kikepa

I've worn several pairs of boots in the mall, usually not a local mall! Always under my jeans, not over them.

"Pair" is a collective noun and therefore treated as a singular

Yes - in both our countries!

Back on topic, most of my heels are fairly masculine, but I do have some feminine pairs, including one I purchased recently from Payless, and a pair of strappy sandals I bought about two years ago. I like wearing them when the heat's on and I switch to my shorter, knee-length skirt.

Don't know why. Just do.

What caliber was that stiletto? Lol... I'm glad he wasn't more seriously hurt i.e. loss of an eye... With such a clear picture of the lady, though, I'm surprised someone hasn't reported her identity.

I've noticed heel prices for well-made, mainstream shoes have nearly doubled in the last seven years, while inflation has remained less than 2%. I've also noticed manufacturers seem to be claiming that even poorly-made heels are of a better cut. I know this as I've unwittingly purchased some.

Gross...

Good for you! Nice collection. I especially like the boots.

Why would anyone elect to have a disability like this, if they had a choice?

Agreed. The very idea is as absurd as the "cat guy" who had his teeth filed and face altered.

To each his own, but the vast majority of human responses to ideas like this are "WTF?"

Another article: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/men-wear-heels-for-sexual-violence-awareness-slideshow/

Just look at those shoes, though! Yuk!

I think we can do better!!!

And that he doesn't outshine me, obviously.

I'm pretty sure that was a factor in the dissolution of my marriage. She was better looking, and better at relating with most people, but I was the breadwinner, the one whom friends always called and visited upon, and favorite of our child.

Why is that a problem with some women? I was just being myself. In every couple, one will always outshine the other. It's either you or him, and if it's him, is that any sort of justification for ending a marriage?

It wasn't in my case. All we wound up with were tens of thousands in legal fees, tons of heartache on both sides, and a very hurt child.

kikepa,

Thanks for being the first person to say something positive (as little as it may be) in regards to my first post in this thread.

Thank you! That's kind of you to say, xray2!

New Orleans, which I suggested as my first choice, would be a really good place for a meet. However, I am not sure if would be a better place than Las Vegas or New York. I think of New Orleans as a 1980-1990's mix of Vegas and New York. The French Quarter really hasn't changed much over the decades, except for the addition of the Harrah's Casino and Hotel. You still got Bourbon Street with all of those little stores and restaurants.

I think that's part of it's old-world charm. Imagine all of us sitting at Pat O'Brian's, sipping Hurricanes in the gas light with a band playing in the background...

For shopping, there is the indoor Riverwalk Market and Jackson Square malls.

I find that much like a mall, only even more expensive. In the meantime, there are many museums and art galleries in New Orleans, including one of the best WWII museums in the world.

You could take a ride on one of the paddleboats up the Mississippi.

Now this is a real treat! I remember my first Riverboat ride when I was a kid - awesome!

However, I would agree with comments in another thread to avoid Mardi Gras because that would double travel costs as well as create an unnecessary excuse to dress up in heels. I would also avoid hurricane season.

Agreed on both accounts, although to be honest, having lived there, hurricanes are few and far between. During the seven years I lived there, there were only two 24-hour periods where I had to batten down the hatches.

Besides, Halloween puts us largely past the hurricane season. Katrina was a fluke.

Other than those periods of time, it should be fine. I have visited in summer time and yes, it is very hot and can be humid. That would make it difficult to wear boots, but still fine for pumps and sandals.

Many summer days it's merely warm and humid. About a third of the time it can be sweltering, when all you want to do is stay inside the hotel room and enjoy the air conditioner.

On a more practical matter, there are many hotels in and around the French Quarter, and some good ones for less than $100 a night. If we had a group, we could probably rent a house for the week for less and cook in (much of the time, anyway) - that would save us a lot of money!

In regards to meetup.com, it seems to me that meetup.com groups work. There are many groups there that have been meeting for a long time.

...

It is possible to create one meetup group in one physical location, but schedule meetings anywhere. (Of course, other locations would not show up in meetup.com search results done by location.) Also, note that there currently is no "high heel" group at all at meettup.com.. There is a way to search the entire meetup.com site without specifying any physical location.

I'd forgotten that Meetup searches are, by default, limited to a single city, so it's doubtful that would be of much benefit to us. I think organizing a meeting on this site is probably the best way to go.

On that note, are there any male heelers from New Orleans, here?

Utilikilts are AWESOME! They scream masculinity, though, so pairing them with heels creates a real clash. I'd much rather make a statement about being man enough to dispense with the diapers we call "pants."

I'm changing my answer to "none of the above." To me, "men's heels" means heels made specifically for men. The masculinity or femininity is immaterial, though I hope to see some svelte men's styles similar to the boots in my avatar. The clunkers some fashion designers shod their male models with in an attempt to shock audiences aren't particularly appealing.

Born male, am attracted to women, not men. Beyond that, things get a little fuzzy sometimes.

I envy you, Kneehighs! I've yet to heel out amongst my male friends. I've only gone out alone, and so doing, I feel very alone. I do so anyway because I am me. I've looked for a local support group, but they're apparently non-existent. Thus, I heel alone.

I don't have the same impression. Reading the answers we can see the differences and also the individual arguments why some of us can handle 5 or 6" and others stay lower. But is that bad ? I have not seen any contributions of "very high heelers" who think they are better than the low heelers. At least I don't feel defeated when I leave my comfort czone at 4"

Well, my impression is perhaps a bit different. I've seen various posts and polls here which are clearly a "higher is better" race, and I do mean race aka competition.

Wearing heels isn't a race. It's a choice, a lifestyle emanating from our heartfelt convictions about who we are. I wear women's flats and sandals as readily as I wear heels. I never think, "how high can I go" when I slip on a pair of heels. To me, that seems rather psychotic, as in a fetish mode of operation. If you're operating in that mode, which stats reveal is less than 12% of our population, more power to you, but please stop trying to impute your preferences on the rest of us.

I don't wear heels because of some fetishistic nonsense. I wear them because I enjoy walking around in heels. End of story, good-bye, the end.

I'd have to say some level of femininity is involved, but having worn them for years inside my own home, without any feedback from others, I'd also say it's simply an extension of who I am as a human being.

Hmm... Why should our choice of footwear be in a museum? I'm still young!

Well, being English not my native language I'm afraid I won't be able to express myself the way I would love to.

I did vote for "more feminine" and it's pretty much what I feel.

I began trying on heeled shoes and finding out that I was feeling great in them but soon after I felt the urge to add more and more feminine pieces of wardrobe and accessories to that.

So came the pantyhose, the underwear, then the dresses until I "developed" a new version of myself with a definite feminine look.

It isn't clear to me yet if I did all this for having a good excuse to wear heels without attracting too many weird stares when going out.

Now it's been 3 years since I last wore man's clothes, my daily attire consists of woman's jeans, sweaters, shoes and a very light make-up and I've grown my hair.

I try to look as feminine as possible without exceeding (so flat boots or sandals). I don't want to attract too much attention but I need to wear women's clothes and shoes, I just need...

So probably even if men wearing heels were worldwide accepted with an open smile, I still wanted to add that extra feminine look, just to feel myself "in balance" and see in the mirror the person that I always wanted to be.

I hope I didn't mess up things to much and all this doesn't sound too weird to you guys.

Stef

I'm with HappyinHeels. Your English is fine! Not perfect, but how often would you expect one of us "Englanders" to master Italian in less than a year?

Your English is fine - we understand you perfectly.

Never had a problem, not in the U.K., Germany, or here in the U.S. Some strange looks on occasion, but no problems.

"Assault charges?" I was always taught licking one's wounds helps the enzymes in our saliva kills about 90% of the germs that can harm a wound, while the germs in our saliva, thanks to prolific kissing, are almost ubiquitous, and are already protected against by nearly all human immune systems. Huh! Media idiots, or just individual idiots?

For somebody who has been here 10 minutes, you sure do seem to know everybody sooo well, Noooooooooooottttttt!

I concur. On the other hand, his recommendations are interesting.

I've been to New Orleans several times, and believe it would be a much better venue for an outing than anywhere else here in the U.S., including Vegas and New York (been there, too).

Couple of points, though - you don't want to visit there in the summer. Gah! Incredible heat and humidity, if you're not used to it. Halloween is good, as the weather is usually cooler and all hell breaks loose throughout downtown for a few days. Nothing is organized, just a tremendous number of parties going on everywhere.

My two cents.

And I'll add his recommendation: "Create a new high heel group at meetup.com to specifically advertise this annual North America event as well as other local meetings."

That'll cost you $15 a month, yet will yield dozens, if not hundreds of local members. Since the entire meetup system if based on location, are there any of us here from New Orleans who'd be willing to step up?

Six, actually, but my favorite pair aren't in my closet. They're on my feet!

Man, I love wearing skirts! I have two long jeans skirts I wear winter-round, a couple of thick cotton knit mid-length skirts, and a tie-waist cotton skirt for summer that falls at my knees. I went to Burning Man last summer and had a blast! I wore a skirt the whole time, even during the week prior when I volunteered doing carpentry work helping them set up. Couple of guys in Utilikilts. I was the only one in a jeans skirt.

he doesnt care about it because he knows me.So one day I showed up at his place with boots over my jeans and they still dont care.

Those who really care about us don't care about what we wear.

Those who make a fuss about what we wear really don't care about us.

Hah! Hadn't intended it to, but it rhymes (sort of). My new signature!

The confidence you seek is already there inside you. It needs only be unleashed by the support you gather from positive reinforcement from us and those around you. You MUST learn to love yourself and demand your dignity and then the full power of this confidence will come out. Confidence fuels creativity which powers free societies. Live your life as if it's a one-way ride because IT IS.

Confidence begins when you stop giving a rat's ass as to what others think.