Cali

My favorite christmas mani was what I called "Zebra on Christmas Acid". A gel design on my fingers/polish on my toes. Black base, then thin zebra stripes in white, red, and green. Envied by both men and women. Currently my toes are white with sprakle red and sparkle green candy cane stripes. One sparkle red and one sparkle green big toe, nail artist choice.

Storm drain grating and cracks in sidewalks can be very challeging in stilletos. Cobblestone types of paths. Gravel walkways/driveways are treacherous in any heel. Also layers of wet leaves on flat surfaces can cause slip outs. It's a learning curve. And no heels on ice.(Really, no walking on ice.)

Pre-covid, I walked 1/4 of the dirt mount circle at Avebury in 4 inch booties. It was not that much fun.

There are so many different types of leggings for different uses. I have compression thermal legging for skiing, thicker ones for "pants", thin nylons for cool summer nights, velour for warmth , .... I have MANY leggings.

My leggings have replaced my sweatpants when I not working in my garden. And I wear them to run errands/ go to costco, etc. I especially love my Ultra-Luxe Velour Leggings from Felina. And I'm seeing more men in leggings all the time.

I have been waxing my legs for 8 years so that I can use KT tape on them to play sports. Only a few times a year. I now have very short light-colored hair, and almost no hair in places. But I still need to wax them, because even a little hair intefers with the actions of the tape. The women that wax my legs are jealous of how little hair I now have. I hate stubble when shaved hair grows back, so instead of shaving a region before an operation, I will now get it waxed. It only hurts the first couple of times......LOL

Back in the late 70's, I almost did a 6 month scientific stunt in Antarctica. Came very close to applying for it.

Foot care is very important to diabetic people. I've been getting regular pedicures for over 15 years and regular manicures for 10 years. Because I damaged several fingernail beds, I need to get acrylic nails which are cover by gels and I get color. No big deal, and I get compliments on my nails from both men and women. If you go with color, you have to be strong and proud of your style. (The sky doesn't fall with colored fingernails.)

We can only hope. I know if I don't wear heels to work, I get a lot of questions why not. My heels are almost always visable. (I have some sky high jeans that cover the foot.)

Well it happened again. Another convert. Last night, a women waiting for a colleague asked me how high my boots where. She had seen me in several boots and decided to get some herself. I had my Jessica Simpson black faux suede knee highs with a 1 inch platform and 4.75 inch heel. I had plan on wearing my JS suede stilettos, but it was a drizzling all day, so as the memo states, you "don't wear suede in the rain." She had been looking at boots on-line and figure if I could wear boots with high heels, then she could too. Another high heel convert!!!

My favorite work boots are my Jessica Simpson suede knee high stilettos. But then all I do is talk, write, think, and go to meetings. I know, it's a tough life, but someone has to do it.

I remember over a decade ago when I switched to only women's shoes and got my first booties with 2 inch heels. The hardest thing was getting use to the click. BUT I'm in the too "old-to-care" group, buy and wear what I want. I just got a cheetah vest, so soft, and already wore it to a company holiday party with my 3.5 inch thin-heeled knee highs. Both the vest and heels got random compliments. I also like wearing short-shorts and sitettos knee highs in the summer, just for the mind blowing effects of it. I like my pleather skirt with knee highs. LOL

@mlroseplant have you tried double sided-tape? (for skin)

I have a large girth toe box which results in the vamp in pumps cutting into my tendons. I've even tried trying to put dense cell foam between the tendons and the vamp, but that didn't work. So NO pumps for me.

I had to keep it short in Argentina and Chile. Boy did I want to look at their heels because of all their leather from their beef production. Same thing when touring the hills above Brisbane, went into a woman's shoe store with my brother and his girlfriend. Saw some heels I wanted to try, but didn't. You got to read the room.

Since I wasn't a teenager until after 1965, it was more the mini skirts, hot pants, go-go boots and lots of sandals because it was a beach town too.

Just to have a different type. I've only been here for 7+ years. And my path is very different than others. Yes, I loved the heels that the girls in school wore back in the 60's to ... . And yes, I wish I could wear them too. And yes, I wore a pair of booties with a 2 inch heel throughout the 80's and 90's. But only I switched to only women's shoes 14 years ago after undergoing another painful reconstruction. I finally figured out WHY I was having so much trouble with my knees and ankles, and it was men's shoes. Then my podiatrist told me I needed a 2 inch heel to absorb my arch and stablize my feet. Later a major injury put me in 4 inch heels for life, hopefully another 30 to 40+ years. This site has help me grow from hiding my heels to celebrating and showcasing them, such as, knee high sitlettos over skinny pants.

Those could work for a secretary look. A bolder color for a CEO.

About 5 years ago I had a (much) younger woman thank me for wearing heels. She loved heels but had succumb to peer pressure and stop wearing them. Seeing me in heels everyday gave her confidence to again wear her heels. And she was happier. Yes, she liked sitletto pumps.

I've had the entire sole separate from the upper shoe. My skyhigh Speedlimit 98 lace-up wedges did that. One step was fine the next step was without the sole. Looked back and there the sole sat all by itself. Lucky I was just a few steps from my car, so I picked up the sole and hobbled to my car.

She probably sold it on EBAY and paid for 4 years of university at a high priced institution with the proceeds.

@Shyheels is there much rocking (waves) on the canals?

I wear heels to work almost everyday (maybe not once a year). I like 3.5 to 4.25 inch rise for my hip. I had a pair of lace up Sodas today with a 4.3 inch heel and .7 inch platform. I don't wear skirts (except at Halloween) but I do wear stilettos, both in booties and knee highs form. But then I might also wear my pleather pants with knee high boots (like I did to a busness party this pass weekend).

I was a state conference with 250+ people these last several days. Among the attendees, I saw too many to count 4 inch heels (other than mine) including several stilettos in that group, and many more low 2-3 inch heels. I only brought 3 pairs with me, two knee highs and one wedge. We also went to a casino one night and I saw many more heels there. My world, Cali World, has seen many, many heels the last few weeks.

I had a 40 hour nightmare of cancel flights, switching airports, delayed flights, and airport sleeping in my Sydney to LAX and then home in fall 2023. Wore my 4 inch booties for almost all of the time.