Shyheels

Wedges I think are a type of heel where you can get away with a platform of some sort, as the chunkiness of the heel is consistent with the platform. But a delicate stiletto heel is thrown visually out of balance with anything but the thinnest of platforms - and looks at its sleek and elegant best with a single sole.

I'll second that - and for the same reasons. Platforms spoil the elegance of high heels and often do indeed look clownish

I’ve noticed some of the same even in my limited sphere

Yes I’m in a hotel in the Lake District. I give lectures and accompany tour groups on occasion. It’s a nice supplement to writing and photography. Boat life suits me perfectly. It more challenging as a single hander, but not a dealbreaker. I’ve picked up a lot of new skills - I’ve needed to! The canals in the Pennines are the most challenging in the network especially for singlehanders. That said, I love the freedom and slow pace.

If I was on my own I would - indeed if I was on my own I would have been wearing them already, but I’m representing the tour company and gave to keep within bounds.

Found myself in an interesting conversation this morning in my hotel. I am leading a tour group at the moment and someone was talking about achilles tendon problems. A woman, one of our guests, spoke up and said, matter of factly 'Men can't do this of course, but women can wear heels to ease the strain on the tendon." To which I replied, just as matter of factly: "Men can do that." She gave a start and spluttered, "Well ... I ... I ... suppose they could ..." I left it at that.

I love the aesthetics and lines of a 12cm stiletto - I would say that is the perfect height visually speaking although I am not practiced anywhere near enough to walk gracefully in such heels. For me the perfect height for walking is 8 to 10cm

Platforms never enter into my thinking as I really don’t like them, but I certainly agree with those general definitions of low, medium and high heels. Four inches I have seen described as “fashion height”. I can understand heels over four inches being described as ultra high. Even during periods were high heels were much in vogue, five inches (or 12cm) were not every day wear for even high heel aficionados, but were more like dressy evening wear - up and beyond the high heels that might be worn to the office. They were always a much smaller percentage of heels and perhaps deserve their own category.

Working from home shouldn't be reason for falling standards. I've been a freelance for nearly 30 years and one of the things that I do to separate my work life from my home life is to dress for work - not absurdly, but enough to distinguish work timeframe leisure time. In that heels have been really helpful. They are an indicator that I am at work, not lolling about at home. It just the find of thing that really does help one to focus on work, step mentally away fro your home environment. It makes freelancing viable

And it was true then, and true now

Truly hideous

Glad to hear your Achilles tendon is better - always wise to go easy, at least at first. Sorry to hear about the sandals. One nice thing about boots is that they are much harder to trash!!! 😊

Indeed any guy wearing feminine styled footwear with so much as a quarter inch of heel above the norm would be considered by the world at large to be wearing “heels”. if you look in fashion sites the common definition of “high” heels would seem to start at 3.5” to 4”

Prevailing politics and the state of the economy have always played big roles in fashions cycle. We are living in insecure times, ill-fitting the exuberance of a lofty stiletto heel.

It’s all very subjective. I happen to take a much broader view and don’t concern myself with numbers or a set style. But that’s just me.

I think there's only so much one can say to an AI-written article on a subject we all know back to front and from personal experience...

Hideous - what’s the point? What’s the artistic message? Looks like the designer got bored, or a machine screwed up and bonded two prototypes, and somebody decided to call it art.

None of the places I stop have any sort of facilities - I am what they call a water gypsy mooring up along the towpath wherever the spirit takes me. I have a continuous cruisers license, meaning I have no home mooring. My electricity comes from solar panels on the roof, I fill up my water tank (600 litres) at water points - there are plenty of these along the network - and empty my cassette toilet at service blocks dotted around the network. I buy 13kg gas bottles for cooking and in winter buy bags of coal for heating. It’s a very offgrid lifestyle. That said, my boat is also bright, airy and very stylish My license allows me to stay pretty much anywhere I like along the 2000 mile network as long as I move every 14 days. (You can’t just shift back and forth - you must actually be travelling although there’s no rush)

I would think the majority of men would have at least a sneaking desire to try on a pair of heels. A guy would have to be almost devoid of imagination not to be at least a teensy bit curious. And a desire to step away from the pigeonhole for a bit, take a holiday from all the puritanism on the men's side of the shop. Probably fewer actually want to wear heels as a regular thing, but I'll bet the vast majority would love the opportunity to try - to spend a day or a week in heels. Novelty has its charm and no doubt that adds to the excitement of wearing heels at first. Novelty naturally wears off with experience, but I think the pleasure of dong and wearing what you like endures, especially when you know you're breaking the rules, and will always endure. I almost forget that I own Hunter boots - I tend to think of them as workwear, and in a different category to my other fashionable knee boots, with or without heels. Although some of my knee and OTK boots do not have heels, I include them anyway as the styling is feminine, and worn over skinny jeans are more obvious than many heels worn with bootcut jeans.

Well, if people stop wearing shoes then I guess heels will indeed go the way of the corset. But as long as they do wear shoes, or boots, there will be a variety of styles in offer. And I doubt that the likes of Louboutin are planning on getting out of the footwear business and investing in feedlots or heavy industry

I skimmed it just now. I have a strong suspicion that it was written by AI.

With a name like muck boots, I can see why. Hunter boots has a much nicer ring tout, and when walking on a leafy (yet muddy) towpath one needn’t hate life!

Like you, my desire to wear boots goes back to childhood - in my case fancying a pair of white go-go boots like this girl in my seventh grade class wore to school about three days a week. And resenting the fact that for me they were forbidden. I don’t remember if they had heels or not - most go-go boots didn’t, I don’t think. I just remember liking the hippie-chic styling and wishing I could wear those too. How and when heels came into the equation, I’m not sure. Even now they are not the be all and end all, but rather a jaunty touch to knee and OTK boots. It’s the overall effect I like, not just the heel.

Yes the styling us very nice. My only reservation would be about the quality of the material and the workmanship. I know nothing of the maker, but faux leather can vary greatly in quality

Well, let's just say I waited a long time - too long - to buy my first pair of heels. I was well into middle age before I dared to give it a try - even just wearing them at home. I felt guilty about wanting to try wearing high heels; I mean, what if I liked it? You mention job and social life as the things that are holding you back. But you don't need to wear them out and about if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Sure, quite a few of the guys on here do - and cut quite a dash. But it doesn't mean you have to. You can buy yourself a pair of heels tomorrow and wear them to your heart's content at home or in private or in whatever way or place works best for you. It's not a contest to see who can push the envelope the farthest. As for me I own a couple pairs of stiletto boots, but I don't wear them out and about, but instead at home while I am working. I do this in part because I am not well practiced in wearing them, in part because of where and how I live they would only get ruined, and partly because my natural style runs to knee and OTK boots with chunky heels, rather than stilettos. I bought some stilettos because they are the Ultima Thule of heels and (for guys) taboo breaking and I like wearing them, but when I am getting dressed the chunky heeled boots call out to me more often (which is why I am not well practiced in stilettos) I sm comfortable wearing feminine knee of OTK boots (with and without heels) out and about, but that's me. The point is it is not a competition. Wearing heels it doesn't need to be about towering stilettos or cutting a dash in public. It's about freedom of choice and your own personal style. The world doesn't make it easy for a guy to wear heels, but you don't have to wear them in public if you don't want to. Wear them at home. It's better to do that than never to try at all.