JB

For those who can read french, the "Gazette des Femmes", a magazine published by the "Conseil du statut de la femme" of the Government of Québec, Canada has an article on high heels. Go to: csf.gouv.qc.ca/gazette and click on "sommaire" and also on "communiqué". If you can't read it, have it machine translated on the web. _________________ <font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: JB on 2002-05-10 16:58 ]</font>

I did write to the company, Brown Shoes, (Naturalizer is the name of one of their lines of shoes) and they answered me that they had forwarded my letter to the regional head office in Laval, Quebec. If and when I have some news or see a change of face in the store, I'll let you know. Cheers!

Last week, I go in the shopping mall to see what shoes and boots they have for the new season, dressed in slightly flared pants that show all of my 4" heels. I go in the Naturalizer store, where they only have "women" shoes. A man in his forties stands behind a counter whom I take to be the store manager, while a younger woman employee is doing some odd job. I have a good look around the display on one side, pass in front of the counter at the back end of the store where the manager is standing, and continue looking on the other side. When I get to a position about 12 feet from the manager, almost sideways from him, he says: "sir! do you want to buy shoes for yourself"? I answer: "If I buy shoes, it will be for myself"; to which he replies: "We only have shoes for women here". I answered: "That's ok". Not finding anything to my liking, I left the store. My thoughts were: How can a shoe store manager not be interested to see what footwear a prospective client wears? And: How can he not see that I'm wearing 4" heels? And: Does he think I'm a dimwit who does not comprehend or notice that the store only sells "women"'s footwear? I was amazed at such a lack of professionnalism on his part.

On 2002-03-03 11:49, Francis wrote:

I, personally, don't like violence and will walk away from a fight. But when there's no alternative, then, hell, I dive in. If I'm gonna take a pasting then I might as well dish some out.

That's exactly what I think. The point is, by walking away from a potential fight, you deprive the other person of the possibility of "proving" or imposing his point of view. By doing that, he loses. But when one is cornered, there's nothing else to do but fight; all animals do that, but only humans do it to "prove" a point.

I started wearing hh when with my first wife. When she saw the boots, 2 3/4", her face turned red in anger. She was the very jealous type and thought that I did this to attract attention from other women, which I didn't. There was no discussing it, from her part. I'm sure this was taken into account when she left me a few weeks later. The second woman is the one I now am with. I had never told her of my liking for hh when, last winter, I let her open up the shoe box which I had just received. She gaped in disbelief, mouth wide open, and stared for around 15 seconds, letting the sight sink in (I thought the reaction was good)...Then, she starts crying and says: "I think I'm having a nightmare, this is not possible!" all the while behaving exactly as if she was indeed having a nightmare. When she calms down a bit, I take her on the sofa, sit next to her and put my arms around her, and say "We must talk about it". Then she enumerates about a dozen objections that she has about my wearing heels, which objections I refute as unfounded "for this or that reason". I must say that I did have some help for ideas in some of these refutations because of my reading in hh forums; thanks to you guys. So, after about 1 1/2 hrs, we settle down on an arrangement, a compromise: it's ok for her that I wear them whenever and whereever I like, except when we go outside together. The reason she gives for that is that there would be too much of a difference in height between us, 9 ins. Quite a reversal of situation in an hour and a half! I was glad the way it turned out.

I work as a supervisor in an Internet Access Site and the computer room is situated in a recreation center for 55+ people. I started going to work with 4 ins. hh for the first time about 2 weeks ago, not having worn hh for many years. During that period, hundreds of people, some in their eighties, have seen me with the full heel showing and, so far, I haven't seen or heard any reaction from anyone. Maybe it will come later. But yesterday afternoon, while going back home - a half hour's walk- I hear a female voice yelling out loud: wow, wow WOW, WOW from somewhere on the other side of the street.I keep on walking, and then the voice comes back again: "hey! won't you give me your beautifull boots"! I turn around and don't see anyone on the street as obviously that person is talking from inside a house through a window screen. I wait for a few seconds in case she would come out of the house, and seeing it doesn't happen, I go on my way. So far, in wearing heels on and off since the mid 70's, this is the strongest reaction I've seen. The few others I've had were all nice complimentary smiles. Hi to all!

Over the years, I've found that 3.5 ins. is the minimum that I like to wear, for the feel, and the maximum for all day wear is around 4 1/3 ins.; but that maximum is also influenced by the design of the heel, which influences the comfort. A 4.5 ins. heel can be more comfortable that a 4 ins. sometimes, depending on shoe and, especially, heel design. I think that if the back of the heel is curved inward a little bit, it makes for a smoother walk, and that, in turn, is less tiring in the long run. I once had a made-to-measure pair of knee boots of excellent quality with 4.5 ins. net heel height, and they never tired me, even after 8 hrs. wear. But I was in my early forties then; today it might be different, at age 61. So: on average, for myself, around 4 inches is a good compromise which will give feel and pleasure, and with good fit and quality will be wearable for hours if not whole days.

I think the plural should be cabooses, because the word is a contraction of "cabin house". Anyone knows better? I did see one for the first time in years a few weeks ago; A rare sight nowadays, just like HH on men. In the 70's, there were 3 of us guys, working at the same place, wearing HH.

I haven't posted anything on this wonderfull board yet, having nothing to say, but interesting to read. I saw another latin word a few days ago on the net: virii (plural for virus). It took me all of 5 secs. to guess what it means! Another thing: I haven't had any HH for about 15 years; bought a new pair of ankle boots - not usable for winter - and I sure find the winter too long. Those boots have a 4 inch heel; Will that entitle me to a high rating as a poster on this board? Thinking about it, ideas do come as one writes... bye all.