onyourtoes

Try it on a hard surface.

Yes, I was surprised when I looked at the video. It seemed to me I was lurching along taking 2 inch steps.

No particular "training," etc. Just 42 years of wearing heels often and a lot of determination. I've shot more, but need a place to store it online. As you know, if I put it in my Yahoo space, you'll have to go to Yahoo to see it. Off site links don't work.

I need the right timing to do it on a hard surface with video. Of course Trolldeg is right that it's going to look pretty bad. But, we'll see. Maybe this coming weekend.

First of all, the animated .gif file is 1.5 megabytes so if you've got a slow connection, it's probably not worth it. Technically it could be a much, much, smaller .mpg or .wmv but I don't have anyplace to store it right now.

I was playing around with my new digital video camera (Aiptek Pocket DV II), and decided to see what I look like lurching about on 7 inch heels. I think I do it rather well...

By the way, the color is horrible because I turned it down to 64 colors to help make the file smaller, and the shoes are actually bright red patent. Those metal heels are really loud on the sidewalk!

I found it plays very slowly in Internet Explorer but goes full speed in Netscape 6.2 and Opera.

Another encounter:

I was wearing a pair of wood sandals similar to these at work last week. They're almost 2 inches at the highest point.

A woman who obviously has never paid attention to my feet before saw them and said, "Hey, pretty cool sandals. Now you be careful with those heels!"

Huh? What heels?

it's quite shocking...people in flip-flops...less than 3 inch stilettos shouldn't be allowed

Do your own thing. Don't be a victim of conformity.

You're right on both counts, Calv. I'm just having a little fun.

There was a discussion somewhere here, maybe "extreme heels" with a photo of a bride wearing 7" heels. I used to occasionally play in a band at wedding receptions, and I can remember one where I noticed I was wearing the highest heels in the place -- nothing spectacular -- maybe 5 inch heels with 2 inch platforms.

Any day I can wear high heels, it's Heaven on Earth -- or maybe a few inches above...

Brought to you by the society to ban excessive quoting in discussion group postings.

In the FAQ at Dale Miller's web site he says about wearing high heels:

As anyone who has worn them can testify, heels are not as comfortable as flats. But, I like the look, so I put up with them. I suspect that many women who wear heels feel the same way.

While I know that's true for so many women, some men too , I imagine for the majority of us here on the forum it would be more accurate to say:

As anyone who has worn them can testify, heels give me both a physical and mental lift. I can look down on people who are shorter versions of my same height, who are clumping along in their dingy sneakers while I energetically stride, happily down the street! Feet tired? Sore? Not likely, 'cause I got to wear HEELS today!

A quick tour of my Yahoo photo albums shows a definite weakness for Mary Janes. By coincidence I happened to be wearing some as I saw the thread.

A quick inventory:

• 3+ inch chunky heels, thick lug soles, PU, Payless.
• 4+ inch wedge heels, 1 inch platform soles, leather, Bass or Kenneth Cole (identical shoe sold under both names) -- like Hiluc's above, but a bit lower
• 3 1/2 inch wedge heels, 1 1/2 inch lug platform soles, PU, Payless
• 2 inch heel unit bottom lug soles, essentially flat, suede, bass
• flat, cotton, China

Oh, the photo album http://photos.yahoo.com/onyourtoes99

I've been wearing a pair of these all summer and have had almost 100% no reaction to them. They're about 2 1/2 inch heels and 1 1/4 inch platform. The one reaction was a 20 or so year old couple in a store entryway. As I walked up to the door, their previously animated conversation stopped abruptly, their mouths dropped open, and they continued to stare until I was out of sight. I've seen calmer reactions to 4 inch spikes.

These are also from Payless and about 3 1/2 inch heels, 2 1/4 platform. There's something indescribable about wearing them, I get the biggest rush, they're so comfortable and tall. I've seen more people notice these, but since they're wide, round toe, black, heavy looking, with jeans, size 12, they look like they belong and nobody wants to mess with me!

It's been a fun Summer.

On a similar note I bumped into this today http://www.stylewithsubstance.com/shoe/archives/000412.html Read the article, don't just analyze the shoes.

I had a related experience this weekend, too. I was in line at an ice cream shop wearing a pair of quite low, to me, casuals from Payless. Like probably everyone on this forum, I walk in these shoes as casually and confidently as a pair of Nikes.

A woman who noticed my shoes when I walked in, came up to me and the conversation went along these lines:

She, "Excuse me, I don't mean to be nosy, but how can you ever walk so well in those heels?"

Me, "Uh, left, right, left, right? Or do you mean I should be wobbling and holding on to things? Practice?"

She, "It's just they seem so high..."

Me, "It just takes practice. Is it really the heel height, or does my being male mean I'm not physiologically suited to walking on heels?"

She, "Um, well, um, you just look happy striding along like that. My husband tried a pair of cowboy boots once, took two steps, and couldn't get them off fast enough. I wish more men were like you."

Me, "Actually..."

I've never had a conversation like that with a total stranger.

A mouse pad is a good idea. A screensaver is fine, except hard to make money with. Too easy to copy.

My first sighting in maybe 10 years, and one that could set our movement back 10 years. I saw a man in Yokohama station wearing a gray men's suit with dark red sandals. The shoes had about 2 inch platform soles. The trousers were fairly long hiding the full heel, but based on decades of shoe watching I'll put the heels in the 6 inch range and maybe 1 inch wide. The shoes were either too large, stretched, or poorly designed, or he had very long toes because they were hanging over the ends of the platforms. They looked the way Don Martin of Mad magazine drew platform sandals. The shoes looked as out of place as a bride carrying a carburetor. He walked slowly, taking deliberately long steps, paused and rummaged through every trash barrel, and would have caused a stir even if he had been wearing Nikes. I'm sorry to seem critical but I think we're trying to create a look, not a spectacle. The red sandals, white socks, gray trousers, and unpracticed stride just didn't work. I guess I’ll put it down as an off the scale aberration and keep searching.

It seems to me that if she knows you buy heels, she must assume you have at least a couple pairs kicking around that you bought is the past. Then again, just how big is the collection?

I just bought a pair of Nike Hermosa Mules in dark blue. I have no problem wearing them anywhere.

My question is why does Nike, and other companies with similar products, only make them in women's sizes? It really p***s me off that I have call or go to many stores, hear "uuuh, I think they only go as large as 10" and finally end up getting them online.

They fit perfectly, but it would have been nice to be able to try them on in a store first. I wear US women's 11, and Nike does make them as large as 12.

I guess if it's not brown, flat, and just like decade's style, they won't even try to sell it to men. </rant>

I think the above might be a bit incoherent, but I guess this topic has been discussed a few hundred times before. It's just the dismay that not only don't they sell men's thigh high 7 inch heel boots in stores, they don't even sell blue open back sneakers!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: onyourtoes on 2002-05-04 18:21 ]</font>

Let's not forget alt.fashion, heels come up fairly regularly. When I first got on the internet in 1995, I think it was the only fashion, not fetish/porn, discussion group around that ever mentioned heels.

I've noticed women wear their socks outside spandex tights, men wear their socks under the tights. What other unisex items are worn differently between the sexes?

(Put on Your) High Heel Sneakers!

Name: Onyourtoes

Age: 55

Gender: male

Location: New England, USA

Occupation: Computer type

Height: 6'0" (183 cm)

Weight: 170 lb (67 kg, 12 stones)

Shoe size: US men's 10-D, US women's 11-W,

Europe 43, UK 9, Japan/Mexico 28

What's your favourite heel style: block

What's your favourite shoe style: Toss up between loafer/low boot styles and Mary Janes

Do you wear your heels outside: yes

What is:

(a) Your favourite heel height: 3 1/2 inches (not counting platform)

( Your highest heel height: 7 inches, also 8 inch ballet

How often do you wear:

(a) Your favourite heel height: at least 4 days a week part of the day, 1 or 2 days all day

( Your highest heel height: around the house rarely

Do you wear socks, hose, stockings or bare feet with your shoes: depending on style, socks or bare feet

Anything else you wish to add: I've been wearing heels to one degree or another for 40 years. You can read the story of getting my first pair of heels here. I wear heels outside the house almost daily, but very little at work. My friends all are used to it, the women always ask me for advice on styles and current sales. On the internet, I'm still pretty shy.

I wish I could find a source in the US, too. I've never really tried to hook up with a supplier so don't know what the requirements are for minimum order, etc. Probably varies greatly. I think the term in the US is "shoe findings. I haven't found a friendly shoe repair shop for decades. We're a replace rather than repair society and this is a fairly rural area so I only know of two shops reasonably close. One doesn't speak much English and once made it clear he knew the shoes were mine and he didn't want to fix them again. The other doesn't speak much English and doesn't comprehend special instructions. Bottom line is neither is likely to be a source of supplies. I've used rubber from tires, carved heels from wood with my Moto-Tool, poured heels with boat fiberglass epoxy or plastic auto body filler (bondo), and of course took heels and leather off old shoes to modify others. I have made a few pairs. I made a pair of boots of canvas and a japanese geta like wooden sole, a pair of high wood platform sandals, and made new tops for clogs with canvas. Any suggestions for other materials would be appreciated!

I think about 1 inch, maybe 2, is the limit for platforms I'll wear. I've got some higher, but they've ended up mostly as decorations. I think the heel has to be at least twice the platform thickness or the shoe often looks dumpy.