Guy N. Heels

I typed a long reply, and then the forum went down, so I'll try again.

I only get to wear boots during the night/early morning (I start work at 15:30), but I don't really want to be "caught", so I tip-toe around on wooden floors, and am careful not to make too much noise or put any lights on incase I were to wake my parents. I'm a dirty, horrible smoker, too, so I spend a bit of time in my back garden. When I'm out, all my worries go away, and I make noise walking up and down the path, just being happy to be me. It all goes away as soon as I quietly go back inside.

I have two male footwear items; tatty old trainers and uncomfortable, ugly, slippery shoes. I'd love to be able to wear a comfortable pair of heeled boots during my day, and I would, because I don't really care what other people think of me, but I do care about my mum and dad as I said previously.

I plan to do some street heeling on my own for the first time tonight, if I have the confidence.

Also, I can't make the heel meet, but I ask if there is anyone around near me (or driving distence) who would be willing to give me some clue about what to wear. I have lots of clothes, but when I wear them together something just doesn't look right. The only thing that does look right, are my shoes! Mind you, I'm probably being blind. Get in touch if you think you can help.

Weeell, I'm seeing two extremes: High heels, which can lead to wild excitement instead of quiet fun; and smoking - death on the installment plan. One gets you up in the world and the other puts you down - some choice, eh?

Now is the time to do something that you've been putting off. Take that trip you've never quite got around to. Clean out the garage or attic. Complete that project you've had on the shelf for so long. Visit that museum you've never had the time for. And of course, make plans to be with some buddies for Super Bowl!

Plus don't forget, it takes both the sunshine and the rain to make a rainbow.

From memory, Guy, there was much more consistency in the shape of stilettos from around 1958-59 when what I would call the classic thin, curvy stiletto became almost universal, regardless of height. Their tips would certainly fit into a square of less than 0.5" and I suggest that 0.3 - 0.4 was the norm, with 0.25" also seen. The revived stilettos of the mid-70s onwards have been much less consistent in shape and slimness and (apart from some very slender, usually steel, heels) by no means always as thin as 0.25" or so, more's the pity.

My suggestion therefore is that the peril posed to aircraft by heels was at its maximum in the late 50s when stilettos were (a) a totally new threat to the floor, not yet always allowed for by the designers; ( a very common everyday fashion - and compulsory for many stewardesses! © of a consistent and slender profile allowing excellent penetration under pressure.

You may be right about the actual dimensions of the heels. A huge part of what I was basing my statement upon were the heels displayed in Hollywood films. Even sexy stars like Marylin Monroe often wore heels that were much thicker than most people might suppose. I know that most of my mother's shoes from that period had heels in the .5" range, and even Shelly Winters and Elizabeth Taylor often wore heels that were much thicker than you might suppose.

But you are correct in stating that the female aircrew were often required to wear heels. I can only suppose that was before they had their floors damaged.

The Army way is totally different, most likely you are in numbers and in military doctrine you are considered expendable, so the consequences of the extra safety measures taken are nill. Where an officer could be alone and are not so much expendable. As much as we all think that we are experts, it's not until we actually go under trial by fire that we have understanding what really happens. Sounds like these officers need more training, sounds like some of these people who been shot may halved jerked and suddenly moved, I mean if I jerked or suddenly move and you had the gun what would you do? Instinct says pull the trigger!! What ever the reasoned, $h!+ happens they were cleared of any wrong doing, they have to live with their actions and none the wiser on the next time around. Until some one invents a Phase Pistol with a stun setting on it lethal force is a fact of life and no officer is going to surrender their gun until then.

First of all, I want to thank you for some sensible comments.

Secondly, I have been under live fire (not a drill or training exercise) on more than one occasion.

In the third place, the teenager was stopped on a "lookout" because the car resmbled a description given at a totally different incident at a totally different location. There were not less than 3 police officers who had the girl surrounded and in their sights. She was being yelled-at from 3 different directions. When one cop ordered her to drop what she was holding (a bag of potato chips) another blasted her with his 12 gauge. Mercifully, she died instantly, and yer absolutely right about the cop having to live with the outcome. As a statistical group, cops have one of the highest incidents of suicide on record.

In the fourth place, the cops will surrender their weapons when the law requires them to.

In the fifth place, my argument is really about cops being placed on paid suspension after a shooting incident. My argument is that depriving the police officer his pay while the investigation of the shooting is being conducted might be an incentive for the police officer to consider more carefully whether the use of the firearm is really necessary. If the shooting is justified then the pay should be reinstated.

I had heard that the eldest boy tends to be closer to his mother and therefore has a higher tendency to dress in female clothes. So how many of you are the eldest?

That includes me and it also helps that as a kid my local friends in our street were all girls

One thought that occurs to me is: How does this rationale apply to twins? Moreover, what if one twin is really into skirts, heels and earrings, and the other is not? BTW, I am a twin and none of my brothers wear heels.

...Your Dirty Harry imagine to day is nothing but a figment of your and the Movie industry imagination. Police officers go through eminence amount of training for defense and protection as a result of such past incidences. (I know, I worked for a gun mfg. who offers training for law enforcement)

...Oh yeah one other thing, the loss of any human life under a shooting incident is not good, but the victims/criminals parents, friends and /or spouse but people run with emotions for revenge not Justice. They went there, and they are not Police officer,and they have not a clue of his feelings or thoughts. Also lets look at rules of engagement, the officer has to fallow them, but the criminal will not, it's open seasoned on the officer, while they have to treat the criminal with due care, more on the line for the officer's life.

With all due respect for your right to your opinion, I must reject it! Perhaps after I have lived another 1000 years I can erase the memory of a dead teenage girl lying in a pool of blood in a parking lot while a Montgomery County Police officer with a smoking 12 gauge shotgun in his hand is standing over her. Her "crime" was that she dropped the bag of potato chips she had in her hand as she had been ordered to do. The bottom line is that after the parents buried their teenage daughter, a jury found that the police officer had acted "in the line of duty" and that it was a "justifiable homocide" to gun down an unarmed teenager.

Then there is the case now pending in California where a unarmed US airman was deliberately shot 3 times in the chest by a policeman for standing up as he had been ordered. The jury found the police officer had not attempted to murder the Iraq war veteran.

Did I mention the guy in Anne Arundel County who was shot in the face by an FBI agent armed with an MP4? The agent had ordered the man to step out of the car and so when the man reached to unfasten his seatbelt (which is required by law to be worn) the FBI agent dutifully shot him in the face with an automatic weapon. The FBI agent was, of course, found not guilty of any wrong-doing, but then he didn't have to have his whole face reconstructed.

Then there is the 15 year veteran US Marshal who shot a young, also unarmed, US sailor to death at a shopping center on Rockville Pike. Nothing like our well trained police forces exercising proper rules of engagement while gunning down unarmed citizens from coast-to-coast! Yer right! In comparison Dirty Harry comes off looking like the nice guy.

Therefore, I reject all notions that the police exercise any sort of "rules of engagement" training whatsoever! Once they get a weapon in their hands and a target in their sights it is literally Open Season! So naturally they need to go on receiving their regular pay while they clean their weapon(s) and everyone else gets through burying the bodies.

I had far and away more weapons training in the Army where we employed the term "lock and load". The weapon was to be kept clear of all ammo until a real threat was revealed. Even then, the piece was to be locked while the ammo was loaded and a round chambered and still kept locked until a target was acquired. Then the threat had to be re-evaluated. Under no circumstances was the piece to be unlocked unless it was deemed necessary to fire.

I fired EXPERT with my weapons and I knew only too well that anything within my sights would have FMJ rounds in it when I unlocked my piece. I give great praise to Almighty God that I have never fired a single round in anger!

...Anybody else noticed how long the platform has been in fashion this time around? I have some old fashion mags from 1993/1994 and they were showing model wearing them there. Here we are 8 years on and they are still in fashion, thats quite a long time in fashion terms.

If my memory serves me correctly when platforms were in fashion in the 70's they were probably only around for 4 or 5 years...

I continually find myself amused at how much young people overrate themselves. For some strange reason, each generation supposes that they are the inventers of some marvelous or new thing.

So at the risk of bursting some bubbles:text_pop: , allow me to say that I can very vividly remember, when I was about 12 years old, finding a pair of my mother's brown platform shoes in the attic one day. I was still small enough that I could wear them and I still recall how strange they felt with those 5" heels and 1" plats.

Now please remember that this was around 1955 and I honestly cannot remember ever seeing my mother wear them. However, my mother, who was an avid photo collector, had numerous snapshots of her wearing these shoes when she was living in NYC (was she ever a knockout!) in the late '30s and early '40's.

So young people, PLUEESE, plats were not invented in the '80's or the '70's, nor even the '50's or '60's, for that matter. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say in the 1930's and I might still be very wrong about that assumption.

The jury have reached a verdict. You, Heelfan, are guilty of anti-platform fascism. I hearby sentence you to confinement to flat shoes for a period of no less than six months. Shuffle from this courtroom in your comfy loafers!

Oh No! Not that! That constitutes cruel and unusual punishment!

Fascinating! This thread is suggesting a correlation between a person's emotional predispositon to avoid human contact and the desire to wear certain articles of clothing. While I find the concept totally illogical, I must say that it bears further study. Fascinating. - Spock

Hay if the cop have been cleared, why drag him through financial desiater? If he/she is guilty after the investigation than suspend their pay. We keep forgetting what these guys go through every day.

If you want to know why? please allow me to draw your attention to my 2 previous posts.

Those are perfect shoes. That's a big step to for your mother to be forward about them. This could be a good start to other things. Wear them casually like you say. Keep it up!

Are there other/different styles you want to try and wear also? Do you think she will be ok with those?

DITTO! Take it nice & easy and give yer mum a chance to get her mind around your shoes. You might even let her take the lead and make suggestions. Just don't upset the applecart at this stage.

Your best bet would be ebay.com in the states, but they wont be cheap... Nigel

I doubt very seriously if you'll be able to find anything worth having in a genuine cowboy boot that won't require a second mortgage. However, may I suggest a biker's or an engineer's boot? Some come with 3" heels or even higher, look totally masculine, and you probably won't need the second mortgage either.

I agree about responsibility, but I dissagree about suspending an officer -without- pay every time he has to fire a shot untill the investigation is done. Rather then that, hold them just as legally liable for any shooting as any other citizen. If they were not justified in shooting someone then charge them with murder. Withholding their pay is an insult, as they don't make alot of money as it is, at least in my area.

As a further follow-on to my previous follow-on, a Prince George's County cop has just been suspended - with pay - while they investigate why he shot two unarmed men who were delivering furniture to his house. Both of the furniture men are presently in the hospital in ICU. Would you care to ask the family members of the victims if the cop should be drawing pay while he is suspended?

I can relate to the red head story. My hair was the brightest orange ever in school. The girls really took notice when I came around dressed in my blue serge double breasted suit with highly polished black Pittsburgh Spades and nylon socks on my feet. But of course---I have always had an award wining personality which helped a lot. I was the "Cat's Meow"!

Cheers-- Dawn HH

Man, yer really dating yourself with that dbl breasted suit story. Wuz that complete with the 5" wide necktie?

Sharp looking boots, man! But with 4.5" heels about all I can do is wish you well. My physical condition would never permit me to do more than look at 'em.

You're right, I mentally typed the word 'jet' but it didn't come out of my fingers! I apologise.

Not all flyers are 110lbs - and some of the weightier ones wear (and wore) heels. Think about someone (say) 180lbs walking, so all the weight's on one foot. Now think of them putting that foot down at a slight angle. It's apparently surprisingly easy to get a metal floor to tear at that point.

Well, having built some of the biggest, heavy-duty aircraft in the world (C-130's, C-141's, C-5A) I was having a bit of trouble getting my mind around the kind of problem presented. After all, there is a considerable difference between loading-up a combat equipted battallion, complete with M1A1's, and a bunch of people wearing high heeled shoes.

Also, I was looking at the fact that the really skinny stilettoes (in the 1/4 inch range) generally weren't available until after the Comet was taken out of service (I think in the 1980's). Up until then most of the heels were usually in the .5" range. Still, that would put far more of a load on the flooring than I ever really expected, and it also goes to illustrate why a dagger is so deadly. In the simplist of terms, the amount of force required for penetration is greatly reduced. Therefore, I believe that for this reason alone several air carriers actually banned high heels on their flights for a while as a matter of policy. I just never did the math to see why. :academic: It's been a good topic.

i must say i am in favour of the ban on smoking in public places in the uk, because in my opinion there is nothing worse than coming out of a pub or restaurent smelling like an ashtray, the sooner the better.

just my opinion nothing more, i have nothing against smokers, just don't smoke near me.

later

john

Yeah, man! After I quit smoking I was amazed at how much my clothes stank. I had to get everything cleaned before I finally got rid of the smell.

Sorry, Guy, I don't understand your comments. Where is your evidence that men have ever worn heels that could conceivably be called 'stilettos' (i.e. thin as well as high) regularly and in public, apart from in TV, fetish or fancy dress contexts? The true stiletto heels of the late 50s-mid 60s period were almost always of the same slender profile, flat and straight at the front edge, more rounded and curving in from the back and not set too far back on the shoe. The first (mid-50s) stilettos were a little thicker, before manufacturing techniques (if not also style) facilitated and encouraged narrowing. Many so-called stilettos seen within the last 20 years or so have been distinctly thicker (chunkier if you wish) and/or set further back on the shoe - but heels like that that have not been a male fashion either at any period, have they?

I can still find no basis for accepting the Wikipedia comment as correct, however generously we interpret its sweeping assertion and however much we wish it were the case. Some editing called for, I think!

Well, since this is not a court of law, I'm going to abandon the argument before it breaks out.

But DR 1819 sez, "Some fashion plates depict French Nobility (males) wearing heels with a narrower heel in the 1600s, but I'd have to call them tapered block heels, at best."

I think the French refered to such heels as TALONS, which could easily be translated into stilettoes in Italian. One must never overlook the fact translation of a term from one language to another is more than the mere exchange of words. You are actually making the translation across cultural lines and, therefore, introducing a whole host of variables that are not so readily defined. One example is the expression, "out of sight - out of mind" in English might be rendered, "blind and insane" in some other language.

www.electiquebotique.com has those "sneaker heels" for $14.99 and $19.99 US just type "sport boot" in the search and they should pop up in the results.

Alright! Now $20 is doable. But I really have to scratch my head for anything over $50.

Ancient proverb say it is bad luck to buy shoe without first trying on.

Magickman: You have to go your own way and do what pleases you, not the rest of the world. I know the occassion compromise is good, but not to the point where you willingly sacrifice your own happiness to satisfy someone else. Oh, and speaking a man who wears pumps, perhaps the ultimate in feminine looking shoes in public, I don't think what you bought is any big deal.

DITTO! Personally, I would love to have a pair of those for myself, but at 5", my medical condition will never permit me to wear 'em. Still, they look great!

As for being advertised as 4"; they look like they have about a 1" platform which, with a 5" heel, would give you a 4" rise.

As for the GF, respect her opinion and take it under advisement. But you should always be your own man. In my experience, the guy who always trys to please others ends up pleasing no one.

BTW, I thought Minn. only had 2 seasons - July, August, and winter.

Great story! Personally, I don't get around much any more - especially on Friday nights in big city. But hey, that just leaves more room for you youngsters. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

Hello all,

My wife has a pair of pull-on knee high boots with 4 " heels that she likes but they are pull-ons and not easy to get on and off. She is thinking about having a shoe repair place add a side zipper and was curious if that would drastically change the fit of the boots.

Has anybody had boots modified to add a side zipper and were there any problems with te fit after the work was done?

Thanks,

Deal

While I've never actually had that mod done, IMO a good shop should be able to do it without drastically changing the fit. For one thing, you would not want the zipper to come down too low - I'd say somewhere above the ankle. Also, you want to be sure to use a shop that's familiar with that type of mod. If they haven't done it before, don't be their guinea pig. If they have done it before, ask for references. A quality shop should not mind refering you to their customers.

If the vamps are tight, try wrapping some cloth or some carboard around yer shoe stretchers and give it the old stretch routine. They'll probably lossen-up eventually anyway, but it can be annoying to have shoes too tight in that area.

Funny story. My paternal grandfather was a metallurgist - worked on propeller strength during WW2, then went on working with aircraft. He was involved with the Comet, the world's first commercial airliner. As with any other part of an aeroplane, flooring needs to be as light as possible - so the loading is considered. The Comet initially had a floor loading of 1 (English) ton per square inch. Worked fine until stiletto heels came in in the '60s, at which point you had women walking into the aircraft and punching a neat row of holes through the cabin floor into the (unpressurised) cargo hold! So they had to take the floor loading up to 3 tons per square inch, with the corresponding increase in weight...

I wonder what the carbon footprint is of all the extra metal that's been flown round the world in the interests of stopping high-heel wearers punching holes?

The deHaviland Comet, eh? I thought that was merely the world's first jet powered commercial aircraft. Nevertheless, I'm still having trouble getting my mind around a 110 lb. woman poking holes in an aircraft floor rated at 1 ton per square inch. After all, they really didn't come out with those super skinny "ice-pick" heels until the '80s.

Hey, another year older, at your age I am sure it is a relif to make it again!

Mines a pint when I see you again,

Nigel

I never worried about that "relief" stuff until they quit telling me, "Many happy returns," and started saying, "Congratulations!":upset: