Heelster

Still on my calender, but I make no promises that far out. Just the way things go for me.

The Switchblade looks interesting, but I think it would look a bit better with a calf height boot shaft, even if it was worn under pants

Bernheels - Now that first pair of boots is what I've been looking for. I've worn boots like that with just a bit shorter heel since the late 70's but anymore, you just cant find them at the boot shops any more. Would love to try on a pair of those. They would be perfect for what I do, and even the wife and kids wouldn't even give it a second thought. Even my co-workers wouldn't think twice after seeing me in 'cowboy boots' for so long. There are no DSW's near by, and the one I was at this last friday didn't have anything like those. If they had, I would jump at the chance to get some like that. As for bike - I'm riding an old '86 Honda 500 Shadow (VT500C). I live in Harley country - Very few metric bikes around, and just a few sport bikes. I only got into the cycle thing just for the fuel mileage. I do most of my driving by myself, so why not get a bike instead. I just did the 600 miles getting between 63 to 74 MPG at above highway speed with the saddlebags loaded. 74 MPG was with the wind at my back and light traffic. Bike is a bit small to be running highway/expressway, and really does well as a street cruiser, but you just can't beat the gas saving side of it. This little bike has about 36,000 miles on it, and I've put the last 10,000 miles on the last two years. I'm gonna have to get something else sometime soon, but I'm not gonna bother if it only gets 40 MPG.

Back home now, and the boots have taken apx 600 miles of highway and inner city beating. Yep, they got some wear marks for sure. The stacked heel has some wear marks which show as white plastic under the stacked heel appearance. That can be touched up. There are some scuff marks on the inside back near the heel - maybe some boot polish will cover that, but the wear on the shifter toe needs some work. Gonna have to figure out what to do. Saturday, after a hard days work. I got cleaned up and decided I'd return some unused merchandise to Lowes. Got there about 9:00. Went through the return process. Nothing interesting. Went out to get back on the road, and the bike had heat soaked the carbs, so I'm down for at least a 1/2 hour. Looked around the shopping plaza, and spotted a late night grocery and the local recruiters office - - Nahhh. Then I spotted a shop called "simply Shoe" so I ventured across the shopping center parking lot. Got there and the doors were locked, but the sigh said open. The owner let me in anyways. Getting close to closing time I guess. What I discovered was a shoe shop with predominately really high and flashy heels. The store caters to the inner city locals, and even the mens shoe aisles had designs I hadn't seen elsewhere, but that's not what caught my eyes. I could have had a field day in this shop. I even spotted a pair of camo platform skyhigh pump, but thy were a size 11. I asked if they got boots in toward winter, and she assured me they get plenty. I left making sure the owner knew I would be back sometime when I had more time. Walked back accross the parking lot. Bike decided it wanted to start so off we go up the highway. I knew there was an outlet center up the road, but I wasn't sure how late they were open on a saturday night - - they were closed as I figured they would be. Then I spotted a Hustler Hollywood store, which of course would be open. For as big as this store was, their shoe selection wasn't t5hat great. I'm not really impressed with brass nuckle, or pistol barrel heels. They did have one section that was for wedding apparell. Spent a half hour there, saw lots of customers, and nobody even gave me a second look. Got back on the bike and rode around the downtown for awhile, but nothing really interesting. Today was a hot and sunny day. Did everything a normal road warrior would do for 200 some miles without even a mention, and I doubt anyone noticed even though these boots are out in plain sight. Got home, walked in the door, and about a minute later, the wife say's "Oh god, youv'e got your girly boots on" of which my reply was "and your the only person who has really noticed all day". Based on the whole extended weekend - Boots were very comfortable but took a severe beating, but I kinda expected that. Very few people either noticed me, or just ignored this weird looking biker dude. For me, I really don't even think about it much unless I am walking where the noise is obvious. The floor at Lowes is one of those kinda places.

Nice story and a nice pair of boots.

They are pretty comfortable too. that makes it so much easier. The only problem, and one I anticipated to some extent was the foot pegs on the bike, brake pedal, and the gear shifter, When I was looking ut for boots, I had riding in mind, but I didn;t expect the gear shifter to cause so much wear on the left toe,

Had to go out of town to work on another house I own for the weekend, so I got on the motorcycle on Thursday and headed down the road. What makes this trip different is that I decided to wear some high heeled boots instead of the typical work boots. (See attachment) Crappy ride with rain and drizzle half the way, but the boots held up well. After arriving in town, went to dinner with the resident, and of course, he picked a restaurant with high tables and chairs in the aisle and booths along the side. I'm out in plain view and even my long pants over the boots are not gonna hide these boots. A few young ladies obviously noticed as I hear an 'Oh my god' from two of them as I can tell they are looking straight at my boots. That was kinda weird feeling, but not bad. Another couple right next to me noticed as the woman kept looking at them. Keep in mind I'm not young, have a lot of grey hair, It's way too long, and I've just had a helmet on for about 4 hours - I ain't good looking at this point. I also did not bring anything else to wear outside of the house, so I'm in a position where I have no choice but to wear my boots. Today I had to take a car out to have a tire fixed. No problem. Had to wait about an hour and a half, so I walked over to the gas station for a cup of coffee and something to munch. The one sales associate (about my age) made a point of following me around the aisles - - yep, she was checking out the boots. They are noisy and obvious even with long pants. Next off to DSW just around the corner. Looked around for a bit. Didn't see anything that jumped right out and said 'Buy Me' but I may stop back in on the way home Sunday. Some of the customers had to notice something was amiss since I'm looking at classic black pumps and checking out the clearance aisles. A bohemian looking at platform pumps?? dead give away. Nobody seemed to mind, and nobody commented. None of the sales associated inquired with me either. Tire place called so I walked back across the parking lots and the six lane street and picked up the car I'm back out on the bike for a snack and stopped next to a car full of young ladies. Looked like they were out for lunch. All of a sudden, I'm hearing all kinds of talking toward me, and discovered they are flat out gawking at my boots. It's hard to hear in city traffic with a helmet on, but I did hear them ask me where I got them. They were asking questions real quick, but the light turned green and they had to turn while I'm still sitting their. Time to get back to work - - we will see what else I can get into this weekend.

Howdy,

Well, actually, on Easter I wore a pair of heels to work. I work for a machine shop that has a couple of semi-automatic machines. Due to machine problems our production fell for the month and our ony hope of making our quota for the month was to have a couple of us go down to the shop and refill the semi-automatic machines over the course of Easter weekend. I offered to head down early Easter morning. Being pretty sure that nobody would be at our shop or at any of the adjoining companies I put my heels on for the drive to the shop, stepped out of my Jeep with them on and went into our building. All told I was at the shop for on the order of 30 minutes or so in a pair of 4-inch black velour pumps with a peep toe and an interesting colored jewell pattern on the top (image below).

Take it easy,

Larry

Wow - - walking around a machine shop in pumps. Bet that doesn't meet the OSHA reg's.

I work in a machine shop, but there is no way I would wear anything that nice into the hell hole I work in. The chips and slim/grease/dirt/grundge in this shop would ruin anything, and especially anything nice.

Some very interesting designs. Good to see some new concepts with men in mind. I'll have to follow this designer a bit.

Too many variables - how do they dress now without high heels. Even if they became a fashion trend, I'm not likely to see it around my area unless it's some high school guys out trolling for girls. Yep - - slutty like they like their girls,

Where in Ohio by chance??

There are some folks planning a meet in Akron/canton area on or about June 25th

See http://www.hhplace.org/real_life_meetings/17035-akron-canton_area.html

You may be closer to a fellow heeler than you expected.

Based on your post regarding Columbus, I'd have to guess your in that area. There are some folks on this forum in the Columbus area, and I will be passing through once in awhile.

Where in Ohio by chance??

There are some folks planning a meet in Akron/canton area on or about June 25th

See http://www.hhplace.org/real_life_meetings/17035-akron-canton_area.html

You may be closer to a fellow heeler than you expected.

This is an interesting read, and from the sounds of it, most of the posts are by members in a urban/suburban location. Have I or would I wear heel into any of the hair establishments locally??? - - - Oh hell no!!! I could probably get away with a pair of womens Justin, or Frye boots with a 2-1/2" to 3" stacked heel, but beyond that - forget about it. Let me explain a bit. I live near, and work in a small town with a population under 2500. Three family reunions covers 90% of the population. I'm not related to any of them, so no matter what, I'm kind of an outsider. The Barber Shop: Men gossip. They are worse then women. On any given saturday morning, they are up to 20 guys in the barber shop, and most are not there for a hair cut. They drive pickup trucks and Harleys. They own 4 to 8 pairs of shoes/boots. A good pair of sneakers, a grundgy pair of sneakers, a pair of work boots, maybe a pair of shoes that the wife insists on having for nicer occasions, and 4 pair of hunting boots. Dress shoes come with the tux you rent for the wedding. Anything you do becomes pubic knowledge and open for discussion with any and all visitors to the barbershop. Oh - - It's a barbershop. He butchers your hair in 5 minutes or less if you know what I mean. Salons: There are four in town, all within eyesight of the only stop light and the barbershop. They all gossip too, but not near as bad - - they all heard it from their husbands. I go to one of these shops. The whole place is about 8' by 12' so there isn't much room for a lot of people to be hanging around. There are 2 stylist who switch off times, but either one would probably be all right with a guy wearing heels just as long as nobody else happened to walk by and see them. Then it's fodder for the barbershop. The potential fallout from any activity such as wearing heels in town could cause more problems socially, politically, and be detrimental career wise for me and my wife let alone the affect on the kids. A woman wearing heels in town becomes a topic of discussion.

Ummmmmm - - Fugly comes to mind.

Not sure if this qualifies as 'girliest' but the wildest and/or exotic pairs I have. The wildest pair is the Fuscia mirrored pair in the middle of the first attachment. May be hard to believe but I did a 'walk a mile in her shoes' event wearing these. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad, and my first time wearing heels out in plain view. The second pair - - Well I'm reserving those for an upcoming 'special event' if you know what I mean.

Welcome to our friendly group. For years I too admired women who dressed with heels. I never would have thought I would be the one wearing them until recently. I do have one question and or suggestion. You may wish to look at your profile as it say's your a girl and yet you say your a guy - - just a technicality.

Going from a virtual flat (assuming) to 5" heel is a major jump. I've worn undersung western boots with 2"+ heels for some 20 years and found 5" heels to be a bit much especially on the balls of my feet. Now - - for what it's worth, I do know a couple professional dancers (stripper/pole) that claim to use - - - - Anal Ease on the balls of their feet on long night on stage. I'm not gonna recommend that, but I guess it's what they found and had that worked.

Sorry. but I'm 99% no show on this date. It will be a last minute deal if I make it. - - - Hmmmmmm - what to wear???

Interesting read - gotta think about this one for a bit though. Then again, does Capri Anderson calling foul on Martin Sheen seem logical?

Definitely a worthy cause. That's one mall I always manage to get too just about closing time, so I rarely get over there when I run through Columbus. Store directory looks big. Has an Aldo's and Bakers for all you shoe shoppers.

I've never been to the particular mall where the Columbus June 18 event will be, but I don't expect it to be hilly at all. I have no idea whether we'll be walking around outside or inside. I know how different it can be walking around inside on a carpet versus outside on pavement, and I plan to devote adequate time to practicing in public.

A friend of mine on here commented to me that he doesn't want to participate in these events because they focus on making guys looking foolish in public, reinforcing stereotypes that guys don't belong in heels, clomping around in ill-fitting shoes, and never having practiced before. I take a different point of view. My goal is to look good in heels - not sloppy like just a guy in heels - but in an outfit that the heels compliment and go with - and walk gracefully to show that guys CAN do this with poise. I expect to get compliments rather than ridicule. We'll see...

Steve

I haven't looked at the Columbus event, but I have to assume it's at the Polaris Mall. Two levels, and plenty big. = = NOT CARPETED = = = and fully waxed, so you might want to take this into consideration. If by chance it's outside, there are some small slopes, but nothing serious.

I doubt there will be too much mockery going on. Seems like an accepting location as I do go shopping there by myself in womens calf high boots with apx 3" stacked heels - under the pants though, but they are still plenty loud enough to be noticeable.

The 2 events I've walked in offered loaner shoes. I brought my own and I'm glad I did. The ones they had were all in pretty bad shape and I don't like the idea of wearing someone elses shoes. None of them were red (which is the prefered color for these events) heel heights ranged from flats to 1 1/2-2 inches. I wore 4 inch gold pumps for my first walk and 5 inch black pumps for the second.

Whatever you wear, Get out and practice walking on pavement a few times before the walk. It's so much different than walking around the house on carpet! I sure got some looks from the neighbors in those gold pumps walkiing the streets with my wife (she was in tennis shoes).

The shoe selection at the Cincinnati event looked like they collected some heels from the college girls, and maybe some from the thrift shops etc.

I'm glad I decided to bring my own even though I went completely overboard in sky high mirrored fuchsia stripper/dancer heels. I didn't have much practice time in, but did the mile with no real problems. The variety of hills and surfaces did present some unique challenges.

I agree with this. I suppose if you are working your way up to wearing high heels in public, this might be a place to start. And judging by all that have done this, for whatever reason, this is more common than I thought it would be when I first read this thread.

I was surprised too. Not sure I would go to all this effort. Might as well wear the outer shoes and be done with it - Just my first impression.

I can't say too much as I don't regularly street heel locally. I get away with some of my boots in certain locations, but I have to be carefull close to the home turf. I am looking for the right stiletto for a walk in the near future, Most of what I have in spikes are a bit too much visually. Looking for a basic simple heel that wont flash the general public.

Heard of them - I like levi's so this may be a good option since I'm considering a pair. I like my 505's but not skinny enough for inside of boots. Question - is there a size chart for converting mens to womens, sizing??

Number 3 is the male pair and I'm guessing that either number 7 or number 1 would be the pair you were spotted in.

Would have to go with Dr. Shoe on this one but you were spotted in pair number 7.

As a side line note (and not to steal the thread) I had the luck of talking to a Sales Rep for some of the big names in Western Boot Wear. He spotted me right away in a pair of womens boots with a 3" heel (hey - it's his job to notice) in a local tack shop. The owner. myself, another woman client whole who didn't seem to like the discussion and the Sales Rep talked for about a half hour.

Sales Rep's comments.

- Mens heel heights are coming down - and fast. Don't expect much over 1 3/8" heel in the future.

- One manufacturer is discussing creating a 'Western Show Re-enactors' line for some specialized boots

- Overall sales of western / Tack boots have plummeted with mens boots taking the biggest hit. The economy didn't help.

- One of the biggest surprises was that shortly after the release of the movie Brokeback Mountain, mens sales plummeted. Cowboy boots are gay - or so the buying public seems to have associated boots with gays and 'sheep herders'. This sales rep claims the movie set the boot industry back probably 5 years.

The store owner who also is a riding instructor doesn't sell many boots anymore, and won't stock many styles. She can't get the students to even consider boots even though she made it a requirement, she ignores it just to keep the students she has.

Welcome There are quite a few folks in Ohio in the group. Some are planning a meet soon in the Akron - Canton area. Depending on what part of Ohio your in, you may be closer to a member than you realize.