Heelfan

Great News! Peachy (My daughter Melanie, 20, proprietor of Bristol's Peachy Shoes) is joining us on this 19th Nov London Heel-Meet! I hope this will encourage some of the other ladies to attend too (Ruth?, Mrs. Fogborkenv? etc. etc.). My wife will be 'tied up' manning Peachy Shoes in our absence, but Melanie and I are looking forward to a great day's shopping/eating/socialising etc. with you all. PROBABLE ATTENDERS SO FAR: Xaphod, Calv, Me (Heelfan), Peachy (Melanie), Si, Daz, dr 1819, Dr. Shoe, Ruth?, Firefox?, Loveheel?. EVERYONE WELCOME (heels nice but not compulsory!). Cheers, Heelfan

Excellent new street-shots site Firefox! I recommend it to all members - click Firefox's link! Oh, and make some comments under the shots! Cheers, Heelfan

Getting back to the topic-title of this thread, has anyone seen the "KINKY BOOTS" film yet? It went on general UK release last Friday. Cheers, Heelfan

Has Anyone seen the film yet? If so, comments please It when on general release on Friday 7th Oct 05, so I'm seeing it this week. Cheers, Heelfan

Also, what about trying to get moderator Laurieheels along. She's in Canada. Cheers, Heelfan

No, sorry Dawn, none of us took any photos on this occasion. I though of taking my camera, but did no have time to dig it out before rushing for the London train. We have taken various shots on previous UK Heelmeets (see on the reports), and I'll try and make sure we give coverage to the next one. Cheers, Heelfan

To Firefox: Gosh, sorry to mis-report your heel-height! Now duly editted and corrected on the above report! To Shafted: Thanks for the reply - yes it was a real blast! To Dawn: Thanks for the reply. Actually it wasn't that short a meet. We met at 11am and dispersed about 6.30pm. A most enjoyable heely day! Cheers to all, HeelfaN

REPORT – HEEL-MEET FRIDAY 7th OCTOBER 2005 This meet was arranged and came and went in a very short timescale, so apologies to enthusiasts such as Nigel, Ionic, Bladerunner etc. who might well have attended had they realised it was on. However, that said, it was a highly enjoyable day – excellent! Xaphod, Simon and I were the first to meet up and luxuriously sprawled on the settees in the upstairs of Starbucks (i4” heeled red Aldo boots, black 4” stiletto boots and 5” stiletto Ernest Of Paris ankle boots respectively stuck out in front of us) when we were suddenly conscious of a guy on the upstairs of a stationary London bus griinning hugely at us. Of course, we suddenly realised that the entire upper deck had an eye-level ringside view of our heels! Apologies were received from Dr. Shoe (had to drive his truck), Francis, Daz and my daughter Melanie who had hoped to treat us all to her 5 ½” stiletto thighboots, but couldn’t find anyone to man Peachy Shoes in Bristol whilst she joined us. We wended our way Westwards along Oxford street visiting numerous shoe shops, until Xaphod was stopped dead in his tracks by spotting another guy in Oxford Street with his trousers tucked into a knockout pair of 4” stiletto ankle boots! It turned out to be member Fogborkenv who had arranged to meet up with us anyway! Soon after that Simon purchased a pair of wedge-heeled sandals at Schu and then we visited more shops including Aldo (one of Xaphod’s favourite shoe shops) before lunching and wining at Selfridges. A tour of their shoe floor was followed by the surprise arrival of moderator Firefox who turned up after a business meeting resplendant in pin-stripe suite and smart black boots with chunky 3 3/4” heels. I showed the gang the first of the special lasts for “Street-Heels for Guys” project which I am developing for Peachy Shoes (more on the “For The Guys” Forum in due course), and then there was a most delightful occurence. Just outside Selfridges entrance, A nice young lady asked us why we were all wearinmg high heels. I explained about our movement (over 2,000 members on the website etc.) and she was most enthusiastic and genuinely impressed. She said it was great that some men like us were wearing high heels, and why not! It made my day! At that point I temporarily left the group having a beer whilst I took my Mach 1 Streetheels lasts to a London shoemaker to order a sample pair of shoes. Once we have the fit, comfort and design perfected we we’ll go into production for Peachy Shoes. On the way to rejoin the group, I purchased a nice pair of Barratts size 10 UK ankle boots with 3 ¼” stiletto heels and pointed toes. Iwas so delighted with them that I wore them for the rest of the day. I rejoined the group who, by this time were clustered in a internet café watching Firefox logging on to the High Heel Meeting Place and other sites to do a little moderating etc. D-Heel and his girlfriend were scheduled to join us but didn’t manage to make it, but all in all it was a really excellent day of heel-wearing, shopping, eating, drinking, socialising and heel-sighting. My idea of sheer bliss!!!!!!! Having just arrived back at Bristol, I am enthusiastically typing this whilst still wearing my Barratts stilettos, and for all of those who have not yet been to a Heel-Meet, I thoroughly recommend future Heel-Meets to each and every one of you! Keep watching this “Real Life Meetings” Forum for information on future Heel-Meets to be posted in due course! Happy heeling one and all! Cheers, Heelfan

Hi Everyone! UPDATED SITUATION! . . . . . LONDON HEEL-MEET. FRIDAY 7th OCTOBER 2005 Meet 10.30am - 11am (as in the past) in the upstairs of Starbucks Coffee House opposite exit No. 5 of Tottenham Court Road Tube Station and opposite Centre Point office tower. If anyone is delayed, please come anyway and ring my mobile 07966 450583 for the group's current whereabouts. Xaphod is definitely coming (it was his idea!) and suggests that the group includes Selfridge's Kinky Boots exhibition as part of the day's enjoyable shopping/eating/drinking/socialising. Friday is also the day that the Kinky Boots (men in heels) film is being premiered but I've yet to find out whether this is solely the Odean Leicester Square or cinemas everywhere. EXPECTED ATTENDERS: Xaphod, Me (Heelfan), Si and maybe Dr. Shoe. Also Fogborkenv (and maybe Thighboots II) at lunchtime, and HeelD + girlfriend in the afternoon (latecomers just mobile my above number for our whereabouts). Let's hope Dr. Shoe manages to wangle a day off to join us! ALL GUYS AND GALS WELCOME! (Heels nice but not compulsory!) so please join us and post on this thread that you are coming. Happy Heeling! Cheers, Heelfan

Hi Heel-D! Thank you for pointing out my error - I've duly edited my above posting to change the day to FRIDAY! In view of this, might you and your girlfriend be able to meet up with our group after all, even if only for an hour or less? It's always nicest when some ladies attend. Members such as Mrs. Fogborkenv, Dr. Shoe's Ruth, and others have attended from time to time, and there'sa a chance that my daughter Melanie might treat us all to her 5 1/2" stiletto thighboots if she can find somebody to man Peachy /shoes for us on Friday. Come on folks, let's see if a few more can post below here if they are keen to come on Friday. The more the merrier! Cheers, Heelfan

Hi Everyone! STOP PRESS! . . . . . LONDON HEEL-MEET. FRIDAY 7th OCTOBER 2005 Meet 10.30am - 11am (as in the past) in the upstairs of Starbucks Coffee House opposite exit No. 5 of Tottenham Court Road Tube Station and opposite Centre Point office tower. If anyone is delayed, please come anyway and ring my mobile 07966 450583 for the group's current whereabouts. Xaphod is definitely coming (it was his idea!) and suggests that the group includes Selfridge's Kinky Boots exhibition as part of the day's enjoyable shopping/eating/drinking/socialising. Friday is also the day that the Kinky Boots (men in heels) film is being premiered but I've yet to find out whether this is solely the Odean Leicester Square or cinemas everywhere. EXPECTED ATTENDERS: Xaphod, Me (Heelfan), Si and maybe Dr. Shoe. Also Fogborkenv (and maybe Thighboots II) at lunchtime, and HeelD + girlfriend in the afternoon. ALL GUYS AND GALS WELCOME! (Heels nice but not compulsory!) so please join us and post on this thread that you are coming. Happy Heeling! Cheers, Heelfan

Yes, I also agree to the extent that it is better, where possible to blur the face sufficiently to avoid embarrassing the person photographed. However, I am only pointing out that showing the faces of anyone photographed in public is firmly within the law, and I submit to Webmaster Jeff that it would be overly harsh to ban any otherwise brilliant street-shots simply because the face remained. I feel particularly passionate about trying to preserve the posting of full-length street-shots because only they give they illustrate the full picture of what high-heel-wearing is all about: The enhanced posture, walk and rhythm of the wearer and their whole persona. To a good number of us, all of this is lacking in the interminable indoor shots of (often seated) members posting shots showing little more than the shoes plus ankles and lower legs. That sort of shot is almost as impersonal as browsing through any old shoe catalogue! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

Hi Everyone! I'm just posting to bring this thread to the top of the Forum, because Jeff (our Webmaster) has posted a ruling that our streetshots must not include a recognisable face. If Jeff reads this thread and sees that under the law it is perfectly legal and acceptable to show faces (as supported by postings from Firefox and Laurieheels, two of his own moderators), it is my personal hope that he might consider relaxing this ruling. Constructively yours, Heelfan

Hi Jeff! Whilst hugely respecting your monumental contributions as Webmaster etc., can I ask you to reconsider that "No faces in streetshots" ruling, in the light of the following: Readers may be interested to know that a special thread already exists for this topic. It was begun sixteen months ago in July 2003, and contains a pretty exhaustive in-depth debate on the ethics and law re. street-shots. It's called "Streetshots" and I've just brought it back up to the very top of "For Everybody" for you and others to peruse. For my part: In British (and other European) we can all take shots of others, including faces, and publish them, as long as the subjects are photographed in a public place. However, as soon as one person wishes to take a photograph of another on private property, then that's different, and to remain legal, permission must be obtained. I agree with the law as it stands. It has evolved over many decades, and I think it is very fair, sensible and even-handed in these respects. Basically, before going into any public place, each of us decides what to wear and whether to dress soberly or outrageously. Now, once we step out into in the public domain, we stand up to be counted. We have gone public, which can and often does include people snapping away with their cameras. So to me, it is entirely irrelevant whether I am seen first-hand, or via a publically taken photograph. It's all equally PUBLIC. As Firefox says, it would contravene certain laws to cause a nuisance by sticking a camera up someone's skirt, or subsequently publishing the photographs in a way that would cause defamation or malignment to the subject. But apart from that, as an enthusiastically up-beat and optimistic sort of chap, I assume that each of us should be PROUD to be seen in what we wear, otherwise why wear it? Also, if photographed, why not feel even prouder still! The one thing that gets up my nose is the growing Nanny State where we can't do this and we can't do that and our children can't have school photos taken any more etc. etc. etc. etc. If it gets to the stage where we can't even photograph a fashionable person walking along a public street, then it surely it would be time for us all to think about topping ourselves! It would sadden me if we are to be prevented from doing something on this board that is fully legal and acceptable under the law. Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

My answer to the question "Are high-heeled women unusual?" is that it depends whether you know where to look. For instance, in my region in and around Bristol U.K., people who wander around the local villages, outskirts, or even the city centre on a weekend morning will be lucky to see a single pair of heels over 2.5". However, visit the city centre any Friday or Saturday evening and you'll be gobsmacked! I gave exactly that advice to a member who lives 20 miles South of Bristol, and he duly came up the very next Saturday night and stood outside the Hippodrome theatre. The next day he posted to say that he had seen more fantastic high heels clicking past in one hour than he had seen in the whole of the lasty five years in his own little town. Likewise, my jazz band performs at a lot of weddings and similar functions. They are AMAZING, because a lot of ladies who wouldn't normally wear heels make that special effort (often buying them specially)to look their 'smartest' at weddings. Such functions are a veritable feast of heels. On a more depressing note however, as I hope said on previous threads about fashion trends, internationally high heels are currently on the wane: Fashion slavishly follows a 20-year-cycle: 1955 The start of the first stiletto craze. 1960 The peak of the stiletto boom 1965 The end of the first boom 1970 The dreaded "Grunge" peak - flat granny boots etc. 1975 The start of the next high heel phase (platforms for men and women) 1980 The peak of the 2nd stiletto boom (plus high heeled Beatle Boots for men) 1985 The end of the second stiletto boom 1990 The second dreaded "Grunge" peak - girl's flat lace-ups & Doc Martins. 1995 The start of the next high heel phase, beginning with stacked heels, blade heels etc. 2000 The heels peak in height, mostly stilettos (nothing for men this time though) 2005 The end of the high heel boom - kitten heels and flatties. Prediction: 2010 Another inevitable grunge period AAAAAArrrrrggghhh!! Mournfully yours, Heelfan

Great to see my dear daughter Peachy (Mel) getting so much praise! I was impressed with the way she made her avatar picture. She grabbed her digital camera, click-clicked in her 6" stiletto workshoes over her "Peachy Shoes" mahogany parquet floor to the giant mirror on the shop wall, and photographed herself in the mirror! Then she followed all of Nigel's kind advice on how to set up your own personal avatar picture and BINGO - in two minutes flat she had achieved what I have failed to do in two years! Such is the computer literacy of youth! Bye the way, yes, it is great to observe the reactions and comments of customers when they enter the shop and find themselves being served by a friendly, curvaceous 20-year-old girl gliding around the shop in 6" patent leather stiletto heels". Cheers, Heelfan

Aren't you all off-topic folks - including our illustrious moderator? I expect Bubba will now weigh in accusing me (as is his wont) of being an irritating self-appointed quasi-moderator, but I can't help asking everyone (including my own dear daughter Peachy who started this thread) - "What has any of this swearing topic got to do with high heels?". Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

My jazzband was booked to play at a wedding celebration last Saturday, and who should have the sexiest shoes in the entire room - the failed slingbacks - the centre of attention - the BRIDE. She'd bought a pair of brand new bright gold stiletto slingbacks with 4 1/2" stiletto heels. and as she mingled with everyone, both slingback straps failed almost immediately, allowing the shoes to slip-slap like mad because the single narrow toe-straps were so low-set. Although she kept pulling the heel-straps up, they kept failing after only two or three paces! Several of her friends and family added to her embarrassment by pointing at her antics and giggling. However, after half-an-hour's feverish pulling them up, she finally resigned herself to their failure and just slip-slapped around with the shoes flailing away superbly! Regarding the Celebrities in Heels, there was at least one failed slingback in "Vintage Celebrities" in the Vintage Forum near the bottom of the menu of forums. Cheers, Heelfan

Hi Ionic - stranger! Yes, of course I remember you - in fact I posted a "Where's Ionic?" thread on "Hellos and Goodbyes" sometime after your postingfs petered out in December '04. Great to see you suddenly back posting again with another bundle of enthusiasm! And thanks for taking an interest in my daughter Melanie and her new shop. We'll have a heel-meet here in Bristol in a few months time. Cheers, Heelfan

Welcome Back Ionic! Your excellent above posting answered "What's happened to Ionic?" very well! I'm very bust supervising building work on the property next to Melanie's Peachy Shoes, but hope to organise a Heel-meet later in the year. See you there I hope! Cheers, Heelfan

Welcome Back Ionic! Your excellent above posting answered "What's happened to Ionic?" very well! I'm very bust supervising building work on the property next to Melanie's Peachy Shoes, but hope to oganise as Heelmeet later in the year. See you there I hope! Cheers, Heelfan

Hi All! Thanks for the interest! The shop is half-way along an attractive parade of shops in central Bristol (see Firefox's above photos) and the address is:

Melanie Caswell, Peachy Shoes

10 Perry Road (Park Row)

BRISTOL BS1 5BG, UK

Tel (UK): 0117 9077960

(Overseas): 0044 117 9077960

email: peachyshoes@yahoo.co.uk

Mel is building-up three sections for Peachy Shoes:

1. "Ordinary" ladies' fashion shoes (flat to 4.5") in gals' sizes only.

2. Stilettos from 3" to 7" in gals' and guys' sizes (UK 3 to 13).

3. Streetheels for Guys (chunky & semi-chunky heeled shoes & boots) in guys' sizes only.

She has already succeeded in stocking a big display of the first two, but category 3 will take a little longer as these are needing to be especially designed, ordered and made.

Happy heeling everyone! Cheers, Heelfan

Great subject! If you look through the existing pictures of "Celebrities in Heels" thread on the existing "Your favourite Shoe Pictures" Forum, you'll see that some of their slingbacks are in the process of failing, and I've even commented on it enthusiastically! Howzabout posting us some appropriate picture of Liz Hurley etc. slap-slapping away in their failed slingbacks? That would be terrific! Cheers, Heelfan

Hi Dawn! There's nothing Mel would like better than to see Dr Shoe opening his own heely business - the more the merrier! Also, he's London (South-East UK) and we're Bristol (South-West UK) so we'd both have our own catchment areas. Thanks for complimenting Mel on her 6 inchers! I hope Mickey is OK now! Cheers, Heelfan

Mel (Peachy Shoes) and I thank everyone for their compliments.

Moderator Firefox has now posted pictures of the shop and Mel in her 6 inchers on:

http://hhplace.org/hhboard/viewtopic.php?t=4640&start=20

Cheers (proud dad), Heelfan