AZShoeNut

On 5/16/2018 at 5:09 AM, 6inchheel said:

A few pics of me getting ready to step out for a outing, I wore both outfits. I had so many woman give me compliments on my heels, one even asked me to give a a tutorial when u was wearing the blue heels because she said I was working them heels lol.

 

 

I really dig the yellow pumps. 

9 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Southern Ohio I could understand but Heelster lives in the northern third of the state and that's the part that has my head spinning. 

Yeah, I hear you on that.  I have a ton of family in Lorain and the surrounding areas.  Been there a few times, mostly as a kid.  I do want to head back for the next big (500+ people) family reunion  Also been to Cincinnati and Urbana for business with a side trip to Dayton for the Museum of the US Air Force.  Not so sure I would be walking around in heels in Urbana.

I just wasn't sure how the "energy" of the folks spreads throughout the state.

18 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

It's hard for me to wrap my head around anywhere in northern Ohio being that remote but maybe I'm mistaken. 

I used to work for a gal from the southern part of OH, close to KY.  Both she and her husband describe their part of OH exactly like Heelster does.  When they moved back to OH, some family came out to help and I sure as heck wouldn't be wearing heels out if they were representative of the local ambiance.  Not intending to talk trash in any way however they could take the term, "old school," and multiply it times 10.

Yes sir, that is for sure.  Always was a fan of the low wedges that the girls wore to school wore in the late 80s and early 90s but didn't dig high heel wedges until the early 2000s.  Now I am a wedge fanatic!

Thank you Jeremy1986!  And, I must say that I dig the wedges in your avatar.

Funny SF, I was contemplating offering to take a picture.LOL

14 hours ago, Heelster said:

Damned - - never seen those at a Torrid. Had I seen them, I probably would have had to buy them.

Heelster, It must have been at least 6 years ago that I picked up these boots.  The crew at Torrid knew me as a bit of a regular.  It was kind of funny as the gal who checked me out asked, "So, what do you plan to wear with these."  At the time I hadn't been out much in heels and I just said that I didn't know yet.  Turns out, blue jeans and a black t-shirt, LOL.

Oh man, that really sucks.  They did it to themselves.  During the early Brash days Payless was totally rockin.  Then all of the sudden their heel heights seemed to come down, there were fewer and fewer wide widths, and the styles became fairly mediocre.

Serious bummer though as I always loved going into a Payless and trying on shoes.  I usually didn't walk out empty handed.

Howdy,

Well, I got myself a good quadruple take last night.  This doesn’t really bother me but I thought I would share as encounters with others usually grabs my interests.

I had some errands to run in downtown Sacramento last night.  I wore my Torrid 5-inch heel platform booties (pic below) with dark blue jeans and a nice black t-shirt.

I went into Walgreens for some OTC meds which are naturally at the opposite corner of the store.  That is a plus for me as I like to walk in my heels.  As I turned a corner to walk down the center aisle my eyes met the eyes of a middle aged hispanic lady.  I smiled as I do whenever I encounter anybody.  Her face turned complexed as I saw her eyes go down and focus on my boots.  Then she looked up at my face and then back down at my boots.  As she turned the corner to go up an aisle I saw bending her neck way back so she could see under the back of my pants as I walked past the aisle.  Then as I continued I could see out of the corner of my eye that she backed her shopping cart up to come back to the center aisle where she stopped and gawked for a few seconds before I turned the corner to the aisle that I wanted.  Then she and an older lady, maybe her mom, came back and went down the aisle that I was in.  Never said a word, never grabbed anything from the aisle, but they were definitely checking out this dude with high heels on.

And it was nice to get back out in heels.  I don’t get out as often as I would like but at least it was a good time out in heels.

Best,

Larry

Wow!

Funny, I always thought that it might be a good idea to know some marshal arts as a fellow out in heels.

On 1/1/2019 at 6:01 PM, SF said:

Mlroseplant....   How are your welding skills??  

Metal fatigue can be very insidious.  Sadly, it was the cause of the demise of the de Havilland DH106 Comet, the world's first commercial jet airliner in the 1950's....  And seemingly your favorite heels as well...  I hate it when my fav sandals finally quit...  Now go find another pair !!

Happy New Year....    sf

On 1/1/2019 at 6:57 PM, Jkrenzer said:

Wow, the comet reference. In truth the rectangular windows were the demise of the plane. They didn't understand stress risers then like we know today. Dehaviland would be Boeing except for that oversight.

Metal fatigue along with the plane building a poor reputation after numerous early rotation incidents caused the plane to roll off the end of runways.

Kinda cool having both heels and airplane interest/knowledge in common :-)

Here is a video from the most recent Sacramento event.

23 hours ago, SF said:

Frisco Bay WAM events have been held in San Jose, Hollister and Salinas in the past.  The Sacramento event has been a lot of fun.  Events have also been held at various places here in SoCal.  Looking at the WAM website there is nothing scheduled for 2019.  Maybe the WAM events are starting to lose their popularity?   Too bad, we had fun didn't we AZ???

Smile....   sf

We certainly did SF.  Walking down the road with heels on our feet and a beer in hand.  Not a bad gig.

On 1/2/2019 at 7:48 AM, SF said:

AZ, you look right on in those shoes....   Had fun doing the WAM events with you and your crowd.  Maybe again this year?  Would be worth the drive.  

Have fun, Happy New Year.....    sf 

Absolutely SF!  Always a blast.  It would be great to connect again for this event.  And thank you for the compliment :-)

21 hours ago, Cali said:

If you give me enough time I might drive up to Sacramento too.

That would be fantastic!  It usually happens near the end of April or the beginning of May.

18 hours ago, KneeBooted said:

I would love to find an event here in the Bay Area

The drive from the Bay, depending upon traffic, is not all that bad.  Typically two hours from downtown San Francisco.

Also, I believe that they have had smaller events in Concorde before.

I have done Walk a Mile 4 times and several fund raisers in AZ where I was one of only two or three guys.  Fund raisers are always great.  I figure it is a way do my thing while supporting a cause that is meaningful.  And people out supporting a cause are usually very friendly and excited to be doing what they are doing.

The first Walk a Mile that I did included over 1,100 men in heels.  They were aiming for a Guinness record.  It was amazing.  The WAM events in Sacramento are huge with food, drinks, and beer.  We walk with Western Health Advantage and thus get VIP badges so the beer, wine, and bloody Marys are free if you desire a drink.

The fund raisers in AZ were great too.  Being one of only two or three men in heels in a group of 100-200 women in heels is a lot of fun.  Compliments and conversation about heels are abundant.  A picture of one of the events is below along with a picture of me that was on TV the day after the 2011 event.

And SF, permission granted to share my name whenever...  ;-)

Best,

Larry

In the late 80s and early 90s there were white pumps everywhere.  I was very smitten with them and looked forever to find some in my size.  Found them in 92 or 93 and I still have them.

Then the shoe style dark ages started in the mid-90s and white shoes disappeared and the shoes that remained were IMHO very ugly.  The dark ages started to fall away in the early to mid 2000s and attractive and sexy styles started to reappear but white shoes didn't seem to come out of hiatus until much later and with a far more limited selection.

At least that was my observation.

Best,

Larry

Mlroseplant,

Great shoes and a pretty lady.  Very cool.  Also very cool experience at the show.

Though it sounds like the evening went off well, I would love to hear more about your coworker's reactions that night and after.

Best,

Larry

I have had surprisingly good results shopping at www.shoeshow.com. Also, Torrid can be decent, however, for the price the quality is marginal. 

Best,

Larry

Howdy all,

At a halloween party I had a young lady ask to try on my heels.  I was just in drag for my costume and she was a prison inmate.  She had to be a size 7 or 8 and my shoes were 12W so she was swimming in them.  I tell you she was extremely fascinated with my shoes (and quite possibly with me) LOL  A pic of her wearing them is below.

One other, similar, experience was in a strip tease establishment.  The Mrs. and I had a few drinks one Sunday evening.  A commercial for Vegas came on and we both agreed that if we went to Vegas that I could wear my heels.  Vegas wasn’t in our budget so we figured that the only place nearby that would be even close to Vegas where she wouldn’t run into friends would be a strip club.  So, we ordered a taxi and off we went.  Well, several of the performers latched on to us and though we were in the back and not spending a whole lot they would come hang out with us between dances.  Though nobody tried them on a couple said that they wished that their boyfriends wore heels and would buy them nice shoes.

Okay, long post, but one other story.  In my teens and early twenties I told hardly anybody about my affinity for heels.  One buddy, however, knew.  His coworkers talked him into doing a halloween party in drag.  He asked if he could borrow a pair of my shoes.  He came over one evening and tried on several pairs.  IT was pretty cool to be able to share my experience in such an open way.  He grabbed a pair of platform sandals that at the time were only for strippers.  He rocked them pretty well.

Okay, all for now.

Best,

Larry

Smoking lingerie in south Scottsdale often has heels in larger sizes along with Lingerie Superstore on Indian School Road. The Nordstrom Rack and Payless at Tempe Marketplacee usually have a lot of larger sized heels as well. 

The gentleman who runs Skyscrapers is very decent and has worn heels most of his life. He gave me great advice when I stopped in to his shop. I am sure that a phone call would get you the information you are looking for. 

Had some more errands to run in downtown (midtown) Sacramento again last night and I received my first direct comment about my shoes since we moved to California.  I was wearing my black sandal wedges again (man I love these shoes).  As I was on my way out of the building lobby waiting for security give me my backpack back a fellow that I noticed on the way in who seemed a little rough around the edges was standing right there with some other people.  While I stood there I could see him looking down at his bag and then he gave an interested look and said, "Check out those shoes!  Man, that is way cool."  Then he looked up at me and gave me a knuckle bump.

It was a cool deal and another reminder for me to not judge how I think others might react.  In my mind I had that fellow pinned as someone who could talk smack when in fact he wound up being extra cool.

Hi Folks,

Thank you all for the warm welcome back.

HappyinHeels, I wound up in CA because of the job.  CA is a very different world than AZ.  Taxes, healthcare, and cost of living all make it a challenge.  But a challenge that is worth it.  I love my job and my coworkers, several of which know about my heels.  And the location is absolutely beautiful.  Twenty minutes up the freeway and we're in the mountains and another hour and we're in the snow in the Sierra Nevadas.  Two  hours in the other direction and we're at Baker Beach looking back at the Golden Gate bridge and looking forward to lunch in San Francisco.  Even got to connect with SF at a Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event.  So currently the pluses of CA outweigh the minuses.

Blue Parrot, The shoe selection is pretty similar to AZ.  I too hit the Nordstrom Rack a couple times a year and typically walk away with at least one pair.  Torrid rarely has a decent selection of shoes.  The Payless with a large selection is in Elk Grove which is about 45 minutes away with no traffic so I haven't even been there yet.  My best option is still online.

Thanks for the Kudos regarding my family and my son.  Certainly a challenge but we're doing the best we can.  Often you cannot even tell from the outside that he struggles.  But inside the home, where he feels safe, this can really get hard for all of us.  But to stay not too far off subject, he asked to walk with me in the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event this last year.  He and his buddy wore some flats and both families walked the event.  Proud papa moment  LOL.

I got to make another trip out in my wedges.  I had a errand to run in downtown Sacramento.  I wore them.  I spent about 15 minutes in a fairly cozy waiting room with about 8 or so other people all kind of sitting in a circle around the room.  I was sitting down so my shoes were clearly visible and I swear not one single person batted an eyelid.  Fun middle of the week evening errand.

We'll back to being Dad.  Hope you all have a wonderful week.

All the Best,

Larry

Steve,

Thank you for the warm welcome back.  Even though some are purporting the planet to be flat, I can assure that I did not fall off the edge :-)  It was a huge joy to get back out on a beautiful day in a pair of great shoes.  I sure hope to do more than I have in the last few years.

I glad to see that you are still around here with a number of other good folks.  I hope to share more.

Larry

Howdy,

It has been forever since I have posted regularly.  The last three years have been absolutely insane.  Every now and then I get to poke my nose in and see what is going on but I rarely get a chance to post or even reply.  It has been nice over the last few months when I have been around as it seems like there is a real decent bunch of folks hanging out here these days.

With the exception of Walk a Mile in her Shoes events (which in Sacramento is a huge family affair with 800 - 1100 walkers) I have not been out in heels for just about two years.  I have been wanting to get out for some time and yesterday I finally got to do it.

A couple weeks ago I picked up a pair of wedge sandals from Shoe Show online (pic below) that I absolutely love and they actually fit well.  I have spent years trying to find a decent pair of tall wedge sandals and I finally found them.  I wore my new wedges with jeans and a black tee shirt out for some errands.  I went a couple towns over to Citrus Heights and did our grocery shopping, a trip to the pet store, and had two stops at gas stations.

It was so nice to get out again.  I felt like a rookie getting ready to go though.  The nerves and butterflies were huge.  I forgot just how nervous I can get when preparing to head out in heels.    I did, however, have a huge challenge getting my right shoe buckled - could not, for the life of me, get the strap poked through the second loop.  It was enough struggle that it used up all the adrenaline and I felt pretty well at ease after that.  I had no problems during the journey although I am pretty sure that and older fellow laughed after he saw me.  It didn’t break my spirit though.

It just felt so good to be back out in my heels.  Standing atop those shoes at the gas pump on a gorgeous sunny day, breathing crisp, fresh, post rainstorm air while the sun warmed my face was simply magnificent.  Walking confidently through the store like I was out on a leisurely stroll lifted my spirits and made me smile.  It would be great to do this more often.

Well, this was a lucky fifteen minutes at Starbucks.  I hope I get to poke my nose in and even participate more often.  Not so sure it will happen though as most of my time and energy is with my family and raising our little boy who struggles with high functioning autism - Asperger Syndrome.  So until the time that I can step aside for a few minutes and a cup of coffee I wish you all the best.

Larry

I don't know about low key but they are all great.  I really dig the red pair.

Best,

Larry