CrushedVamp

The other day as I was doomscrolling, somehow an old clip of The Price is Right came along, and in watching it this contestant took forever to do the task she was required to do. It was not that which grabbed my attention, but rather the model who, after standing for so long in her high heels, you could tell was having serious foot pain. She tried to wait until the camera was not on her, but several times she could be seen wincing and trying to ease her foot pain in all matter of ways. Certainly, my heart went out to her, but that amount of standing in heels was not typical of that show. I remember when Deal or No Deal came out really feeling for the models. They had to stand perfectly still, and not walking around at all, for almost the whole show. If you watch closely you can see where the models really struggled with this. The first time I saw that show I thought it was model cruelty. For that reason alone, I could not dare to ever watch the show. Has anyone else watched Game Shows on television and felt sympathy/empathy for the models who endured so much while required to wear high heels?

I have to admit that I grossly overthought this part of the kitchen. Like where I was going to put this lowered countertop area? The exact height it should be? How much kitchen area this should take up? What countertop material to use? Nope… no thought needed. Just keep a pair of easy to slip on high heels nearby. She had a pair of pumps, but a pair of mules would be easier to put on I think. Alternatively, a person considering a dough rolling area in their kitchen, could also make a pull-out step at the bottom of the cabinets. Just pull it out and step on it to gain a few inches taller to make rolling dough easier. Or… just keep a pair of easy to slip on high heels nearby. 😊

I am so sorry I never got back to this post, but as promised here are a few pictures...

Kind of a funny story about high heels and cooking, though I admit compared to other people's stories on here, this is quite mild. But in making a new kitchen for my wife, she wanted a spot that was a bit lower than the rest of the counters so that in having a marble top, she could toss flour on it and have a place where she could roll out pie crusts and cookies. I was fine with that except there was no good place to put one, and even if I did, it would be a place dedicated to just that. It did not make sense in such a small kitchen. But what she did instead was, keep a pair of her high heeled shoes in the cabinet underneath. When she needed to roll dough, she would slip them on and really be taller that way she could press down from above more and make rolling out dough easier for her. She got a lot of grief for this, but it really worked well for her and did not tie up her kitchen by having a countertop lower in one spot for something she only did a few times a month. The high heels worked perfect for rolling out dough.

You have a semi-valid point. We do wear something on our feet but also wear something on our legs too. Just as flats are the go-to now, in legwear it tends to be leggings. I know all it took was a few episodes of Sex and the City and high heels were back in fashion, but that was 20 years ago. Hosiery had its heyday in the 1980's; 40 years ago, and never bounced back. I am not saying I like it, I am just not convinced it is a given. I have a wife. I have five daughters, and I can tell you they are not following their mother in heel choice. They wear heels to the prom and swear they never will wear them again.

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, the apple did not fall far from the tree. I spent a lot of years in a foster home growing up because of my mother. But it was the best thing that happened to me. Everybody's mother loves them, but since mine did not, it set the bar really low. So when people say, "I don't like you Crushed Vamp", I just nod and say, "My own mother didn't either. So what's your point?" " 🙂 It doesn't get any worse than your own mother not loving you, so now; nothing bothers me!

Part of me says you are indeed right, and yet part of me says maybe not so much. The reason I say that is in looking at hosiery. Every few years you hear fashion guru's say, "oh, pantyhose and stockings are making a comeback this year", and yet every year that fails to happen. Do a search for it for 2025 and you will see it was "going to be a fashionable trend in 2025" and yest.... crickets. Yes, heels and hosiery are tied in together, but also not so much. Hosiery may be awkward to wear, but not exactly painful like high heels, and it is extremely inexpensive to buy, and a ton of fashionable ways to wear it. So you would think if anything fashion-wise that would make a comeback, with so much going for it, hosiery would... but nope, not really so far.

And that is the real shame because it becomes so circular. People not used to wearing heels; lets say at a wedding venue or something, wear them. Their feet hurt because they are super cheap in quality, so they swear off wearing high heels. Then because they do, there are few future sales, and what few sales there are will based on price. No one is going to buy really expensive, high-quality heels for a one-time-only event, so soon it is just accepted that wearing high heels is painful. Around and around it goes causing less and less people to wear high heels.

They remind me of my Grandmother's Tole Painting endeavors. A lot of people hold fond memories of their grandmother, but not me; mine was abusive and full of pure hatred. Yet, she could not stand people praising someone else up. That included my grandfather who built amazing working wooden toys. To get in on the act she would paint them, and it looked like those shoes. Like a five year old painted them in art class. Yep, she sucked at tole painting. So did whoever painted those shoes.

I agree with @pebblesf . Intrigue arises when we cannot deduce the two most difficult questions of life: why’s and how come’s. A man wearing high heels answers the question very simply: because I want to, and I do not really care what other people think of me. Living today in a culture where social media posts would lead you to believe everything is just ideal in a person’s life… then two weeks later they announce they are getting a divorce… you just realize, people are really only being fake. They know it, so people everywhere are teeming with imposter syndrome. A pair of high heels worn by an unapologetic man might as well be a mirror because it reflects what is in the viewers heart. They may, or may not want to wear high heels, but the real truth is they really wish they did not care what other people think about them. The mirror image the high heels reflect back to them? They do care what people think of them and that contrast is overwhelmingly defeating. The intrigue? Why @mlroseplant does not care about other people's opinions, and yet they do. That causes introspection.

The painting titled "An Elegant Company Playing Music by Hals Nicolaes has a man not only wearing heels, but rather strappy heels. Not a huge high heel, but they are heels. I thought one of the numerous reasons Luncheon on the Grass was so scandalous was because of the men wearing heels, but my memory is bad I guess and getting worse, because they were not. I did have to go check the painting to see however. 😞

I had a very professional lady here at the house today. One of those careers where even ten years ago she would be wearing high heels. Maybe she would swap them out in the car, but definitely have them on as she came in to conduct business... Today she wore flats.

Very interesting story. I am from the USA but love woodworking and metal work have dreamed of, but never actually made a pair of high heels. I would love to though. I have read articles and watched videos of those in Holland making wooden shoes and while not the quite thing, what you have DONE is what I always wanted to try. Good for you and even better at wearing high heels.

Well, if you can't afford the luxury car, you can at least afford shoes that depict them I guess...

Yes, I can see The Vivian Effect having that kind of fashion pull, kind of like how the show Sex in the City made high heels fashionable for a while. The sad part is, Over the Knee Boots could actually help some types of figures and not make people look like prostitutes either. Over the Knee boots really make a pair of legs look so longggggggg when coordinated right. Pair them with a pair of skinny jeans, whether the same color or contrasting, and then add a bit of a high heel to them, and the wearers legs suddenly look miles long. As for sweeping generalizations: I call people out on them. I am not a jerk about it, but when people say, well, everyone is saying”, I might stop them and say, “Wait? Everyone? Really? No, who really says this”. Soon they are back-pedaling and typically when they get done, its is not “everyone” but in reality, at most one or two people. And I do it so that people realize their judgement mistakes, that making sweeping generalizations is hardly accurate. We had a woman at our church who wore knee High Boots a lot but for a very specific reason. She weighed about 97 pounds, was about 4’-11” tall and had seven kids… but she was going to protect them. Just inside her knee boots she carried her 9mm Kimber!