Daisuki

I saw this article in the WSJ yesterday. It would be just like me to try and set-up a matrix like this! (sexy vs. sensible and party vs. office)

What Your Legs Say About You

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703445904576118600991988140.html

What's wrong with fishnets in the office?

The chart can be expanded...and is that supposed to be Serena van der Woodsen? Well, back when I watched Gossip Girl, I was a B and not an S person.

I got some basic American Apparel winter leggings myself recently. I like to work out in them with my flats. They will probably also double as long johns on a ski trip in a couple weeks.

I saw this article in the WSJ and thought it might be interesting. It talks about heels going well with leggings vs. flats. A picture is included in the article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440004575548592774413272.html

Whether it's day or night, Ms. Miller wears her leggings with heels. "I wouldn't wear them with a flat shoe unless you have the most incredible legs," she says, because leggings are basically skintight trousers.

To elongate the leg and add height, she often chooses sexy pumps for the evening and a pair of shearling boots for daytime.

I recently saw a good example of this in the mall, but also some of those skinny jeans can almost be like leggings. I have an employee that likes to wear skinny jeans on Friday. She wears flats with them, but I think that still looks plenty good.

During my trip to NYC last week, I saw a huge Gap billboard featuring high he... err, jeans, but I passed up a chance to take a pic. However, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, my oversight can be at least partially rectified.

http://www.gap.com/browse/division.do?cid=56999

As this ad will probably change before long, I took a couple caps (see attached).

I just noticed that the top is a bit brief on the first one. I'm sure there's a good reason I didn't notice this before.

I guess I let this thread go a bit. So, let me see what else I can post. How about this one from the latest Anime Expo. It's just too bad that I didn't get the best profile for the cute MJ pumps... that and the fact that I failed to hold the cell phone camera steady.

Also attached is another pic of Sylia Stingray, though I've just realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of her other than my (former) avatar.

On the bright side, I re-discovered my long lost anime avatar web page, there are lots of Sylia to be found there:

http://members.cox.net/falcon_77/avatars/

Hopefully, I can find some more pictures to post from the home computer...

I was in New York City a few days ago and that is certainly a good place to see a lot of heels. I expected that, but not the short video on the cab's mini-TV promoting, "High Heel-A-Thon." I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but apparently not. It's not only real but there's one in the UK as well (and who knows where else).

Here is some info (links) for those that are interested in the US and/or UK events. There are pictures and videos as well. Apparently, men can participate too!

New York (September 22)

http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/special/highheel/index.html

Leeds, England (26 September)

http://www.highheelathon.co.uk/

I just hope the participants are told to be careful when attempting speeds above a brisk walking pace.

It's great to see heeling going to good causes!

Here is another street shot video I took today. I'm still no sure if this belongs here or in the "movie" section, as it's a video. As before, the sound will probably need to be turned up. I would probably do well to find a cheap video editor...

She was showing me an apartment and I couldn't resist taking a short video. I complimented her on her great footwear as well. I apologize for the poor quality. Perhaps, I should have had the guts to ask for a direct picture, but that's probably too weird for someone I just met!

Attached are a couple pics from some G-Taste books I used to have. This manga is billed as being somewhere between ecchi and hentai. Still, there are some nice shots that I can post here.

Her boss's wife probably had more to do with her being fired than he did.

Yeah, no doubt, huh?!

I mean, she could have sued for harassment if she was obviously knew that she was being leered at, etc.

http://www.businessinsider.com/debrahlee-lorenzana-citi-2010-6

"As a result of her tall stature, coupled with her curvaceous figure," her suit says, Lorenzana was told "she should not wear classic high-heeled business shoes, as this purportedly drew attention to her body in a manner that was upsetting to her easily distracted male managers."

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-01/news/is-this-woman-too-hot-to-work-in-a-bank/1

This is the way Debbie Lorenzana tells it: Her bosses told her they couldn't concentrate on their work because her appearance was too distracting. They ordered her to stop wearing turtlenecks. She was also forbidden to wear pencil skirts, three-inch heels, or fitted business suits.

Um... I wouldn't know anything about such "distractions."

Actually, when I hired my current employee, she asked if she should wear heels, but I said I was perfectly fine with flats. She has worn heels only 2-3 times in 4 years, and has worn flats at all other times. I'm ok with that here as I need to get work done!

A new Wallpaper for you - i hope you like it

I love it, thanks!

However, I should probably stay out of that room, else it could be a "Forest of No Return" for me.

i.e., I walk in and become so enthralled/mesmerized that I forget to eat, never leave, and perish.

One Anime series that I watched (Lodoss) had such a forest. The forest would trick people into seeing what they wanted most and they would lose their minds, become trapped and never leave.

Ok, maybe I'm taking the analogy a bit too far.

In my office, my employee only wears flats, which is just fine with me. I don't really need the distraction. When our office was much larger when I was in high school (about 20 employees then), about half the ladies wore stiletto pumps every day. I did some work after hours (or pretended to in those days). This was during the mid to late 80's. These days footwear seems to vary much more widely, but probably the best place to see a lot of good shoes is in the lobby of a high-rise office building, with lots of law offices.

Attached is a picture I took from one of the Anime Expos that I went to a few years ago. I have a few more that I can share, but I wanted to see if these types of pictures are ok to post. Since the "cos-players" dress up for the event for the express purpose of having their picture taken, I'm thinking this is ok. At any given time, when they are displaying their costumes, there can be 20 people or more taking pictures.

I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend and thought I'd scan it. My first reaction to this was, "no way!" An interesting viewpoint, but I certainly haven't seen a ton of kitten-heels lately. Perhaps it takes a couple years for trends to hit the streets, but who knows? Is the current "golden age" coming to an end or will it continue for another few years at least? As for me, I'd be plenty content with 2006...

So, I caught up her and said... "excuse me, sorry to bother you. (she stopped) I hope you don't mind me saying but I just love your amazing heels. You look absolutely stunning in them."

She wasn't too impressed at all and she practically ignored my efforts to compliment her and walked away quickly.

I'd just like to get everyone's opinion on that event. I mean, was I being too direct? or... have I actually done something wrong by complimenting a woman in such a way?

It's hard to know how someone will react when you compliment them. Most of the time that I've gotten up the nerve to compliment a woman on her footwear, she seems flattered, but even then the moment is often awkward.

One negative I had was when I complimented a woman on the train. She was an acquaintance, so not a total stranger. When I complimented her, "I really like the shoes you are wearing today," she just looked down at them and said nothing. I felt completely embarrassed as I think other people heard my comment. That about ended the conversation for the day and I never again tried to compliment her.

Sometimes, though, I've had positive reactions turn awkward when the woman stops to think that, "oh wait, it's a man giving me a compliment. (is he hitting on me, etc...)"

I wouldn't take it personally, maybe she was just in a hurry. It's tough to take for a while, but on average I've had positive reactions when giving compliments. One of them is a story in this sub-forum.

Here is a screen cap from a video I took of a woman that walked by me a bunch of times while in a waiting room yesterday.

These ~4" Mary-Jane pumps had a great sound to them as well and I could hear them well down the hallway.

The video is better (includes sound), but I need to figure out where to put it.

In any event, it certainly made waiting around for a couple hours a lot less painful!

Edit: Here is a link to the video. Let me know if I should move it. Just be sure to turn up the sound!

As you seem to have a source may I ask what book or website may be covering the costumes?

I would like to help, but I'm not sure what you are looking for? As respects FSS, some of the books I have are Japanese imports, but some were released here, in English for a while.

Anime Expo (formerly in Anaheim, CA) is where I picked up some of my books, etc. I took a couple years off after blowing major cash on a cel that's still sitting in my closet, but may check it out again this year.

For those that are interested, my cel gallery is located here:

http://falcon.rubberslug.com/gallery/home.asp

Shoes are rarely seen on cels up for auction, however. So, I have very few here. Here is one that might be of interest.

http://falcon.rubberslug.com/gallery/inv_info.asp?ItemID=169071

Cel collecting was an *extremely* expensive hobby! In any event, let me see what picture(s) I can post today...

Attached are a few from "City Hunter." The first two are composite images, involving merged pictures.

City Hunter had great 80's fashion and typically each episode had a new lovely lady (bijin/bijyo) for Ryo to save.

The 4th picture is of Saeko, a sly lady cop that never fails to lead on Ryo, only to disappoint him. I have some cels of her on the site noted above.

I should have noted above that the first card was of Fatima Lachesis of Five Star Stories (FSS). The art work in FSS is amazing. It is very detailed and expansive, from the mecha and other vehicles to the fatima. I have a few more of FSS on this computer that I will share: 1) The cover of #16 from Tales of Joker, which seems to be a spin-off story. 2) Fatima Fashion manual #1, featuring Fatima Clotho. I don't know how much of the text will be visible, but some of the stats are eye opening. Note that the uniform itself is extremely durable. 3) Fatima Fashion manual #2. Some of these comments are a lot of fun, such as, "Shoes, and boots of all kinds...but not Japanese-style slippers yet... no clip-clopping for them," or "the soles and heels are made of MH armor material, which grows back when worn." Pretty handy, I'd say! Have a look at some of the purse contents as well. Everything from lipstick, to jaw breakers to a spaad (similar to a light saber). Oh yeah, then there's the square toe comment in the lower left, but those don't look too square to me, thankfully. 4) No heels here, but a scan of the typical full page art work. I have a lot more FSS stuff at home, but I probably should mix in something else next.

Attached are pictures of a couple collector cards that I scanned. The 2nd one could be in its own "cosplay" category, but I thought I would include it.

As you can see by my avatar, I am into anime, though not as much as in prior years. However, over the years, I have taken some screen caps and scanned some other images that may be of interest. The first one I would like to share is Sailor Mars from the opening sequence of Sailor Moon. I believe it is from season 1, where the Sailor Senshi (warriors) are flying through the air. Being a show designed for girls (shoujo), there are many pretty outfits and shoes to look at. It's a bit of a monster of the week show, but I liked the two seasons I have seen. Lacking the original cel, I had to reconstruct parts of the image, with the help of a friend. The frame lines are evident and, sadly, one of the heels is partially missing. The 2nd image is the reconstructed version. I'm not completely happy with it, but at least it's an improvement. I have plenty of other pictures to share, but thought I would gauge the interest level first.

Daisuki: Nice shoes! They look great! Now do something about those horrid socks!

By the by, I see you're still using your Sylia Stingray avatar. Cool!

Yeah, those socks have since been retired. They were old and seeing the writing like that is just horrible. I usually wear these types of shoes w/o socks or with white socks. I'm not sure athletic socks are a much better solution though!

As for the avatar, yeah, I remember coloring it years ago as it was a B/W image. I don't watch as much anime as I once did, but I think I will leave it as-is for now. I have a bunch more avatars/images on a site somewhere. You should see the Sailor Mars one! I will see what I can find and post in another thread, if you are interested.

To get back on topic, I bought these a few days after I got the Princess pumps, as I thought that the Princess ones were too pointed. I am using a stock photo, to spare you all more pictures of socks!

These are patent, so they are a bit stiffer. The heel is lower, but I like wearing lower heels and flats (3" or less). As long as they are comfortable and look good from the top, that's the main thing. Still, I don't know what color socks to wear with these.

Don't take it so seriously. If you don't, then don't. If youdo, then do and enjoy it!

It's one of my faults to take small stuff so seriously.

Also, something I didn't mention yet. I was looking for a "sign" on Thursday, when one of our marketing reps showed up unexpected, wearing round-toe stilettos. She was just "in the area" and wanted to stop by. I complimented her on her excellent footwear and she is almost as tall as I am with them (and I'm 6'1").

I had already put the Princess Pumps up for sale by the time she showed up, but the listing expired today, with no takers.

So, I don't know where the road goes from here, but thank you for trying to make me not feel so bad about myself.

Well, after about 2 weeks of the Nine West Princess pumps, I think I will be selling them or donating them. I told myself before hand that I would "remember" why I shouldn't have such things around and I certainly do now. I like them so much that it is making everything else seem uninteresting. When I wake up every morning before 5am, wanting to put them on, something just isn't right. I really wish that I could wear them out of purely preference as they are very comfortable, but my mind keeps getting in the way.

I would, but it seems I can't! I seem to be more conflicted about this than most on the board as my mood and desire of them can swing quite widely. I've bounced in and out of them dozens of times over the past 7+ years, with no end in sight it seems. But should I give up? Maybe that's just not how I'm wired. Maybe a better question is whether I can give up pump stilettos, but as I'm wearing a pair while typing this, perhaps not! I was doing quite "well" as I hadn't worn any since last May I think (until last Thursday). I have been wearing wedges and flats for most of the time since then and they can go to some lengths to satiate me, but I've just seen too many great stilettos "in the wild" of late to continue resisting. Just standing in line at lunch today, the lady in front of me and the 2 behind me where all wearing stilettos. I kinda wished that I could have joined them, but I probably would have collapsed on the spot from nerves! However, I also believe that my desire for pumps/heels, etc., prevents me from engaging in a "normal" relationship with a woman. After I bought this latest pair, I could just hear it in the back of my head after I closed out communications with someone on an online dating service. I had the thought of, "I'm closing this match to pursue a relationship with a pair of shoes." How sad does that sound?! So, yes, I think I would if I could, but if I could turn this off, what would replace it? Besides, I love to look at women wearing them. Can I turn that off too? I think my problems run deeper than heeling/women's shoes and that I just fight this battle to avoid solving my real issues. Whew! There's some high-heeled philosophy!

Well, I haven't done this in a while, but last week I got a new pair. Nine West Princess. At first I thought they were too pointy, but now I love them! The heel is only about 3", which is more than enough for me. The only downside is that the heel taps are very slippery, so I'm going to have them replaced. These are very comfortable shoes, so much so, that I haven't wanted to take them off much. I have been driving in them the past couple days, slept with them on last night and even had the nerve to walk in them from my car to the office! Granted, the parking lot is right out front, but it's something. I don't quite have the nerve to keep wearing them, but I'm doing the next best thing and attaching are a few pics of me wearing them in the office to commemorate the occasion. Please excuse the socks! On a personal note, I've tried so, so hard for a long time to quit high heels, but they just keep on coming back! I've teased myself with wedges for months now, but nothing beats a classic stiletto heeled pump!

Height is not very important to me. I definitely prefer style over height. I won't consider many kinds of footwear, e.g. sandals, boots. It has to be what I call a "class A," which is to say a "boat shoe," assuming I'm using the correct terminology. Basically, it has to be pumps or flats, with closed backs and fronts. I am quite happy with flats and tend to wear those more than pumps, mostly since they are a lot easier to walk in. Flats can be "hot" too!