vanheel

Had time to reflect on these outings. A couple of observations: - I don't know what it is, but I definitely work up a sweat when wearing heels outside. Yesterday's little hike was about 30 minutes, which usually I would be able to do without thinking. This time however, by the time I finished, I was drenched. Noone cared or commented, and it was a lot of fun, but I don't know why I get drenched. It was cold outside and I was dressed appropriately. - I tend to hurry. The #1 problem seems to be that I hurry, and don't pay proper attention to where I do, posture, etc. I think things tend to look more natural if I'm not trying to run a marathon, but taking my time. - The few people I passed, or could have seen me from the passing cars, I noticed that my main worry was that I don't know them. Didn't rather care that they noticed my getup, just do not wish to meet people I know just yet. Any suggestions? vanheel

Was able to repeat my little hike again. This time however I went a bit further, and it was 2pm. At one point someone was walking behind me (~100m) for quite a bit. Didn't pay too much attention to them as was enjoying the entire experience. There were no incidents however. When I first stood up after changing into the boots, I noticed that they just felt 'right'. Will try to visit a store the first chance I get. Life is busy so it might be a short while. vanheel

Hello,

First off, apologize for the absence, life got in the way and barely had a chance to go out heeling or log onto this website. Neither was out of my thoughts for long though!

Anyway, finally had a chance yesterday to go out a bit. Same boots (as I only have one for outside right now). I had to take care of a few things someplace where people know me, so the plan was to park the car, then go on a little hike, go back to the car and change shoes to go to my meetings. Driving with those heels is certainly different than usual driving. Was extra careful. Anyway, parked the car, and had to go some distance to purchase tickets. For whatever reason I could not get the courage to go. Just didn't work. Sat there contemplating, but didn't work out.

Changed shoes and went to my meetings without the hike. Took my boots in my backpack though. Did not want to loose this chance completely.

After everything was done, I'd remembered there is a very long "short-cut" I could take. Instead of 5 minutes, it's like a 20 minute walk on a quiet street with barely a sidewalk. So after the meetings, I took the long-cut. Changed into the boots along the way and went the rest of the back to my car. I'd never gone that way, and expected some sort of sidewalk. Ended up walking along gravel and wet grass and a bit of mud. My ankles went out a bit once in a while, but no huge problems. Although it was not what I expected, it was FUN. Encountered a few people, nothing happened.

Really love the boots.

During the walk, I encountered pavement with tiny tiny little rocks on them. Walking on that I'd thought the heels broke off because they were moving about a bit before settling down as I was walking. It was very weird and at one point I seriously thought I broke something in the heel. An inspection in the car confirmed that nothing happened. The boot is still in excellent condition.

Hey, those are really nice boots !!! where did you get them at ?? I dont think too many people pay attention to what your wearing unless its something really off the wall [loud color] if men can wear those ugly crocks out whynot high heeled boots as long as it tastefully done .

They were bought at the ShoeWarehouse up here in Canada.

As has been said here, the problem is in our minds. I agree with you. I intend to practice and practice, even though I have to be discreet about it around my family. It would be better if my wife supported it, but she doesn't.

The rest of my outfit I choose to match the boots. About 1-2" of the heel would show. Black jeans, gray sweater, and nice classy black leather jacket. I think it looked good.

My main point was just that if your kids are the ones relaying your lifestyle (at least part of it) to other adults, it may not come across the way you want it to. If strangers are the one seeing you in heels, really no big deal. But parents of children your children might be dealing with for years, I just think you need to be extra careful with that situation.

It's always tricky to know whether you should show or hide non-standard behavior. I don't think there's a right answer.

I wish it was easy and there was no taboo. But there is. Even at home. I would not expect my kids to be able to keep such a secret, even if unintentionally they will let it slip. I rather not influence their friends, or make them feel upset if this came out at school and they got teased.

Please forgive me, but I would like to congratulate vanheel on his outing and say those are fantastic boots to wear on any outing, let alone a first. I believe that was the purpose of the thread...

Thank you for the encouragement. I've worn heels at home for quite a while. I would go with much lower heels if my wife was open to negotiation, but she is not. I personally don't see the point of 2" heels, if I go outside, I want to go outside in something proper. I love the look of those boots, and I think they look good. I can walk in them pretty well.

Welcome to the forum and feel free to share your future adventures....

As for the rest of the discussion...is Godwin's Law limited to Nazis and Hitler or do rapist and child molesters kind of apply....

Don't know how that got into the thread.

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. Without the forum, I wouldn't be adventuring outside.

vanheel

Hello,

Happy New Year!

Thanks for the brave story. I love your boots btw. You probably wish your jeans showed more of the heel now right? Its great you have a somewhat accepting wife. Be sure to show your appreciation to her and you might get more acceptance, and fun too. Happy New Year everyone

At this point, I'm quite happy to have the heel hidden. I don't think it was possible to see the heels. Someone who looked carefully could probably tell either by a) how I walked, or the size of my feet were too small.

I love my wife, if she's totally against public outings, I'll give it up for a bit. Hopefully it won't be a total lack of outings, we'll see. I'll bring up the topic with her again in a bit.

Once you have more experience wearing your heels you will be able to manage them on wet and snowy surfaces. Wearing your boots outside will give you lots of experience on walking on any surface that you encounter. Enjoy your heeling and have fun doing so. Welcome to the world of heeling in public.

Thanks. I figured it would be different than doing it inside, but was not prepared for that almost-slip. Is this something that just comes with practice?

Welcome aboard, Vanheel! Hope you enjoy the experience here. The first time out and about in heels is both thrilling and a little frightening too, but once you get that initial outing under your belt, you'll soon hunger for more. By all means, keep us appraised about your future outings.

Hehe. The hunger is there... the opportunity is not. It'll probably be a bit rarer event then I hope. It WAS fun.

I agree with you, I sure wish people would be more open minded. But there are very few people who are... It's great that you have a wife that tolerates you wearing heels, even if it's only inside the house. I don't know how long she already knows about your passion, but maybe she still needs to get used to it. Maybe she'll tolerates you wearing heels in public in due time.

Thanks. We've talked about this from the beginning, when I became curious enough to want to buy my own pair. Have had the fascination with heels long before then.

Time will tell if she is accepting of outside wearing. At this point I don't want to flaunt it, just be discreet. And (no offense to anyone) I assure her I have no interest in wearing anything else classified as 'female'. Nor am I interested in men.

I wonder why heeling in front of the small ones is so bad. I mean, if they are still toddlers, I think one would be able to raise them with the thought of men wearing high heels is perfectly normal. That's how I want to raise my future kids, at least. (almost 19 years old on my end, so yeah.. Not quite the time for kids yet!) I sure want some open-minded kids!

Well... Good question. At this point I rather not let anyone know unnecessarily, and kids can't keep a secret.

Thanks for all the support. The messages in the posts from this forum came through loud and clear: "Noone cares what you wear". At least that's what I kept telling myself. With that same philosophy I'm sure I would be more comfortable venturing outside again. Years ago, when this thought crossed my mind, I was petrified. I'll definitely keep an eye out for a meetup near where I live. Would be a cool experience.

vanheel

My wife is not too happy about the entire thing, but she tolerates it as long as it is inside. The topic of me wearing it outside has come up once in a while, but she gets sad/upset and I usually end up dropping the subject. I wish she would be a bit more accepting, hopefully it'll happen, but after these many years of marriage, I highly doubt things will change. I would settle for her not getting upset if I want to venture outside on my own. vanheel

Hello,

Been lurking here for a while now. As far back as I can remember I've had a thing for heels. While I understand that there are all kinds of people and heels are 'just shoes', and wearing them is not committing murder... I still cannot figure out why I was built like this, why the dress-fashion for men is so narrow, and why anything outside of this narrow band is 'weird'. So there's an internal struggle. I have not yet come to grips with this, although for the past 20 years I know this attraction to heels was there, and for the past 10 I've owned and (not as frequently as would have liked) worn my own pairs at home.

Anyhow, married to a great wife (who tolerates heels on me but inside only) with small children at home. Heel wearing in front of the small ones is not done.

Recently I got the strong urge to start wearing heels in public. Already had the long pants for this. At home I didn't have any appropriate heels. After a bit of discreet browsing around, I fell in love with, and ended up buying, these boots:

http://images.sterlingshoes.com/imagematching/images/large/ST27793.jpg

They're about 5" heel with 0.5" platform.

I can usually take a ladies size 10, which makes shopping much easier. Periodically I have to make adjustments to how I wear them (thin socks? hose only? barefoot?), size 11 would be ideal. But this boot was readily available in size 10 black, so no problems. As these are for outings, and I have not worn heels outside, I decided to test it out in a few discreet places. Have a nice long pair of jeans to go with it, they hide about all of the heel, but 1".

A few weeks ago I tried them out in a low traffic area during the day. It was a rocky gravel (snow covered), and walking was a bit difficult. Encountered one person who kept walking by. The experience was phenomenal. Truly exciting. The walk lasted about 30 minutes.

A week ago had to go shopping at a local Walmart for some basic stuff. On the way, I took a side detour into a quiet neighbourhood during the evening. Got there, put on the boots in the car, and went for a walk wearing my long jeans. Walked around an entire block, took about 20 minutes, but it was exciting! Encountered noone really... There were a few people walking by on the other side, but it was dark. As this was on cement, the clicking of the heels took some getting used to. But they sound nice. Had no trouble walking. The shoes were extremely comfortable.

As I got back to the car, I didn't feel like changing back to the regular shoes just yet, so drove to Walmart. Sitting in the car in the parking-lot, for some whatever reason I knew I was going to go in with my heels on. Sat there contemplating this for 15 minutes, but had the distinct feeling that it would be effort for me to change back to regular shoes, and I would be disappointed afterwards. So, truly surprising to me, I went in with heels on with only a slight nervousness. The pants hid everything but ~1".

It was raining slightly, so everything was wet outside. I was totally unprepared for wet heels on linoleum. 6feet from the door, I take a turn and almost fall as the heel slips. Fortunately I recovered immediately as it would have been a personal tragedy (to the entire adventure) if I slip. Not to mention the commotion and the entire scene that would sure to follow. So I vowed to be more careful. Regardless, I almost slipped again. Once I figured out how to walk safely (or the heels just dried?), this stability problem went away and I had no further scares. Walked around Walmart and did my thing, bought what was necessary. In the process, I kept my eyes and ears open for any comments, but saw or heard nothing. I'm sure someone somewhere noticed that something was amiss, but no comments. I bought the stuff I needed and left without incident. It was a great adventure, one I'm sure to repeat.

Althroughout the process, I was wishing for my MP3 player so I could distract myself with some music. But, thanks to reading this forum, and the guys here constantly saying, just wear whatever you want, I just kept repeating "they are just shoes". A few days later, here I am, and my thoughts keep drifting back to the entire adventure. So cool!

vanheel