Heel-Lover Posted September 7, 2010 Posted September 7, 2010 Hi All, I am so glad to be able to slip my feet into some lower heels! My feet are killing me!! I live in Christchurch, NZ where that earthquake has recently struck. At the time I was wearing my usual sort of stuff, stiletto heels and pencil skirt suit, because it was a big nite out following a late night work and completion of a large contract we were still out when the Earthquake struck. I worked (fixing telecoms/ net acess) since the quake struck for another 24hrs, then couldn't get home due to roading damage/ flooding and closures of areas by military for safety reasons, and finally got home today! I had to sleep/ shower at an emergency centre and spent the entire time in one set of clothes! My shoes are almost worn out on the soles, the heels are ground down, my feet are really killing me from 3 days of non-stop heeling in a war zone of loose bricks, broken tiles, mud, sand, silt etc...I have what looks like many chill blaines and an ingrown big-toenail now and my knees are sore!! It was embarrassing having to climb around with my skirt hitched up so I could get me knees over things! (I'm glad I had a full leg wax the week prior). I was grateful and also embarassed to be carried out of a area that had sludge build up around it - because of my attire. Before anyone gives me a hard time about not taking my shoes off - there was glass and ceramic shards everywhere!! You can't go around barefooted! I didn't always - but will from now on - always carry a pair of flat scrunches or similar shoes (that crush up small) in my handbag with me, just in case! Luckily my suburb (a little bit out of town) is completely unscathed, so except for a wrecked pair of heels, and temporarily smashed toes I'm really fortunate. Cheers Heel-Lover
heelguy Posted September 7, 2010 Posted September 7, 2010 Really glad to hear you're okay dispite all the chaos! We've heard alot about this quake on our news over here in Aus
Bubba136 Posted September 7, 2010 Posted September 7, 2010 Sounds scary to me. (not the earth quake but having to handle the situation in a skirt and heels ) I'm glad you're ok. Surprising utilities (electricity, telephone and internet) are up and running so quickly. The earth quake was reported as being a 7 here -- which is kinda big. Hope things are back to normal normal soon. Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.
JohnH Posted September 7, 2010 Posted September 7, 2010 Heel-Lover, I seem to remember that when you wear heels you wear 15 cm (6 inch) heels. I can't imagine myself wearing anything higher than 10 cm (4 inches). I can't believe you endured 15 cm heels for three days! As I say, glad your safe and sound. John
roniheels Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 I am glad you are alright. Sounds very scary. I have never been in an earthquake. I was once in a tornado and that was scary enough. And I wasn't wearing high heels.
CStuff Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 Sounds scary to me. (not the earth quake but having to handle the situation in a skirt and heels ) I'm glad you're ok. Surprising utilities (electricity, telephone and internet) are up and running so quickly. The earth quake was reported as being a 7 here -- which is kinda big. Hope things are back to normal normal soon. It's a benefit of living in a first world country - where the people have great ingenuity and a can-do attitude! However there are still a few streets where the power is out, and people will need to boil drinking water for another few weeks yet. Similarly, it's amazing that no one was killed. Thanks in part to a good building code. People often say it's too strict, but apparently it was all worth it!
Heel-Lover Posted September 8, 2010 Author Posted September 8, 2010 Heel-Lover, I seem to remember that when you wear heels you wear 15 cm (6 inch) heels. I can't imagine myself wearing anything higher than 10 cm (4 inches). I can't believe you endured 15 cm heels for three days! As I say, glad your safe and sound. John Hi John, in normal situations 6inchers are fine for me for a full-day, very comfortable - but not in such out of control situations. Your feet can get used to being up high and you adjust gradually and build heel heights up over literally years of wearing and as I previously found out wearing heels in normal everyday situations (streets, roads, footpaths, hills, slipper surfaces) is 5 to 10 times as hard as wearing heels at home. But you can adapt and they can become manageable. Similarly heels in these extreme circumstances raises the bar again!!! - too far for my liking and well beyond what I could cope with. rgds Heel-Lover
Heel-Lover Posted September 8, 2010 Author Posted September 8, 2010 Hiya, a good day today, spent it at home, treated my feet to a massage and lavish moisturising, followed with some nice round toe 3in pumps. Feels fantastic.
JohnH Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 You probably have a hard time wearing flat shoes for extended periods of time, given the way your feet have adapted to those heels.
Bubba136 Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 The next time you wear that same pair of shoes out and about, and another earthquake occurs, I think I would get the message..... Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.
partyshoes Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 Hey Heel_Lover, Thanks for sharing with us. Most importantly glad to hear that you are OK - amazing that there were no fatalities. A nice pair of heels is a small price to pay! Most of us would probably give our eye-teeth to be in heels for 3 days but in those circumstances we salute you!! If you dont go for the scrunch ups, then at least keep a pair of lower heels to hand - those 3' ones sound perfect Hope things get back to normal soon Gingers Rogers did everything Fred Astair did .. but backwards and in heels
Dante Posted September 8, 2010 Posted September 8, 2010 Wow ... sounds like a painful experience, as my feet already hurt now after a moderate walk of 3h. So respect and glad to hear that you are well. A pair of lower heels is definitely handy in such a situation, but who expects such a thing to happen. Send you over a virtual-massage from me. Hope your feet and knees recover.
Heel-Lover Posted September 9, 2010 Author Posted September 9, 2010 Hi all, yes I'll get some photos of those heels up - but I'll need to replace the camera thats broken since it suffered a fall. They won't be doing too much walking since the heels are worn and especially the soles are wearing through on one shoe. rgds Heel-Lover
mtnsofheels Posted September 10, 2010 Posted September 10, 2010 Hi Heel-Lover, Wow, glad to hear you are doing OK after that quake, not mention heeling above and beyond the call of survival. You had it all, and survived in skirt and heels, that is amazing. Enjoy your recoup as you deserve it. Look forward to seeing the pictures. I remember Christchurch well when I spent 5 months there many years ago. That is one way to know how ones endurance is in heels. Rest well! Mtnsofheels
laserracer Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 Hi im Dave:wave: glad you are ok ..wow that was some nightmare you went through and what a trooper kept your heels on the whole time ..pity they got wrecked but on a good note ..time to go shopping for a new pair:smile:
Guest Posted September 17, 2010 Posted September 17, 2010 standing under said fault line while wearing high heel thighboots, seeing the line open up when a big one hits:eek1: (7.0) like in the movie 2012 showed-now THATS tricky to say the least, its bad enough in flat boots, but gee wiz........... so to all in heels I say "hold on & enjoy the ride!!" (thats what I call shaking in ones boots!).
ET88 Posted February 24, 2011 Posted February 24, 2011 Hi All, I am so glad to be able to slip my feet into some lower heels! My feet are killing me!! I live in Christchurch, NZ where that earthquake has recently struck. At the time I was wearing my usual sort of stuff, stiletto heels and pencil skirt suit, because it was a big nite out following a late night work and completion of a large contract we were still out when the Earthquake struck. I worked (fixing telecoms/ net acess) since the quake struck for another 24hrs, then couldn't get home due to roading damage/ flooding and closures of areas by military for safety reasons, and finally got home today! I had to sleep/ shower at an emergency centre and spent the entire time in one set of clothes! My shoes are almost worn out on the soles, the heels are ground down, my feet are really killing me from 3 days of non-stop heeling in a war zone of loose bricks, broken tiles, mud, sand, silt etc...I have what looks like many chill blaines and an ingrown big-toenail now and my knees are sore!! It was embarrassing having to climb around with my skirt hitched up so I could get me knees over things! (I'm glad I had a full leg wax the week prior). I was grateful and also embarassed to be carried out of a area that had sludge build up around it - because of my attire. Before anyone gives me a hard time about not taking my shoes off - there was glass and ceramic shards everywhere!! You can't go around barefooted! I didn't always - but will from now on - always carry a pair of flat scrunches or similar shoes (that crush up small) in my handbag with me, just in case! Luckily my suburb (a little bit out of town) is completely unscathed, so except for a wrecked pair of heels, and temporarily smashed toes I'm really fortunate. Cheers Heel-Lover High Heel-lover, I hope you are O.K. and that the current earthquake left you unharmed. How are things around you in Christchurch ? ET
Berg Posted February 25, 2011 Posted February 25, 2011 Our thoughts are with the people of Christchurch.
JNR Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 what was your experience with this most recent one? I certainly hope that you and your family members are safe and well. I can't relate to being subjected to two major earthquakes so close together. It's got to be frightening. Is there anything that we can do to help you?
Heel-Lover Posted February 26, 2011 Author Posted February 26, 2011 Hi All, My family and friends are all ok. No one really injured - a few scratches/ bruises nothing major. We're very lucky. I was on the North West end of the inner city blocks - so I avoided the building collapses as they were the area around the river and square. I had just had a lunch time meeting and I was just leaving from a restaurant through a hotel foyer - the crowne plaza. I heard the quake coming but didn't put 2 and 2 together (no one did I think) and then it just shook. I was walking briskly and the floor just lifted and leapt away from me sideways, the next split second my feet weren't under me anymore, I was wearing metal heeled stilettos on marble floor so I just skidded out and was on my back. It was then that I realised the high glass ceiling. Its one of those things you are aware of all the time but don't think of - so I tried to get up and get going to get the hell out of there but I just couldn't move forward - even on hands and knees I was just sliding about from the violent floor movements. I could see waves across the foyer. I made no progress towards outside, despite trying. It was unreal. Luckily the ceiling was intact - glass floor to ceiling windows weren't - they blew out but the glass overhead was fine. I guess we were lucky or the building was well built.... Anyhow everyone got out fast after the shaking stopped. Within 10 mins we were being ordered out of the area, I couldn't collect my car from the parking building (below the hotels) - not that I really wanted to go down there anyway- so I had to walk out of town like everyone else. I have friends in Fendalton/ Merivale area so only had to walk approx 1-2km max. As mentioned I was still wearing stilettos and despite having some scrunchies in my handbag I decided I would head off in my heels among the crowd. Why keep my heels on you might ask? I was getting a few looks from others...(that morning I just felt like I needed a pick-up so I dressed with a bit of 'look at me' in mind). I was wearing Navy and Red skirt suit, 14 inch pencil skirt worn high on my hips (quite short), patent red stiletto slings (6.5'' high) matching handbag. If I get a few disapproving looks then I treat it as a challenge and I'll rise to that so I decided to keep my heels on for the meantime - as a couple of kms is easily within my abilities in heels and the area ahead didn't look too bad. I think a styley skirt suit look with flatties or trainers looks frumpy so I wasn't going to compromise unless I had to. Walking out wasn't that bad to start with, all the usual high heel obstacles but just heaps more of them. There were a lot of women in heels as well so I was not alone..those of us who were experienced in heels had no issues because we knew how and where to step, and we knew approximately where our heel was, surprisingly a lot of women were not that good (mind you many Christchurch women don't wear their heels out of the office - they walk to and from work in trainers) . A large aftershock sent a lot of us stumbling, I got thrown into a wodden fence (luckily) so I kept upright, a lot of others fell over. In my stumble into the fence I split the back hem of my skirt - so now I have a short skirt with a back split that I don't really need..luckily it only split 2 inches. At this stage all the heels that hadn't already come off came off - mine included. So I changed into my silver scrunchies that I carry and buckled my slingbacks by their heel straps to my handbag and kept going. No one can manage the ground shakes as well as other obstacles. I was lucky I had a pair of flats in my bag. As I got out of the CBD (took about 15mins) there was a new challenge of liquifaction. The sludgy grey ooze that appears from under the ground is sticky and you sink into a little (not much) but just enough to loose shoes... and several women ahead lost their shoes because they didn't have laces or buckles to hold them on (they were ballet flats/dress flats/flip flops etc). So I had to go back to bare feet for the last 3 blocks because there was approx half a foot of liquifaction to walk through. So you sink about 10cm into it, and other times it sets hard quickly so you don't sink at all. Its weird stuff - and it smells horrible. So my flatties came off because I didn't want to completely filthy them up with that stuff. Got to my friends place at approx 3pm. She got there at a 3.15pm, we turned on the Radio and listened to the reports coming in. We compared injuries... I had none other than dirt and bruises, she had a graze on the front of her foot (she was wearing heels) and had tried to jump backwards as a brick wall collapsed but a pair of bricks lept out and hit her. She wasn't quick enough. As it turned out she broke her 3rd toe. Anyhow.. as I type this the crazy chick - and I respect her committment to fashion has just slid her taped broken toe into a very sexy pair of pointy black stilettos for the street BBQ we are going to at the end of the cul-de-sac. She won't let the aftermath here cramp her style.. She's mad but I respect her, she says its going to hurt like hell but what the heck. I thought the news wasn't that bad - she was told no heels for a month - and keep her feet up - she was offered a plaster cast but chose no (I know now why she chose not) - it should have been easy at the moment to abstain from high heels given there are no public places to go to in Christchurch for weeks at least...shes one hard-core heel wearer! I'm laughing right now because her face is really screwed up while she stands in those heels looking at me. I'll be wearing jeans and thongs/ flip flops. The things we do for beauty. I'm not wearing heels until the mess is cleaned up, which will likely be months, the break won't do me any harm. One thing I think of having been through this experience twice now is that I realise just how insignificant we humans are (compared to the forces of nature), how little control we can have over events, and this is just more reason for getting on with life and doing what you want to do and being yourself (provided those actions are not illegal or injuring anyone else). Everyone is an individual and everyone reacts differently to these situations and everyone needs to help each other. Keep Well Heel-Lover
Guest Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Our kids visited NZ during January and only just 10 days ago left for Fuji. They flew into Christchurch and visited the devastation from the first quake and have commented on the damage to the Cathedral, we have watched some of the news reports whilst in Tenerife notably the broadcast station with the language school. Heel lover. I must have missed the thread when you started it for the first quake and that tale is truly amazing. When life goes sideways you just have to go with it and do what is right and necessary. One hell of a heeling session! I hope and wish you and your family and friends (and theirs) are and stay safe and that the ground now behaves. LONG TERM! From us our hearts are with those that have lost. I know that G and B having been there are deeply saddened especially as they wish to return (work visa allowing) and see more of your beautiful country. Stay safe Alan and Christine
laserracer Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Hi Heel-Lover glad to hear you are safe and not injured..although im in the north island.. hamiltron..if theres anything i can do for you just shout out cheers Big Dave
Rockpup Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 Heel-Lover: glad to hear you are ok again, and appreciate you sharing your experiences here (formerly known as "JimC")
roniheels Posted March 30, 2011 Posted March 30, 2011 I share the sentiments with everyone here expressing my relief that you and yours are alright after this harrowing experience. And you are so correct in your observation that compared to the mighty forces of nature, we are all just a minute element. Thank you for taking the time to share this and update us all on your current situation. Best of luck to you.
Berg Posted December 23, 2011 Posted December 23, 2011 Two strong earthquakes hit the city of Christchurch in New Zealand last night. It is not known to anyone died. The population in the city was alarmed, as only ten months since the earthquake hard cost 181 lives. http://www.mbl.is/frettir/sjonvarp/65621/
Berg Posted December 23, 2011 Posted December 23, 2011 I hope you are all right.. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502981&objectid=10775137
Heel-Lover Posted December 24, 2011 Author Posted December 24, 2011 Hi, All is ok for me again. It shook pretty well but what isn't busted now can stand up to it, so ther wasn't much disruption in most areas, only the Eastern side got filled up with liquefaction again. Like a sheep I did my 100m sprint when the first quake (of 4 hit) yesterday. I was in the control office at a Distribution Centre doing some work on a database when everyone just up and ran the hell out of the place! I just followed the staff that work there... Nothing to do after that as most places/ malls large buildings legally have to evacuate pending engineering reports and access back on-site so I went to a bar at the far end of town! We were having a few drinks, and I was carrying 3 pints of beer to a table when the 3rd quake hit. I didn't fall and I didn't spill a drop! I got a bit of flack for my attire, but in a friendly sort of way if that makes sense. As for the bar/restaurant well... most of everything was tipped upside down etc.. Got to give the staff due credit because they evacuated and we all sat in the outside courtyard, soaking up the sun having a few drinkies... and within 2hrs they had the place operating again! Cheers Heel-Lover
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