Shyheels

There are lines of approved thought these days and any thinking that falls outside these mob-imposed boundaries is dealt with harshly. We are living in the second Inquisition, with a faceless mob-formed Torquemada

Sounds like professional jealousy rearing it’s ugly head.

I’d love to see someone try the triple jump in stilettos - I’ll bet that would rate high, an Olympian version of Funniest Home Videos. Or weightlifting in stilettos. Can’t you just see the front row of judges scrambling out of their seats as a super heavyweight lurches towards them with 240kg nearly over his head? It would be brilliant TV

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!

I thought I'd start this thread as a bit of a finger on the pulse of what is being worn. I was thinking of this the other night when I was in a busy pub having dinner and noticing the boots and heels being worn by my fellow patrons. I was wearing low-heeled OTK boots myself - bluish-grey suede over skinny jeans. I was not the only one in OTK boots. There was a young lady in black shorts (this in winter) with some very tall black leather boors - actually more like thigh boots than OTK. I'd never seen anything quite like them. The shafts looked to be made of very nice leather and fit her well; that part was elegant. The boot part though was like a pair of exceptionally heavy Doc Martens with very thick clod-hopper soles. I don't know if contrast and aesthetic tension was the point of this, but it looked like hell. My other outing this week was to go to Leeds, an old city in the north of England. I saw a lot of people (all women) wearing heels - typically chunky heeled knee and and ankle boots with 3" heels. It was almost the norm. I was wearing black leather knee boots myself, again with low heels (my circumstances at the moment do not lend themselves to wearing heels - not because of the fear of censure but risky footing and the ruination of nice suede high-heeled boots) Again, my black leather knee bots, for over skinny jeans, passed without notice.