Chorlini

1 hour ago, Isolathor said:

We sure are. And we are not uniform, there is a large spektrum from the far (violent) left to the far (violent) right. We even have a large Jewish Community living in Germany despite what happened in the past. In fact my father grandfather was jewish, so my father was not drafted (he was called "not worth to serve") into the Wehrmacht. Instead he was pressed into forced labour, taken from school one day without even noticing my grandmother. He then build bunkers for the Atlantic Wall in France, living like a prisoner with no contact to the outer world. My Grandmother did not know he was alive until he showed up after the war. So if your father or grandfather stormed a bunker at Omaha Beach it was build by my father .....

But despite our widespread spektrum of hardliners most of us are kind of middle class, not to many poor people, not to many rich people, which makes living along quite easy in this country. I am not proud of being german, i did nothing to become one. But i consider myself lucky to be born in a country which is functioning quite well and in a climate which is not to extreme, but still has spring, summer, autumn and winter.

One of my grandfathers had to live under Japanese occupation in Indonesia, the other was pressed into forced labor by the Germans too, having to work in factories getting bombed by the Allies. Ironically he always spoke highly of his treatment at the hands of the Germans. He wasn't that pleased about the Allies that liberated him. Apparently they robbed him of some things.

In the end though the past, while it shapes us, is the past. Blaming people for what their grandfathers or great grandfathers did long ago is counterproductive. Unless they did something truly despicable that is still being glorified today. And I hope you got it that when I said that Germans are weird I meant in regards to WW2. Not wanting to wear certain clothes because they look 'militaristic' is 'weird'. And Germany's reluctance as the largest strongest European country and economy to build and maintain a proper military is causing a major European imbalance. No one is expecting the Germans to invade Poland or others again. But the lack of a strong German military at the heart of the EU is making the EU weak to other nations and over reliant on the US. And I think you guys deserve to be proud of modern day Germany. From the ashes of the Third Reich you guys built a nice country that half of the Middle East and Africa wants to live in, with strong democratic institutions, and a country that the entire EU looks up to for leadership. It could have gone a LOT worse. Look at the former countries of the USSR. Pride in your country or all forms of patriotism and nationalism =/= a return of national socialism.

1 hour ago, mlroseplant said:

When I was a young man, I got the chance to visit Germany. As a recent university graduate, I was invited to be a chaperone to a high school German language class that was visiting Germany. I won't get into the ins and outs of it, but it was an experience that changed my life, and much of the reason is because I spent a lot of the time talking with our tour bus driver Norbert. I never knew his family name (surname). And yeah, Germans are weird. After all, they gave us Birkenstocks! They also gave us way overly complicated windshield wiping mechanisms, like what you'll find on Mercedes cars. But I will never forget the day that Norbert told me to call him "du" instead of "sie." That is the day I learned that people are just people, no matter what government they live under, or what religion they are, or how much money they have, or what they choose to wear on their feet.

I had that eye opening experience when I visited Egypt in 1995. I was there for 3 months as part of an university course and it forever changed my views on Arabs. Traveling really does broaden the mind. I still think Germans are weird for being so uptight and obsessed over something that they didn't do themselves and are not to blame for. The past will always be there, but take pride in the country you have today? It's a nice one after all.

20 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

That is one objection I've never heard--the overly militaristic look. I always figured the objection was that it's a style from a time when men would not dare leave the house without a hat, and I'm not talking about a baseball cap! I guess I've always worn one in the appropriate season because honestly, what else are you going to wear with a suit? A puffer jacket? When I started wearing heels, it seemed like a natural complement to winter footwear. It also kind of disguises my bowed legs--another plus. The example below is perhaps not my most stylish moment ever (i.e., it is not intended to be a submission), but it is a good example of how I don't look like military material. On second thought, maybe if I change my name to Maxwell Klinger I could be.

Germans are weird. When they should have felt guilty over what they did during WW2, like in the first decades after the war, they secretly thought Hitler did nothing wrong. And the generations which actually did nothing wrong, by being born after the war, now go way overboard to compensate. All the more ridiculous because modern day Germany is a nice country that does good things and has a lot to be proud of. Even immediate post war Germany that faked being sorry was still smart enough to publicly admit being sorry and pay reparations to victims. Unlike a certain island nation in the Far East I might add. If you wonder what it is like to live in a country where everyone has to feel guilty for everything that your ancestors did, like some want us to do, look at Germany. No wearing trench coats for you!

The sins of the father should not fall on to the son.

22 hours ago, vinheel said:

What about these gorgeous stilettos ?

I think they prove that stillettos are at their most gorgeous with a gorgeous person in them.

For once your wife is not the star, those trees and those golden leaves look absolutely stunning. Those colors pop.

Red and black is a classic combination. Can't go wrong with that.

15 hours ago, Isolathor said:

There was no incompetence when they did great business years ago. Did they suddenly become imcompetent or was it a deliberate decision to change their "business"? 🥺

Companies can become incompetent organically. Just look at Apple which is only a shadow of what it used to be under Steve Jobs. In the end people make up a company. When good people leave and/or get replaced by lesser or god forbid incompetent people performance will go down. If more people leave or stop caring altogether a negative spiral may form that can see the company decline and even go bankrupt. Maybe the good people at Elite heels left and the ones currently with the company are just nowhere near as good, overworked, unqualified or just don't care? It may not be a conscious choice to suck, it could have just happened? 

As the saying goes in the Red Pill community, you gotta enjoy or join in on the decline. I remember pickup artist Roosh, who vehemently hated women in flipflops, saying he owned stocks in a flipflop company, because if shit was going downhill, you might as well make money off of it. We can't all buy bitcoin, maybe Crocs stock is our next best thing?

I HATE internet scammers. I did order from them in the past though and gotten my stuff. It's sad to see a once good webshop devolve into internet scamming. Or maybe just plain incompetence. I hope you get your money back!

Sadly setback heels have been all the rage these past years. With some stores and webshops you're hardpressed to find anything else but setback heels.

On 10/15/2021 at 8:02 AM, Isolathor said:

Yet another mix, but it was for a Mardi Gras event:

Hmm, I've never been a fan of those heels or boots with long pointy noses. If only because they make the heels look lower.

8 hours ago, Cali said:

They are finding there is 2-3 less weeks of winter in Maine and that is causing the tick population to explode. Is there similar things happening in the Netherlands?

 

I'm not sure, I haven't heard anything about exploding tick populations. But we've had one of the wettest summers and the mosquito population has gone through the roof. As opposed to the previous two summers which had heatwaves and a sort of drought.

7 hours ago, Isolathor said:

Global warming will help .....😉

We're so fortunate to have it give us all this nice warm weather. 😁

8 hours ago, Isolathor said:

Will it arrive via dog sled or via penguin mail? 🤔

For his sake I hope dog sled. Have you seen March of Penguins? Those birds aren't fast out of the water.

7 hours ago, Isolathor said:

Almost 5 month have passed, do you have them by now? 🤔

Might be hard though as he's located in Antarctica. Not exactly known for its 24 hour shipping. 😁

15 hours ago, Cali said:

Mike:  The heels are two short...looking for 4-4.75 inch difference and all I have seen is in the 3 inch range.  I have in the neighborhood of 70 heels. I have 5-6 wedges that I need to replace but can't find anything I want. Since I've work from home since the pandemic started, I have been mostly wearing my Steve Madden Mules. Maybe put on some JS stilettoes.  And I'm a size 10 in most shoes, 11 in Nine West.

There's plenty to be had in that height difference. Where are you looking? In the stores I agree, it's all boring low stuff.

3 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Unless you're talking about designer heels, and those are simply way too expensive. Just like I don't think I could bring myself to spend THAT much money on a brand new car, I don't think I can bring myself to spend THAT much money on a pair of shoes, no matter how cool.

To be honest I find it actually scary to drop that much money on a pair of shoes without being able to fit them before. And unless I go to some posh store in the West of the Netherlands designer heels are unavailable in my neck of the woods, which means online ordering. And besides, almost all designer heels are for women or men blessed with tiny feet only. Barely anything above size EU42. Which is probably EU41 in practice as they tend to be made in Italy, and Italian shoe makers refuse to acknowledge that people with large or wide feet exist. 

So I've gotten me a pair of Pleasers today

 from a Dutch webstore called Kinky Shoes. Which so happens to be located in the city next to mine, so I could easily pick them up in person. Had a little talk with the owner and I asked her, so how many shoes do you sell to men? Half, she said, judging by the large sizes. She even had a guy in drag coming along recently to pick them up. Which was probably fun for the dude because the street she's located at is broken up and so you can't park in front. Anyway, I feel this confirms what I suspect, that a lot of high heeled shoes are being sold to men, but these men are not showing up on this forum, making this not a very representative place for men wearing heels. It's mostly catering to men wearing heels in daily life, not the fetish guys and certainly not the guys who 'like to dress up as people from a different sex'. As those threads get purged with a fury akin to a Trump tweet on Twitter.

But at least we have Isolathor to regale us with pictures of his beautiful wife. 😎

On 10/5/2021 at 4:08 PM, SF said:

Well, these aren't heels, but they are new so I imagine that qualifies.  These are a pair of Matte Black "Tieks" ballet flats.  I was not really into ballet flats, but another member here (you know who yo are!) discovered them, like the shoes and strongly encouraged me to get a pair.  I resisted for a while, but relented last August and ordered a pair.  The shoes are 100% soft leather and look wonderful.  They actually do have some, read "some" padding in the soles and are, after a longer than I had expected break in period, very comfortable.  I am glad I got them, but most likely will not get another pair, will see, they are somewhat pricey.  But based on reviews they last a long time.  You do get what you pay for.  

They will be a fine practical winter time shoe for running errands and a casual shoe when heels and sandals won't work.  

For those looking for something different that is comfortable, take a look at Tieks.  

Either way, have fun, enjoy your heels and/or flats....   sf

At $175 they do seem to be a bit on the pricey side for ballet flats though.

Bought me some more Pleasers. Have been wanting me a pair of these for a long time as they remind me of the good old days of the 80's. A pair of Seduce 443

1 minute ago, Jkrenzer said:

I consider myself lucky with Hey Si Mey and for me Onlymaker seem to be less than ideal. We all have different shaped feet. Shoes are generic in design and heels are especially prone to fit issues.

Well, its good to have found a brand that you know works for you.

18 hours ago, Mr. X said:

Yes they are cheap per pair. But when shoes are a weakness how do you limit yourself to 4 or 5 pairs. $150 for me is a lot to spend all at once.

Willpower?

I know, that's easy to say, try limiting yourself. Only X amount of budget so you have to make choices. In time you will learn the difference between nice to have and need to have.

2 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

 

This seeming contradiction doesn't surprise me at all. @Jkrenzerand I have the same contradiction, only with Hey Si Mey shoes. This is another Chinese brand that is of higher quality and sturdier than most. Krenzer has often touted the merits of Hey Si Mey, and I know he's bought many several pair. The trouble is, that brand doesn't fit me. Like Pumped's experience with Onlymaker, length and width are fine, but something else in the proportions is way off compared to my personal foot. Which is too bad, because Hey Si Mey makes a lot of cool shoes at a reasonable price.

I have the exact same experience with Hey Si Mey!  😲

$5 to $10 a pair ain't expensive, that's a steal. It might even teach you how to prioritize if you limit yourself to like 4 to 5 pairs. Choices, choices, choices. And yes, the universe likes to have way too much fun at our expense by dangling stuff like this in front of us and then have it be fools gold. Maybe it's a sign we do live in a simulation? 

2 hours ago, Pumped said:

Except they don't fit! 

I have tried two different pairs of Onlymaker. Worst fitting shoes ever. I find it surprising when I read about people buying and liking them!

If you buy a pair, make sure you can return them easily.  I bought from Amazon, free shipping both ways, no hassle returns.

Strange, because I bought from them and they fit like a dream. Best fitting made in China heels on the market. Which says a lot as most made in China stuff has sizing systems so incomprehensible you're far more likely to decode Olmek hieroglyphs. Then again, it's possible. In an infinite universe anything can happen.

14 minutes ago, mlroseplant said:

I cannot tell you what other people find interesting, but the two things which caught my attention are probably a little weird. No. 1, is this picture somewhat old, or can you still find public phones in Germany? I haven't seen a phone booth around here (Midwest U.S.) for years. No. 2, was the choice of exposure settings on purpose, or did the photos come out that dark unintentionally?

It looks like a British telephone booth, and like the London double decker busses those tend to be quite popular as collectibles. I know a house in my city which has one in its garden. So I can see it standing in some German town or city as well.

3 hours ago, Isolathor said:

I don´t know if that is really the reason for men to wear high heels. It might apply to some of them, but not all folks are the same.

As far as i´m concerned, i consider myself very lucky to have the wife of my dreams since 1980 .....

Again, you are very fortunate indeed.

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

I like ankle and knee boots as racier, more daring versions of the hiking boots I wear as a rule. Simply that and nothing more.  I like the styling, and the sense of rule-breaking by wearing them. Fetish has absolutely nothing to do with it. 

I don't think the men on this forum are representative for the male heel buying demographic. Considering how many vendors there are that sell to men I'd say there's more vendors world wide then male members of this forum. And this forum ain't that hard to find.