Heelfan

Hold it everyone! Yes! I've been a double silly-billy! I only looked at the date of Firefox's reply (today!) and didn't realise until I telephoned him a moment ago that the original screeing and posting was last December. In fact I DID see that episode without realising that it is this same one described in the posting. All the Slater Sisters received a batch of Mail-Order pink ultra-high stiletto heels to wear as Bridesmaids at a wedding. Shots of their expressions as they first came out of the box, and more (fleeting) shots and they got in the wedding car and again (fleeting) shots going into the church and up the aisle. 10 out of 10 to the scriptwriter, costume department and actresses, but only 1 out of 10 to the director and cameraman for no decent-length panning-shot sequence of the sisters walking in them for a few yards. Always the same in Eastenders, so many of them wear knockout, very photogenic high heels and yey these are only ever fleetingly gimpsed or not included in the shot at all! Anyway, SORRY, you can all leave your video recording machines idle on Sunday after all! Yours cheerfully but apologetically, Heelsfan.

As above reported by me last weekend, Bristol's pubbing and clubbing fraternity on Frinday and Saturday nights hasn't looked so good for years (many, many stilettos about now, although admittedly nothing much over 4" yet, and not a single clumpy 'Pod' style left anywhere in sight!). However, I'm delighted to report that the stiletto trend is now also spreading to the all-day office workers! I happened to be in the commercial centre at around 5 pm when the secretaries etc. were pouring out of their offices, and was bobbydazzled by all the very short, mid-thigh-length tight black skirts and a number of nice stiletto heels! My star prize mentally went to the girl in the slingbacks with very thin 4 1/2" steel-tipped stiletto heels click-click-clicking her way to the bus stop. Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan

Hang on ......... of COURSE! I'm an idiot not to think of this! If it was THIS week that you saw the Eastender's Slater Sisters trying-on 5 1/2" heels, then it should be visible to us all on this SUNDAY AFTERNOON'S OMNIBUS REPEAT of Eastenders! There we go folks, blank video tapes and recording machines at the ready, and hang on to your seatbelts! In fact, it's the day after this Saturday's SUMMER 2003 FUN HEEL-MEET at Oxford (see this forum under 'Real-life Fun and Shopping Meetings"), so what an amazing weekend we've got in store for us! From a cheerful and eagerly anticipatory Heelsfan!

I'd have given away family fortunes to have been in your shoes (even, yes even if they were flatties!) to watch Dolly Parton skyscraper-heeling it to-and-fro on a fil set for three whole days! Can you remember what the film was? If it was 'Straight Talk', it has already got pride-of-place in my video collection and I extoll it's virtues at every opportunity in these forums. If you can recall it as another title, please let us all know and we'll all be plaguing our local video film suppliers! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan

Personally, I get absolutely equal and very great pleasure both from wearing and watching. I'd hate to give-up either! Anyway, come on all you watchers - more of your GREAT SIGHTINGS please! Cheers, Heelsfan

Yes, in fact I've spotted similar different-height heels at least three or four times over the years (the last occasion being only three weeks ago) and, if I might say so, a MUCH better solution for ladies than the dreaded surgical boots which turn the wearer into OTTO or whatever Frankenstein's monster was called! On a closely related matter, one or two forum-users have mentioned wheelchair-bound ladies wearing attractive high heels as they are pushed around. Well "Why not!" I say - good for them! Even if they suffer the grave misfortune of not being able to walk, at least they are showing the world that they can still be fashion-concious and can make their feet look nice and still give everyone a little treat! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan

Damn! Trust me to miss that episode - that must have been AWESOME, especially if the mega-sexy KAT Slater was one of the sisters in question. Can you please spare us the time and trouble to descibe every little bit of that event in the minutest detail? I am sure that I and every other site-viewer will be eternally grateful to you for your efforts. Cheers, Heelsfan

Don't blame Firefox too much Micha! I think he was only speaking hypothetically to try and point out that not everyone in that Aerospace group necessarily agreed with the snidey comments. Firefox has probably done as much, if not more than anybody (ie setting-up and moderating his own 'Aesthetic High Heels for Men' Site amongst many other things) to champion the cause of guys in heels and general free-styling for guys. A veritable 'Giant amongst men!' in fact (helped by his 4 1/2" Barretts' blades, of course!). Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan.

Yes! To sum-up yours and countless previous postings on these forums: Women can and do dress-up in men's clothes (trousers, jackets, collars, ties, stout flat shoes, short hair etc. etc.) and no-one bats an eyelid. Men can deck themselves out with kaftans, long hair, beads, ear-rings, body-piercing etc. etc. and still no-one bats an eyelid. And yet the subject of men wear high heels, particularly high stilettos seems to be regarded be many as a line that cannot be crossed without the risk of serious embarrassment and worse, hence very very sadly, guy after guy admits on the men's forums that they'd dearly love to step out into the wide world in heels, but just has not got the courage! It's fascinating that this high-heels 'barrier' seems to survive in so many people's minds when the other above trans-gender issues have been generally accepted by now. Perhaps it's because high heels are much more powerful as sexual symbols than all the other clothes and adornments? One reason for inviting the BEST reactions (as well as the worst ones) is to encourage the waverers and shy-guys into stepping-out. We veteran streetheelers, and especially the celebrated Hilucs, Firefoxes and Xaphods of this world will tell the waverers that their fears are totally unfounded, and that it's a doddle and a cinch when you actually get going! LET'S HAVE LOTS MORE WORST AND BEST REACTIONS, PLEASE! Cheerfully Yours, Heelsfan

Hello Loveheel, Sightings like yours are great, as they use this wonderful phenomenon the the Web to bring us news of high heels being worn in all sorts of unexpected parts of the world. Keep such sightings coming everone! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan

Ok Laurie, we understand! Maybe the answer is that one of these days YOU can arrange to be the subject by venturing out your most sensational high heels (or a good excuse to get some new ones especially!) and arrange for someone ELSE (may be Chris or a mutual friend) to do the sighting and post it on this topic-board for our enjoyment! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan.

Come on Folks! Here we are on the world's premier high-heel site visited by you, the World's countless high heel fanatics who are right-now being offered the GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to post here and share with us the ultra-exciting topic of YOUR BEST-EVER ALL-TIME HIGH HEEL SIGHTINGS, and what have we got so far? A TINY handful of replies! Come on Folks, RE-CAPTURE YOUR MOST CHERISHED SIGHTINGS AND ENRICH ALL OUR LIVES! GO FOR IT! Cheers, Heelsfan

Inept (very sadly!) - no camera at the ready (even more sadly!)

Thought you'd all like a run-down on my sightings in Bristol city centre last night (Saturday - pubbing & clubbing night!). Main observations: 1) Now lots and lots and lots of shoes and boots with stilettos everywhere, and the clod-hopping 'pod' styles seem to be finally almost vanished (three cheers!). Also, the dreaded all-concealing jeans were fortunately in the minority, with lots of short dresses, mini skirts and micro-skirts everywhere, showing the high heels off to best advantage! However, unfortunately the hundreds of stilettos all seemed to be no higher that about 3.5" or 4" maximum. Only one ACE pair seen all the evening - 5" stilettos on a girl's laced 'workboot-style' ankle-boot. I wonder if the lamentable (nay can we say 'criminal'?) lack of 4" plus is due to a lack or daring on the manufacturer's part, or the wearing public's part(?). 2) Although the girl's clumpy, pod, and clod-hopping styles have now thankfully all-but disappeared, one style than was still being worn in large numbers last night was the black knee-boot with the very thick platform and the very high heels, 1" to 1.5" thick. You all know the ones! I was mystified as to why this style has survived and why all those same girls had not gone on to black knee boots with modern platform-less very high stiletto heels. 3) Amongst the many stilettos seen last night, one style seen on quite a number of girls was a d'orsay in sand-coloured suede with the odd gold-metal decoration. Curiously, whenever someone walked past in a pair of these, they were ALL flip-flopping off their feet! None were fitting and gripping. I think maybe because the d'orsay style has no sides to the uppers, it allows the toe-section to be distorted forwards a bit and the heel-section to be distorted backwards a bit, releasing the foot to slop in and out of the shoe. Anyway, the girls wearing them all seemed totally unconcerned, and I liked it, so everyone is happy! 4) One teenage Oriental girl wore ankle boots with 3.5" stilettos, tilting very alarmingly inwards on them as if she'd totally given-up trying to keep them vertical. Later on a saw another blond girl wearing boots with a similarly pronounced outward tilt to her heels. I mused to myself as to would happen if they got together and changed boots for their next evening out. Would both pairs of stilettos be magically corrected back to vertical? 5) At 10.45pm, the theatre crowd came out of the Hippodrome having been to see the show Saturday Night Fever. Two men were together with their wives and were wearing 3.5" block heels with thin platforms. Before I could ask them whether they were members of these forums, they were into a taxi and away. I've only ever in my life sighted about four or five other guys wearing high heels in public, so it was a big surprise to see two together! SUMMARY) For keen heel-spotters, the current climate in Bristol is probably the best it's been since the dying-out in the late 1980s of the last stiletto fashion. Plenty of variety of heels and styles around up to 4". However, I'm not seeing the return in any numbers of the REALLY exciting 4.5" or 5" stilettos, and certainly nothing whatsover in the occasional 5.5" or 6" sighting that really used to make my month! In fact, these days, just one such up-to-date sighting would make my year! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan.

No Firefox, I disagree entirely that it's largely psychosematic. It's not psychosematic at all! If, for a moment, we strip-away stylistic differences between male and female footwear and ignore things like high heels and ultra-pointed toes, we can do a straight comparison of say, ordinary flat loafers: The vast majority of men's are made in stiff unyeilding thick hide leather, whereas for women's it is much thinner softer leather, calfskins etc. that instantly feel so much more comfortable on the foot. The vast majority of men's soles are in thick, very inflexible hide leather, whereas the great proportion of women's soles are in much thinner, more flexible materials including rubber and thin composition soles etc. The average woman's version has the uppers lower-cut, not only re. the amount of instep covered, but also around the sides and back, which avoids men's high sides whick can dig-in to the ankle bones. The three above factors all combine to make the overall weight vastly less, which is vastly kinder to the foot. So, all in all, the woman's version with far greater flexibility, lower-cut to avoid irritating the ankles and instep, and far lighter on the foot is INFINITELY MORE COMFORTABLE in every way. I know, because in the process of being drawn towards wearing women's shoes because of the usual sexy aspects of heels and ultra-femine styles, it immediately hit me very markedly that women's ORDINARY unsexy flats, casuals and loafers are so much more pleasant to wear that the ostensibly similar-looking men's versions. Thus for many years now, ALL of my shoes are from the women's department, even though only 50% or less are for thew sexy, heely side of my life life. The others all look perfectly masculine or unisex, and have been purchased PURELY on the grounds of the vastly improved comfort, lightness and flexibility alone. I still try to shop in the men's departments from time to time when I need an ordinary pair to wear with a suit or whatever, but always end up groaning in frustration at the thundering great clod-hopping design and cut, and and the awful stiff, unyielding and inflexible materials used throughout. Dynamite the whole world's men's departments, get all the women's shoes made in ALL sizes (yes. including the boring, flat frumpy styles too) and the comfort-factor for the whole human race will soar! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan

Having only this week set-up this topic, today I was gobsmacked to be confronted with the most amazing and unexpected high-heel spectacle that ranks with my best-ever sightings! I and my two were invited to a wedding this afternoon at Bowden Hall, a very large hotel in lovely grounds on the outskirts of Gloucester (UK). It was a lavish wedding with well over 100 guests, all dressed-up in their very finest. Shoe-wise, it was the best collection of ladies stilettos that I've seen in one place at one time for many a long year. The six bridesmaids were dressed in lilac satin gowns, but their shoes were a puzzle as five of them were in matching lilac blade-heels and the sixth one was in dead flat lilac Mary-Janes. However, the guests' shoes were GREAT. A few slim wedges and blades were in evidence, but I counted at least forty splendid pairs of new-looking stilettos ranging from 2" upwards with many 4" pairs and two 5" winning pairs. At last (thank goodness!) there was not a single ungly, clump pair of 'Pod' style horrors to be seen ANYWHERE! There is a broad, gravel terrace running along the front of the hotel, and the photographer took shots of the whole group posing there in front of the hotel's facade. Then I couldn't believe what happened next!: From the outer edge of this terrace, a very steeply sloping area of grass descends very sharply for about forty yards down to a flatter lawn behind which is a small lake. The photographer beckoned the ENTIRE GATHERING to descend the grassy slope in order to pose in front of the lake. Suddenly I was confronted with the unbelievably awesome sight of dozens of ladies, all in teetering stilettos, all ordered to march straight ahead down this steepest of grassy inclines. It hadn't rained lately, so the ground was bone-hard and instead of sinking-in, their heels stayed ultra-high at the back whilst their toes descending sharply forwards to the slope, pitching all their bodies forwards. As they found themselves forcibly gathering speed, alarm spread on all their faces. Miraculously, none of the ladies actually fell right over. but they were frantically lurching in all directions with heels giving-way, bodies catapulting forward or lurching sideways, and many ladies being forced to break into an involuntary rum down the full length of the slope, to the sound of a chorus of undignified cries and little screams. It immediately reminded me of Lucy's Story No. 11 (currently visible on Jenny's girl's forum), except that today's ladies weren't drunk or sinking into the putting green! Before the foolhardy photographer could take any photographs by the lake, there was much delay and taking on-and-off-ands-peering-at of shoes to check the poor heels for damage and scuffing, plus much rubbing and massaging of feet and ankles! All the many menfolk could do (dressed in their dinner jackets and bow ties) was to stand by and watch it all happen! That runaway uncontrolled helter-skelter-in-a -myrid-of-stilettos cascading down the great long, sloping bank will stick in my mind as a favourite memory for the rest of my life! More sightings please folks! Cheerfully Yours, Heelsfan

I think I did the same as ALL of you: During my initial postings I was lumbered with the dreaded comfy loafer (I'd like to get hold of the sadist who cunningly chose THAT one!) without knowing I could lift myself on to better and higher things. In fact, I was just about to commit suicide due to the sheer shame of being associated with that DREADFUL monstrosity when luckily I happened upon a megaforum page (I forget where it is now) that gave a chart of our progress into higher and higher stuff and the real business! Very cunning indeed! There's method in the mind of that apparent sadist! So, all of us, ONWARDS AND UPWARDS! Cheers, Heelsfan.

Just a final call (with only a week to go now!) - "All aboard that's comin' aboard!": FUN SUMMER 2003 HEEL-MEET AND SHOPPING/EATING/CHATTING/PUBBING DAY! OXFORD (U.K.), NEXT SATURDAY 12th JULY 10 am to EVENING!. MEET OUTSIDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BOOKSHOP, 106 HIGH STREET, OXFORD AT 10 am (ANYONE DELAYED - RING FIREFOX'S MOBILE 07941 172043). GUYS AND GALS ALL MOST WELCOME (WHETHER IN HEELS OR NOT) TO MAKE IT A GREAT DAY! Islebeeseeingyuh! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan

Yes, I'll stick to 'Yobbos' or 'Thugs'. Sorry, we digress from the topic, so can I get back to asking everyone for more Worst and Best Reactions received, please? Cheers, Heelsfan.

Hello Micha! Thank you for your constribution to the survey (excellent English!) and for telling us the German words for 'faggot'. I was intrigued when you mentioned your Mother's 'funny reaction' when you told her about your heels. Can you say any more about this for us? 'Oiks' and 'Yobbos' are not necessarily racist. They are simply the rough and uncouth young men that the city centres of most nations suffer from, often drinking too much beer these days and picking fights with anyone - particularly with football supporters. Also known as hooligans, ruffians, bovver boys, roughnecks, scamps, curmudgeons, knaves, misfits, varlets, scoundrels, hoddypeaks and youths involved in bawdy behavior of the worst order and the commissiuon of disgraceful deeds, not to mention harrassing one innocent Heelfan! Cheers, Heelfan.

Can we hear YOUR best-ever all-time sighting please, each of you? Yours in eager anticipation!, Heelsfan.

Difficult question this, because I have at least four or five memories that are so good that they class as a dead-heat. Anyway, to choose just one for now: Around 1987 I attended an auction sale in Penzance, South-West UK. At the view in the morning, I noticed not just one but TWO girls attending together and wearing identical very high-heeled boots. They were around 20 and 30 years old respectively (the girls, not the boots!). The boots were brand new and they had obviously only just bought them together from the same place. 5" very thin stiletto heels, no platform, pointed toes and they were ankle boots with the top part being in very thin floppy leather that furled around their ankles. The important part of the sighting is that the heels were much too high for both girls, and neither girl could keep their heels upright, both allowing their ankles to start turning inwards as the tension increased. The morning auction view involved a lot of standing around and josting about and no sitting-down whatsoever. By the time the lunch-break was called, BOTH pairs of ankles looked very tired and the two pairs of very tall heels were leaning inwards so drastically that many of the auction-goers had started to notice their plight. For the lunch break, they left the auction room to look for a restaurant in the town, with many of us close behind. The pavements throughout Penzance are uneven granite paving stone and cobblestones. The two girls bravely forged ahead with their ankles wallowing inwards worse than ever and the heels wobbling and dipping towards the ground. It was a miracle that no ankle gave-way completely. The sit-down in the restaurant gave them some much-needed respite, but the return walk to the auction room was just as spectacular, with a predictable trail of auction-goers following close behind like the tail of a comet. One of the two girls suddenly looked behind her for some reason, saw about thirty pairs of eyes transfixed on her and her friend's capsizing heels and blushed a furious shade of bright red. The afternoon was even more of an ordeal for them because when the bidding started, all the seats were taken and the pair of them had to stand at one side (they were bidding for a large banjo and one or two other musical items) throughout the entire proceedings with their leg and ankle muscles getting tireder and tireder. Most of us had left our cars in the railway station car park, and at the end of the sale, as we all walked the several hundred yards to our cars, the two girls were in a fairly pitiful state, hobbling incredibly slowly down the hill with their heels now keeled over at such an absurd angle that everone in the street paused to gaze at them and the amazing state of their near-collapsed high-heeled boots. Since then, I have often wondered whether their problem was that the heels had been set incorrectly on the boots, or whether, by coincidence both girls were weak-ankled and could not master an entire day on 5" stilettos. I also wondered whether either of them attempted to wear them again one future occasions! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

Firefox - Does your above posting suggest that there might be another Euro Meet in the offing? Tell us more! Will you post it in the 'Fun Shopping and Meetings ....' Section? Cheers, Heelfan.

For Girls - get anywhere near Marilyn Monroe's image and you won't go far wrong. For Guys - only Boy George and Julian Clarey(?) have the faces to pull it off; for the rest of you .................. NAH! Cheers, Heelsfan

Thank you JimC for the clarification, and that's a good observation about words for gays and a chain! Thank you to all who have contributed to this survey so far - it is extremely fascinating! Already I think I detect a trend emerging: WORST REACTIONS: Mainly the young - precocious youngsters through to giggling schoolgirls through to young oiks and yobbos. BEST REACTIONS: Older, more mature people and especially women! Maybe this indicates that tolerence, insight and even genuine sympathetic understanding might come with age, and maybe with the feminine gifts of warmth and intuition? Anyway, let's see ................ more responses please guys! Cheerfully yours, Heelsfan.