to use. I would not drive wearing heels. Ever.

I'm in complete agreement with Kneehighs. It's not set in stone and it's changing. Lady Gaga and others are slowly starting to make people realise that one can dress as one pleases. We are in constant transition and life now is as advanced as it has ever been. We are lucky that we can even talk about this as adults on a public forum and meet others that share our ideas.