Advice Needed..

[UKHeels1]

Hi all, i know this has been touched on in many posts and sorry if its being repeated but i wanted to ask for advice on how best to approach trying on heels in store. im thinking of shopping at Aldo in Bristol, so how is it best to act/what is best to say/dealing with the non-open minded folk/best time to go/which types of salesmen/women to avoid etc. being my first time im a bit nervous, any advice appreciated. cheers

[radiodave]

You might be surprised, I've asked a few sales folks, and they get plenty of guys trying them on. Just act natural, and if you project some confidence, they won't bug you. If they don't catch on right away that they are for you, just politely say they are for you, and chances are good they'll just be caught a little off guard and act no different than if you were trying on guys' shoes. I would almost guarantee that they won't be rude because 1. Aldo shoes are not cheap and they are making a commission, 2. They would probably like it if you came back and gave them more commission, and 3. They don't want to get fired for making ANY customer uncomfortable.

[Bubba136]

Baby, walk right in, brows all around, and ask the clerk: do you have this in my size?":sing:

[Dr. Shoe]

I always say words to the effect "Can I try a pair of these in a size 9?". Works every time.

[Olounda]

The above posts pretty much sum it up. Just walk in, find something you like, and then ask about your size. In my case, 90 percent of the time, the sales associate asks me if i need help finding anything. if that happens, Bam, you are set.

[johnieheel]

Just be yourself and be confident like you do this everyday and take all the above advise and you won't have any problems. Ignore on lookers.

[sendra45]

I have not been in to Aldo in Bristol, but there are quite a few of us that have done this in Bristol, so they will be used to it.

If you are not feeling brave enough to go into Aldos straight away, try Priceless or Evans or Barratts just to have a go at trying on and shopping, you could get a cheap pair of heels in Priceless for £15, I appreciate they wont be the ones you want, but at least you will have bought some heels, the seccond time you go shopping will be easier.

If and when the assistant asks you if you need any help, take it, they wont mind. I avoid the really old and really young assistants, The manager if on the shop floor will be no problem at all, have a look at the name badge.

I have gone heel shopping with another guy as well, this makes things easier as well, but I wont be around in Bristol for a while now, so I cant help.

Hi all, i know this has been touched on in many posts and sorry if its being repeated but i wanted to ask for advice on how best to approach trying on heels in store. im thinking of shopping at Aldo in Bristol, so how is it best to act/what is best to say/dealing with the non-open minded folk/best time to go/which types of salesmen/women to avoid etc. being my first time im a bit nervous, any advice appreciated.

cheers

[malinheels]

Hey there ukheels1 when i'm shopping for heels i usually look around the store & if i find something i like i ask the sales person usually female " is it ok if i try these on" the response so far has been terriffic most say" yeah sure" or "go right ahead" one said " knock yourself out" LoL but never had a bad reaction from some one in a shoe shop & in fact if you go in afew times they will get to know you & then it's even cooler to shopping for heels cheers malinheels

[johnieheel]

Another word of advise. Wear heels when you go shopping for heels. It saves all those questions.

[Dr. Shoe]

That is a good one too.

[Thighbootguy]

There is a bit of contradictory advice here. You said, "being my first time I'm a bit nervous" and the advice from johnieheel was "Just be yourself and be confident like you do this everyday." The key is to relax and push yourself past the being nervous bit. If, like johnieheel says, you walk in like you do this every day, you won't have any problems at all. Enjoy the experience.

[RonC]

I agree with the idea of being there at opening time. Not only is the store apt to be a lot less crowded, the clerk/shopkeeper is likely to be in a better mood not yet having had to put up with the public in general yet!

[Dawn HH]

Johnieheel has made the suggestion that you wear heels when going into a shop to shop for heels and rightly so. I make the suggestion that you wear hose or pantyhose so there is no problem trying on all the heels that you can find. Cheers--- Dawn HH

[benno]

Grayson Perry was on Radio 4 yesterday evening. Look up 'Heresy' on iplayer. It's well worth a listen. Poignant and really funny. One of the topics was about gender and clothes. His best quote was 'No one ever died from embarrassment' I know it's easy to say from the comfort of my lounge, but you are the only one in Aldo who will really care. Good luck, Ben

[loswabs]

Grayson Perry was on Radio 4 yesterday evening. Look up 'Heresy' on iplayer. It's well worth a listen. Poignant and really funny. One of the topics was about gender and clothes.

His best quote was 'No one ever died from embarrassment'

I know it's easy to say from the comfort of my lounge, but you are the only one in Aldo who will really care.

Good luck,

Ben

I love that

[chris100575]

As others have said the best way to approach it is to just do it. It's really not a big deal, you won't be the first guy they've had in buying heels. At the end of the day the staff are there to sell shoes, all they care about is making a sale. I usually try on if I'm buying from a shop rather than online and have always had good service. I would like to recommend Faith as being particularly good, but it looks like they won't be around for much longer. To be honest the last few times I've asked for a particular pair in my size the assistant has asked if I'd like to try them on. I once ended up buying a second pair because the assistant suggested that I might like to try those too!

[UKHeels1]

Thanks for that, will take the advice and let u know how it goes

[UKHeels1]

Forgive the lateness of my reply.. so I went to Aldo, walked in confidently and had a good look around. Found the below shoes

http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/platform-heels/78039693-vanhove/36

and picked them up off the shelf but before i even said a word to a sales assistant, one guy came straight up to me and joked "we dont do those in your size mate haha" which totally threw me. i went on to ask for them in a size 9 which they had but after the salesman banter i backed out of trying them on.. i bought them and walked back to my car, parked in a multi-story then put them on there just under my jeans (slightly tight). after backing out earlier i walked in them to pay for the parking at the machine to try and make up for it. i passed one man around 50 yrs old who didnt even take a glance.. pretty much my first public heeling which felt great.

i think i saw in an earlier thread the best place to try in store is Oxford Street, is that right? how is the london oxford street public with guys in heels? anybody heeled there?

Thanks !!

[HappyinHeels]

UK Heels, Go back to the beginning and reread johnnieheel's advice about wearing heels right into the shop, as if you did it every day, and this saves the questions, and it also helps you blast past the barrier in your head. If a man walks into a store wearing six-inch heels while a woman walks into the same store wearing combat boots casual observers may have fun with the sight but the legal system will be silent because NO LAWS ARE BEING BROKEN. The worst that could happen is a few doubletakes but more likely a good comment will come from it. If you act nervously then the rest of the world senses it and your exprience will be strained and unpleasant. Stride into the world with your heels on and the head up and the world has NO CHOICE BUT TO MEET YOU ON YOUR TERMS. You'll soon wonder why you didn't do it sooner. It's your life and your freedom to live it that are at stake. HappyinHeels:wavey:

[danielp6406]

...one guy came straight up to me and joked "we dont do those in your size mate haha" which totally threw me. i went on to ask for them in a size 9 which they had but after the salesman banter i backed out of trying them on...

Greetings UKHeels1 :-)

Those are very nice shoes

My shopping experiences at any Aldo stores were always great.

All sales associates (female and male) are always friendly and never made any negative comments.

If I were you, I would go back to that store asking to see the manager.

I would then make an official complaint about that salesman.

If the salesman is the manager, don't say anything to him (not worthed) and go home.

Look at your invoice and take note of the store number and address.

Then go to Also's website and make a complaint specifiying store number / address and what happened.

Aldo's management will take your complain very seriously and will act accordingly.

There is NO reason for that salesman to act this way toward you. Even if it was a "joke".

You are a customer and a sale is a sale. Whatever you are buying. There is NO excuse.

[roniheels]

There have been some very good pieces of advice in this post. With it being your first time, I like the suggestion of going to the store when they first open. There probably won't be too many customers there. If you do feel confident enough to wear heels into the store, this is also good advice. No matter how the sales person reacts, they will probably get the impression that you are here to look at, try on, and hopefully buy some high heels. And that too is the bottom line. They don't care who buys them, as long as they make a sale. And enjoy any reaction you get from a sales person or customer. Life is a learning experience.

[HighCurious]

I've recently bought my first pair of HH boots and I took the option of going to a specialist store that's out of the way. I won't mention the name unless asked as I'm new here and don't want to be accused of advertising. It actually took me two trips to summon up the courage to buy, but I tried on boots and shoes each time. My advice would be to look around first, find something you like and ask for it in your size. Or have an idea what style you want ask for advice on fitting and heel height. I found the assistants to be very polite and friendly where I went. Most of all, try to show some confidence. If you walk in like you want to buy, the assistants will be more likely to help. If you're nervous they'll probably back off and you won't get any advice. I was pretty nervous my first time, but the assistant was so nice she put me at my ease. Of course it probably helped that I waited until the store was empty before I approached her.

[loswabs]

i think i saw in an earlier thread the best place to try in store is Oxford Street, is that right? how is the london oxford street public with guys in heels? anybody heeled there?

Thanks !!

Hi UKHeels

First off, congratulations on your purchase, they're hot heels

Second, the guy in Aldo who made the "joke" is a prat. End of.

Lastly, Oxford Street is great, I've never had a problem wearing heels in public or trying them on in the shops. I would apply a caveat in so much as you might want to avoid it until after the school holidays have finished as it could be crawling with teenagers, and we know how gobby they can be.

Whenever you go, have lots of fun trying on heels - I always do

[acesecret]

Forgive the lateness of my reply.. so I went to Aldo, walked in confidently and had a good look around. Found the below shoes

http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/platform-heels/78039693-vanhove/36

and picked them up off the shelf but before i even said a word to a sales assistant, one guy came straight up to me and joked "we dont do those in your size mate haha" which totally threw me. i went on to ask for them in a size 9 which they had but after the salesman banter i backed out of trying them on.. i bought them and walked back to my car, parked in a multi-story then put them on there just under my jeans (slightly tight). after backing out earlier i walked in them to pay for the parking at the machine to try and make up for it. i passed one man around 50 yrs old who didnt even take a glance.. pretty much my first public heeling which felt great.

i think i saw in an earlier thread the best place to try in store is Oxford Street, is that right? how is the london oxford street public with guys in heels? anybody heeled there?

Thanks !!

I go to Oxford street just to heel and window shoe shop at least every 2 weeks, its good fun, i generally stick to a few guidelines:

Go in with heels (that youre comfortable in), at least then when they look down they can guess pretty much what youre looking for.

Talk to the female shop assistants, i tend to find its less about competition/dominance when you have a conversation with them, if youre lucky you'll find one that hangs around you bringing you shoes to try on next and you feel like a king (of heels).

If youre still petrified then you should focus on the fun from finally shoe shopping, and actually trying on, keep your eyes on the shoes! Then you wont worry so much about looking around for other peoples reactions.

I love Aldo, i just bought these peep toes the same day they came out, tried on the other peep toe boots and pumps too.

http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/peep-toe-heels/80393536-depalma/95

Im keeping an eye on those Vanhove heels in Midnight black, if they go down in price i will be getting them too.

[Acin75]

Guys is ALDO only shipping to UK? I tried to buy somthing off their site bit I was not really sucessfull?

[dahool]

I had the same problem buying them to Poland. Unfortunately, you have to go to the UK and buy them personally. They don't even accept foreign credit cards on the Internet.

[Dante]

Here we go. I read through the posts ... nice to read the hints. I agree with the others, that salesman is a prat. I'm in the same situation as UKHeels1. Never bought any HHs in a shop yet, nore do i have any HH that i could wear to go shopping, so the Nr.1 hint wont working for me. So i thought to go in the shop look around and grab the first pair that i like and ask one of the sales staff "if i may try these on". If the reaction is positiv, then just give it a go, if not, well ... what to do then? Any advice? Any hints how to adress the sales staff? I guess it's probably easier if your are in a larg city like London, New York or LA. Here in Austria people tend to be quite conservative, that's my fear a least.

[UKHeels1]

Hi guys, I was the one who originally started this thread and I've got some updates and advice for anyone who is in the position I used to be in.. Yep, I did it.. tried on in store for the first time. Thanks to all who chipped in pointers they did help and I can agree with the people who said its not as difficult as you might think...

What I did was made a call to Aldo on Oxford street and just asked if they had a pair of heels I liked in my size, the woman said yes.. So I then said "ok thanks, just one Q before I go.. do you ever get males coming in and trying/buying heels for themselves".. she said yes and mentioned two regulars so I was wondering if it was anybody on here?? She went on to talk about how friendly the staff are and if I was thinking about coming in and trying some I should. She recommended 9am if I wanted to be discreet and she even asked if there was any pairs id like to try in advance so they could have them ready.. This put my nerves and mind at ease so much because I knew there would be no bad reactions from the staff. True to their word they had 3 pairs ready for me and I went on to try 2 more after. There was around 10 or so people who came into the store and nobody said a thing even when I was walking to the mirror to check myself out.

It was almost like me and the assistants had a pre-arranged meeting so it felt right, no nerves or awquardness. So my advice to anybody unsure or wary of trying on in store is call the store and just put it out there that you are a guy, its over the phone so they will never know who it is if they get funny about it and if they dont you are good to go.

I'd go back to this Aldo and recommend others to go there to. It was 146-148 Oxford St not 309. Thanks again to all other posts with advice! List of links below of the heels I tried if anybody is interested

1. http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/boots/knee-high-boots/80623725-cirocco/91

2. http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/boots/knee-high-boots/80616584-zientara/97

3. http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/platform-heels/81831040-gones/85

4. http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/high-heels/76346008-fawson/85

5. http://www.aldoshoes.com/uk/women/shoes/high-heels/80631880-botkins/91

[dblair]

Good for you, UKHeels1. I love the boots!

[hh4evr1]

Well done you for trying the heels on in the store. It is a bit like wearing heels in public. First time is always the hardest. The more you try heels in the shop the easier it becomes. Did you buy any of the ones you tried.