onyourtoes

Congratulations on your creation, I hope it sells well. Maybe it would be easier to manage multiple copies by setting it up as a multiple item, fixed price sale? (you might have to wait until you've got 30 feedback points first) Have you looked into print-on-demand publishers? I use lulu.com, and there must be a UK equivalent. Lulu lets you sell both printed and downloadable copies and the up front cost to you is zero. They do ship internationally, but I'm not sure how effective that is, but the download option is an easier way to sell than eBay/PayPal and emailing attachments. Your book will also appear on Amazon with lulu doing the all the work. I'm a bit reluctant to put my name out on this forum, but pm me if you want a link to my store with my 2 so-called books.

...apparently without anybody else paying any attention to her at all...

I would have paid plenty of attention!

Hi Onyourtoes,

Nice boots! The 20", where does that sit on your leg, at the knee or above?

How long did it take for you to get your boots made? Is there anything you would have differently if ordered another pair? The toe box, is there room enough?

Thanks for sharing,

Mtnsofheels

1. they are NOT 20 inch boots. The shafts are 16 inches measured up the side seam. That is the standard height for that particular style. They'll make any height you want for an additional per inch charge.

2. they sit an inch or two below my knee.

3. I mailed the order form on September 17 and the boots arrived on December 31. At the time I ordered, they were quoting 3 1/2 months so the boots were right on time.

4. About the only thing I would consider changing is getting multi-color stitching instead of the single color.

5. The toes do not feel narrow at all. They're a bit elongated to accommodate the full foot width and the point. They do not look long because of the heels, though even with lower heels, Paul Bond pointed toes do not look as long as some other brands.

6. The story behind their arrival:

On New Years Eve day the most unbelievable thing happened.

In September I ordered a pair of boots from Paul Bond. After 3 1/2 long months, they shipped them on Monday, 12/28 by UPS 3-day.

Shannon [Paul Bond's office manager] sent me the tracking number and I impatiently watched their progress. Will they make it by Thursday, or would I have to wait over the long New Year's weekend until Monday?

And they're off! Nogales, Phoenix, Rockford, Minneapolis, Louisville, Hartford, and yes, on to the local UPS center.

Then disaster struck! UPS is closed New Year's Eve day, no ground or 3 day deliveries!!!

That was at 8:00 am. I prepared myself for a very long bootless weekend.

Then at 9:00 am the phone rang.

The call was from someone else like me, a boot lover who happens to work at UPS.

Today he spotted the Paul Bond box -- the first one he's ever seen in his 7 years working there -- and called me with instructions on how to pick up the boots that day!!! (in a later conversation, he told me how he couldn't imagine a pair of boots like that sitting in a cold warehouse for 4 days while someone waited)

I went to UPS, knocked on the right door, dropped the right names, and they handed me my new boots.

Thank You, Mr. UPS Bootman!

Nice boots. So that would be 20 inches tall with the heels, right? Do you tuck your pants into your boots? Such a nice pair, you should show them off fully exposed.

Yes, 20 inches. I can't say I'll be wearing them outside my pants much in public, but I'm sure I will occasionally. I certainly have done it with other tall boots in the past, though these do top any past cowboy boots I've owned.

The Paul Bond boots arrived today. They look, fit, and feel great. The boot tops are 16 inches and the heels are about 4 1/4 inches at the back.

I see some black lines around the perimeter of the heel, but I don't know what that's supposed to represent.

It's just a line I drew to see how the heels will look after trimming and finishing. They will be dark brown along with the sole edge.

They look like they might be ballet heels with fake toes incorporated in the design. There doesn't appear to be room for a person's toes to fit, and in the pictures of them being worn, the vertical length of the foot looks right for regular ballet heels. While they look attractive in their own extreme way, I wouldn't undergo the difficulties of ballet heels without people seeing that I'm suffering; not just walking funny because my heels are higher than I can manage.

In mid-September I ordered a pair of Paul Bond boots with 3 1/2 inch heels. Sounds not too high for us, except they measure heel height at the side seam, so they'll probably be pushing 4 1/2. I had asked for a chunky work-heel shape, but they called today and said they built them but the boots have turned into a pair of heels with tiny boots attached. They sent a photo, and I had to agree so modified the photo and sent it back. They kept commenting on how high the heels are, but I've seen a few other pairs of their boots with similar heels. Also the photo shows no toe spring, but they said the last is still in the boots in the photo and that's what's causing that up on the toe look. The photos are as made and the proposed modification, and the heels and soles are rough and unshaped here. I should have them in a couple weeks, I can't wait!

...we would get to see ugly mens shoes with heels...

You got that right. I remember when men's heels were in style in the seventies, and 98% of them were hideous. No wonder very few men wore them.

On the other hand, it did make it easier to wear nice (read women's) shoes on the street.

High heels tend to shorten your steps, let them.

The answer is: d. Ugg (style) boots. Sorry, permanent ban earned and accepted as well deserved

My impression of the article is those are not shoes for the handicapped. They're shoes made of orthopedic-looking materials as an exploration into design. For instance, the white boots made to look like a leg cast aren't something a person with a broken ankle would wear -- what about the other foot? Are they rigid? Removable?

Thanks for all the interesting stories from everyone. I wrote-up my first heels adventure many years ago and posted it on Jenny's.

I just added it to our story forum here.

I guess I should tell about my first without making you go and read the story.

My first pair of high heels were a pair of red leather pumps with pointed toes and 3 1/2 inch spike heels with metal tips, size 10-B. They were Charmers, the house brand of Clark's Discount Department Stores, and cost $3.97 in 1962.

Thanks for all the interesting stories from everyone. I wrote-up my first heels adventure many years ago and posted it on Jenny's.

I just added it to our story forum here.

I wrote this autobiographical essay in 1987 when I was 41 years old. Eventually, I published it on Jenny's High Heel Site. A thread in the Guys forum asking about our first high heels inspired me to repost it here.

My First High Heels! by On Your Toes

Well, here's the true story of "My First Real High Heels"

I'm not sure exactly when my fascination with high heels really began. Maybe it was when I was 4 or so. I was just about to put on a pair of my mothers heels when she came in and told me to stay out of her closet. Maybe if I had put them on, it would have ended right there.

When I was about 12, my cousin had a pair of cowboy boots that I used to plot to get to wear. Sometimes I'd go to his house when I knew he wasn't home and tell his mother we were working on a model plane and I wanted to get started on the next step. I never got caught, but never got to wear them for more than a few minutes before I was sure my cousin would come running into the room.

Fast forwarding a couple years I was visiting a friend and noticed a pair of his sister's heels in the bathroom. Friend's sister's shoes seem to figure into a lot of stories like mine that I've read over the years. The family started to wonder if I was sick that evening. I must have "gone to the bathroom" 10 times. They were almost my size and I eventually managed to steal them! They were sandals and really too small so my feet stuck out about a half inch over the backs. The heels weren't very high either. This lead me to decide that if I wanted real heels, then I had to buy them.

About a year later, maybe age 15, one evening I went to a discount department store on the other side of town and bought a pair of red 3 inch heel pointed toe pumps, size 10, the largest they had. I must have circled around the shoe department for an hour waiting for nobody to be around.

When I got to the register, it turned out they were unpriced so the cashier held them up high and shouted "Doris, how much are these spike heels!?" Managing to keep from passing out I paid the $3.97 and as she was putting them in the bag, I noticed that in my nervousness, I grabbed a pair of size 7! I nearly died.

Being in this deep, I walked in a daze to the returns counter and managed to stutter out something about my sister buying the wrong size. Of course the clerk just doing her job, probably didn't even notice that I was a guy returning "ladies" shoes. She pulled out a form and said "name, address, and phone number." Willing to do anything to get out of there I wrote my real information. I'm still waiting for them to call my mother and that was almost 40 years ago.

I went back and got the right shoes this time, paid without incident and was going out the door when I saw MY HOME ROOM TEACHER coming towards the entrance!!

I was sure that somehow the bag had turned transparent or the outline of the shoes was clearly visible. So not only was the store going to call my home, but I was probably going to get thrown out of school. Well, at least that's how I felt at that moment.

It was about a half hour walk home. I was about halfway there when it started raining. I didn't care if I got wet but bags were paper back then, and the bag started to get awfully wet.

Then I ran into a couple friends from school. They said "Hey, what'd ya buy?" and I said oh, just a toy for my little brother. While we were talking I noticed that one of the spike heels had poked its way out of the wet bag and was clearly visible. They seemed to just keep talking and talking while I stood there just nodding my head sure they were about to start screaming "look at those heels!" Once again nothing happened.

I got home and sneaked the shoes into the cellar. I was too jangled from all the close calls to risk even opening the bag for fear the family would come running down to see what the noise was.

Eventually I realized that people hardly ever look at feet so I started taking long night walks around my residential part of the city. Rainy nights were best because there we fewer people out, it seemed darker, and the rain drowned out much of the sound of the metal-tipped spikes. When winter came, I bought a pair of "Rain Dears" brand overshoes. They were translucent plastic and made for high heels. They had a metal reinforcement inside the heel which kept the spike from poking through, and pointed toes. They really didn't look like heels and were very quiet so I wore them a lot.

Those shoes are long since gone.

In the almost 40 years since then I've probably owned 500 pairs of shoes. I have owned or still own: pumps, clogs, sandals, spike heels, wedge heels, wide heels, flat heels, every conceivable heel height from flat to 6 inches, snow boots, fashion boots, cowboy boots, Dutch wooden shoes, Chinese cotton shoes, Japanese geta, lace up, zip up, Velcro up, pull up, elastic sides, cork soles, plastic soles, wooden soles, leather soles, 39 cent flip-flops, $400 custom cowboy boots, every color ever made, a lot of combinations of everything in this list, and that holy grail of shoe fetishists everywhere-the pointe ballet shoe with an 8 inch spike heel....

The End

In the past year at work (an office), I've worn: sneakers, 3 inch heel Mary Janes, 4 inch clogs, 3 inch heel cowboy boots, Japanese geta, and Ugg style boots. Guess what I was wearing today when someone asked (in a somewhat negative/disparaging tone), "Are those comfortable?" a) ballet boots 6 inch pumps c) Crocs with steel wool stuffed in the holes d) Ugg boots

They look like something Don Martin would draw.

<truestory>Reminds me of the day I called a large office supply store and asked if they had any brown typewriter ribbons. They asked me to hold a moment and I heard the answerer say to someone else, "It's another call asking for colored typewriter ribbons." The second person came on the line and said, "How many times do I have to tell you people? There are no colored typewriter ribbons because nobody wants them!"

I don't have my 5 1/2 inch heel Jante 2000 anymore so I can't put one on each foot to compare, but based on how I remember it, I think the Ellie 8260s run a bit smaller than the Jante. I've got a pair of 11 and if I get another color, I'll likely choose 12. The heels on size 11 are 6 1/2 inches and right at the edge of my ability to stand with straight knees and walk reasonably well.

The caption says they're great shoes for a pretender. Sorry if I seem dense, but pretending what?

Thanks for your pictures and info regarding HH CowOhBoy Boots.

Onyourtoes, What model did you get from Paul Bond and how high a heel did you order?

Western Boots style are great for wearing around and much more acceptable.

Look for to hearing more from your maker tightlevisandhhboots.

Mtnsofheels

I ordered them in all red with gray trim, 16 inch tops, 2A toes, and 3 1/2 inch heels. That's measured along the side seam, so the heels will probably measure a bit taller at the back -- I think my last pair hit around the 4 inch mark.

Being red, with those heels and toes, they're not exactly stealth heels. My last pair of Bonds got a lot of public wear before they were stolen, and these will be for street wear, too -- ceptin' when they're in my safe deposit box

I'm looking forward to seeing them. A couple makers have come along since WR closed their doors, but they've always been a disappointment. I've got a pair of Paul Bond boots on order right now, but I don't expect them until January. Bond is just about the only current maker who is both willing to go over 2 inches and can actually do a good job.

Well, I guess it was bound to happen. Since apparently so few people had seen ballet heels before the past year or so when Beyonce et al showed up wearing them publicly, someone was bound to come up with a copy for the runways. In order to keep any sense of resemblance to real ballet heels using platforms like that, they had to go way up on the heels. Of course the shoe is (barely) in proportion to itself, but compared to the wearer is more like bride of Frankenstein goes fetish shoe. I'm sure those are comfortable enough, but they seem a heck of a lot more dangerous than the real thing.

Not pony boots, but I imagine the experience is similar.

I bought a pair of Devious Femme 2020 boots in black leather a month or so ago. Like the Devious ballet boots, the heels were too high -- there was no way I could wear them without hanging on to furniture and walls and lurching along in a totally ungraceful manner.

I decided it would be easier to lower the heels than to thicken the forefoot platform, so did a few trials raising the platform by standing on pieces of wood, then took my hacksaw and carefully sawed 1/2 inch off the heels.

Of course, this made them even more heelless like pony boots, but I can walk around quite comfortably. I think I took of just the right amount, still having ridiculously high heels, but also ones I can stand and walk on.

They measure 8 1/4 inches at top of the heel, and the platforms are 1 1/2 inches giving the equivalent of a 6 3/4 inch heel.

Of course their being boots that can be laced up tightly, and having one-piece rigid soles and heels, makes them much more stable and walkable than a shoe with the same heel.

While re-reading my above post, it occured to me one could saw the heel off completely and have heelless boots as have been featured on some other conversations here.

Not pony boots, but I imagine the experience is similar. I bought a pair of Devious Femme 2020 boots in black leather a month or so ago. Like the Devious ballet boots, the heels were too high -- there was no way I could wear them without hanging on to furniture and walls and lurching along in a totally ungraceful manner. I decided it would be easier to lower the heels than to thicken the forefoot platform, so did a few trials raising the platform by standing on pieces of wood, then took my hacksaw and carefully sawed 1/2 inch off the heels. Of course, this made them even more heelless like pony boots, but I can walk around quite comfortably. I think I took of just the right amount, still having ridiculously high heels, but also ones I can stand and walk on. They measure 8 1/4 inches at top of the heel, and the platforms are 1 1/2 inches giving the equivalent of a 6 3/4 inch heel. Of course their being boots that can be laced up tightly, and having one-piece rigid soles and heels, makes them much more stable and walkable than a shoe with the same heel.