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32 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Well, I have been wearing knee and otk boots (without heels) all winter without anyone commenting or even appearing to notice. Dark jeans, dark boots, a jumper - a classic and understated look that blends in seamlessly.

Like you said, even with everything else being the same, just adding a higher heel suddenly makes them “women’s shoes”.  Though they would have to be looking, which doesn’t always happen.  But if anyone does notice and asks, I hope what I say will help advance the idea that men can and should be more creative with their shoes...

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

There is absolutely nothing “wrong”, outlandish or unmasculine about the image you present above, only unexpected - in terms of one usually sees in menswear, and then only in one aspect of your boots, the heels. I really do not think it would take all that much to reclaim, for the men’s aisle, the Chelsea boot with the three inch heel 

I wish more stores and designers were bold enough to put something different in the men’s aisle and let guys stumble across them like I kind of did.  Even making the boots with the 2” heel accessible would be progress.  Those Jeffery West boots are $332 online, and I have never seen anything like it in person in a store.  Not exactly easy fashion for people to experiment with.  

But I’m happy working with what we have for now - planning to go into the office Monday wearing OTK suede boots with 3.5” heels.  If anyone asks what happened to wearing cowboy boots, I’ll say I’m taking it to the next level...

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Weird, isn’t it? If you took that same overall boot shape, with the usual five-eighths men’s heel - and there are loads of such boots in the men’s section - there would be no issue. Just the bog-standard men’s boot. From there it becomes an interesting calculus. Add half an inch - are they now “high” heels and this “women’s”? No? Add an inch. High heels yet? At what point does that totally unisex boot shape become women’s and out of bounds? Inch and a half heels? Two inch heels? Three inch heels? The whole thing is so arbitrary and subjective as to be silly.

Unfortunately men seem afraid of wearing anything more than the five-eighths.  Is this a men’s or women’s boot:

Jeffery West markets this suede “Sylvian cuban” chelsea boot to men in men sizes.  But I have never seen men wearing them, so for now this is a fringe style.  If more men wore this, the another inch would be no big deal:

We’ll know if we are making progress in moving the boundaries when the broader market starts to fill the gaps in between.  Until then, I’m living on the bleeding edge!

2 hours ago, Cali said:

Then get some 3 inch motorcycle boots like these Carlos by Carlos Santana.

I ordered a heel like that.  Can’t wait for my new boots to be finished!

1 hour ago, mlroseplant said:

My wife uses that argument also, and it's about 80% of her case in support of why she doesn't like what I wear. If I have the need to buy something androgynous, like a pair of flat loafers or jeans, I just make sure I obliterate the tags before she sees them, then it's no problem. A bit frustrating, because there is absolutely nothing to be gained by arguing or logic. It just is. Luckily, I must be an OK guy otherwise.

If the item is androgynous, my wife does not have a problem with me buying it regardless of the tag.  She is the one who actually bought me women’s jeans as an alternative to ill fitting low rise men’s jeans.  The problem is more that she does not think of a Chelsea boot with 3” heel as androgynous.  But she likes my cowboy boots with 3” heel, so I have circled back and am going to build on this more slowly.  

56 minutes ago, mlroseplant said:

I think in the early days of one's public heeling journey, one is tempted to place far more emphasis on the fact and phenomenon of it than what it actually deserves. Do not be tempted to make such an announcement on Facebook. Not only will it not do what you hope it will do, it is just simply a waste of mental energy. What you actually want is for people to forget that you wear heels all the time every now and then. Just wear the heels, as often as possible, as well as possible. Don't draw special attention to it. People will accept you, eventually.

Agree with this, and I have been planning to “sneak” heels into my office attire based on this approach.  I had planned to do it in a couple weeks, but now I don’t feel like waiting anymore and just doing it Monday.  

On 1/3/2019 at 3:53 AM, jeremy1986 said:

As the others have said - they look perfect on you, if you ask me. Buy them back!!

These are very similar to mine - in fact mine might be a little taller even. Though I kinda agree with you - unless I'm wearing little short or a skirt, the thigh-high effect is basically lost. Still need to show them off! I only realized after buying mine how much taller "thigh high" boots are, over OTK boots.

You also have a great figure, if I may say so. perfect for thigh highs like these.

I am probably odd here but for me the primary appeal of tall boots is the feeling of the leather on my legs, and it does not matter as much to me that I broadcast exactly how tall they are.  I like keeping people guessing or surprising them when it comes up.  

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There are some things that Facebook is good for, and many things that it does not work so well for.  I have used FB since May 2004.  That was when FB was invite-only and exclusive to just a few university networks.  I was in college getting my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at the time, and my friend was doing the same at Harvard with Mark.  I was at the right place at the right time to see and use FB for its originally intended purpose.  14.5 years later, I still use FB for what it is good for, and throughout the years it has never replaced what I do on other sites like these forums and HHP.

I feel like Facebook is good for its namesake: a book of faces of people you have physically met that you can continue to attach a name and other connections to.  It’s like a digital yearbook.  In college it was a way to grow connections with all the new people that you see every day going to different classes, etc.  This does not mean I object to interacting with other people in an anonymous way, as I have been continuing to do that since the BBS and Usenet days of 1995, and I highly value our interactions here at HHP.  But I only accept friend requests on FB from people whom I have met face to face or highly expect to meet soon.  Don’t take personal offense - it’s the way I use and have gotten value from FB for 14.5 years.  

That said, all content I post on FB is publicly accessible, as this has been how I have personally treated my FB content since the beginning in 2004.  If you know where to find me you can “stalk” me.  You may be disappointed, though, to find that there is no announcement pertaining the heels there, as that doesn’t accomplish anything for me.  Like @Cali, my motivation is actually going out in public wearing heels.  

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