Highluc

As reserved as a Dutchman (sorry Hiluc).

Sorry Dr Shoe, but I'm as available as a BELGIAN

I also remember the sign indicated

As sober as a Canadian

As flexible as an American

As generous as a Scott

By Tina Cassidy, Globe Staff, 3/27/2003 o Barbara Thornton, the market is, quite literally, still growing. Girls as young as 12 - with shoe sizes the same as their age - are descending upon her tiny Newbury Street retail space, which sells hard-to-find designer footwear in sizes from 8 to 14 and in widths from quadruple-A narrow to extra W. Thornton, who founded Designer Shoes.com, has a hunch as to why young women's feet are, on average, a size larger than their mothers' and grandmothers'. ''I think it's Title IX,'' Thornton, 55, says of the landmark 1972 federal law that called for gender equity in sports as well as academia. ''That's my own personal theory. When I was growing up, girls didn't do sports. Girls are more athletic today, running up and down soccer fields since they were 5 years old. Their feet are catching up in size - as the bones get used, they grow. I had a woman who moved to New York and her feet grew two sizes from walking long distances on hard surfaces.'' While feet may be catching up to a more rugged generation, the shoe industry is not. An NPD Fashion World survey in 2000 found that 37 percent of women wore a size 9 or larger, but most department stores - facing space constraints and the small percentage of their customers who wear unusual sizes - tend to stock only medium-width shoes between sizes 51/2 and 10, with few pairs at either extreme. What's a 12 extra wide to do besides wear men's sneakers? ''They've always been a little bit insulted by the shoe industry,'' says Thornton, her feet in a stylish pair of kitten-heel slingbacks, size 111/2. ''I would say a large portion of our customers have been reduced to tears. People internalize it and feel they're inadequate.'' What's worse, Thornton says, larger shoes are often made cheaply and found at places such as Payless ShoeSource or J. C. Penny. Thornton, a graduate of Harvard Business School, has been working to change that since, five years ago, she launched the website (where 80 percent of sales come from) and the sunny boutique on Newbury Street, a floor below a modeling agency that provides its own stream of customers. While she will not quote sales figures or the specific number of hits on the website, she does say business has increased about 60 percent per year. She has convinced Hollywould - a trendy label whose designer has a cousin in the WNBA - to make their shoes in larger sizes. DesignerShoes.com also carries Moda, which does Prada knockoffs, as well as Anne Klein, which recently decided to carry shoes as large as size 12, and Stuart Weitzman, known for his occasion shoes. The shop also stocks Donald J. Pliner, New Balance sneakers, Naturalizer walking shoes, and dyeables for proms or weddings. One thing the shop does not carry: anything remotely resembling orthopedic footwear. ''These women just want girlie shoes,'' she says. ''They'll come in here and they'll cry, too, but for a very different reason.'' This story ran on page D3 of the Boston Globe on 3/27/2003.

Macho

Thanks for the go Arno, your interesting views are now published on the "tips and thoughts" page on my website.

Hi Arno, thanks a lot for your detailed viewpoints which I cannot fault at all. My extensive experience on heels tend to confirm what you have written and I therefore ask you the permission to publish your text, giving you the credit, on the thoughts page of my heels website. May I just add most podiatrics and other other "heel advisors" have much less experience wearing heels compared to us, and are only facing people having trouble with their feet. The thousends of happy comfortable heel wearers are the so called "silent majority" and never complain to anybody about their feet. We just enjoy our heels and never have to complain about flat feet or back problems.

Please all stick around, we need eachother. I'm just recovering from 4 hart attacks and am a bit more low profile as usual but keeping in touch with my heely friends help me get back into the reality of life. Believe it or not, our passion keeps us alive and alert and provides us hope and a future.

Sounds like you could invest in a good cruise control for your car.

You can also glue a couple of empty plastic bottles together and obtain a rigid soft tower you can then insert in the boots, allowing them to rest in a corner straight up the way they are designed for, or make some vertical separations as high as the boots and just a bit wider as one pair, creating a kind of garage space for every single pair if you have more. I use a similar system that is geared for over the knee boots, the thigh highs then rest over the top of the separation and back down into next compartiment.

jo wrote:

I see that highluc did his 750 posts in 1 year and 6 weeks, whilst yamyam took only 1 year and 4 weeks for the same amount.

Wow - faster than Highluc in heels! There's a major achievement for me!

Good achievement yam yam, but don't forget I was away 2 weeks skiing, 5 weeks ocean sailing, 2 weeks catamaran sail instructor and 2 weeks holiday in Cuba during that one year, no internet during almost 3 months. In the meantime I calmed down so you all are going to catch me but I don't care, I get older and just enjoy my life in heels but have already written down so much about it people can find everything in the older threads. Instead of posting I now sit at a terrace enjoying good Belgian beers in my heels. Have fun with whatever you do, Luc

Nice go SH, don't worry, pretty soon both you and your peers will be used to it and life will go on (with the added benefit of the heel sensation for you). Thanks for keeping us informed with your detailed reports. Way to go guy.

Virgin

This board has been kind into exchanging my boots for elegant pumps at the end of the cold winter days. Maybe the fact I just past the 750 post marks also helped a bit. I think I can live with (on) those for a while.

It comes down to trying to be something you aren't. Most X-dressre want to pretend to be women, at least temporarily, whereas most male heel wearers just like the shoes, or at least are content with the shoes

For me I just like to be who I really am, wearing heels or even a skirt has nothing to do with pretending to be a women. Besides my masculine I just have a strong feminine side as well. Wearing some items mostly sold and targetted for the feminine gender is part of the necessary expression to allow both my sides to live in harmony. I'm sure lots of guys have some similar feelings but most are afraid to give in to their needs. The ones who go public often get rude comments by the ignorent and intollerant society, forcing them into trying to disguise completely as a women in order to attract less attention on the streets. Of course there are also true crossdressers with other desires but believe me that's why so much honest transgenders are forced by society to become transvestites.

I would wear them for relaxing home, I also have a bit of fur on my present home slippers

About the sizing: indeed, consistency is non existent in this world. Bronx, my favourite brand, varies almost 3 real sizes.

When buying Bronx, check where they were made. The made in Brazil ones are large and the other ones small for their given sizes.

And no reactions from your mother or sister either?

Ball

Any ideas where I can get Pierre Silber shoes in the UK?

I suppose it works because I once ordered a pair that was shipped to Belgium and arrived within 5 days and didn't cost much extra for shipping. Write an e-mail to Pierre to enquire, he is a nice friendly guy.

SH: watch out with labeling people, some might think the same of you considering your choice of footwear. Be tolerant as long as they don't harm you, everybody is entitled their own freedom of fashion.

OK that explains John Prescott, but where does Tony B Liar and GWB fit in?

Tony B Liar is a product of the exquisite English cuisine aka fish and chips. I'm sure eating UK food would do the same to me as dieting in Belgium.

GWB? Donno, strange guy, doesn't fit anywhere in my prejudices, maybe that's the one beamed down from another planet to create havoc on earth.

mission

Are these the little green martians or the grey skinny ones?

As seen on television during the buildup phase I would say definitely the fat green ones (courtesy of McDonald an Burger King).

Very classy model, are they real leather?

Yeah but the last years the UK has taken the lead, I never saw so many heels available in kids sizes and very young girls (6-8 years) wearing them as during our Euro heel meet in London about a year ago.

Welcome back Laurie, back on your heels yet?