Steve63130

You might try some of the many styles of high heel sandals available that won't have any straps that touch the toe that's affected. There are lots of choices and surely you can find something to tide you over until the toe heals and you are back in the shoes you prefer. Just a suggestion. Steve

A little bit larger and it could be a comfortable chair! HA HA Sorry, just kidding. Don't get offended. They are an interesting design, though. With the right outfit they could look good. Steve

Lots of excellent advice in this thread. I will just add that I notice you call it a fetish several times. If this is indeed a fetish for you, it could greatly enhance your sex life and she will definitely appreciate that, too, which will bring you closer together as a couple. Pitch it to her that way and you both win! The downside could be, that the more you wear heels, the less of a turn-on they become, until you want to wear them all the time, just because they feel or look good to you (and by contrast men's shoes are so boring!). So beware of what you wish for! But whatever you do, tell her, trust her, but read her body language! Life isn't a rehearsal and you only get one chance at it. Good luck! Steve

Scrappy, The look isn't bad but you need to loose the tummy. Can you stand tall and straight and suck in that gut? If it still protrudes, consider a bigger size shirt so it hangs more loosely and doesn't emphasize the abdomen. That shirt just looks a little tight. The boots and hose look great though! Enjoy them! Steve

Good find, Johnie! Perfect for the spring heel meet in Canton! Let us know how they feel when you get them broken in. Steve

You didn't say if they were sandals or not, but I would recommend that you try sleeping in sandals. They won't be too hot on your feet. And 4" is a good height. Don't make your feet stretch too far. Be comfortable and you'll sleep the whole night through. You will feel great when you get out of bed and stand up. Steve

Dave, Sorry you're sorry about chickening out for the event, but it's only one small opportunity lost; no big deal, so don't lose any sleep over it. Next time you get the chance to do it, though, think of this experience. If it is a good lesson learned, then it will not have been a bad thing. Keep on heeling! Steve

Definitely not. My toes don't bend far enough for me to fit into anything higher than 4" comfortably and the maximum height for graceful walking is way less - 3 to 3 1/2 inches. I'm happy at that level and have no desire to hurt by going higher. Steve

There is a product called Goo Gone which is available in most grocery and big box stores in the cleaning supplies section. It dissolves the residue, it isn't dangerous or flammable, and it has a nice citrus smell. Best thing to use. Steve

Just remember to take out the plastic bags before your hubby puts his feet in the shoes. It'll work better that way. Steve

Don't come home and kick the dog - you'll kill it! Spikesmike ought to see those. Could give him a whole new reason to be proud of his nickname! LOL Steve

I agree with Bern and Charlie. Streetheeling is easy in such boots. I recently acquired a pair of Naturalizer "Glassy" boots (leather with suede shaft). They're really easy to walk in, and they don't attract any extra attention, so a beginning heeler can feel comfortable wearing them. They are on sale now at

http://www.naturalizer.com/Shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?p=EC0224305&pg=3007539

for $99 (regular price was $149). Naturalizer even accepted and posted my review of the boots on the web site!

Steve

I've preached this on the Legwear as Unisex Fashion board at http://forums.delphiforums.com/legwearuf and I'll preach it here as well. Sure, it's natural for experienced wearers to find a lot of the newbies' posts boring and reptitious, and to stop posting or even stop coming here. Unfortunately that isn't helpful to our cause of making leading edge fashion freedom more mainstream.

Experienced guys are absolutely needed here to help encourage the newbies. The posts in this thread illustrate how influential the experienced guys are. So my plea to Quartz, Firefox, Francis, Xa and others who used to post prolifically on Jenny's site and don't post much here: get involved again. Post positive and constructive comments on newbie's accomplishments. Give them encouragement and inspiration. Help them over the hurdles. You were in their shoes (almost literally!) once and maybe you achieved your goals by yourself with no one to help you, but you did it, and you realized it was fun and the world didn't fall apart. Please pass along your precious experience to the rest of us. Please post more often, tell your "family" here what has worked for you, how you felt, what you're doing now, and get actively involved with this forum again. You'll be amazed at the warm welcome you get, and we'll be grateful for your experienced contributions! It's not sainthood, but it's pretty close!

Steve

They may look odd, but Vibram, the maker, is laughing all the way to the bank. This footwear has made them a ton of money! Steve

Ebay is easy and it's fun. It's a bit like going fishing. You never know what you'll catch. If you win, you get the prize. If not, keep fishing. If you get the prize and it turns out not to fit, not to look as good as you thought, or you don't like it, just turn around and re-sell it. You'll hardly lose much, and I've actually made money doing that at times. So log on to ebay.com and read about it. Then take the plunge. I've bought 90% of my shoes there, and it's been a great source of larger sizes, because a lot of stores dump their extra stock there at good prices. Steve

Yep, many times I'll put a pair of indoor shoes in my bag to wear at the office. I usually wear heeled boots to the office in cold/snowy weather, but my feet get too hot all day in boots indoors, so I prefer other shoes. I also keep a spare pair of heeled clogs at the office. Steve

Try sandals. Your feet may be getting too hot. I know mine can get too hot in pumps and I have had that tingling sensation also. I wouldn't dare try boots. I found that sandals give me the same great feeling of being in heels, but my feet don't get too hot after a couple of hours. I can spend all night in sandals. It's great to wake up with them on, and have them on when getting out of bed. Steve

I subscribe to an industry journal called Footwear News, which used to be a printed and mailed newsletter and is now online. The recent issue is here.

Take a look through it. While the shoe industry is 90% about women's shoes and maybe 5% men's and 5% children's (my guess based on what I see in the mag), this issue focuses on men's shoes. The styles they show are mostly boring, even though they're touted as novel. The articles on pages 16-19 prove that designers and customers can't think outside their narrow box. The women's shoes on page 20, by contrast, are much more interesting.

I've been reading this mag for 4-5 years now, in hope of seeing a glimmer of light that men's styles might be changing, and that heel heights might go up. Nada, I'm sorry to say.

Steve

Started out as a fetish, but lost that long ago. I don't wear because of looks, so the initial assumption is invalid. I wear because of how it feels to me. I like an elevated heel, I like the extra height, and I don't wear highly femme shoes in public (clogs, loafers, boots and pumps with thick heels - no stilettos or toe cleavage). You're always treading on dangerous ground when you make blanket generalizations. They don't always apply to everyone in every situation. Steve

Kitty - those are really great looking boots, and you walked very well and confidently in them. I'm glad your wife is learning to accommodate your hobby. She had gorgeous boots on, too. You both are a lovely couple and I felt privileged to meet you in person. Keep up the good work and continue to post your milestones (and baby steps for that matter - all progress is important!). Steve

I'll bet if someone did a poll on here, asking to rate how conservative/redneck/intolerant/dangerous a place you live in, most men here would answer that theirs is way above average. We can't ALL live in places that are way above average. It's our misperception. Surely there are bad neighborhoods where you don't want to be, even in daylight in men's shoes, but I think a lot of us use this misperception as an excuse. We proved yesterday that Canton, Ohio, is a not redneck place (in spite of Wobbles and her chain saw! ha ha ha!). It's typical middle America suburban and we who attended the heel meet in broad daylight all lived to tell about it. The demons are in our heads. Steve

Kitty, it was great to meet you and your wife, it was good to see Johnie and Radiodave and Spikesmike again, and to meet Wobbles for the first time. The food and service at Ruby Tuesday's were really good and the management seemed really pleased to see us again. We had a terrific conversation, never a gap or awkward moment, and there was a lot of laughter and joking. Wobbles is a fantastic catch, Johnie - treat her right (or she'll hand your head to you; I think she really DOES know how to handle that chain saw!) I really enjoyed meeting her and I hope you can get her to share your heeling passion even more in the future. Those mary janes looked fabulous on her! I look forward to the next heel meet there. It was a hoot and we all had a good time! Thanks to Johnie for making the reservations and arrangements. It was a two hour drive (each way) for me, but well worth it! Steve

"The boy chases the girl until she catches him!" HA HA! Steve

See? It's all about the confidence you have. Confidence is sexy and women love it! Good on yer, mate! Steve

Thanks for the post. I'm glad you enjoyed the experience. Trying to look like a woman just to wear heels and/or hose is a lot of work, as you found out, and having to fight off other men is an unwanted consequence of a well-done transformation. Next time consider just wearing heels with pants in male mode. You'll still have all the fun of wearing heels in public and you won't have a lot of unwanted baggage (literally and figuratively). My guess is that most people probably won't notice; those who do probably won't say anything. You may in fact get compliments from women who do notice. And teenage girls in groups will probably giggle. Steve