RonC

22 hours ago, Heelster said:

Heels ???? Never see them anymore. Went to the Grocery store yesterday. 40Degrees F and we had women in Pajama pants, flip flops, and slippers - - - Yes, fuzzy slippers.

Yeah, this pretty much sums things up.  Might find a few older women with a boot with maybe a 2" heel, but the younger ladies are all about flipflops and sneakers.

Seeing as how the DSW stores in my area have stopped carrying size 11, I'll have no chance to try on her stuff in store.

There is a similar beach in Wisconsin, I can't remember exactly where, but I walked on that stuff in athletic shoes and it was very difficult.  Would be virtually impossible in heels!

13 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

When I was in college, I can remember specifically six girls who wore heels almost every day. At least. Those are the ones I can still remember by name. To be fair, I think two of these girls had internships somewhere which required them to dress up in suits or something approaching that. The other four wore heels every day just because. They wore them with jeans and casual skirts as well as with dressier items. There were dozens of other girls I remember who always wore heels when the situation demanded it, such as playing an orchestra concert or something like that.

Yeah, I was in college at the wrong time - 1969-1973.  That was certainly not a good time for heels at all, the Woodstock era when heels were pretty much nowhere to be found.  College girls wore jeans and Keds/athletic styles, flat sandals, or penny loafers.  "Heels" were chunky things of not more than a couple inches. 

I think the heel wearing peaked in the 80's.  Yes, in more recent years heels were higher and still worn often, but as you said, even girls going to class were wearing heels, and quite often with their jeans.  Even casual shoes tended to be heels, such as the Candies sandals and the thong sandals with like a three inch heel.  But even then, the trend of wearing athletic shoes while commuting had taken hold, so while the ladies at the office almost always were in heels, and one could see plenty at lunch time in the city, going back and forth to work was most often in flats or gym shoes.  I'd happily return to that behavior however!

Hard to tell for sure, but it kind of looks like her heel is not down on the grate.  Could well have all of her weight on the toe are here.

I've wondered about her stuff as well.  I've seen them at DSW but have not tried any on.

4 hours ago, MackyHeels said:

Anytime female needs to dress up be it a prom dress, wedding, funeral or just date night out, heels will be certainly worn.

This is no longer true.  While not saying none will wear heels, many are opting for flats and crap like jeweled or sequined athletic/casual type styles or similar flat sandals.

17 hours ago, Chorlini said:

I can literally walk for days and not see anything but flats and heels so low they might as well be flats. To see a woman in actual high heels has become like an UFO sighting. Sneakers are now the norm even when going out on the town.

Yep.  That about sums it up.  And I for one am not a happy camper......

Article from USA Today.  I think this is the prevalent attitude among women today.  Which doesn't bode well for heels for sure.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2020/08/10/we-ever-wear-high-heels-again-pandemic/3314964001/

I have to agree with you on that one.

Cali, I know that there are heels available on line, but I like to try before I buy.  The decline of the availability of dress shoes period in many stores is simply troubling.  I used to be able to find a decent selection of size 11 heels at DSW.  Within the last year, the size 11's basically disappeared, and now the selection of dress shoes has been reduced by at least 60-70%.  And while there are plenty of boots still available, the number with a heel of much over 2" keeps shrinking as well.  And no 11's in boots either.  

In my area, Macy's stores have, for the most part, gone to a self-service style in the women's shoe department.  They still do have a decent selection of dress shoes/heels and I give them credit for still having at least some 11's and even the rare size 12 in stock.  Shoe Carnival is also offering a decent selection of heels (though not much in the 4" plus range) and they most often carry size 11 in the majority of their shoes.

21 minutes ago, chesterx said:

The ladies at my office seem to be trending towards high heels. I see plenty most days & hear even more of them thanks to the tiled halls. I'm glad to see it on the uptick but it also makes me jealous as hell....

Not sure where you work, but your experience is the complete opposite of what I'm seeing, which is a serious and distinct trend toward sneakers/casual shoes in what would typically be considered business or dress situations.  I also just posted a discussion of the complete lack of dress shoes/heels at local TJ Maxx/Marshalls sotres and the decreasing selection at DSW, Nordstrom Rack, etc.  Wish I was seeing what you are!

After watching DSW go from two full aisles of dress shoes/heels down to half of one aisle, I didn't think things could get much worse.  Friday I stopped at Marshalls and TJ Maxx, both of which, while not often having much in my size 11/12, always had a decent selection of heels.  I was appalled to find that both stores had basically eliminated women's dress shoes completely with nothing but low and flat heeled boots on the shelves along with some casual sneaker type crap.  The only heels in either store were a couple of pairs left over in the clearance racks.  Wow.  That was a very disheartening trip to the store for sure.  Looks like those of us that like heels are in for a very real dry spell at best.

You've made big strides in a short period of time.  Keep it up!

I miss your stories and photos as well.  Hope you will post some more here.

5 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

It's why I don't wear anything as of yet that is more than 4 1/2", and on some days, even that's pretty iffy.

Just curious as to why you'd like to be able to wear higher heels.  Do you find the look of the higher heel more attractive, or is it more so the physical challenge of being able to walk gracefully in a heel that height?  

5 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

After all, there is a "General Fashion" section. What if we were to move Jeff's thread into that section? Would there still be a problem?

That actually sounds like a good idea to me.  There is talk of things like purses and legwear there.  I think his posts would fit quite well there.

6 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I find that most reviews are rather unhelpful when it comes to having any idea whether a particular shoe is going to work for you.

I know what you mean.  I am always flabbergasted that one review will stated how the shoes were a full size too small and the next will state that they were too big.  Same with width comments - same shoe, one says too narrow and another says too wide.  

My mom had small feet but I was still determined to wear her heels.  She had one pair that I could get my much larger feet in, but I tore the vamp in both shoes when I tried to walk in them.  She never figured out it was me, as she thought they just got old and dried out and split.  There was another pair that were the closest to a fit for me, and I wore them more than a few times so I stretched them out to the point where they were now too big for her.  I am surprised that she never figured out that it was me.

3 hours ago, AZShoeNut said:

I thought that it couldn't be that hard so I grabbed my mom's 3-inch wooden Candies mules and gave it a try.  I was shocked by how challenging they were to stand or walk in but I was also electrified by the experience.

I never went through the experience of feeling like the heels were challenging.  Never had a problem with balance or walking in them.  Somewhat surprising considering how excited I was every time I got to wear them.

Actually, I do not like tea at all...lol

My avatar shoes the type of heels I prefer.  Grew up in the 60's when stilettos basically came to be.  Also liked the 80's heels.  Not a fan of extreme heights.  

Heavy focus on fetish styles.  Not my cup of tea.

Personally, I've just never understood this.  And it has to be painful as well.  

1 hour ago, Pumped said:

I walked into DSW  the other day and was shocked to see what they have done. Even my wife was crestfallen. Before they had two or three isles of heels. Now just 1/2 of an isle the rest was replaced with athletic shoes. I immediately dropped the company an e-mail and let them know that we were probably done shopping with them as we loved their selection of heels and can buy trainers anywhere. 

Yes, it has been extremely disappointing.  However, they are just reflecting what the public wants and what is selling.  I'm sure we've all seen the stats on how sneakers/casual shoes are outselling dress shoes by like 2 to one these days.  I appreciate that you sent them a letter, but it is unlikely to change anything.  Young women drive fashion, and young women today want nothing to do with heels and dress shoes.  It pains me when I see a young woman in a nice dress and she is wearing some form of sneaker.  There is no longer the desire of young women to have that "grown=up look" that wearing heels provided.  I don't see things changing for a while, if ever.  My opinion is that heels are a dying trend.  I suppose at some point there will be a fashion trend back toward a more formal look, but unless business again calls for a certain level of decorum when it come to clothing (for both sexes) I just can't see heels ever having a corner on the market again.  Unless, of course, the men pick up the gauntlet!

Nice looking pair of pumps!

What store were you in?

Was out to dinner Friday night and a woman came in the restaurant in 4" stiletto pumps.  I didn't get a real good look, but it was a pleasant surprise to see that.  The most any other woman was wearing was maybe 2" booties.