Shyheels

I think you’re a little late. That post was made nearly seven years ago

Hmmm…. Interesting. Skirt and jacket and tie? As long as you had the jacket and tie I think you’d be in with a chance. Winder how they would treat a well dressed Scot in a kilt? Although Scots don’t usually wear them except at weddings

I last wore a tie three or four years ago when I had lunch at The Ritz. It was obligatory. Men must wear coat and ties. No exceptions. I bought a tie for the occasion. The lunch was worth it. Before that it would have been decades since I wore a tie. I don’t remember any specific occasion. I still own my Ritz tie - it’s at the bottom of my sock drawer, still knotted. I wear shorts only when I’m cycling or to the gym and even then I prefer standard or ¾ length shorts, never short shorts. If I was ever to try a skirt, it would have to be along those same lines - a knee length pencil skirt or midi. I admit it’s tempting for the experience sake. As to feminisation, the femininity of my boots is certainly part of the appeal. Cowboy boots with heels (or without for that matter) do not appeal to me. I very much like the feminine styling of my boots. Whether it’s because it adds a touch of the forbidden, or is provocative, or I like the idea of stepping out of myself - I’m not really sure. Probably a mix of all these things and more. But it’s there. I like their femininity.

Yes we can wear more colours now - that’s one area I was always quite fearless about, I never hesitated to wear pink or violet or any other so allied feminine colour. But men can get away with wearing pastels and other such colours only for certain items of clothing. You might get away with a pale pink business shirt as long as everything else was conservative and normal, but try wearing a carnation pink suit, or a lemon yellow one, into a job interview, business meeting or a law office and see what that gets you. Just look at the photographs of world leaders standing together at some conference or other. Any women leaders will stand out a mile because of their bright colours while the men are all in navy blue suits. I remember President Obama getting a lot of grief for showing up somewhere in a tan suit - far too radical.

We're having some heavy snow and bitter cold in Yorkshire at the moment. Definitely weather for nice warm knee and OTK boots but not with heels!

I just noticed this post. Totally agree. Women’s fashion has far more choices, colours and capacity for self expression than men’s. Male fashion is all about conformity and is quite puritanical. I’d much rather be one of the Cavaliers

I don’t see how that works in any snowy situation. If the snow is deeper than the heel is high she’ll topple over backwards. If it’s light powdery snow and she's walking over an icy surface she’ll go flying. If it is stable shallow snow on a firm surface she might be able to walk a short ways without doing a pratfall, but what would be the point? In no way would heels confer an advantage. Any illusory “grip”; a heel might seem to offer would be badly offset by the slick narrow leather sole. She might have walked across a snowy parking lot without suffering a broken coccyx but there’s no way she had an advantage

I think you’re right. People do notice but in these days of ridiculously heightened sensibilities nobody is going to want to risk putting a foot (or eye) out of line., let alone express a compliment to a woman, no matter how tame the wording might be. One just does not know how it will be taken, and when even the use of the wrong pronoun can ruin someone’s entire life why risk your career, live savings and possibly your liberty by telling a woman you don’t know that she looks nice?

I know Cadbury has won court battles over its particular shade of purple-blue for bars of chocolate. The rulings concerned that particular shade and for the sales of chocolate specifically. It’s complicated

I guess anybody can be a shoe designer

I know if you’re a cyclist you definitely want to be making eye contact with motorists at intersections - whether you’re in heels or not!

Yes the steepness seems higher than even 5”. As you say a bit hard to wear around and about

We’re getting some proper winter weather here in the Pennines. About 6” of snow last night, more expected in the next two days then clear and cold, down to -10°C. A long walk today in tall boots but no heels!

I occasionally notice swift downward glances when I am walking along the towpath in my knee boots - and that’s without heels. I’m certainly the in,y male in nice leather knee boots (one does see occasional guys in hunter gum boots - but not many)

Yes, one can overthink these things

True not on canals - although working swing bridges you will stop traffic, sometimes on busy roads. But then you would be most unlikely to be wearing heels as when you’re moving your boat along the canal you’re working locks, bridges, mooring and unmooring the boat constantly and heels would be decidedly dangerous.

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.