Shyheels

I don’t watch the Olympics at all. I used to love them when I was a kid - and believed in all the nonsense. I’ve not watched any of them since about 1984. It’s nice to think that they had some men in heels for the opening ceremony though.

You can never have too many Asian stalls at a farmers market - aside from the fact that Asian is an umbrella term taking in a kaleidoscopic sweep of cultures. Vietnamese food will be vastly different from Korean or Japanese or Indonesian or Thai. And of course the dozens of varieties of Chinese, and the even greater variety of Indian and Sri Lankan dishes and styles. And Malaysian. I love a plate of nasi lemak. Whoever is sorting out your farmers market is an idiot. I agree - heels are worn for occasions these days. When I passed through London on Ascot Day a few weeks back I saw loads of heels everywhere, worn by people who were dressed to cut a dash at the races. Otherwise though, heels are fairly scarce - especially stilettos.

I’ve often thought that if we read about a South Seas island tribe with such strict taboos about styles of footwear we’d smile and find it quaint - how curious that in our own society we regard our taboos as though they had the force of natural law, something encoded in our chromosomes. Women wear heels, men do not.

I’ve been thinking of getting one. It would be handy as I wear boots all the time and my favourite pair are really thought to get off - to the extent that I find myself reluctant to wear them. When they are in, they fit beautifully and are very comfortable - I’ve done 25,000 steps in a day in them with no troubles whatsoever. Getting them off at the end of the day is another matter

Yes, but quite a few of my boots are pull-on styles and while they fit beautifully around the foot, they can be really hard to remove if your feet swell

I do a lot of walking - nearly always in tall boots, but not always in heels.

Yes it was deeply unpleasant - aside from exhausting. I’d only just gotten over another dose of Covid and promptly suffered a relapse.

Mine are definitely bigger in the afternoon. I recently had an assignment where I was out and about or on my feet literally for 36 hours - getting my boots off after that, when I was finally home again, was a twenty minute job

Oh yes there’s plenty of irritating people in supermarkets - the screaming child, the clusters of people chatting and blocking the aisle, the interminable queues etc. But I like to cook and picking out things to make for the next weeks dinners is always nice - I like to cook in heels, but given the fact that my walk home is usually along muddy towpaths, I rarely shop in heels!

I rather like grocery shopping - it’s the lugging it back home that gives me pause.

That’s quite a milestone! Nearly the length of the Appalachian Trail!

Welcome! It would certainly be a challenge to be that tall and wear heels, although there’s a member here whose even taller than you!

Should be! And perhaps with enough sub-two-mile days put in, they would be worn and stretched sufficiently for them to become even three-mile or four-mile heels

Yes indeed! One of my ankle boots did that very thing a few months ago. I can only think it must have been a temporary misalignment of my left foot, because out of nowhere they started rubbing, big time. And then they stoped.I can wear them just fine once,Ore, after coming near to giving them away

I agree too - you make a good point. Walking fluidly would go a long way towards making taller heels acceptable in an office environment. That said, not many people do and fewer still would care to wear 120mm stilettos all day, but would keep those for evenings and nights out, and stick to more easily worn 100mm stilettos - assuming they were high heel lovers to start with. Others, those who wear heels grudgingly, as an obligation, will stick with lower heights and will probably be the ones casting censorious eyes at colleagues in towering stilettos - setting up the informal, unspoken rules about appropriate heel heights.

It had been at least that long since I wore a tie too. I didn't even own one until a couple of years ago when I was invited to lunch at the Ritz. And they simply do not allow gentlemen (a loosely applied term in my case) to dine unless they are wearing a tie. And so I acquired one and wore it, and lived to tell the tale. I still have it, still knotted from its single wearing, buried somewhere in my sock drawer, awaiting the net time I'm invited to the Ritz. I'm such a cosmopolitan guy ...

From what one reads in the fashion pages - and out of curiosity I made a bit of a study - four inch heels does seem to be the top of what is generally regarded as appropriate for the office, with five inches seeming to be regarded more as evening wear. Some of it, I think, is down to practicality. Four inches is much easier to wear for a long day in the city. To most women, to whom the idea of wearing heels is not a novelty, but often an obligation, four inch is a wearable, stylish ceiling - those who do not care for heels and wear them only reluctantly, will naturally keep to the two to three inch range while aficionados go for four inch - fashion height heels. Depending on their style, five inch heels may seem too racy, or they may also seem too formal - in the way that a man might wear a necktie to the office as a matter of routine, but not black tie. THat's evening wear.

As Walt Whitman said in one of his essays - Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself!

I agree with @Bubba136 Heel height had really nothing to do with my interest in wearing feminine boots - I liked the overall styling of which the heel was simply one aspect. A telling aspect, to be sure, but not the be all and end all. My first interest, the one that awakened this desire, was go-go boots which have low or at best mid height block heels. And to this day I cannot remember if the ones that caught my fancy when I was 11 or 12 had heels or not. It was the overall look that appealed to me. Once I dared myself to buy and wear tall feminine boots, I began taking more notice of heels and as I grew more comfortable in my boots and with myself began taking a dispassionate look at the styles and heights that appealed to me. For me it was always clean lines, nothing flamboyant - classical and elegant. I liked. chunky heeled ankle boots as sporty versions of the hiking boots that have been my standards since I was a geology student, way back in good old Cretaceous days. And I love single sole knee boots with stiletto heels - and aesthetically speaking, the 120mm ones. I would like to be able to wear them gracefully, but somehow never put in the time to master the art. I should.

I suppose I’d say 80 to 100 is my sweet spot

I’m afraid I simply take the easier option and go with my 3 to 3.5” chunky heeled boots - although to be fair ease is only part of the reason. I genuinely prefer my chunky heeled boots - aesthetically, speaking and in terms of my own personal style. They seem more “me” if you know what I mean. That said I really do love the lines of 120 stiletto boots and keep meaning to put in the effort to learn to wear them

I have a pair of 120mm knee boots from Italian Heels, who scale their heels according to size to keep the lines and proportions correct - so at my size (their standard is a 38) my heels are somewhat higher than 120. I love the elegant lines on boots at this height (but no higher) but don’t get nearly enough practice in them to walk well - indeed do much more than totter.

Yes, that's a good point - you don't use your stiletto as a fulcrum to lower yourself down, but as a guide. I do have good ankle flexibility - although not what it once was. And I know that certainly makes a difference when it comes to walking in heels. Mind you, I do not walk in heels as high as yours, but more generally 3 to 3.5" chunky heeled boots.

An interesting post. What exactly is it you are doing that is making such a change in your mileage? How are you coming down more gently? A change in gait? Shorter strides? I tend to wear chunky heels so wear and tear is less of a worry, but I’d like to know how to reduce wear anyway.

Yes, thank you for your kind words. Like @Bubba136 I am grateful for the civil tone that exists on this site, such a contrast to so many internet forums! I recently joined (but have never posted on) a canal boat forum whose members are astonishingly vicious and backbiting to each other and especially to any newcomers foolish enough to try to join in any conversations. It’s positively staggering and makes one appreciate all the more the genteel tones, tolerance and friendships displayed here. Long may it continue!