Guy N. Heels

I have seen people adding straps to their heels; typically strippers will tie scarves and other garments around their heels to hold the mules (backless shoes like my avatar) on their feet. Unfortunately, IMHO this not a very satisfactory answer, and while the velcro may offer some improvement, I don't consider that to be a satisfactory answer either. IMO the shoes should be modified correctly to achieve the desired result. Now I will admit that adding heel straps to a mule might entail some serious modifications; but adding a strap to what you call a pump should be a fairly minor, straightforward matter. IMO what has to happen is an external strap or loop is sewn directly at the back of the upper and then a second strap, presumably with a buckle, is passed through the loop and around the ankle. Velcro might serve in the absence of a buckle, but I would want a buckle as a more permanent arrangement. Now I personally dislike the term "pump" because it encompasses so many different styles as to be practically synonimous with "shoe". I have seen slingback shoes called "pumps"; I have seen peep toe shoes called "pumps"; and so whenever anyone trots out the term my first question is: have you a picture? Otherwise I'm never quite sure just what the other person is talking about.

..that you are sexist?

Time to go get some fresh air, Trolldeg. You know that I neither said nor implied anything sexist.

You can enjoy those looks in most of Eastern Europe where women dress very feminine and MANY are extremely attractive. I'd prefer to live in Budapest Hungary though. The winter isn't that bad and you still see the same thing.

I would never want to live in Russia though, weather hardly being the reason since I get enough cold days here in Alberta.

You said it! If you want to go where there are very feminine women, believe me, there are loads of places besides Moscow! Right now, about the only thing Russia has going for it is that they have more parking places than any other country on earth.

I think the point of the topic has been missed here! It is not normal for these heels to break up after three wears (unless you are leaving 6 months between each?) the reason they have broken up is because the heels are plastic & that plastic looks to me to have perished. hence it breaking up.

The only reason they would have perished is through age or adverse storage conditions.

You have either owned these for some time, hence my bracketed comment previously or (most likely) they are old stock that the retailer may have brought some time ago (maybe part of a bulk buy) that have sat in-stock for to long!

In the UK shoe retail law states that shoes should be "fit for purpose" & " merchantable quality" which these are clearly not.

Not sure what the laws are in Belgium (as per your profile) but I would be looking at your countries retail laws. These SHOULD be replaced by the retailer.

Lee

While all of the comments are worthwhile, I think Lee has more or less put his foot on things. One thing is for sure, UV light is the absolute nemisis of plastic, so if the shoes have been exposed to direct sunlight or any other source of UV for an extended period, then that might easily account for the deterioration of the plastic. Check with yer local and state retail laws and if the seller is liable, then take 'em back.

Otherwise, I'd fill up those heels with foam and cap them with a nice grade of sole leather.

Hi William

I work in the public service industry and come into contact with a wide range of folks who could provoke comment but because they are customers and in effect paying my wages I would not comment firstl because it would not be polite to do so and secondly I would not want to alienate from using my services again....bad news travels ten times faster that good.

It sounds to me like you got a very professionally trained service professional. The service industry is a very delicate thing and the last thing a company needs is a ticked-off customer. Unto this end, they actually have classes on how to present a professional image in the presence of the customer. The really big name companies pay big bucks to train their service personnel on professional conduct. Every word, movement, even the way they carry their tools and parts is measured like an athlete executing a play.

I think you hit the nail squarely on the head, Bad Robot; bad news rides a very fast horse. That's why, if there is something that the service guy needs to discuss with his boss, but not in the presence of the customer, he is trained to "go get a tool, part, manual, etc." and then make the phone call from the vehicle. If the service supervisor thinks the service guy is in trouble for some reason, he will send out another technician to either assist, cover, or relieve the first man. But the one thing that will not happen is some sort of confrontation with the customer.

Interesting story but seriously flawed comparison...

Identical twins, yes...Identical feelings and sensation - Probably not...

What I feel they should have done was have each of them wear one of each manufacturer's items for a real-world, direct comparison. Expensive on one foot and cheap on the other. Side by side.

THAT would have been a valid research project in my mind...

I totally agree, the "test" was a bust because there never really was a comparison of the shoes. It would have been just as meaningful to have 2 different guys drive, say, a Cadillac and a Neon around, but never put the same guy in both cars. Unless each of the girls tried wearing each pair of shoes for some specified distance, there's no comparison at all.

Then too, there's the old adage that something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I found the tear-down of the shoes interesting, and I'll admit that the more expensive shoes seemed to have a better quality of construction, but that still doesn't make them worth $600. That only happens when someone actually forks over the $600 for 'em.

Personally, I didn't like platforms in the 70's, and I don't like them now. Always looks clunky, no matter how elegant the actual shoe design. I just don't understand the attraction to having something that thick ruin the lines of a shoe. I just wish that fashion would end its fascination with those things. But hey, I know there are many lovers of platforms at this site, and more power to you!

Well, I guess I'm completely on the flip side, because for me, plats offer something that's kinda hard to come by in high-heeled shoes - COMFORT! After all, what better place to hide a nice cushiony pad, and just where it's needed for the balls of the feet, I might add, than that wonderful 1/2" to 1" thick platform? Now I'll admit that some plats do present a hooker image, but nothing sez I have to buy 'em.

Now that I think about it, all of my best worn shoes have plats. In some cases I've had to keep gluing and screwing them together just so I could get another mile or two out of 'em. But if anyone hates to throw out a really comfortable shoe as much as I do, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. So to my mind, if plats weren't already here, then somebody (like maybe me) would have to invent them!

Last Monday (April 27) I wore a pair of 4" Colin Stuart black leather strappy sandals to Sawgrass Mills Mall in Florida. By the time I got back to the car, I cannot tell you how my feet hurt. The straps had actually worn away the skin on the insteps and sides of both feet!

What had happened without knowing it, the Insolia inserts had worked their way out of the sandal footbed and had fallen out! Without the inserts, my foot just flapped around, up against the front straps causing the blisters and abrasions. As of this writing, I still have some big scabs on my two big toes.

I guess that the Insolia adhesive is just not that good as they fell out on the 2nd wearing!

Man, that's an ugly lick! I think I'd want my money back on such shabby workmanship as that! Take 'em back where you bought 'em and give them an earfull!

Well, she did the math. But she would have done better if she had called that wedgie by it's correct name. The amount of platform on a shoe has almost nothing to do with the surface area presented to the ground, but the amount of sole presented by a wedge shoe does!

Did anyone else find the background noise anoying as much as I did?

Strange thing hapened to me this morning. I was in Starbucks offering my morning tithe, and a woman behind me asked me why I was wearing heels. It caught me off guard because I wasn't actually thinking about my footwear at the moment, but rather what I needed to get done at work today. So, as you can imagine, I really didn't have an answer to offer her.

She was pleasant, don't get me wrong, and I think somewhat intrigued, but she did get me thinking about what my answer is.

I humbly submit that the decision for a man to wear heels is somewhat more involved. Certainly we have the same problem as women do on the actual shoe selection - anything over 3" takes a certain amount of courage.

To be completely honest, I don't wear heeled shoes because of the heel. As my screen name suggests, I am a sandal fan, and to that end, have always worn them whenever possible. My preference in the style of shoe was not inside the normal "blocky and black" mens styles in the market. So, I started wearing ladies styles, and most people never noticed.

Heels came into my life through experimentation, and mostly because of the styling. It wasn't until I started wearing sandals to work that they became almost an exclusive part of my wardrobe. Men's sandals just do not fit in a working atmosphere, but, womens sandals are actually designed for it.

So, every day, I put on my khakis and polo shirt, and strap up, and I love it. It's actually to the point now at awork where nobody really notices what shoes I am wearing. There is the occasional comment from someone who wants to know where "I got those shoes."

So the net is, I wear heels because the styles are more professional and less "beach like."

Could you post some pics of what you wear to illustrate your tastes and preferences?

Sandalguy,

I guess that would catch you off guard for sure, geez even before coffee.

What kind of shoe did you have on?

I am now looking toward summer and warm temps, time to look for sandals

and other fum summer heels.

Thanks for sharing the encounter.

Mtnsofheels

Let me first take this opportunity to say welcome to the forum, Sandalguy!

And I am somewhat intrigued about the little story you told, although I do sincerely hope that you have developed a plausable answer for anyone who pops the same question to you in future. Quite frequently, especially when it's a woman asking the question, I use the old rejoinder, "Why do YOU wear 'em?" That usually buys me an extra minute or so to come up with some kind of answer.

Now my question to you is, "morning tithe?" You spend 10% of your income, or at least what pocket money you have on hand, for coffee every morning? If that is the case then I must assume that you work in some industry that is now the proud recipient of a major fraction of Obama's trillion dollar spending spree. If that is in fact the case and you are not misusing the word, please keep spreading the joy and sunshine around! Maybe someday a little will trickle-down to poor blokes like me.

phooey...if i wanted that i would head for fairbanks,alaska. from the climatic data ive seen,the two places are pretty close.

Not to mention the thugocratic government under Putin and henchmen.

It's a nice place to visit, but...

I am told that after the first snowfall, sometime in middle to late September, that everyone is required to wear a heavy winter coat that weighs approximately 20 lbs. until early to middle April and sometimes as late as May.

So if grey skies, sub freezing temps, and heavy winter coats are yer thing - go for it!

I have a problem with two of my toenails

They are very dark and hardened. My doc thought I had an infection so put me on the most hideous tasting anti fungal and sent snippets of my nails off for tests. It came back negative

I asked my doctor what else I could do and he simply scratched his head.

Does anyone know of any foot specialists who can help? I want to be able to bare my feet this summer and wear my heels

In the overal scheme of things, your hair and nails are at the end of the "supply chain" as far as vitamins & nutrients are concerned. So any vitamin deficencies will tend to show up there long before any other place. I would suggest a complete vitamin supplement along with some heavyweight initial vitamin intake for a week or so. Also, you might consider getting a hair sample analyzied for specific vitamin deficencies.

You are correct in assuming that something is wrong and wanting to find out just what it is.

Having scanned through this thread, it occurs to me that the more we make out of one gender or the other wearing heels, the more that we "build up" the issue in the youngster's minds. On the other hand, consider Hawaii where both men and women can be seen wearing grass skirts, flip-flops, going barefoot, going bare-breasted, and so forth. Therefore whenever someone encounters these things nothing is said because it simply isn't an issue. Youngsters must be taught the difference between male and female styles. So the more that we accentuate the matter the more pronounced it will become. Why not just play it low-key, or better yet, no-key, and if someone comes up with a question just casually say, "I like to wear these shoes."; or words to that effect?

What are you implying?

A sharp guy like you can figure it out.

It seems that the Aisan women have always gone for wearing heels for everything and everywhere...

Dawn HH

I agree that heels are a lot more popular in Japan. We do eventually borrow some styles from there (short plaid skirts and clumpy boots etc) but they're generally very experimental and wear some really sharp outfits. You do see some really nice heels in London, and I'm not sure you'd see many Louboutins or European shoes over there, but they do have amazing taste in heels and they're VERY popular.

Well, I'm back from my vacation in Japan. I had an amazing time and will definitely go back, next time with my hh boots for sure since I came to the conclusion that a guy, especially a foreigner in Japan can just about get away with anything.

Japanese themselves dress crazy in public and nobody says a word. It's very crowded (around 80 percent of Japanese terrain is mountains and the 127 million Japanese make do and live in the other 20 percent) and no one takes the time to examine anyone elses attire. It's as though each Japanese person wraps him/herself in a bubble and takes no interest in their surroundings, only occupied with themselves. Maybe that's why many dress crazy to try to get some sort of reaction.

... Japanese public social norm behaviour of minding their own business... It would be a rare case if someone laughed if they saw you in heels and a 99.9999 percent chance that NO ONE will approach you or even talk to you about your outfit... If you would get a reaction it would come from another foreigner or from a drunk Japanese person in a club. In that case you won't understand what they say (unless you speak Japanese) or it might be a compliment because from my time there, radical fashion is acceptable. I haven't seen any males in heels but I've seen males in dresses (probably some Anime fantasy) and in flat yet extremely pointed toe shoes/boots. Skinny jeans were all over on the guys.

...(T)he company I was with made heel wearing improper...

There can be no doubt that in Japan and many other Asian countries they have adopted high heels as well as other Western fashions and customs. But while I have not been to Japan in over 40 years, I very strongly suspect that the women there have evolved the high heel fashion and given it a much more distinctive Japanese flavor or sytle, if you please.

Again, while I haven't been to Japan in a rather long time, I would be hesitant to make a statement like "radical fashion is acceptable" without first making an in-depth study of their culture. To my mind, what you are reporting sounds like a culture that is evolving or in the process of trying to develop a distinctive style or fashion that more correctly reflects the modern Japanese culture that we find today.

Assuming that your report is correct, what you may be observing is a Japan that is somewhat "in search of itself", as it were. If this is correct and you are at the beginning stages of this search, it might take several years or even decades for things to settle down. On the the other hand, if what you observed is in the middle to latter stages of their "search", then we might expect a distinctive Japanese cultural fashion shift to take place and settle out in the next few years. I would love to hear from someone on this who either currently has been living in Japan for several years, or else knows and understands the Japanese culture well.

Funny!

Did some tests many years back and were varying 125 -135.

In my profession (aviation) it's not just being able to think sideways as the Mensa tests challenge. It's to read the book and do the job right otherwise we 'd have a ton of scrap metal and a graveyard at the bottom of our gardens.

Neither I want!

I've known cleverer fellers put up exit signs pointing the wrong way, unable to rewire a cable harness and then complain why they get simple cleaning tasks afterwards.

I'm not Einstein so quotes of relativity and all the equations are not required reading but as with many, what we do, we learn to do, to the best of our capability.

Our trade, families and hobbies come first and then we add in the extras as we need and use.

There is many a fool that think they know it all.

Me "I know nothing" I'm still at the school of life.

Al

Thanks Al, for adding a nice handle on what I was euphemisticly trying to convey.

While I could be wrong, it seems to me that those MENSA folk are running a religion of sorts, and I wouldn't be too surprised to learn at some time in the future that some sort of dress or costume is required for membership.

For many years, I wondered why graduation ceremonies were labled "commencement exercises". Then some years later I finally figured-out that that is the point at which one begins to start learning all that the school never got around to teaching.

As for me, besides building some of the biggest aircraft ever to fly, I've also got about 40 years in electronics and computers. In actual fact, I first worked on mechanical adding machines and eventually worked my way through an A+ course and some of the more modern computers. So I have litereally "grown-up" along side the computer industry. Yet only a fool would dare tell you he knows all there is to know about 'em. I think I got left behind in the dust about 15 years ago, and they're coming out with newer and newer stuff every day.

But still, Intelligence has more to do with our ability to solve problems, and there are very few tests that truly test this aspect of people. On the other hand, there is the related subject of Knowledge, which truly is not actually intelligence but it is related. Then we get to the matter of Wisdom, which is may be related to intelligence, but is really an altogether different subject. Unfortunately, I think that altogether too many people tend to get these 3 confused.

Ah yes, the ugly duckling syndrome. Well, you are certainly correct there. There wasn't much expectation based on her dowdy and frumpy appearance. But, that all changed as quickly as the first notes of her angelic voice floated across the audience. While it might be useful to some to dwell on the fact that appearance is a measure of worth and she really was rudely welcomed. It is worth looking at the youtube clip all over again just to watch the look on the Judges faces change from one of "on my, do we really have to do this" to one of realization that they were truly witnessing the exposure of a "major talent". Chagrin? You betcha! I'd rather think of all of the hours of enjoyment I am going to get from listening to here future CD's.

As has been observed on another thread, dresses, shoes, accessories, even hairstyles can all be purchased! Those things can always be added if needed. But that VOICE; By the time she had hit her 4th note it was clear that money couldn't supply that! Now we're all on tenderhooks awaiting her next release. I certainly wish her all the best.

i'm going to take this one step further.. photography.. it freezes the image in time and takes out the movements in the equation.

if you put two people with very very similar geometry side by side in expertly tailored outfits to look identical... and the shoes are from the same designer and are checked to be certain to be the same..

even in that setting, you can find subtle differences. rare are the times you can't.

example. I have a set of friends who are twins. they once worked for the same airline.. so being twins and all, their uniforms were identical.. their shoes identical.. their features identical.

one looked a bit stiff and more professional, the other a bit more playful in the same uniform and same pose.

what makes the appeal is the woman who puts on the costume! now.. if in a case of twins, i can see the difference, imagine women who aren't related.

sure, i've also seen twins who were so identical, i couldn't find a single difference in a picture when they dressed perfectly alike, but in video, you saw the difference immediately (driving others nuts who couldn't tell).. but seriously.. how do mom's tell their twins apart? they move differently.. even though they can mimick the other well.

at the end of it all, how a woman chooses her accessories to fit the nature of her being is what makes the final product sexy or not.

i've got friends i hope never attempt to go above 4 inch heels. it would be disastrous, though they want to.. they don't have it in th em.. others, i wish they'd get up to 6 inch because it's in their blood, yet they don't try!

some friends look great in sandals.. others in pumps.. others in slings.. etc.

nuff said

:clap:

Somehow, you've managed to hang the "blue ribbon" on what I was trying to state. Thanx Beaucoup.

"Samoa Kid sandals" are they the choo shoes you refer to?.

I would really like a pair of his "Seattle" sandals.

However I'm all behind with summer styles this year for having spent half the winter here in Scotland if I stay here any longer I may end up not having to worry about summer styles this year at all!.

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought summer in Scotland consisted of July & August, and with the exeception of a week for spring, the rest was fall & winter.

An amazing voice - just shows one can't prejudge the package by the wrapping. Although "American Idol" (not Idle!) has become stale, this woman has breathed new life into the concept. What a pleasure to listen to.

Vern

She hails from the Scottish highlands. Apparently the Boyles are a legitimate Scottish highland clan, although they have one of the ugliest tartans in the book.

She was said to be rather "frumpy", and I'll admit that most highlanders aren't candidates for Glamor Mag. But can she ever sing!!! Did she get that voice calling sheep up in the highlands? I don't know, but I can hardly wait to hear more from her and to see some albums, when they come out!

I work in a medium size office building with roughly 750 other staff. It has become obvious that one of the people doing the hiring, obviously a man, has hired some amazing women. The last few years, the women have gotten younger and hotter. Some days the cafeteria is a sea hooker footwear. lol!

About six months ago, an attractive young woman in her mid 20s joined the company. She is a beautiful young lady but would otherwise be lost in a sea of skanks, were it not for her disposition to wear patent pumps of 4~6" heel height.

Her taste in shoes is pressing the hot buttons of my fetish. I've never had this level of reaction before. Every pair of shoes she wears is perfect.

I was never a fan of peep-toe pumps before. Now I am. I've never seen her wear a pair of non-sexy shoes.

Lately, I've been trying to avoid her in the coffee room because I don't want to stare and make her feel awkward but I find myself glancing at her. She is a great dresser too and a really beautiful young lady.

I have a wonderful woman at home who would do anything for me but she can't wear high heels and I wouldn't ask because she has ankle problems and I won't ask her to risk getting hurt. It's a shame because I'd like to connect this newly discovered fetish with my love life but I need the love of my life to be safe too.

Careful there, Weaknees. That bright young thing in the smart outfits sounds like she's on her way up, and she's not taking the elevator either.

I'll give you a definite maybe on that one.

Well, February has come and gone and the massive infusions of tax dollars has slowly begun to turn the stock market around. Trouble is, our great grandchildren will still be paying for all of this madness after we're all gone.