Shyheels

Yesterday when I was at the supermarket I was surprised to see a pleasant mild-mannered looking woman in her sixties wearing tight leather trousers and patent black ankle boots with what looked to be three inch chunky heels. There was nothing about her that suggested mutton trying to pass as lamb, or really anything overt about it. It appeared simply to be her natural style, worn with a tasteful but nondescript coat, her grey hair bunched in a loose bun. And because it was so obviously her natural style, she carried it off with ease and assurance. It was nice to see

Yes, very often it is.

My big peeve about it all is the range of interesting shades and colours that are offered to women, especially in outdoor gear, while my tastes, as a man, are assumed to be stunted, limited to black, dark blue, pine green or brick red. 

Having become used to warm ankles and calves since I’ve taken to wear knee and OTK boots, I hardly ever wear anything else 

I really like those! Just my style! I especially like the fit around the calves and ankles. A great find!

I really like those - just my style and shearling lined would be a big plus. We don’t get the super cold temperatures you do, but it’s raw and damp and those look perfect - and stylish 

That’s really nice. Always nice to have positive reinforcement and to be so openly band casually accepted. 

Yes, but had you worn heels you can bet you’d have had to go up that ladder!

Glad to hear it went well!

9 hours ago, CAT said:

I have several pairs of TLSB brand!   I bought them in ebay over the years.  Some f from a seller named “Bobandangie”.  Great people!   Thee boots are def incredible.  This is a pair 

I like those boots a lot! 

It’s evening now in France - how did the interview go?

I’ve heard of them too and seen images of some of their boots. I really liked them. It’s a bit that quality craftsmen often can’t get the trade necessary to keep their businesses viable. People see the price tags then kid themselves into believing that a cheaper thing that superficially resembles the beautifully made one will be just as good 

If they don’t, I doubt it would be because of your footwear. Those boots look very presentable. 

I like the elegance and lines of five-inch (12cm) stilettos but higher than that and, to me, they lose something; start looking scrunched, t0oo much about the heel itself rather than the overall visual effect the heel can produce on the rest of the boot. For me - aesthetically speaking - four to five inches is the sweet spot. 

Six inch heels are pretty darn high. I’ve never worn anything nearly that high - 12cm, or about four and three quarters inches is as high as I’ve ever worn. Well done for being able to walk in them.

Cycling has been one area where colours at least are not at all gendered. Pink has long been a popular colour in cycling - often paired with black - in both men and women’s clothing. I’ve seen floral cycling jerseys lately - from high end companies - and been pleasantly surprised to see them marketed to men as well as women, with no distinction whatever - the sole difference being subtleties in tailoring.

I’ve no interest in wearing women’s clothing, but I do like the broad range of colours, especially pastels, that are available to them and the stubborn unwillingness of manufacturers to make these more interesting shades and colours available to men is what annoys me.  

It never ceases to amaze me the stubbornness and implacability of marketers who insist on gendering every  conceivable thing that might be worn / even mens and women’s daypacks and laptop bags! The only difference is colour, bit if some marketer has put a women’s label on it, marking something as feminine, no man will go near it … weird 

1 minute ago, pebblesf said:

It's always great to rediscover heels/boots you haven't seen in awhile...

Yes! I’m just rediscovering a pair of lovely dark grey suede OTK boots with 3-inch blocky heels that had been in the back of my wardrobe - and wondering why I’ve not been wearing them lots 

I have several pair of low-heeled knee and OTK boots for when heels are inappropriate for whatever reason. A couple of them are feminine in styling, but the others are old-fashioned motorcycle or engineering boots. I’m not that fussed about which side of the shop my boots come from. I’d buy trainers from the women’s aisle if the colours exerted a strong appeal but I would not make a special point of shopping there

Go with the flow - it’s all about wearing what you feel like and not being moulded by convention, your own or anybody else’s

I would have loved the decadent 20s - as long as I had the money to participate and not be one of the doormen, waiters or ship stewards

I’ve always fancied a pair of really nice (tall) white boots

Yes, I’m curious too. On rare occasions I’ve seen men in ankle boots with higher than expected heels but never anything else 

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.

But you can!!!

I really admire the practicality and hand on abilities of people such as yourselves who can do these things. I have precisely zero aptitude