Alexa

Yes, I've been to the seaside in heels. Or rather, I'm usualy in platform boots with chunky heels. The biggest difficulty I have is with steep slopes of shingle, which are very hard to walk on. Once I'm on the sand I generally take my shoes off and run around barefoot. I can still feel the grains of sand in some of my shoes from last year. It's not uncomfortable, and is rather enjoyable because it reminds me of carefree days at the beach whenever I put them on. Alexa

Here in the UK, the late May weather has turned cool again after a few hot days and I've got my boots back on. It felt good zipping them up this morning as the breeze blew in through my open bedroom window. Although I'm often in courts (pumps) or Mary-Janes in the summer, I suffer from boot deprivation if I don't wear them a couple of times a week. So I enjoy the changeable English weather. Alexa

I often wear high heels around the house. There are some in which I’m still a bit wobbly and I enjoy the challenge of going up and down stairs, trotting off to the kitchen or bathroom and generally getting myself used to them so that I can perform better should I wear them outside. It’s also valuable when I’ve got new shoes, just to check how I feel in them for extended periods. Once you’ve worn shoes to wash up in, vacuum and change lightbulbs, you’ve got a much better sense of what it’s going to be like to wear them at work or out shopping. There are some challenges, such as uneven pavements, cobbles and slopes which it is difficult to mimic indoors, but it’s still good practice.

Alexa

It was really hot here in the UK today and during my lunchtime wander through the city centre I looked longingly at the fountains. Unfortunately the water looked very scummy with litter floating in it and it didn't seem like a good idea to go paddling. Not even the youngsters were playing in it. Nothing for it but go back to the office and wait for a better day. I kicked my shoes off and walked around in bare feet on the carpet all afternoon. Alexa

I’ve not been particularly enamoured of sandal boots, at least not the varieties one sees on celebrities photographed stumbling out of nightclubs. Many of them seem to be like peeptoe ankle boots which I don’t like. I personally like my toes to be covered up when I’ve got shoes or boots on. However, earlier in the year I found these items in the Pleaser Seduce line and have adopted them as cheap and cheerful boots for the summer. The fact that they’re open means that they don’t get as clammy as patent thigh boots would otherwise, and under my favourite long skirts it’s not obvious I’ve got thigh boots on. One of my workmates asked me how high up they went and was quite impressed as I lifted the hem of my skirt. I see they do a similar style on the Electra platform sole which I’m tempted to get, because I like the shape of the heels, they’re inexpensive and they would be a fun boot to wear for summer evenings out. So maybe I do like sandal boots after all, just not the mainstream variety.

Here are some pictures so you get the idea.

Alexa

Anita – maybe I shouldn’t give too much away, but let me give you an image to conjure with. Think of me wearing spike-heeled patent thigh boots and wrapping my legs around my partner as hard as I can, digging my heels into his back as I squeeze the breath out of him. Now that’s something I can do whether I’m in a submissive or dominant role. And it’s never yielded any complaints!

Alexa

Sometimes I'm dominant, sometimes I'm submissive. Whatever happens, there's a much greater likelihood of power exchange when I've got hgh heels on. Alexa

Ah, Amanda – there’s a thought to fantasise about. Getting bespoke shoes made up. I’ve never done this myself but I‘ve got a few ideas I’d like to put into practice one day. A few years ago I came into some money and sent my measurements off to Dark Garden Corsets in the USA. They made me a beautiful leather corset which still has pride of place in my wardrobe. One day I’d like to be able to do this sort of thing with my boots and shoes too. So much footwear, so little time. . .

Alexa

I’ve got a few pairs that I’ve retired – they’re a bit beyond the point where I can wear them but I can’t yet bear to throw them away. They’re in the bottom of my wardrobe and in the spare room. If only I could have them cryogenically frozen, then in the future I could thaw them out when the medical technology existed to repair them. . . .

Alexa

Well done Franie. Your attitude gets full marks in my book!

I’ve been watching people’s responses to my shoes for as long as I’ve been wearing high heeled or alternative footwear, so that’s about 20 years now. Yes, people do the disapproving face a good deal, but equally, my shoes are often a talking point. I even get some people asking to try them on. Whenever I’m with a group of other people, I take a delight in having the least sensible or most inappropriate footwear. At work, I try not to ram it down people’s throats as it were, and don’t wear my more obviously fetish styles. The current fashion for over the knee boots has enabled me to wear my thigh boots a few times without it looking too much like a fetish statement, and no one can see anyway if I have one of my long skirts on. But there’s a good deal of pleasure to be had with repartee, for example when people say ‘what on earth are you wearing those for?’ and I quip ‘Because I can’, or when others say ‘I could never walk in heels that high’ and I say ‘no I don’t suppose you could’. I know it’s childish, and doesn’t look very funny written down, but it puts a smile on my face.

Alexa

Having a car has increased my capabilities with high heel wearing quite dramatically. I don’t have to worry so much about uneven pavements, potholes, twisted ankles, stepping on and off buses and wear and tear more generally. Provided there’s somewhere to park, I can turn up relaxed, impeccably shod and with no blisters, no matter how impractical my footwear, or how appalling the weather. Yes, some shoes are inappropriate for driving but I’ve got some semi-retired ballet flats in the glovebox just in case. I have a piece of old carpet in the footwell so the backs of my fancy shoes don’t get scuffed.

So in some ways driving and heels go together rather well I find.

Alexa

Ah, the old high street shops. How few of them are left now. I remember Ravel always seeming like a much posher, more stylish shop that could somehow only exist in a big city and not in our local provincial high street. Things are so different now, and I get most of my shoes online, where there’s a whole cornucopia of footwear just a few clicks away. But it’s hard to imagine now how even as recently as the 1990s we were limited to terrestrial shopping and for those of us in small towns there wasn’t that much choice.

Alexa

Ha ha – I don’t know much about what strippers wear, aside from catching the odd episode of The Sopranos. I tend to think of strippers wearing those slip on mules with clear plastic platform soles. A lot of the Pleaser and Demonia range, including these shoes, seem to be more to do with an Emo/Goth/Alternative style. I think the main thing to watch out for is, as people have noted on this board, there can be some inconsistency in the sizing with Pleaser, so check the returns policy. I had some of their “Stack” platform boots in shiny patent, which fitted perfectly, and then bought the same style and size in matte which were really tight.

Right, by the end of the week I want to hear that your feet are nice and snug in a pair of Teeze platforms, where they belong!

p.s. I don't have shares in the firm - honest!

I’ve just realized that it’s almost exactly 20 years ago I bought my first pair. My mother thought I’d just gone into the local town to meet some friends, but I took the train to a city thirty miles away and went to the Ravel shoe shop to buy some high heels. I got some with heels about 3” high, which felt very daring at the time. They had a Mary Jane strap – a style I’m still really fond of. I wore them on the way home and sat with my feet resting on the seat opposite so I could see them. It felt exhilarating and somehow naughty at the same time. The downside was that the heel cups were rather hard and the edges tended to dig into the backs of my feet. I had Elastoplasts on my Achilles tendons almost permanently for the first month. This was quite a developmental milestone for me. It involved doing something independent, starting to develop a life away from my parents, and most important from the point of view of this board, showed me that shoes were really enjoyable, not just the ghastly things my parents used to buy me to go to school in, which I couldn’t wait to get off at the end of the day. So I became preoccupied with shoes, which I suppose is why I ended up here . . .

Alexa

Yes, I love platforms too. I'm enjoying the concealed platform styles that have become popular in the last couple of years, but seeing as I usually channel a strong Goth aesthetic, I'm wedded to my platform boots with chunky soles as well. I've got so used to them that when I don't wear platforms it feels funny, as if my legs are too short! Alexa

I'd say go for it. Shop around a bit as the prices from online stores do vary somewhat. I'm afraid I haven't got a picture of me wearing them to hand, but I posted a picture in the thread a day or two ago, which is probably as good as I could take anyway. The build quality is pretty neat for a budget shoe - I can't see any mistakes with the stitching or gluing. Compared to other shoes of a similar height I've tried they're pretty easy on my feet and I don't get aches and pains after a day at work in them, as I do with my Bebe Liza platforms. They're comfortable on bare feet too, which is a big plus for me as I prefer not to wear hosiery. Obviously, everyone's experience will vary, but I'm a happy owner! Alexa

I'm not sure about the 'Seduce' model, but I'm typing this wearing some Pleaser 'Teeze' shoes which turned out to be pretty much the right size for me, allowing for the conversion between US and UK sizes. Different manufacturers - and even different batches from the same manufacturer - turn out slightly different. Not much, but it can make a big difference to how tight they feel and the level of comfort. I know a lot of people on here are fans of the more expensive heels, but I enjoy having fun with the budget brands too. I've got some Bebe Liza platform heels which were much more expensive, and have roughly comparable platform and heel heights, but they're less comfortable for extended wear. I think this is because they hold my toes at a much sharper angle in relation to my foot. Have fun, Alexa

I've had some Pleaser Teeze concealed platform shoes for a lttle while now and wear them into work regularly. They give me a bit of a lift, but the platform means that my foot is not held at too acute an angle, so they're confortable for extended wear and I can strut up and down the corridors and they don't slow me down.

Seeing that original post from Amandahls reminds me of some of my own eccentricities. Of course I hate it when my feet get wet struggling through the puddles into work on a winter’s day, but in the summer it’s a different story. On hot days – usually in July in my part of the world – at lunchtime I like to take a stroll round the city centre square near where I work. I sit on the edge of the fountains and dangle my feet in the water sometimes. One day I was wearing some shoes with a Mary-Jane style strap. I couldn’t be bothered to undo it and just plunged my feet into the water, enjoying the sensation of the air bubbles tickling their way up between my toes. I sat there and drank my coffee and when it was time to go I tipped the excess water out of my shoes and went back to work. They didn’t squelch too much and felt much cooler throughout the afternoon. I did wonder whether the water would make them fall to pieces, but they seemed to withstand the treatment quite well. In fact that particular pair of shoes has been in the fountain quite a few times now, and whilst the shine has gone off them, they’re still serviceable. A couple of years ago in London wearing boots in the summer I dunked my feet in the fountains in Trafalgar Square whilst I drank a much needed can of coke, and watched the bubbles coming out through the zips and around the top. Once again, it felt much cooler after I’d decanted the excess water, and the boots didn’t seem to take any hurt. You see teenagers splashing in the water with their clothes on, but maybe I’m getting a bit old for it. It’s fun though . . . .

Alexa

Boots are excellent in the summer just as they are at any other time of year, and mine certainly don’t get put away in the back of the wardrobe. I love them too much. I find that they only get sweaty if I do a great deal of walking. A spray of antiperspirant keeps my feet tolerably dry for a few hours in the evening they look great and make me feel good and that’s what really counts. If I wear a lightweight skirt and a little top my body still has plenty of opportunity to keep itself cool.

Alexa

Finding a high heeled shoe that you're really comfortable in is a godsend. I've been wearing heels pretty much constantly since I was 14, so I'm well used to them, but even i find some pairs uncomfortable. It's a bit of a lottery buying off the internet, so it always pays to check what the returns policy is. Different manufacturers vary a little, added to which there's the different ways in which the sizing of one region is translated to that of another. So there's no substitute for actually trying them on. As regards the pain, yes i've had someting similar, especially if I wear a higher heel after having let my feet get used to a lower one for a few days. It sounds obvious, but the trick seems to be to ease oneself into it gradually. Raising oneself onto tiptoe and lowering oneself slowly gets the muscles and ligaments used to being in that position. Slipping your shoe off (if they're the kind that can be slipped off discreetly) and flexing your foot works wonders too. Making sure you don't stand for a long time in one position helps - walk around, sit down, stand up again - it's holding muscles and ligaments in one position for a long time that makes them hurt in my experience. It's a bit like riding a bicycle. It needs practice and it takes a while for the body to get used to the new stresses and strains. A little bit of practice every day, leaving off before it gets painful, should sort you out eventually! Alexa

I certainly appreciate the allure of stockings, but in everyday circumstances I prefer the freedom of being bare legged whereever I can. I'm a big fan of that 'airbrush legs' product. No ladders!

Yes, I know! I had a tragic experience a few weeks ago when I finally had to consign a favourite pair of black courts (pumps to our American cousins) to the dustbin. I'd lost count of how many times I'd had the heel tips replaced. It was like saying goodbye to old friends. Other shoes had come and gone but these seemed more or less indestructable. As above, it was disintegration of the sole under the ball of the foot that finally killed them. Alexa