Worldwide High Heel Reports Invited

[Heelfan]

It will be fascinating if members can give us "STATE OF THE NATION" HIGH HEEL REPORTS from the country they live in OR countries they visit. No big deal, just two or three paragraphs on say,: Percentage of girls (if any!) wearing high heels. Whether these are stilettos or chunky, platform or plain. Maximum heel height seen (ie any GREAT sightings) Whether thought to be on the increase or decrease. Whether usually worn with jeans etc. or skirts. Any other interestings facts (guys in heels? for instance). Any photos to illustrate the report. Maybe for instance, Debbie could update us on the current Hong Kong situation. Also, I have been surprised to hear our friends from Eastern Europe and Russia just how healthy the high heel scene is there,and even from Iran with its repressive religious regime a lady BBC radio journalist reported that the teenage gilrs are liberating themselves by wearing only token head-coverings and adopting mid-calf-length trousers and pointed-toed high-heeled shoes! It would be great to gather-in and consolidate all these sorts of reports on to this one Forum-Thread, when I hope we can see a "Worldwide picture" emerging. So, worldwide heel enthusiasts and travellers, please can we have your reports and sightings (whether the heel-scene happens to be great or very depressing!) from just about everywhere - however far-flung! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan.

[jemanda]

And now.. our roving reporter from South Africa... over to you bob.. Winter is rapidly coming to an end here and the transition from boots to sandals has been happening earlier than usual as the winter was a a non event. Percentage of girls (if any!) wearing high heels. Whether these are stilettos or chunky, platform or plain. Most girls seem to be turning towards thongs (shudder) and kitten heels still seem popular, as are the ever popular "trainers" (we call them takkies by the way), I see and ever increasing amount of youngsters (6-9) wearing mini heels with wedges and plats very popular. Women seem to prefer the more comfortable sandals and I never saw many pairs of stilleto style boots this year. In fact boots did not seem to sell well at all. I do think that the trend here is more towards comfort than style as prices for shoes are steep. Maximum heel height seen (ie any GREAT sightings) Highest I have seen was a 4inch for sale in a window Whether thought to be on the increase or decrease. Decrease... again the price and comfort factor. Whether usually worn with jeans etc. or skirts. skirts seem to be on the out too, although I have seen a fair amount of calf length skirts with trainers and thongs. Jeans usually seem to have huge plats under them. Any other interestings facts (guys in heels? for instance). I must be the only one wearing heels.. sigh. Thats all from southern africa... tune into next weeks exciting episode of "I am Johns High Heels".

[Firefox]

OK here's my report from South UK

Percentage of girls (if any!) wearing high heels.

It depends on the weather and age. Very hot or cold weather does not bring out the best heels, but for average autumn type weather I'd say 50% among teens/20's declining to 10% for older women

Whether these are stilettos or chunky, platform or plain.

Very mixed. Chunky type blades were in, but must of this seasons heels seem to be chunky stilettos about 3" or kitten stilettos about 2". Lots of wedges/mules for summer.

Maximum heel height seen (ie any GREAT sightings)

Max height 4" (commonly) or 5" with 1" plat. Have seen the odd 5" without plat.

Whether thought to be on the increase or decrease.

About static

Whether usually worn with jeans etc. or skirts.

Usually heeled boots with long flared/boot cut trousers. In summer, wedge mules and skirts are more common.

Any other interestings facts (guys in heels? for instance).

Erm... me, a few of my mates, and have seen some guys in London wearing them, usually boots.

Any photos to illustrate the report.

Nope, but you can check out the section at http://heels.cjb.net

[zathrus69]

Moving up to Northern England we go live to our Emmy award winning (in your dreams mate! - Ed.) reporter Zathrus Nurfbingler.... Percentage of girls (if any!) wearing high heels. Pretty high (the percentage that is, not the heels!). Mostly nightime wear though - flat sandals seem to de-rigeur this summer, during the day at least. Nighttime is great for the high heel affectionado (sp?) - lots of courts (3-4") and 4" sandals around. Whether these are stilettos or chunky, platform or plain. Thank god that chunky seems to have died away now, to be replaced by colourful court shoes (pink, yellow, etc) and strappy sandals. Still see the odd girl wearing chunkies though but not as many as 2-3 years ago. Not my favourite shoe type to be honest. Maximum heel height seen (ie any GREAT sightings) No great sightings recently but I think I spied someone wearing what looked like very high court shoes (possibly 5"?) but it was a long way off and it may have been wishful thinking :-) Max height still seems to be the 4 to 4.5" area. Whether thought to be on the increase or decrease. For me the shops in Liverpool seem to be the barometer of female shoe fashion. When ankle boots started coming out in 4" heel heights the fashionable women of Liverpool were wearing them long before I started to see them being sold or worn around where I live. On a recent visit I was shocked to find the shops and markets chock full of very flat Far Eastern style comfy shoes (with upturned toes that stretch flat when they are put on - a bit like ballet shoes...but not the ones we like!). If these are the "next big thing" for the UK then we heel fanciers are in for a pretty rum time by next summer. So things may be on the slide downwards heel wise but lets hope not. Whether usually worn with jeans etc. or skirts. Short skirts are in - usually combat or jean style. Lots of combat style trousers as well. Business attire still seems to be the flared long black trouser. Any other interestings facts (guys in heels? for instance). Nope - I think I have gone on enough :-) Any photos to illustrate the report. No, sorry. Still saving up for a digital camera :-) Zathrus

[Heelfan]

Yours reports please! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

[Heelfan]

OK, in our Worldwise series of heel reports, our roving reporter Jemanda has briefed you on South Africa, and the UK rundown was begun by our UK correspondants Firefox (South) and Zathrus (North), and is now continued by our series anchorman Heelfan (West): Well, thank you Jemanda, Firefox and Zathrus! Hello viewers and welcome to my man-on-the-spot current Lowdown on heels here in the Western UK:- Well folks, much of the current high-heel scene here echoes what Zathrus described in Northern England. Unlike last year, the girls daytime shoes are almost all very flat shoes and mules. The one exception to this is some office-workers wearing nice black stilettos, but naturally only sightable before and after work and a few in the lunch-hour. However, more heels at night, and MANY more on Friday and Saturday nights, especially worn by the pubbers and clubbers in towns and cities like Bristol. As in the North, chunky and block heels are becoming rarer all the time, now largely replaced by stilettos and some kitten heels with waisted-blade heels. Many strappy sandals, pink/yellow/green courts, light-brown suede d'orsays, cork wedges, and many backless high heeled low and medium-height stilettos with a closed-in, pointed toe. Some of these have such a low-cut toe that the amount of flap is huge and they can hardly keep them on! Maximum heel height seen: Many, Many 4" (or maybe a little over), but puzzlingly, no really high heels (5", 5 1/2", 6") whatsoever. This is puzzling, because in the first two stiletto crazes (c. 1960 and 1980), a small but admirable percentage of girls treated us to these extremely heights. However, this time round (anno 2000 onwards), I have not seen a SINGLE SIGHTING above 5"! Bitterly disappointing! Increase or decrease: Marked (almost total) decrease in the daytime, but the night-time situation has improved due to chunky and clunky heels giving-way to stilettos and jeans giving-way to short skirts and miniskirts. Guys in heels: Apart from myself, I've seen four others in Bristol this year - two in stacked block-heels about 3" high and two in black cuban heels about 2" high. Sorry, no photos - I'm a dunderhead with digital technology from first to last. Anyway, this is correspondant Heelfan concluding this report from Bristol, Western UK, and calling on heel enthusiasts worldwide to send in your reports: Yours reports please! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

[Heelfan]

Yours reports please! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

[zathrus69]

Further to my report I went shopping today (Manchester) and I have some late breaking news....

Looks like the "J-Lo" boot is well out of fashion now in the UK. All the shops had them in the Sale section! To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing them....apart from Ms Lopez herself of course. Also, the dreaded flatties were everywhere. Only the business types seemed to be wearing heels, everyone else was in trainers or flat sandals :-(

The shops were chock full of heels though, mostly 2-3" pumps but some higher sandals and ankle boots. Still no pumps or sandals with anything approaching 5" on general sale and I think heels are definately on the way down, judging by the general height of what was out there.

Still, Schuh had some nice heels (as always) and Morgan had some really nice knee-length boots with 4.5" heels but they cost and arm and a leg. I ended up buying these in my local Jef Bains.

http://www.thehighestheel.com/showcase/ProductDetail.asp?div=PUMPS&dpt=&ctg=&PROD_CD=BRAZIL

JB seems to be the only shop round here that sells 5" heels but never seen anyone wearing them around town. I have them on now and they're very comfy.

TTFN

Zathrus

[Heelfan]

Well, that report from Zathrus, our man in Stoke-on-Trent was a great addition to our UK round-up! South Africa has also been covered, so now let's try asking the rest of the World. Calling all reporters ...... Calling all reporters! ....... Come in please: HONG KONG (Debbie? Whlau?), BELGIUM (Highluc? Jako?), FINLAND (Bert? Ola?), SINGAPORE (Tiata?), LEBANON (Bramis?), ARGENTINA (HighHeeLover?), NORWAY (HHfanatic?), ESTONIA (Stellah?), AUSTRALIA (Inge? Wetheels? Mark? Geoff? Stiletto?), POLAND (Spike?), FRANCE (Stilettos? Michelle?), NETHERLANDS (Tim? Daniel? Mark-&-Marilyn? Roger? Jeff?), USA (Stu? Quartz? Texas Bumpkin? Azraelle? Bubba?), SWEDEN (High Surprise? Beeblebrox? Tall Swede? Erica? Trolldeg?), NEW ZEALAND (Heel-Lover?), GREECE (BillyGally? Psilotakomia?), HAWAII (LuvLadiesInHeels?), CZECH REPUBLIC (Roky?), CANADA (Maja? Inshoe? Melanie?), ISRAEL (The Domina?), NEW YORK (Kneehighs?), SCOTLAND (B-Rooted?), SWITZERLAND (Diana & Daniel? Patent Letter? Booty?), IRELAND (Sken? Gray Lion?), GERMANY (Micha? Prof. Harvard?), BRAZIL (Melissa Guy? Grendene?), WALES (Caron? Elevated?), MALAYSIA (New Age Sailor?), SPAIN (Bob2uh?), ICELAND (Bootsey?), MEXICO (Jejas?) And to anyone I've overlooked or who has failed to give their location ...... Calling, Calling ........ Come in please ........... your Worldwide high-heel reports please ............ IS ANYBODY THERE? From your cheerful anchorman, Heelfan, Bristol, UK.

[Highluc]

Here is my long overdue report from Belgium. Time has been sparse for me and last Tuesday was my first dedicated shoe shopping trip (in Hasselt) since my heart attack in February this year. The results of that trip will be available on my website at the end of the weekend but I'll comment on the sightings here. First of all, it was great weather and many people wore sandals, but the ancient cobblestones in Hasselt do not favour high stiletto heels so not many people wore them. I still was surprized to see so much girls wearing their very heavy platform Shock closed ankle boots around. One girl wore a form fitting fuschia catsuit and knee high white 4inch heels over it, quite a nice sight for all. The only men in heels were my Dutch friend and myself but that never bothered us. What was available: The end of the sales period allowed us to pick up 3 pair of boots for only 106 Euro but the choice was really limited. All the heeled sandals were already gone and the rest was rather boring. When looking at the new winter collection I'm glad to already have a good collection because I didn't see ANY shoe or boot worth purchasing. The heels go from nonexistant to 5cm and the uprolled nose might look attractive to the sheicks but they let me cold. I was surprised not to see any over the knee or thigh highs because most designer fashion shows for the winter had them prominently displayed on their catwalks. To resume this diastrous situation: the heels went down, the prices went up, the models will be comfortable to the girls but uninspiring to me so it promisses to be a cheap season for me. By the way, serious platform ankle boots are still available for the girls. This is as far as this disappointing news from Belgium reaches. In a few months I'll post and tell you if the "new" collection is worn or if the people (like me) prefer not to follow the trend and wear their classy heeled models from last year. Greetings from a disappointed Highluc

[Heelfan]

Well, thank you from a disappointed Highluc - our reporter in Belgium! We understand your woes! From the above UK reports, things seem to be going that same way here However, fashion usually follows a twenty years cycle and there were still some great heels around in the 1980s before the heel-gloom of about 1988 to 1998 descended. Therefore by my calculations, we SHOULD be able to enjoy about another five years before things again go totally pear-shaped around 2008. If that's the case, this irritating fashion for flat 'Ali Baba' shoes etc. might be one of those temporary glitches that the international shoe movers and shakers sometimes throw into the middle of a high-heel boom just to break it up a little bit. I hope this is the case, rather than me being over-optimistic. Come on world-wide members - your international reports and sightings please! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan

[loveheel]

I just spent two weeks in Belgium and my HH report confirms Highluc's observations. Disappointingly few HH sightings. The only good heels I saw were on foreign women (mainly asian) strolling around. Still alot of clunky thick platform shoes (the super thick soled sneakers that never made it as a fashion in the US). A few HH boots, mainly worn with jeans. All in all as disappointing as the weather usually is in Belgium. In a few weeks this guy is going to France. I will bring you a report from there.

[Heelfan]

Thank you Loveheel, our roving reporter giving a backup account from Belgium. We look forward to your report from ooh la la France! Calling all members worldwide - your international high heel round-up reports please! Your cheerful anchorman, Heelfan

[Highluc]

I just spent two weeks in Belgium ....... All in all as disappointing as the weather usually is in Belgium.

You just have witnessed our warmest summer since the start of met reports. We never had such a steady long beautiful summer before. Next time you come over it probably will be much worse. By the way, next time please feel free to contact me if you need a guide for high heel shops (or some drinks) in Belgium.

[BobHH]

Greetings from the flip-flop capital of the world - Hawaii, Honolulu to be exact. Nevertheless, there have been a few sightings of note. LOTS of flat flip-flop sandals , maybe 10% wedges, but only a couple of inches, usually, a couple of 2 in. or so stiletto slides , and about three or so memorable high heels, one long jeans, one skirt, one miniskirt (see picture under Sightings) .

There are no heels in Waikiki as high as mine, at least in the daytime :

[JeffB]

This is JeffB, comin' at ya from the east coast of the USA! The fad of the moment here in the States seem to be those spike heeled, Timberland-like hiking boots, a definite favorite of girls in the inner city which they usually pair up with tight, stonewashed jeans. A rather fetching look if I do say so myself! Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind a pair of those boots myself, they'd be cool to wear to the office on casual Fridays, but I can't find them in the dreaded 13 wide! AARRGGHH! For businesswomen whom I see in the course of my travels, standard pumps are still the shoe of choice, usually in plain black. Don't see much in the way of blade heels these days as spikes seem to have made something of a comeback. In any event, as near as I can tell, the average heel height has been around 2 to 3 inches, sometimes higher. Since fall is on the way, I checked out the shoe department at a nearby store and saw that platforms look to be the watchword for the season, not big ones, just a half inch high in most cases with three or four inch heels. If I uncover anything else, I'll let you know! Back to you, Chet!

[Spikey Dan]

Nothing to report from U.S. West Coast, north of California. There is a few 3" and under slides, sandals, boots and pumps arounds. An occasional 4" or higher. The shoe stores have lots of spike heel sandals and boots on display. There is potential but nothing has reached the surface quite yet.

[Laurieheels]

Canada. The target of many jokes from Americans, yet the people are treated so much better than the yankees when in Europe. Off in the west, where the mountains meet the praries, Calgary still seems stuck in the boring shoe category. However, we have seen some hope, that beaming ray of enlightenment, as advertisers are featuring some very nice heels on the models in their adverts. yes, heels are the fashion accesory, according to the little pamphlets in the papers. Three and four inch heels, thin and spikey, are on display. Still shorter than I myself would prefer, but higher than most women take to normally. Is there a change in trends? Will we be seeing more heels, and higher ones? Of course, when it comes to women, they still are fickle and unsure about trying out heels and learning to wear them. But the shoes are there, available for purchase, on display as part of the must have Fall outfits. Maybe there will be a change in the frumpy trends? Can we expect more heels? Thinner heels? Sexier footwear all around? Time shall reveal all to those who must know. And we certainly must know. But as always, it remains that there will be at least one high heeled woman in this industrious city of oil and cattle in the foothills. Provided I can fix my boots, anyway.

[azraelle]

Perhaps you could teach a college PE class (open to both genders??) in graceful spike heel wearing...? You'd fill a need, surely, and even if only voluntary, you'd impress the administration with your instructional ability.

[Laurieheels]

Laurie Heels don't work for free, bub. Heehee Some of it has to be a natural talent. I can teach, sure, but only those with a predisposition will be playing basketball in 5.5 inchers and ruining the gymnasium floor with heels and not by falling. I'd love to write an article for a magazine, of course. Women need some good instruction about wearing heels, and if they had that, we'd see more women wearing heels.

[Laurieheels]

Heel Report #2 I was watching Much Music yesterday, thro0ugh no fault of my own. This is the Canadian music video channel. They have a half hour show called Much in your Space. It is a makeover and room redesign show based on a person's favourite musical performer. The episode featured a teenage girl who was a big fan of the band No Doubt, and they made her over to be gewn Stefani, the singer from that group. (Goddess note - I really love this band, so that's why I was interested in watching). In recent years, Gwen has been wearing heels more and more, in videos, and in appearances. So as part of this girl's outfit, they had a pair of white pumps with pointy toes, and a heel that was no more than three inches in height. Funny how they referred to the heels as high heels. And I sit there and think "Yes, and they'd look like flats next to my white pumps with the 5.5 inch stiletto heels." However, I was impressed that this girl wore her heels most of the time. To distract the young girl while the crew remade her room, they took her to a bee farm. And even when they got on all of their bee keeping gear, she was still wearing the heels. I guess they don't provide boots on a bee farm. And she went out amongst the bee hives in her heels, getting into the smoke, examining hives, all of that. She did take off the heels at the golf driving range after she tried hitting the ball while wearing them and didn't do so well. As a result of going barefoot, she won a bet with the host for driving distance. But otherwise, she wore them all day, and at the end, the host who had taken her on the activities commented to her that she rocked in those heels. It was interesting to see how heels changed her walk, slowing her down a bit, but giving her a bit more of a seductive sway. All we can hope is that this young Canadian girl can keep on being like her musical idol and wear heels more often than most teens do these days. Just my observations of a TV program. Maybe it will show other teens that some mid height heels are good fun. After all, music video stations are an influencing factor on today's youth, right?

[Skirted-UK]

I'd love to write an article for a magazine, of course. Women need some good instruction about wearing heels, and if they had that, we'd see more women wearing heels.

You could write it here Laurie!

[Laurieheels]

Yes, but writing it here does not pay the bills. Hence my interest in writing it for a magazine. Of course, I am hoping that the internet can lead to paying a few bills, but we shall have to see what happens with that. Again, a big

[PJ]

Yes, but writing it here does not pay the bills. Hence my interest in writing it for a magazine.

Of course, I am hoping that the internet can lead to paying a few bills, but we shall have to see what happens with that.

Again, a big

Laurieheels;

Here are more income opportunities for writers:

http://www.blindside.net/WickedHollow/guidelines.html - writers are paid $5 for their horror fiction of less than 4,000 words.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/submit.html - writers are paid 20 cents a word (up to $3,500) for science fiction and fantasy stories between 2,000 and 17,500 words.

http://www.readersdigest.ca/laugh_submit.html - writers are paid up to $200 for humorous, non-fiction short stories of 100 words or less if it's selected for publishing in Reader's Digest magazine.

[Laurieheels]

But there are no guarantees on any of those sites, are there? I will look at them, but the trouble is, if I mention something in a story, and they pay me for it, do they then take away my right to include certain things in other stories? If I write about a character, does the publisher retain the copyright, preventing me from writing about that character in other stories? That will be the largest question. Otherwise, it will be throw away fiction that I give to such publishers. And that could hurt my chances. Yes, I am very protective of my work.

[Heelfan]

Well, there we are folks, thank you to our roving reporters Bob, Jeff, Dan, Laurie and Azrealle for their contributions to our Worldwide High Heel Reports! On Monday, I'm flying from the UK for a week in Shanghai, China! I'll log a "High Heels in Shanghai" report as soon as I'm back. In the meantime, more world-wide reports please! Cheerfully yours, Heelfan (your Worldwide-Heel -Reports anchorman!)

[Bubba136]

Why not stop in Hong Kong and see Debbie. She works at the new airport.

Just look for the highest heels you've ever seen on the prettiest girl around and that's her. Tell her how much we miss her and wish she would start posting and chatting again.

[Heelfan]

Yes, I'd LOVE to do that! Isn't Debbie the ultimate knockout! However, unfortunately the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong are not exactly side by side! To get back to topic "Worldwide High Heel Reports", I've taken the liberty of copying across to here this excellent report from New York, posted on Jenny's Forum by "Surprised New Yorker": "I have also seen a few young girls wearing chunky heels recently. Wearing heels that young just doesn't look right! One nice thing though is that I have been seeing quite a lot of boots out there with the young adult ladies. While out shopping, I noticed a few ladies in mini skirts and knee high stilettos of at least 4". I saw the usual number of Blade boots matched with pants. But interestingly I noticed 5 women (Yeah, I counted) wearing capri pants with knee high boots. One with a wider heel and the others with stilettos! I actually like that look since the ladies were dressed very neat. I also saw one lady that looked to be in her 30's with a pair of knee boots with a 4.5" heel wearing jeans that were tucked under her boots. Dear god, I do hope that look is going to make a comeback! That's it from the north east." (from Surprised New Yorker).

[Heelfan]

Laurieheels High Heeled Goddess Joined: 18 Jan 2002 Posts: 2404 Location: Canadian city near big mountains LaurieHeels posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 4:15 am: What I mean by the current trend is this. Thin heels, from thin posts to tapering stilettos, around four inches, and higher. I see them on television shows, in magazines, right now they are trendy. They're everywhere, and even have Kelly Rippa hugging Elizabeth Hurley's foot. There's still the hip hop vibe, promoting sneakers and baggy jeans. Even though the female stars may be glaming it up, will the teens follow? From what I see of them, the trend towards high heels is not so prominent where I am. Thanks Laurie - perfect for our Worldwide High Heel Reports!

[genebujold]

Hi, Laurieheels. I've published numerous articles for the networking industry over the last half decade, and I might be able to lend you a hand with the legal wrangling. Magazine and other Publishers generally retain copyright on the work "as is" and pay you either by word, per article (with a length range), or via royalties (generally going by the wayside, these days). If you try to publish a substantially similar work through another publisher, they will either object, or choose never to publish you through them again. However, there's a clause in general law which allows a writer to retain the rights to the concept of the story. Thus, if a publisher publishes your short SF story (say, 7,500 words), you could write a longer version (say, 70,000 words) and get that published without violating your contract. The reason for this loophole is that long ago the courts decided a 70,000-word story is substantially different (10x more work!) than its 7,500-word starter story. And the legal basis is why SciFi puts the following comment on their website: "We will consider a self-contained story that is part of a novel, or may later be developed into one." They have to, and cannot deny you otherwise. Thus, you can write a novel, give a self-contained story that's part of that novel to SciFi word-for-word, then later publish the entire novel (including the word-for-word self-contained story) in full obeyance of the law, and neither SciFi nor anyone else can do anything to stop you. You could also write a short story, get it published, then later turn it into a full novel, and publish that through the same or different publisher. Bottom line - it's YOUR work, not theirs, even though they will retain publishing rights to the word-for-word short story they originally published - but only as the self-contained story itself, not as a part of the larger novel you wrote. Hope this helps!