Himark

Just a comment re gel over acrylic. I also had problems with severe splitting of nails, and found that the powder acrylic treatment solved the problem perfectly. However, I also discovered that I had a nasty allergy to gel finishes of any kind. So for several years now I've been getting acrylics with fills every three weeks or so, and I have the manicure shop apply two or three coats of regular polish over the acrylic nail, either clear or neutral color. Works perfectly well. It lasts until the next fill when it has to be removed anyway.   

Another business worth looking at is Avenue. They specialize in large size women's clothing, including a selection of shoes. They sell online and also have physical stores in some areas. 

Actually, I have the worst problem with HH pumps that want to slip off. Boots are fine, and most sandals and even mules are OK, but walking right out of a pump is not pleasant.

OK, I think I can still do this, but there should be a separate category for really old guys  (going on 77)!  Knees are getting a bit knobbly, and hose are good for smoothing the skin!

Sorry to butt in to your thread with a question, but I note that you (and Bluejay) mention liking the Payless O Malley slides. I thought I would like them as well, but I've tried them on in a store on more than one occasion and went away without buying them. The fabric.band seems to want to roll under as I insert my foot and I found it very difficult to straighten out. Have you noticed any such problem with the O Malleys or is it just me?

My previous post said it was rare for me to find a pair of pumps that fit really well. I thought I would add just a bit more to the discussion. It is generally true that if you find a pair of pumps that fit perfectly in the store, they will very quickly become too loose and tend to fall off as you walk. They must be just a little too tight initially, because they will stretch. My own experience is that when I first put on a pair of high heeled pumps, even ones that I've worn a number of times, they feel too tight at first. After 20 to 30 minutes, the shoes stretch a little and adapt to the shape of my feet, and at the same time my feet adapt a little to the shape of the shoe, and then they feel fine.

The trick is to know just how much too tight they should feel in the store, especially since some shoes (leather) will stretch more than others (synthetic). You can't spend half an hour in the store walking around in a pair of shoes to judge how they will fit, so getting the right fit involves some guess work and some experience. Adding to the problem is the fact that most shoes are not available in half sizes above size 10. In my own case, most size 11 shoes are too small (an 11W is sometimes OK) but size 12 is too big. Size 11.5 would be just right, but isn't available.

Sadly, there isn't any secret to it. If you're like me, you will hardly ever find a pair of pumps that work really well. If I try a pair of pumps that are the right length, they are too tight at the front of the shoe, simply because my feet are much wider than the average woman's foot that the shoe was designed for. So I have to go up a size, and then the toe area fits reasonably well but the shoe is too long, and it wants to fall off as I walk. So, mostly it has to be boots, sandals, or something with straps that work better. I have occasionally found a wide fitting style that works, but those are rare.

This is my entry in the seniors category. These legs are 73 years old.

OK all you younger guys out there, I know you can do better than this!

For the first time I've seen a man (other than myself) in a mall wearing high heels. This was yesterday in Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, a suburb city in the greater Vancouver area. He was a tall man, dressed in regular male clothing, but wearing a pair of stiletto sandals with about 4 inch heels, as far as I could see. We passed each other, and he glanced down at what I was wearing (a pair of mules with tapered fairly noisy heels about 3 1/2 inches high). I saw him go into a Payless store. A while later I saw him again at the checkout in an Aldo show store. I wonder if he is a member here?

chop

You turn on switch 1 and wait for a few minutes. Then you turn off switch 1, turn on switch 2, open the door, and go into the room. If the light is on, the correct switch is, of course, number 2. If the light is off, you touch the bulb. If it's still warm, the correct switch is number 1. If it's cold, the correct switch is number 3.

That was easy, wasn't it?

I've tried women's jeans in the past and found several kinds that fit me perfectly and looked much better than any men's jeans. But mostly the pockets were too small to be practical or useful. I guess women keep all their stuff in a handbag and never put anything in their pockets. Of course, stuff in your pockets spoils the look of the jeans, but I'm not ready to start carrying a handbag.

Does anyone know if the software is smart enough to update the stats and graph at the top of this thread? When I originally voted in this poll, I was in the 60-69 group, but now I'm well into the 70+ silver surfer category.

It all depends on what you mean when you talk about wearing 6 inch heels. I've worn up to 5 inch heels out and about, but I never ever wore my 6 inch heels out of the house because I knew that my walk was quite altered and not in a good way. I greatly admire women who walk gracefully and effortlessly in their high heels. My wife and I both agree that it is just painful to watch someone struggling along in heels that are too high for them. For me that's a total turnoff. The old Jenny's High Heel web site had an excellent rule to determine if your heels are too high. If you rise up on tip toes, you should be able to raise your heels at least a half inch off the ground. If you can't, you won't be able to take a normal step forward and place your foot on the ground without bending your knee, and if you have to walk with bent knees, you will look awkward. The fact is very, very few people can walk gracefully in 6 inch heels. It's all about flexibility in the ankle. Exercise can increase the flexibility and mobility to some extent, but we are all built differently. There is no need to feel badly if you can't walk in 6 inch heels. Some people can't even handle 5 inch heels, let alone 6. In my case, now that I am past 70 years of age, I find that my flexibility is decreasing, and even 5 inch heels are becoming more of a challenge. Now I won't go out in anything higher than 4 inches, and I am quite happy with that.

Several posts previously in this thread suggested that if a slingback strap falls down, one can wear the shoe as a mule. Many times that simply isn't true. Mules are designed to be worn without any need for a strap at the back, and they tend to come up a little higher on the instep and sides of the foot. Many slingback shoes are designed with a front part that is too low to keep the shoe on without help from the sling. If the sling strap in back fails, the shoe will be be very loose, and sometimes impossible to wear because they simply will not stay on. I once had a pair of slingbacks on which the straps kept falling down. They stayed on perfectly well without the strap, so they could be worn as a mule. I carefully cut off the strap and they looked and worked just fine.

Perhaps the original poster was referring to a different phenomenon. I've noticed that after wearing high heels for a couple of hours, my feet are forced by body weight further into the toe box. This may be partly because the shoes stretch a bit and partly because the feet themselves adapt to the narrow point of the shoes. In any case, the shoes become loose after wearing for a while, and I don't like shoes that want to fall off. So when buying high heels, I look for shoes that are a bit too tight at first, knowing that they will loosen as they are worn.

I will be 69 next August but I think I can still do this:

There's a shop in Vancouver BC called Model Express that carries many high heeled shoes as well as lingerie, etc. They have a small number of large size high heeled shoes and boots in stock (obviously they have other male customers). Lee, the proprietress, is a very friendly lady, and is very helpful when I want to try on various heels. A few weeks ago I purchased a pair of Pleaser Seduce 2000 boots (black knee highs with 5" stilleto heels) from her. I don't go there very often, but a week later I happened to be in the area again and decided to stop by the shop. I walked in the door, and Lee, glancing down at my feet, said, "You're not wearing your new boots!". In fact I was wearing some ankle boots with a chunky heel nearly 4" high, but I was quite surprised that she expected me to be wearing the Pleasers. I'm a bit hesistant about wearing the Pleasers out on the street in that area because the shop is located on East Hastings Street, in a notoriously bad part of town, but who knows, maybe next time I'll try it!

A year or two ago I experienced a variation on this theme. I was strolling around Metrotown (largest mall in the Vancouver area) wearing classic 4" stilleto pumps under jeans. A girl, about 10 or 12 years old, left a group of her friends, came up to me, and asked "Why are you wearing high heels?" (she was probably the designated spokesperson for the group). I smiled and said, "Because I like them." "Oh, OK", she said with a smile, and returned to her group of friends. Nice, very matter of fact encounter.

Bunions are actually a hereditary condition. Shoes with high heels and pointy toes may make the condition worse, but they are not the primary cause of bunions. You can confirm this by some research on the Internet (serious medical sites, not the purveyors of phone cures). My wife had to have surgery many years ago for her bunions. Several years after the surgery, she was able to wear moderately high heels again. Our daughter inherited the condition, and had developed bunions by the age of 12 or so, well before she was into high heels. She too had to have surgery, in her late teens. Again, it took several years, but she was able to wear high heels in her mid twenties. She continues to do so, and the condition has not returned.

okra

guacamole

Marzipan

zucchini

Kiwi