Skirted-UK

In 1953 a weekly magazine used a model to demonstrate the hazards of the new stiletto heel shoe.

Two girls modeling the narrow straight skirts of the mid fifties.

I think this answers the question of what she does for a living...

I think most of us agree (Guys) The HIGHER the Better..

Ruud

GREAT Legs!!!!

This is a montage made from a two page promotion article for a cut-out and sew skirt offer which was published in a 1956 women's magazine.

Most commercially made straight skirts had a kick pleat at the back to make them easier to walk in. However in the fifties, teenage girls often used to omit the kick pleat in order to make the skirts tighter for better effect.

The picture shows the model demonstrating the kick pleat at the back of the skirt, which they claim gives ample room for walking and goes on to suggest that you can even run for a bus in it!

Great pictures, They are from a wonderfull time when most women didn't own a pair of trousers and had to do everything in tight skirts and high heel shoes. I have loads of pictures like this which I could post if you can tell me how I can export them from my Microsoft Communites website to this page.

Volvo 740 Estate. I just love this car except for its fabric seat covers which make getting into it in a straight skirt a real pain.

Led Zeppelin (Kashmir) In the Volvo Estate, Shirley Bassey.

I think the worst has got to be trying to go down an uneven grass slope in the dark, in high heels and a long straight skirt. If you slip or stumble a straight skirt will usually trip you up. I am constantly trying to find 4" heel court shoes which have a wide heel base. stiletto heels only work well on level hard surfaces. But they do sound great on the tilled floors in toilets.

Then onto skirts. I've always wondered what a pencil skirt and a hobble skirt would feel like

They take a bit of getting used too, You can't do high steps or run in them and you have to get into a car a special way. If you are going to try a straight skirt, don't be put off by your first experence. a straight skirt is a bit of a shock the first time you wear it, especially if it does not have a slit or a pleat. But if you persevere with these skirts you soon learn all the tricks you need to wear them succesfully, but beware they can be very addictive.

DIVINE SHOES in the UK.

I can recomend this company, I bought a pair of 2.5" heel black patent court shoes from them last year. I go out in these shoes all the time.

The MD Steve Pateman is a real nice guy and very helpful.

Their website is www.loveisdivine.co.uk

YOU CAN'T????

Funny old world is'nt it, men trying to get into skirts and women trying to get out of them.

I know I don't like women in Trousers, but this is a bit extrem, even for me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2062320.stm

50's straight skirts, calf-length & not slit for ease of movement. I always alter the skirts I buy, I sew up the back seam right down to the hemline as I like the sensation of the skirt hemline catching on my legs. I sometimes wear a straight skirt with a back knife pleat if I'm going to walk far. I find these skirts extremly exciting to wear, I can't understand why women hate them so much.

I was struck by a glaring case on Wednesday.

I had to deliver a small pallet of freight to a primary school. It only weighed about 20 KG (40lb) and I would have been able to carry it easily if it hadn't been for the bulk. But guess what, the woman in reception refused point blank to give me a hand- and she was wearing trousers.

My point is, in what way does wearing trousers make her equal to me? The grounds for refusing to help me was purely because she was a woman. I was able to lift that pallet on my own (with a struggle) so I am clearly superior to her (only because she felt that her limitations precluded her from lifting it with my help).

I came away thinking that she had no right to wear them because all those women were spat at, attacked and otherwise villified for wearing mens' apparel just so she can swan about in trousers without even considering what equality really means. There are women who do the same work in heavy industrial settings as their male counterparts and I applaud them, on the otherhand, there are those who take the rewards of "equality" without any of the responsibilities. They are quite happy to regard wearing of "male" clothes as a "right" but then when this equality no longer suits them they become feeble women. It is wrong to switch your responsibilities on and off. These people use rights as a weapon and it makes me jolly cross.

I have often wondered if straight skirts came into fashion for men, would we be able to ask all those women in trousers for assistance.

Would we be able to use our straights skirts as an excuse for not doing something.

I wonder how far you would get if you said to a women in trousers, "You will have to do this I'm wearing a tight skirt!" I think it would go down like a lead zeppelin

This issue got my attention in another topic, but I think this is an interesting point.

I know exactly the contents of my my own shoe closet - so it is of no interest opening it - there's no chance of finding something surprising.

But sometimes when you have the chance - like visiting someone - if you have a chance, it is such extreme pleasure taking a peek at their closet - you may get really suprrising findings And then you feel so close to the shoes, yet everything is new to you!

I hope you get my point

When I was 17 I spent a weekend staying at a girlfriend's family home. She had to sleep with her sister and I sleeped in her room. Her shoes were too small for me to wear, but I did have a very enjoyable night trying on her tight skirts.

When I was lurking one of the most interesting threads I saw was this one. It was about becoming a "high heeled woman" on a full time basis. I'm not an expert on anatomy but I think the same danger that women face are present for us men. Are you afraid that your heel wearing will keep you permanently in heels?

I know some of you wear extremely high heels(6"+). Have any of you experienced problems with your arches?

I had never given this much thought until you brought it up, but back in the 60's when high heels were worn more often, you would see lot's of women with very muscular calfs, the lads would say, "she's got horney legs" I used to think it was natural at the time and did not connect it with wearing high heels, until I had an affair with a woman who was 15 years older than me. She had very muscular calfs which I found quite attractive. She told me that it was because she had always worn high heels from a teenager. (she was 38 at the time.) she also told me that she found flat shoes uncomfortable, I did not realise then that the tendons in her legs must have shortened so much that it was uncomfortable for her to put her foot flat on the ground. Having worn high heels myself since the 70's I can understand the problems she had.

I have noticed that women who dress more like men and wear flat shoes don't have such attarctive legs.

Skirted-uk

Hi skirted-uk,

I know the man that runs shockingstockings.com, his name is Russel and his email is silverspirit@hotmail.com.

I found him to be a very strange person - I emailed the company to enquire about their court shoes (looked like leatherworks shoes) that were in a 'sale' (about £35 cheaper than leatherworks). From the reply I had I found it to be a bit dubious, so I didn't bother.

The next thing I had was a chap called Russell adding me to his hotmail contact list......it turned out to be the person that owned Shocking Stockings.......apparently he sells 'Touchable Stockings' too but because he's had an argument with Touchable and Leatherworks they don't supply to him anymore.

I'm afraid to say that I think he's a con-man and therefore he's no longer on my contact list.

Sorry to hear about your trouble skirted-uk, but your credit card company should refund you your £120 (they can investigate all fraudulent activities over £100). It a complicated area but under the law of contract, the C.C. is lending you they money to buy the shoes - it is therefore their money that bought them. They have a duty to investigate this for you and refund you the money in the interim until they've got to the bottom of it.

Regards,

Becky.

Yes he certainly is a conman. I should have guessed with an email address of shockingstockings@hotmail.com

I sent countless emails to this address but none of them were answered. Sometimes this mailbox was so full it would not except any more mail, no doute it was full of complaints from dissatisfide customers. He had a complaints email address, but when I tried to use it the mail was returned saying that address did not exist. He also had a telephone number for text mesgs,but that did not work ether. His main phone number was on a premium line connected to an answer phone.

The only thing that did work on the website was his Internet commerce system run by Exite.com. When I contacted them to point out the scam that was going on, they did not want to know and advised me to contact Trading Standards. My CC company Lloyds TSB said they had a time limit of 6 months for claiming back money. I came to the conculsion that I was flogging a dead horse and let the matter go.

Since then I have discovered Hay-Way shoes who are a dream to deal with.

I would be interested to hear from anybody who has been conned by Shocking Stockings, they even had the nerve to send me their latest cat a year later.

Skirted-UK

Skirted - to something else you said:

Are they that bad for you?

I have only ever had one pair of 6" heel court shoes and that was 15 years ago. I still have them because I hardly ever wear them, they are too high for me and they do my knees in. althought I used to like wearing them when I was driving, properly not the safest thing to do

Sounds very familiar, as you can read on my website I already past that point of no return some time ago. Do any of you guys living on heels also have such problems (tendons and calves) when skiing for a week?

Yes I have pulled tendons and calf muscles jumping and running because I wear high heels.

Wow. Skirted, do you find the situation problematic? I mean, do you find our life's changed much because your legs are starting to change?

I think it would be strange to wake up one morning and find out you've got a pair of womens legs

Hi Alex,

Since my wife told me that I have womens legs, I'm very self-concious about showing them in public. but most important I have to be very careful not to pull a tendon, I have done it twice so far, running and jumping down. It's extremley painful and you can't put your foot flat on the floor, so you end up back in high heels.

I don't know how long it took for my legs to change, I only noticed it when I started pulling tendons and my wife started commenting on the shape of my legs.

I have been wearing high heels for about 25 years, I nearly always wear them with a straight skirt which also makes you walk differently.

I think it's possibly a combination of wearing high heels with straight skirts that might have caused the change in my legs over the years.

My advice is don't wear 5" or 6" heels, stick to 4" heels if you are going to wear high heels for long periods. Try to cycle as much as you can with plenty of walking in flat shoes. Try and get some shoes with 2.5" or 3" heels, dificault to get I know, but you can get them at www.haywayshoes.co.uk

If you are really worried about it, keep checking the circumference of your calf muscles with your foot flat on the ground and look to see if your little toes are starting to go under the toe next to it. All my toes are now cramped together in the shape of a womans court shoe.

I just hope that I never have to go to a Chiropodist

Skirted-UK

My particular favourite in vintage fashions is the 50's era, swirling circle skirts, seamed nylons, stilettos and especially the undies! I have a huge collection of both. For me. the look of a seamed stocking compliments a stiletto heel.

I too love 50's fashion. I became interested in straight skirts when I was 13 in the fifties. Straight skirts were calf-lenght then and were not slit for ease of movement, slit skirts were considered to be tarty and not the sort of thing that resectable ladies wore. most straight skirts had a small kick pleat at the back to make them easer to walk in, but they were still very limiting.

Because they were so limiting the 50's straight skirts were very controversial and unpopular with some women. I used to read the fashion pages of my mothers magazines to see if there were any articals about these skirts.

There were occasionaly articals about the problems of coping with everyday chores in straight skirts.

Fashion editers would give advice on how to get on a bus or into a car, and things to avoid doing if you are wearing a tight skirt.

It all seems very amusing now, but in the fifties it was serious stuff as women did not have the option of trousers and had to do everything in skirts.

Skirted-UK

When I was lurking one of the most interesting threads I saw was this one. It was about becoming a "high heeled woman" on a full time basis. I'm not an expert on anatomy but I think the same danger that women face are present for us men. Are you afraid that your heel wearing will keep you permanently in heels?

I know some of you wear extremely high heels(6"+). Have any of you experienced problems with your arches?

My sister in law is a high heeled woman. She is in her fifties now and has been wearing high heels since she was a teenager. The tendons in her legs now have shortened so much that it's painful for her to walk in flat shoes, consequently she now has to wear high heels as a nessesity.

I have been wearing high heels since the late sixties and the same thing is happening to me. I have started wearing 4" heels more in the last couple of years and I have noticed how tight the tendons in the back of my heel feels when I walk in flat shoes. Two years ago I jumped off of a boat and pulled the calf muscle in my leg. It was extremly painful and the only relief I could get was to wear a pair of 4" heel court shoes to releve the streach on the muscle, it took weeks to heal.

I have been off work for the last year and have been wearing 4" heels most days. When I went back to work recently I really noticed how tight my calf muscles were when I walked in flat shoes. I soon pulled a calf muscle when I had to run, fortunatly it healed up in a week.

I have not had any trouble with my arches, but my knees are painful, but I can't be sure that wearing high heels has caused that.

What I can say with certainty is that wearing high heels changes the shape of your legs. They shorten the tendons in your legs and they make your calfs more muscular and they alter the shape of your toes, even my wife say's that I have got women's legs.

On the plus side I can wear 4" heel court shoes all day without any problems, which is more than can be said for my wife and daughter.

But yes, you could turn into a high heeled woman. The trouble with high heels is that they are very addictive, once you start wearing them there is no going back and before you know it, you got womans legs. I know it happened to me.

Skirted-Uk

You could always go look

But they have a quite reasonable selection in that kind of size. Alternatively, there's Evans, but they're a clothes shop with shoes, rather than a shoe shop. They cater for more cuddly women, hence the larger sizes in nice shoes. They're on most high streets, too.

I have only bought one pair of shoes from Evans, size 11 extra wide fitting, 2"heel courts. They were not really strong enought for me and the heels keeped coming lose, eventualy the spine broke in one of the them.

Evans is a good place to buy black or navy straight skirts, up to length 32" and size 28, if you are into straight skirts

I don't bother to look at their shoes now as I have discovered Hay-Way shoes at www.haywayshoes.co.uk

Hay-Way shoes are the best place to buy high heel shoes in men's sizes. The quality is excellent and the shoes are made strong enought to take a mans weight This company is highly recomended.

Unfortunatly I cannot say the same about www.shockingstockings.com

I ordered a pair of high heeled platform court shoes from them costing £120. They debited my CC and said the shoes had been dispached. The shoes never arrived and they never answered my emails. The phone number on their website was a premium rate answerphone. When I contacted my CC company they said it was too late to do anything.

You live and learn

Skirted-UK

Hi Jeff,

reminds me to my problem: I'm 6' 4'' tall and wear EU 44/45 (UK womens 11 rsp. US womens 13).

For me it's much more difficult to find moderate heel heights than extreme stilettos. No problem to buy 8'' ballet boots in my size but impossible to wear such extreme shoes in daily life!

The problem is to find beautiful and fashionable styles in my size or simply boots with 3'' or 4'' block heels. Most of my time I wear my male style girlie plateau boots from Buffalo (1.5'' soles and 4.5'' block heels). I bought them in the biggest available size 42. They are truly 43 but they are still too narrow for me.

Therefore I was glad to find my new fashionable pointed boots with thin 4.5'' stiletto heels. They look "awfully" feminine. But I can walk comfortably on them and on these boots I match still to standard 2-m-door frames . May be that people are staring at me - but it's a fun!

micha

PS: My regard to your courage to wear high heels at work! As a freelancer I have to be more modest.

Hi micha,

Try Hay-Way Shoes, Leicester. www.haywayshoes.co.uk

This company makes court shoes up to mens size 12 UK in a variaty of heel sizes. I cannot recomend this company highly enought. The quality of their shoes is excellent and the staff are wonderful. email Jacky on hayway@haywayshoes.co.uk if you have any questions, she is a real jem.

Skirted-UK