27 years ago

[bladerunner]

Recently i have been having a major sort out of my shoe collection and something sort of dawned on me about my collection and perception of a high heel. I found or was reunited with! my first ever heels i bought 27 years ago via a catalogue and i can remember thinking how high they were and the amount of practice i did in them. when i compare them to todays styles they really look very boring!! and not really high at all at 3'',i still wonder why they seemed so high when i bought them and the same goes for the rest of my early days of collection. Now my fav height over a period of experimenting is 5'' and the styles generally seem to be much more alluring ie kurt geiger and topshop do some really cool designs with heels to match. I think part of it may be due to the speed in which the designs in the shops turn around and are never to been seen again,a prime example being topshop. what do you think?

[pussyinboots]

I bought my first pair of stiletto heels in the late 1970's. They were 4" strappy sandals from 'Faith' and they seemed incredibly high. I soon got used to them though...and I haven't looked back since. I think that styles of that era were gorgeous...strappy sandals for example I believe were more elegant. I have thick legs and ankles so styles with pretty thin straps and high slim heels did wonders for them.

I collect Vintage heels and I'm always on the 'look out' for nice curved, spike heels which seemed hugely popular in the late '80's, especially on court shoes (pumps). The materials were a lot better as well. Here's a pair of late-'80's 'Faith' strappy sandals that I found on EBay UK last November. They are gorgeous, they have 4" heels, and came in the original box too.

[shrimper]

I'm done for today PiB. As always thank you.

[Alexa]

I’ve just realized that it’s almost exactly 20 years ago I bought my first pair. My mother thought I’d just gone into the local town to meet some friends, but I took the train to a city thirty miles away and went to the Ravel shoe shop to buy some high heels. I got some with heels about 3” high, which felt very daring at the time. They had a Mary Jane strap – a style I’m still really fond of. I wore them on the way home and sat with my feet resting on the seat opposite so I could see them. It felt exhilarating and somehow naughty at the same time. The downside was that the heel cups were rather hard and the edges tended to dig into the backs of my feet. I had Elastoplasts on my Achilles tendons almost permanently for the first month. This was quite a developmental milestone for me. It involved doing something independent, starting to develop a life away from my parents, and most important from the point of view of this board, showed me that shoes were really enjoyable, not just the ghastly things my parents used to buy me to go to school in, which I couldn’t wait to get off at the end of the day. So I became preoccupied with shoes, which I suppose is why I ended up here . . .

Alexa

[pussyinboots]

^^ I can totally relate to all this Alexa....specially the 'Elastoplast' on the heels...my first pair of high court shoes nearly killed my love of heels. Thankfully the attraction was stronger than the pain!

[loswabs]

I bought my first pair of stiletto heels in the late 1970's. They were 4" strappy sandals from 'Faith' and they seemed incredibly high. I soon got used to them though...and I haven't looked back since. I think that styles of that era were gorgeous...strappy sandals for example I believe were more elegant. I have thick legs and ankles so styles with pretty thin straps and high slim heels did wonders for them.

I collect Vintage heels and I'm always on the 'look out' for nice curved, spike heels which seemed hugely popular in the late '80's, especially on court shoes (pumps). The materials were a lot better as well. Here's a pair of late-'80's 'Faith' strappy sandals that I found on EBay UK last November. They are gorgeous, they have 4" heels, and came in the original box too.

[ATTACH]9708[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]9709[/ATTACH]

Those are indeed gorgeous heels and are very sexy on you

[lorriette]

I bought my first courts from Ravel. Georgeous design, quality was poor though. I still have my first knee boots bought from Shoefair back in '72, still wearable, but need heeling and a loose zip repair.

[pussyinboots]

I bought my first courts from Ravel. Georgeous design, quality was poor though. I still have my first knee boots bought from Shoefair back in '72, still wearable, but need heeling and a loose zip repair.

'Shoefair'....wow, there's a 'blast from the past'.....and 'Ravel', well they still make high heels...nice ones too. I used to buy most of my heels in 'Faith'.....and 'Saxone', 'Lilley and Skinner' and 'Freeman Hardy Willis', anyone remember them?

(I sometimes bought them in 'Chelsea Girl' too....'TopShop' now of course!).

[Histiletto]

This time span would have put us a little passed the era of the funky and Latino influence of the disco craze. The stiletto heels that had been relegated to the more sophisticated socialites were once again being revived as part of the features in the fashion magazines and runways. The chunky footwear was no longer the "IN" thing, which made me very, very happy. However, the chunky look has been often referenced in many of the new designs for footwear, even to this day. The thick hidden platforms have been the latest use of the chunky influence, which has some merit of attractiveness if done correctly in the eyes of the beholder. I just wish the heels of today had more of the look of the 50's and early 60's stilettos, instead of looking like the straight nailed or thin tapered spikes that many designers have marketed which support the very back of the court shoes.

[Dawn HH]

Its been so many years since my purchasing my first and subsequent pairs of heels that I can't remember the brands. I do remember the name of the shoe store where I made most of my purchases was Cammeyers in McKeesport, Pa. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[Alexa]

Ah, the old high street shops. How few of them are left now. I remember Ravel always seeming like a much posher, more stylish shop that could somehow only exist in a big city and not in our local provincial high street. Things are so different now, and I get most of my shoes online, where there’s a whole cornucopia of footwear just a few clicks away. But it’s hard to imagine now how even as recently as the 1990s we were limited to terrestrial shopping and for those of us in small towns there wasn’t that much choice.

Alexa

[Majo]

I bought my first pair in autumn -June, presumably- 1984, that would be 25 years ago. There was no such thing as catalog selling here those days, nor there was something like e-bay. No big deal, anyway; I was more eager than nervous. Certainly I didn't try them on the place at that time, as I did in years to come. The store is no more there now.

[Dawn HH]

I remember telling the salesman that the shoes were for my Sister which has since passed on. His reply was that she must have a stubby broad German foot. Being a teenager at that time I didn't try them on and I just paid for them and left without a reply. Cheers--- Dawn HH