Shyheels

True - an actual measured 4” heel in a size 5 would be considerably steeper than an actual measured 4” heel is a size 12, but then you’d be buying and talking about completely different style of shoes, with differed billed heel heights. The variations in heel heights according to size can be surprising. I was surprised to see that according to the chart on the Italian Heels website my 120mm stilettos (official billed height) were actually 147mm in my size. That’s a full inch variation. But it keeps the styling and proportions consistent with the 120mm in size 38 on which the design is based

Shoe size doesn’t make any difference in terms of the angle of your foot - at least not with the better makes of shoes and boots. When they market a model of shoe as having, say, 4” heels, that will be the base line height for a base line size, say, a size 6. As the sizes go up or down the physical height of the heel will vary so that the lines and proportions are identical right across the range of heights. A size 7 would have a 4.2” heel and a size 8 maybe 4.4” but they would still be sold as 4” heels as that is the standard for that particular line. A size 5 might have a 3.8” heel but would be sold as a 4” heel. It’s all about consistency and keeping the same proportions. Italian heels even has a chart on their website giving the exact heel heights for 100mm and 120mm heels each shoe size. I have a pair of their 120mm stiletto boots. In my size the heels are actually 147mm to keep the correct proportions. I think in their case the heel heights are based in a size 38 as standard. Other makers do the same. So having a bigger size does not change anything. Neither does having a smaller size. They keep all the proportions and angles the same

For me 3” to 3.5” is very “unnoticeable”, especially in chunky heeled boots

I don’t usually have that problem. I’m snappy on the comeback - it seems to be a family trait - but it’s not always a great thing.

My intuitive comeback line to a crack like “Only in America” would be -“Isn’t it wonderful.”

I guess, to be blunt, my thinking is: who cares? This guy, whoever he is, has his opinions and the poor manners to make what sounds like gratuitous and disparaging remarks. He's not worth your time.

I too find that when wearing my chunky heeled boots I can completely forget I am in heels. Not so much with stilettos since I do not wear them so much, but with 3-4” block heeled boots I wear them without thinking. I'm nearly always in knee boots of some sort - either heeled or not heeled - and it has become my regular look in the eyes of my fellow boaters. The other day I was walking along the road, off to town to buy supplies, and unusually for me was wearing my hiking boots. One if my boating neighbours, who owns a van, stopped to give me a lift and said he almost didn’t recognise me without my tall boots.

Yup. I’m just shy of 67. The optometrist mentioned that I was a rarity. I could still get by without them - and generally do. But for small print in printed books (not Kindle) they do make reading easier. If I didn’t have to do a lot of reading for my work I would not need them at all. It feels weird to wear them and I seldom do i too though glaucoma was an eye pressure disease. I know it can be serious. Glad yours sounds straightforward

Very rarely. And sunglasses are styled differently than reading glasses. I cannot remember the last time I wore sunglasses

Messing around with lasers and eyes gives me the willies. I am very glad that mine are in basically good health, just a bit blurry for close work like reading. I had a hell of a time picking out frames as I simply did not like seeing myself in glasses. It just looked so odd, so not like me - much stranger, in fact, than the first time I saw myself in stilettos!

I hope all goes well. I just paid a long overdue visit to the optometrist myself - having always had razor sharp 20/10 vision I’ve been in denial for years that it just wasn’t so anymore. Finally I had to take the plunge and now I have reading glasses. Thankfully the eyes in general were in good nick.

Nice that you and your wife and enjoy your heels together! Were you on holiday in Texas? I see your profile says you’re from Norway.

I wear skinny jeans because I like to wear my knee and OTK boots a lot and if you’re wearing boots over jeans, skinny is best. On the other hand on occasions I have to wear my hiking/mountaineering boots and with skinny jeans they make my feet look enormous

Lambeth Bridge in London has pineapple decorations on top of its pillars, a 17th century celebration of this exotic fruit which English horticulturalists had managed to grow in a greenhouse in Lambeth

Thanks. I’m going to give that a try. I got a few drops of olive oil on my jeans as well, which also did not come out in the wash.

Metal has been used for adornment for thousands of years, since the dawn of the Bronze Age. You can read too much into it though. The simple fact is that if you are going to wear these sorts of adornments there are just so many possibilities in how you can do that. While you can pin a brooch onto a cloak, anything else has to be wrap-around - a ring, a bracelet, a crown, a necklace. Such things were worn mainly as symbols of rank or importance, displays of wealth, not enslavement. so called cave men never chained women to cave walls. For starters, they did not have metal. There’s a reason it is called the Stone Age. Nor is there much, if any, knowledge of social structures in Paleolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic societies although advances in technology have been opening up archaeology is ways that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, especially with regards to the Neolithic. What evidence we do have suggests women could be in positions of power. Im surprised by the negativity about ankle chains. Certainly today. in Double Indemnity (1944) Phyllis, the femme fatale, wore one and while it caught the eye and interest of insurance salesman Walter Neff, there was nothing overt about it. Certainly it passed the Hays Production Code at the time.

That would do it! Or white trousers and Hawaiian shirt.

I don’t understand the torn jeans thing. The holes in them would just annoy me constantly. Living in a canal boat one dresses more for practicality than style. There is also a very definite boho vibe among water dwellers, which suits me fine.

Yes material failure seems a good bet. And I take your point regarding the repair. Ive got a bit of a repair/cleaning issue. I was wearing some nice dark grey nubuck suede OTK boots while cooking and spilled a couple drops of olive oil on the top of the shaft. Not hugely noticeable to be sure but I want the marks gone. Naturally it would have to be the suede boots … Yes material failure seems a good bet. And I take your point regarding the repair. Ive got a bit of a repair/cleaning issue. I was wearing some nice dark grey nubuck suede OTK boots while cooking and spilled a couple drops of olive oil on the top of the shaft. Not hugely noticeable to be sure but I want the marks gone. Naturally it would have to be the suede boots …

Yes that would do it. Find the right shade of denim and a shirt that would work with the shoes

I like the colour and design. You’d need to pair it with the right, summery, attire

That’s a bad development. Unfortunately mass produced footwear, heeled or no, is designed for very limited life. I had a pair of so called hiking boots once from a popular brand and they lasted about ten miles. When I complained that these hiking boots had lasted for just ten miles, I was to.d - by someone with a straight face - that they were not designed for such “extreme” activity.

I ordered myself another two pair of skinny jeans yesterday, to wear with my knee and OTK boots. I noticed my comment on the post now has over 130 likes and several supportive comments as well and still only the one polite disagreement. It's encouraging.

There’s a men’s fashion Instagram account that keeps popping up in my feed and it’s rather interesting. Yesterday they had a post about men’s fashions becoming more feminine - specifically mentioning skinny jeans. The chap whose account it’s, and who deals in bespoke suits, was very much against this. I posted a comment saying that I thought it was time to lighten up, allow men the same degree of freedom, fun and theatricality women took for granted. I was pleasantly surprised to have 75 (and counting) likes and only one (polite) disagreement

Yes, I could see such a thing being a very brief fad - intensely interesting for a time but then stored away to gather dust