Shyheels

I would suspect the latter. See and be seen, and change into something manageable

Sounds like an interesting outing to say the least. I was never interested in skirts in the least, but a woman I know who’s into heels, and knows I like them too, convinced me to give one a try, suggesting I go for a pencil skirt - her own particular favourite. I really don’t care for mini skirts so that was never going to be an option, but I have always liked the look of longer skirts. I bought a midi pencil skirt and loved it. I was really surprised at how natural and comfortable it felt. i wore it while doing some landscape photography very early one morning a few weeks ago and encountered a woman photographer. She came up and started chatting, very naturally, and never mention the skirt or gave any sort of double take. We chatted for about twenty minutes about photography and the light - it was a great morning to be out there - and she went on her way. Completely natural encounter. There’s no way she couldn’t have noticed I was wearing a skirt. She was clearly open minded about such things, while I felt comfortable wearing the midi skirt and knew - or felt - I didn’t look bad in it.

I know what you mean. I always find it somewhat amusing, yet vaguely disturbing, when I read articles denouncing heels, or where some intrepid male journalist has spent a day in heels and is writing an expose, and where women - who don’t seem to wear heels themselves - offer up such quotes as “now you see what we put up with for you”. But none of the women I know who wear actually wear and love heels wear them to impress or attract men - far from it. They wear them for the aesthetics and their own emotional satisfaction. Same as I would, and do. And yes, 12cm stilettos are indeed elegant but very, very few people can master the art of walking elegantly in them. I’ve yet to see any of that height being worn out and about. Four inches or 10cm seems to be the practical maximum.

Yes it would be nice to have more threads on fashion, topical news, etc I guess that’s up to all of us. Build it and they will come ,,, hopefully

But at least the colours are nicer. It’s not so bad with running shorts and tops - those they make in larger sizes

Yes HHP is unique, I think. Very much a fashion oriented site about high heels, but with mainly male members

I too avoid the self check out aisles - I don’t see why I should be the store’s unpaid cashier and wish to make my own protest against this march towards a soulless world we we interact only with machines and people are dine out of jobs. As well, I dislike these self check outs for the reasons you name - their tedious inefficiency and time wasting hassles.

Yes, Italian Heels is very good. I have two pair of their Tina knee boots. Nice quality and classic styling

Wow! That must have been fun indeed. And very nice boots too. I love the aesthetics of 12cm stilettos. Especially in boots. They are the perfect height for stilettos. Any higher seems to ruins the lines - at least for me - but 12 is truly elegant. Well done for lasting the day. I can’t. My calf muscles seize up in knots when I wear my 12cm stiletto knee boots. I’m sure it’s a matter of practicing. It’s just that whenever I wear heels I always seem to reach for my 8cm block heel boots first. Well done on a day in stilettos! And 12cm to boot (so to speak!)

I decided to get myself a new pair of trainers and return to running as a means of getting/staying fit. And so I went shopping, checking out all the online sports shops and running-shoe shops with their vast ranges of styles. Every time I saw a shoe whose colour I liked - soft pastels or some interesting shade of colour - they were invariably women’s, with sizes running inky up to a UK8, far too small for me. I looked through hundreds of pairs. The mens were always black, dark blue, dark grey or else some hideous neon shade. Nothing subtle, nothing soft, no pastels, no pale blues or violets - not that such shoes were not made, only that they were not made in anything larger than size eight. Such colours or shades are perceived as feminine. It was infuriating. I’m sure I can’t be the only male who wants an expanded colour palette, just as I am sure there are plenty of women who have feet larger than size eight. And at least some of those must wish they could buy heels and/or trainers in nicer, more interesting colours. How nice it woukd be for manufacturers to show a bit of initiative and stir out of their ruts.

Nice that the conversation could be so matter of fact, not strained.

I wouldn’t say you love of high heeled boots is unique - plenty of people like stiletto boots. I’m glad to hear you are giving them another shot and by the sounds of things, enjoying it. I am quite fond of high heeled boots myself, although my collection is fairly modest - about seven pair or so, but very nice ones. At any rate, welcome to the forum

Sounds like an interesting time. Was the talk purely about heels and the challenge of wearing them, or did they offer views on men wearing heels. They obviously were comfortable with talking to you and would seem to be supportive.

You look fine. I share your reluctance to take photos of myself but let me reassure you, you look good and the photos are good. I also share your reluctance to go out in the evenings. As a photographer I am very, very keen on early morning, pre-dawn light but I almost never do evening light or sunsets. By then I am comfortably ensconced and not wanting to go anywhere. It’s why I much prefer going out to lunch to going out to dinner. Dinner, I’m home. But I love going out to lunch!

Very nice - a nice shade of red too. You’re miles ahead of me. I’ve not practiced nearly enough in my 120 stilettos to walk anywhere or last three hours in them.

It doesn’t sound to me like anyone said or thought your footwear was inappropriate, only that for reasons of their own they didn’t wear heels themselves. All of them seem to give direct physical reasons why heels didn’t work for them, not that they were somehow inappropriate for the office

I can just picture a female Italian engineer touring the site, impeccably dressed and in heels. And probably extremely competent

I had a similar experience about ten years ago when I tracked down my former room mate at college, with whom I’d been very close at one time. After graduation he’d become progressively weirder - a survivalist conspiracy theorist sort and we lost touch. Decades later I wondered what ever became of him and managed to find an email address. I wrote and we exchanged a couple of emails, fairly distant in tone. He had been seriously into rock climbing and not long after I made contact, when Alex Honnold famously free soloed El Capitan I sent him a note, recalling old times rock climbing. His wife responded - in a distant tone. I took the hint and never wrote back. Best forgotten

That is a bit weird. I think if it was me,I’d just leave it. It’s always curious to me how people start off by saying something like I’m not being judgmental and proceed to make clear they are being precisely that.

I wouldn’t say so. I think it’s fair though to mention the comments and reactions we receive. How frequently one encounters heels or tall boots will naturally depend on where you are - in my case, living on a canal, along a scruffy towpath, that will be fairly infrequently. I can’t help that. It has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with environment. @Cali seems to encounter quite a few heels in his day to day life and mentions this in this thread.

That’s a nice bit of continuity!

I was talking to some people at the boatyard this morning and heard that in a conversation the other day I was described as the guy in the green boat who always wears tall boots. I’m getting known …

I see the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto is putting in an exhibition in the history and culture if the cowboy boot. https://batashoemuseum.ca/rough-and-ready/

It needn’t have been anything physical, like her fitness level or body shape, nor about her age. It was probably just a look that didn’t suit her. That happens. Maybe it was something that jarred just your personal aesthetic, or perhaps it would have jarred lots of people. The point is, it’s no good projecting that into yourself. There’s no way you can make such comparisons. I certainly don’t think you’re delusional, or if you are then I happen to share the same delusion as I think you look quite presentable in heels, always thoughtfully put together - and I say that as someone whose own personal tastes do not run to sandals or pumps. telling someone they are delusional in terms of their style or appearance and its affect on others is undermining and cruel. And irrelevant as the only opinion that matters in this situation is you. If you like the way you look, or how it makes you feel that’s what matters. And the same with the woman in the boots and shorts. If that look expresses what she feels about herself or wants to say, that’s what matters.

Yes those social norms are strangling - and they serve no useful purpose. Like you, I look pretty good in boots and feel even better because I am expressing myself.