HappyinHeels

My experience with sales female associates in general, and not just those at the Bakers shoe stores I have shopped the most, has been one where once you show that you have an eye for fashion in general they really warm up to you and will talk to you very much like they would talk to another woman. This doesn't imply they think that you want to become one just that they see their comfort level rising as the normal barriers associated with talking with a man start disappearing. Like I've said before if you complement a sales girl on a type of shoe she is wearing or compliment another customer who is trying out a shoe then this all breaks the ice and you, the male shopper, are brought right into the fold and all will have the enjoyed the experience that much more. If you were wear something you had previously bought in the store then you are bound to be treated royally. Engage the world and it will engage you in return!! HappyinHeels :smile:

I believe one element that helps guys wear heels while still maintaining an overall masculine look is the wearing of leather. Switch out that regular jacket for a more feminine leather blazer or jacket and jeans and now those heels. particularly boots, start to blend right in. This is how I think many here do it. I also think the same outfit can be be worn with darker-colored leather pumps even with stiletto heels. Get a a fedora or some type of hat to cover your thinning hair and, viola, you have a look that can satisfy your craving to wear heels somewhere other than the inside of your house or car and without the time and expense of dressing completely en-femme. I have worn a leather blazer with bootcut lee jeans and my knee-high Zoey boots with a 5" thicker heel I got at Macy's several times in the last two weeks without anyone noticing me. I picked up some dry-cleaning in Milwaukee on Friday and am fairly sure the woman heard my heels tapping the floor as I walked out the store with my dry cleaning but it didn't faze me. That's the point of all these posts....to convince those folks out there that the world is too busy to notice, or notices but just keeps moving, or notices and gives you (99.5% of the time) positive feedback. Follow the roniheels-JeffB-Thighbootguy way of thinking and we ALL can enjoy this aspect of our lives a whole lot more!!!! HappyinHeels

Q u i e t

Happy in Heels!

I tried to take the SAGE test but the two questions requiring you to click the image caused the screen to reset and the returned to the start of the test WITHOUT saving your answers. I am not one to repeat things. What I did notice was a certain bias throughout the questions. That is the top responses were invariably male dominated and the bottom ones were female dominated ones. The one in the middle (usually C) would be your androgyne, never gets rattled libertarian-type person. Problem is there are women who are very good at directions and are mechanically inclined and men that can remember faces and songs and don't like math at all but this test would miss them or misidentify them. I remember taking the COGIATI a few years ago and it had me as androgyne or just into the feminine side of the spectrum. Without putting a number on it I can describe myself as this; I am 5' 8.5" (174cm) tall born a male and basically happy with my given gender. I am happily married and enjoy doing things like being outside, doing outdoor projects, attending football games, etc. I also like shopping and talking to women about fashion and clothes and shoes. I tend to feel other people's pain very acutely whether I want to or not. I love wearing high heels and other things like stretch jeans,pantyhose, and keep my nails done. I definitely have a female side I identify with. My wish is that we all could ALL show whatever degree of that side freely. HappyinHeels:wavey:

roniheels, Cool story there roni but then again your girlfriend thinks you are very cool in your high heels...and so do we!! HappyinHeels

I enjoy a variety of heels but I don't wear or have anything under 4". Hvae worn 5-6" heels to stores and other places, 6.5" and up for parties and events. HappyinHeels

Roniheels, I personally have no interest in Facebook or Twitter or messing around with a Blackberry as I miss what it is right in front of me. And the days, for some, of visiting people in-person or writing letter may be non-existent but not for me. Last night I drove to Bloomingdale,IL to visit a friend I have had since 1992. I worked with him at O'hare for 14 years and he and his wife were among the first to ever spend the night here (New Year's Eve 1993) since I didn't want anyone going home drunk. Last night I saw my friend who hailed from far south Texas and had a perpetual smile on his face and was a consistently stocky 220 pounds on a 5'9" frame but last night he weighed only 90 pounds. He has terminal brain cancer and his wife had told me about his sudden turn for the worse. He never opened his eyes but his wife encouraged me to keep talking which I did over the course of about three hours. I held his hand and massaged his head hoping for a glance but alas, nothing happened. This may have seemed futile but certainly not for his sister who had come from Texas and not for his wife. I was glad I went but also know, in all likelihood, we will be burying him by next weekend. These moments could not have been recreated by the best technology today rather only an old-fashioned in-person visit would have worked. There are times, like this, where the old ways are the better ways. I left his wife last night saying; "Nancy, your husband and my friend is at the end of his trail and he is waiting only for the sun to set." All these social media can convey information but they cannot sense what lives in one's heart nor feel what is in one's soul. HappyinHeels but somber this night.

P R O T E C T I O N HappyinHeels

burrbaby36, Like Tech said, do you join websites only to find out you don't know what's going on?? It's footwear not a three-headed monster. The real three-headed monster is the beast of ignorance. We are all happy in our heels whether we are women OR men. Now go back to your trailer, so to speak. HappyinHeels

Let the good times roll, whether clean-shaven or not, wearing our pumps and wedges and stilettoes...OH MY!! Live and love your life and may your :wave:spirit always be happy in heels. That's why I enjoy being "HappyinHeels"

S C I E N T I S T HappyinHeels

Outback5, My experience with Aldo is EXACTLY what others have said here and that is that their sizing does run smaller than just about any other store I can think of. Whatever your optimal size is other stores an Aldo shoe will invariably fit like the next size down. I am an optimal size 11 US but can take US10 in some styles which greatly increases my choices. Aldo's boxes will be marked EU40 leading to think it is a US10 but it will fit like a US9. Wonderful and sexy shoes to be sure but they all run small. Most here know I am frequent customer of Bakers and carry their discount card. Their shoes rock and so do their people! another place I adore is DSW which doesn't feature as many of the higher heels I love (5" and up) but they have all the shoes on the floor and most styles run through size US11. Stores are big and plenty of space to try on and walk around. HappyinHeels:wavey:

RonC, Been to that store many times. Very deep and lots of clearance shoes for sure. Takes me about 30 minutes to get there under normal conditions. Rte. 60 can back up coming the Tri-State so I always go 41 to 137 then down 21 to the store. I see a shopping trip for the both of us in the near future! Thanks for thinking of me though. HappyinHeels

Jabble, I took a peek at eleveneast.com which does custom orders. I clicked on various shoes and looked at the color selections and they are, for the most part, limited to either baby blue or royal blue which is too dark. There were, however, two I clicked, the K-0042 and K-340, where a color choice was electric blue which is a good medium blue. I have a cute pair of "Victoria" suede pumps with 5.6" heels in electric blue which matches an electric blue jacket worn over a black sleeveless dress so I know the color. The probelm I saw is that the bottom is not offered in electric blue but the two other blue colors. ANother option is to find a dealer who handles custom orders. A friend of mine runs a shoe store in Chicago that does this and he works with different shoe cobblers like Karo's (which the K before the number stands for) and I have seen many wonderful things happen. About four months ago, I had a pair of wedges made with a 7" heel, all out of genuine cork but not with the usual ankle strap but as a slingback!! Ran about $140. You may want to have the platform covered in some sort of medium material like leather or suede and that way it would all match. Covered heels have become VERY fashionable. I don't where you live otherwise I'd direct to go to his store but any store specializing in high heels or fetish heels should be able to do this. Many people bring their own fabric and a shoe can then be made to the customer's specifications within certain limits. There is a difference between specialty shops and retailers. PM me and I can tell you more. HappyinHeels:wavey:

Right On HappyFeat!! Very well articulated indeed. While I never agreed with the Walmart slogan of "the customer is ALWAYS right" as it invited some really nasty behavior by some people towards store employees I do think that people in retail stores ARE THERE TO ASSIST THE CUSTOMER REGARDLESS OF THEIR GENDER OR WHO THEY ARE SHOPPING FOR, period. Those that engage in narrow-minded and degrading behavior are embarrassing themselves and giving the companies they work for a black eye. Money talks and BS walks which is why any and all of us should report names, dates, and locations of all such clowns so that they can be given their walking papers. Dignity...first and foremost and never optional. HappyinHeels

Speaking of "trying them on", after getting several emails from Bakers about the new spring shoes, I went by my favorite Bakers store in Milwaukee after work today and looked at two different shoes. I settled on the "Carmen" wedge sandal as it was a dream fit in size 10 but the "Carina" in size 10 was too tight...but that's the one that took my breath away!

http://www.bakersshoes.com/p-186705-CARMEN.aspx?c=396

http://www.bakersshoes.com/p-195413-CARINA.aspx?c=296

ANyway, my point is that I walked in, where the girls all know my name, and tried both of these heels with other women in the store. If you compliment them on their choices, and how nice they look, they are relaxed and cool with it. It is just that simple.

Heel on and shop away!

HappyinHeels

standard, You did indeed have a remarkable FIRST heeling experience and, as a result, your confidence has increased dramatically. Any time you're looking for continued encouragement just come back and read Thighbootguy's reply below. It' a concise explanation of what it is like, what it was like for so many of us here. Look at the number of posts he has made relative to the nearly 700 thanks he has accumulated. That tells me he hits the nail on the head all the time..a constant source of reassuring information for you and all of us.It is precisely this kind of positive reinforcement that lifts spirits and allows humans to believe in themselves that just about anything is possible. HappyinHeels:wave:

radiodave, Interesting situation. I would imagine the important thing here is the recognition for a specific job well done or perhaps sustained superior performance over a period of time. Either way it should be YOUR moment and not some self-appointed fashion police. If, in some way you are barred from entering because of your choice of footwear, then I'd tell them to shove their award but this is the libertarian voice inside me talking. Do give it some thought though. For all the years I have been working none of my awards was anywhere conspicuous but down in my basement away from easy view. It is an evalution, in the form of an event, of your work and that should be the ONLY focus of the day. Please let us know what happens, it's important. HappyinHeels:wavey:

Annie73, Appreciate a new member, even if a bit over the top for the first post, in our forum. As you can see there is a variety of people here just like in real life. The common denominator here, amongst the women AND MEN that contribute to this forum's content, is the love of high heels which inexorably leads to talking about what we wear our heels with. There are some men here who only wear high heels but with no other article commonly thought of as being feminine, some that mix and match trying to blend the best of both, and some who dress completely en femme occasionally or rather frequently. Most men are married with kids who lead pretty normal lives whilst others are single and I think the same is true of the women.The men are, trust me on this one, just as excited about the spring line of pumps, wedges, and sandals as the girls are BECAUSE WE ALL DIG HEELS. If you are trying to understand the phenomenon of men wearing heels it would make sense to come here. But, as Tech pointed out, some cursory introduction about yourself is always preferable. Actually, when it comes to men and heels, history had heels on men first...some 500 years ago in fact. It was only much later when women took them over and men stopped wearing them at that point. I personally love feminine style jeans, leather jackets, watches, and shoes, etc. but I sure as hell am no freak, predator, or other prime candidate to wind up in a penal institution. Everyday people from cops and judges to factory workers to senior-level corporate managers, you name the profession and I'll tell you that have heels in theo house somewhere. Please come back and, like Tech said, tell us something of yourself and the like. Thanks. Sincerely, HappyinHeels (happy to be a guy and happy to enjoy heels)

heelexus, WElcome back to the forum!! Nice to see another Upper Midwestener on here, I live in Wisconsin. I think we're all looking forward to warmer weather. Maybe I'll be able to do Mall of America again this year..in 5-6" heels. Enjoy yourself and settle in for some good times! HappyinHeels:wave:

secondreaper, I have no experience with Bebe or Rue21 but have shopped at Charlotte Russe many times. The outlet store at Gurnee Mills in northern Illinois is particularly helpful and has the advantage of having most of their stock on the floor so you can try on whatever style and size you like. I have tried on heels there a number of times and a few times right along side other women...and nothing happened..no snickering or comments either by other customers and certainly not by employees. Anyways, CR is headquartered in San Diego,CA if it was that one.Like others have said, there is no place for that crap in a retail situation and in this economy ANY money coming into the store is good money. HappyinHeels

L a w y e r

I voted that it doesn't make any difference. I believe that because the world is learning to accept different people and lifestyles irrespective of any one trend in fashion. At its core is the basic human desire to live life without too much interference and interact with others naturally. HappyinHeels:wavey:

WisHighHeels-- Welcome to our joint!! Great to hear you had the courage to express your fashion freedom and wear what you want while shopping. I have to ask where in this great state you live. I live in Kenosha and have land near Ashland (way Up North).Again, welcome aboard the high heel train! HappyinHeels