xaphod

Now I have to know what was in your briefcase. Drugs, gun, money? You can't just leave us hanging like that.

.... legal stuff for conveyancing a house .... sorry to be boring.

Xa

I tried on a pair in L K Bennet's sale yesterday.

http://www.lkbennett.com

http://www.lkbennett.com/products/sale/saleshoes/saleboots/brady/pid-29250black

I was looking for a pair of fairly conservative knee-high boots that I can wear under trousers when I do my volunteer work at the local church.

The shop is towards the upper end of the retail spectrum, so the sales staff have a certain manner towards customers they regularly relieve of £300 upwards, so it tends to put them off a bit when a well-dressed guy walks in giving that impression of 'hang on, something's not quite right here'.

The long leather coat could be of a better make, but certainly wasn't cheap. The roll neck top actually was very cheap, but could well have cost £30. The trousers weren't of the usual cut .... I should darn well hope not .... they're Marks and Sparks girlies bootcut trousers which have a certain elegance. The hat cost more than most people pay for a pair of shoes, from one of the last London gentlemen's hatters. To top it off, I had my briefcase with me and I won't say what was in that (it certainly wasn't my sandwiches for lunch ! ). The shoes were Sacha knee-highs with a 4" blade heel.

The older woman took on the female look I characterise as 'freeze water at 10 paces' .... come on guys, you must know what I'm talking about .... when you try to chat up a woman who is a bit 'above your station in life' and her demeanour makes it pretty plain that she would rather the ground swallow you up, than lower herself to actually talking to you.

The younger woman was pretty helpful and found me the other half to the boot I had selected, which I tried on in the shop. My conclusion was that I would have bought them if they had them in black (not dark brown).

On leaving, I said something like that I used to do the cross-dresser bit, but now I just blur the edges. Pointing to the elegant stilettos on sale, I said, "I love the stils, but I've got more than I'll ever need."

The younger woman burst out laughing, and the air liquefied around the old crow !

Xa

When this board was created a little over 8 years ago, we didn't know how long it would last or if, beyond a small group of like-minded people, it would expand.

It's good to see that we have a continued influx of new people saying things along the lines of "I thought I was the only one, what a relief to find others like me." In that respect, I feel good that the work I have put in and a huge amount more by others is lightening the burden of others' lives.

(To quote Dickens, "Those who lighten the burden of others' lives are not useless." )

Have we changed the general attitude of the general public to guys in heels ? Maybe in cosmopolitan centres such as London's West End, but the taunts of the oafs in other parts of the Metropolis are as bad as any. Even provincial towns are more polite. People there might think something derogatory, but have the civility to keep quiet.

(I have in mind the remarks of the garbage truck guys as they drove away in Camden when I was there last week, or the shopkeeper on the short-range business radio (PMR446) talking to his colleague in the next shop. I happened to come in as the speaker in the previous shop I visited was finishing his over on the radio, and copied his remarks to the sniggering counter jockey. As soon as he saw me he rapidly stifled his guffaws. I had the last laugh as I did a swift about face to exit by saying, "If you weren't taking the piss, I might have spent some money in your empty shop." The credit crunch has its uses.)

Some days ago, there was a report in the newspapers that homophobia (in which, because of our dress choice, the uninformed include us) is about twice as frequent even as racial discrimination.

In short, I hope we are a force to improve the lot of heely-kind, but I fear there is much yet to do and that it won't happen overnight.

Xa

So cool. You guys actually get together? I might show. Always wanted to see London. Do people mind?

.... actually, we have been getting together for 9 years !

Back in 2000, if memory serves, there were quite a few meetings in London with me, firefox and calv.

By all means, come along.

Xa

If I remember rightly, the cellphone is actually from about 1986. I nearly bought a laptop-sized one (20 watts output .... that will REALLY fry your brain ! ) in the mid-80s. The plan was to have communications to my boat and run an antenna feeder up the mast to an aerial on top. That should have given me cell coverage halfway across the English Channel. Roz .... I've seen some pretty good heels on Air Stewardesses. They used to walk on the plane wearing 4 1/2 inchers and swap to lower ones to do the 'trolly dolly' bit. I remember in Crawley market (near Gatwick) following, more than I should, a stewardess who was making a good job on the 5 inchers (no plat) commercially available in the mid 80s. Boy, do I still wish I had those Ravel 5 inchers that I got around that time? Xa

Just to lay myself bare to you all there is nothing better for me than wearing my 6" black leather pumps,lace or seamed hold ups and a tightly laced corset-wow I said it,its taken me a long time!! Unfortunataley im normally alone but you cant have it all.

Peeptoes

.... sounds pretty normal to me .... no worries.

Xa

In the world of the mad, the sane man is crazy.

Yup, life's a bitch.

Here's a potted history of my relationship/heels conflict.

Young man, career taking off, house, new Volvo, pretty and intelligent g/f, 4 parents all making the right noises.

All that was necessary was to ask a particular question to induce hearty congratulations, slapping of backs and cracking open of Champagne.

Unfortunately I prefixed the question with "Mary, there's something you need to know."

Funnily enough, I never got around to asking the question. Big argument, g/f goes home to parents who filter phone calls. I can't remember the number of times I heard "she isn't in".

We met some time later for a very strained encounter and I haven't seen her now in 23 years.

..... moral of the story. In some ways, my heely thing has totally f....ed my life, but if I hadn't told her, the split and recrimination would have been a hell of a lot worse.

This isn't much help for you, IWH, but I would suggest that the only way for you to remain married and to have some of the heely life you need, is to do the latter in secret. It's a bummer, far from ideal, but the only practical solution.

Xa

Tall order!

Try www.duoboots.com

They do some nice styles with a large choice of calf widths. Not sure about EEE though, but they will at least sympathise with your plight.

Xa

Replied by PM. Anyway, I would be very interested. I would need to know if it is an overnighter or just a day event for travel reasons.

Gonna need tips on getting heels through airport security, of course.

I usually take them on my feet when I go through security. Sometimes they want you to send them through the x-ray. If they are ordinary women's shoes, then there can't be a problem.

I would avoid really thin and spiky stilettos though, just in case they think you are going to stab someone.

What goes in the hold is anybody's guess. A pair of thigh boots came out the other end OK along with a full-length leather skirt.

Xa

ITV breakfast is now doing full-length weathergirls, complete with decent heels.

It's even prompted some 'erbert on Teletext to send in the following:-

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something's afoot with weathergirls

Why are high-heeled shoes necessary to present the weather forecast?

DP, Littlehampton, West Sussex.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I generally mute the sound and just watch whoever walking around in her heels. If I want a real weather forecast, I watch the top half of Dr. Carol Kirkwood on the BBC !

Xa

cant ever see us guys being taken over though!

There isn't an emoticon for 'tongue planted firmly in cheek' .... heh heh !

Xa

When we had the debate, moons ago, if guys should be banned from the girls' part of the forum, I put forward that the idea that 'for the girls' should be like the girls' powder room. There they could have girly conversations without the guys butting in. OK, the walls would be VERY transparent, so, if we wished, we could see what they were talking about, but I'm sure that they could send PMs if they wanted to remain confidential. With the number of guys being much greater than girls, any participation of guys in the girls' area would swamp their number, so, of necessity guys should be banned from posting in their area. I don't see any reason why girls should be banned from 'for the guys' .... well, unless their number vastly overtakes the number of guys on here ! Xa

I vote for London Fashion Week. I'm not young, I'm not pretty and I definitely have a strange taste in footwear, so I can see that the LFW luvvies might regard me as a member of the lumpen proletariat, but, hell, I can always try to blag my way in ! Xa

.... there wasn't a pair of stils on the clothesline. Up until the last shot, we never saw the guy's feet. Xa

.... yeah, a West-end show sounds like a civilised idea.

I haven't done that for a very long time.

Shopping is pretty-well guaranteed too.

Xa

It looks like Calv and I will be coming to the 'do' next year. The plan is to use the weekend in London primarily as a holiday, but we will drop into the Miller on Saturday. I'm afraid that 'Torture Garden' isn't our thing, so we might organise something else for Saturday eve. We're up for a block booking at a hotel if that can be managed on this occasion. Calv might be limited to the weekend, but I may appear in London on Thursday. Xa

Yup .... I have 5 pairs of these babies !

http://www.fuss-schuhe.de/hhfc/images/PU-1919-1820led3.jpg

It doesn't do to wear one pair all the time, so I rotate 3 pairs. The two other pairs are still new in their box.

Xa

I saw these in Mr Shoe.

http://www.mr-shoes.co.uk/womens/productdetail.aspx?id=5554&cid=32

They look pretty darn good, but unfortunately the quality is all plastic, as is reflected in the price.

Good for a giggle, I suppose.

Xa

I came, I breathed the air, The change is irreversible. .... and after you asked the question, I came to the conclusion that I'm happy in my own skin, so I don't want to change a thing. Xa

Hi, can anybody recommend a shop in the UK where I can get a pair of tight, skinny jeans. I love the jeans tucked into boots look but all my jeans are just to bulky to do this. I'm looking for a 34-36" (male size) waist. Not sure how to convert the sizes from male to female, also, I've got kind of thick thighs from sport, ext.

Any ideas?

Marks and Spencer skinny jeans should do the job just fine. They are cut for ladies of a certain maturity. Size 18 should do for you. The M&S jeans will cater for other than sylph-like legs at the top, especially bearing in mind they might be connected to a rounder female posterior!

If you are shy about trying them on in the shop, M&S are very good with their refund policy... keep the receipt ! The other thing to do is to take a DIY steel measuring tape in your pocket to measure the waistband with the jeans on the hanger. Double the measurement, and you have your answer. If you are doing this exercise in 'guy mode' then this looks like the highly practical technique a guy might use when buying something for his wife or g/f, so is less likely to cause embarassment.

Xa

I had to take off my 4" block heels at Stanstead about 18 months ago to go through security. They wanted to x-ray them to check that there wasn't anything stashed in the hollow moulding forming the block heel. Sure, there was some attention when I bent down to remove the ankle boots, but as soon as they were on the x-ray conveyor belt, they were just another pair of boots to be scanned. There was a comment from one of the security bods about guys and heels, nothing offensive, just expressing surprise. Xa

You came, You breathed the air, The change is irreversible. .... better learn to enjoy it ! Xa

Macho stuff first

Designed parts of high-power radar transmitters (tens of thousands of volts and welding size currents). We joked that we could cook a pigeon at 50 yards if it flew into the radar beam !

Used to single-hand a 32 foot sailing yacht on the South coast of England and the French, Belgian and Dutch coasts.

Have just refurbished a 1984 Moto Guzzi motorcycle and am having great fun after a break of 20 years from biking.

Maintain a 4wd down to engine and gearbox rebuild level.

Maintain house (boring ! )

Make home-made wine.

Cook (when feeling inspired)

Like classical music.

Support my local church (resident agnostic ! )

Spend a certain amount of time over my appearance (except when getting dirty or slobbing about)

Have been known to cross-dress.

Wears heels.

Girly end of the spectrum.

I think I'm reasonably well adjusted.

Xa

Scare me ..... how much ? Xa

I'm getting ready to descend from the wilds of East Anglia to town. There are a couple of styles of boots I quite fancy and feel like trying on.

http://www.gm.tv/media/images/3/b/boot5_g.jpg

http://www.office.co.uk/womens/office/basque_o_knee_boot/17/5676/15328/1

.... not sure about the heels on the Office boots though. Hell, I'll try them on. Don't need to buy them, though.

Xa