jmc

Chris, glad to hear it went well! There is real satisfaction in a job well done and a desired result.

Okay, we are all in agreement that a nice, well formed foot can be a beautiful thing, especially when adorned in a nice, heeled shoe. But upon reading this report I can only think "what in the bloody blazes was going through this dude's mind?" He enters a house, finds a woman sleeping next to her husband, and starts licking her toe. What, was he a cat in a previous life? It takes all kinds. . .

One thing that jumps out at me is this: We have been posting on this new board for just about a month now and I have not had to report a spam post yet. In fact, my last sentence is contains the only mention of that dreaded word I have encountered since the switch. That is definitely a good thing! Sally, I hope you can find a comfort level with this new board. I have always enjoyed your offerings, you are always so cute and sweet!

Over here (in the U.S.), "Rit" dye is available in stores like Wal-Mart, craft shops and sometimes supermarkets. It is available in powdered or liquid form, in a variety of colors. Basically, you dissolve the dye in warm water and soak your article in the bath, far more detailed instructions are given on the package. I can say from experience that it can be messy but I had fairly good results dyeing a couple of shirts bright red. Dyeing something black should produce fairly good results regardless of the original color. The black dye should just add to and overpower whatever original color was there. You might consider trying it on a pair of jeans or something before you risk one of the skirts.

. . . I did encourage him to consider to revamp the product lines to meet the market demands!

A little nudge in the right direction!

I gotta say, after a day in those boots I'm going to keep an eye on Clarks' offerings in the future. They felt great!

Howdy karenjean! Welcome Aboard!

I think I have reached a crossroads and I have decided to take the more interesting route. I've been hanging around here for quite some time, reading a lot and even doing a little bit of posting. As I have mentioned in other comments, I do wear heels but not for general, everyday use. I tend to gravitate toward block-heeled boots because as a rather oblate guy I can pull that look off better. (Of course, the fickle winds of fashion have rendered most of my favorite boot styles very difficult to find at present.) And I really do like block-heeled boots, I am not just rationalizing because I can get away with them. The wider heel is more stable under me while that delicious rise is still there. Not that I do not like stilettos -- quite the contrary actually, I love them and have a couple pair for around-the-house wear. That look just does not work for me. But even my boots don't see a lot of daylight. I'll put them on and sneak out at night, or wear them on a road trip but they are not something I would wear all day at work, for instance. I may sneak them in on the late nights when I lock up, just to rack up a few heel-miles but I would not leave the house for a full, regular day in them. Not because of the comfort factor, not because I don't think I could handle it, but because co-workers will certainly notice and disapprove, and that will have negative repercussions. Even if the negative repercussions are all in my imagination, I just don't want to have to explain my footwear choice to "inquiring minds". Now the discussion around here on the desirable characteristics of womens' shoes has been long and detailed. There is not a lot I can add to it. None of us would disagree that women have a far greater selection of footwear styles at their disposal and most womens' shoe models are lighter, fit better, and feel better than those available to men. Men's shoes, even really good ones, start feeling like concrete blocks on my feet by the end of the day. Most men's styles are just too heavy and inflexible. Well, I was getting to the point where both pairs of my old clod-hoppers were about done. I am on my third set of insoles in both pairs, the inner-socks are torn and pieces of the structures are letting go, falling down, and balling up under the insoles. I haven't worn any holes in anything yet but after several years of wear it is getting time for something new. I never liked buying "real" shoes either -- you spend a lot of money for a few years wear, big fat hairy deal! So, I decided, why not look at conservative womens' styles? I well know my shoe size in womens' (as I am beginning to believe a lot of guys do), so why not just see what's out there? And of course, Zappos is only a mouse-click away with literally hundreds of offerings. I found four candidates that tickled my fancy: Clarks "Pass", Softspots "Isabelle", Capezio "Fierce Dancesneaker", and (for fun) Aerosoles "Durmore". The Aerosoles are too obvious so they will only go to work on lockup night, but I couldn't resist. I have wanted to try a pair of wedges and these are so sweet. Of these four choices, the Clarks are virtually indistinguishable from a men's short cowboy boot. The only way one can tell they were originally intended for a woman is the size and the flowered innersock (neither of which are visible when they are on my feet). The Dancesneakers are actually sold to men as well as women although they are made in womens' sizes. The Dancesneakers page on Zappos site says "Men -- start with two sizes above your normal size". We, the members of this board, perhaps better than anybody else, know precisely what that means! A big box was waiting for me on my doorstep when I got home so I had a little "try-on party". What fun -- I can relate to women who say they are shoe-s-holics. The Aerosoles feel great! The Clarks slip on perfectly and as if they will need no "break-in" whatsoever! The Softspots and the Dancesneakers are more disappointing. The Softspots are too tight and the Dancesneakers are too short so I think both are going to go back. As far as looks, I think I could get away with the Softspots but they seem to be more than one size too small. Sizing inconsistencies have been discussed in great depth elsewhere and I will not go further here. So all in all it was a bit of a 50-50 thing. I have already decided -- the Clarks are going to work today.

I like these:

... and I might buy a pair.

. . .

Those shoes are getting pretty close to sandal territory!

Welcome =yakumo=! You will find a lot of agreement here!

Sounds to me like a couple of grad students had some time on their hands, a research budget to blow (possibly a fascination with heels) and a paper to write. Throw these ingredients into the mixer, add some time and voila!

(My cynical side making an appearance.)

With the sharply pointed toes, the stiletto heels and the bullet loops, those black ammunition carriers are threats in at least three ways! With a price tag around $1000 (US), make that a four-way threat! Wow!

For those of us on this side of the big puddle:

"Internal Revenue Service"

Just who exactly are they serving?

+ + filament + +

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Greetings and Welcome from another ex-"lurker". I lurked around the old board for almost two years before I registered and now I am sneaking up on 600 posts! "Lurking" is OK, you can learn a lot that way but being an active member is so much more rewarding. There are a lot of interesting people here and as an active member you can interact with them. Welcome aboard!

/* * * hippie * * */

A trick that works on a wider heel is to glue a piece of inner-tube rubber to the heel. Cut the rubber to the shape of the heel and glue it on with "contact cement" (DAP Weldwood or Pliobond). Coat the heel and the rubber piece with cement and let both dry until they are no longer tacky to the touch. Then apply a thin film of cement to one of the pieces and join them. Get them aligned properly the first time because you will not get a second chance -- the bond forms instantly. The rubber acts as a shock absorber and makes for a quieter walk. There is not much hope (or reason) to quiet a stiletto heel -- they are supposed to make that delicious sound! And any attempt to quiet them will involve attaching some softer material that will wear out quickly.

I had to make a "panic run" to the local Wal-Mart last night. (In my lexicon, a "panic run" is a quick run to a store to get something you have just discovered you need. They generally take place in the middle of a project and can be the result of a broken tool, running out of something, or a sudden flash of insight.) In this case I needed some grocery items. I went in the same clothing I was wearing around the house, bright fire-engine red sweatpants and a "baja" shirt with bright vertical red, white, navy blue, and hunter-green stripes. I may have been a little more obvious had I been clad in a neon sign but not much! These particular sweatpants do not have the elastic gather at the bottoms of the legs, rather they are hemmed like normal pants. I decided to go "whole-hog" so my shoes were a pair of 4" block heeled platform loafers from Payless a few years back. They are actually quite comfortable and stable under my feet. They should be stable, the heels are huge! The heels and soles are mostly neoprene-type rubber and they feel a little bit "squishy" as I walk -- they absorb a whole lot of shock! These shoes look a lot like the platforms many guys wore back in the 70's. About half the heel was visible. Nobody batted an eyelash.

How would I react? Stunned amazement mixed with wide-eyed admiration, and a valiant-if-unsuccessful attempt not to stare! . . .to both the ballets and the pumps.

I have seen sandals referred to as pumps (on places like eBay) by sellers who clearly do not know anything about what they are selling.

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Thank you, Admin. Now we know why, and it is probably a good idea. * * * tangled * * *

network ******

Yup, another railfan here -- for as long as I can remember. It even pre-dates my "heelfan" status (if you will pardon me coining a word).

octahedron (Sorry for replying to my own post but I had to wake this back up.)