A Review & A few words of thanks

[new_look]

After finally getting home, i have to saythere hadd been quite a few complications i.e. leaving my wallet in my car at Doncaster, then also managing to lose my return ticket in a nervous rush after i changed into my heels at Kings X. Almost ruined the day had it not been for the generosity of our good friends who were god enough to chip in to get me home again, which i really appreciate. JUst a word of thanks to everyone. Must say despite the above. it was a great day. Whilst the more noticable xaphod was attracting the majority of the attention, it was interesting to sort of hang back and watch peoples reactions, and as only my 3rd time outside in public, i went from nervous to enjoying people looking. It becomes quite fun to attract so much attention from people who cant believe what they see. We had a little coloured girl tryin to make fun asking why we wore womens shoes, Dr Shoe and xaphod (comedians) soon sent her off embarrased by saying that they were mens shoes cos us men were wearing them. It was quite funny, and thats a line i must remember for the future The shops had some interesting styles, but the items worth bothering with were either expensive, or as Heelfan can vouch, unavailable in the larger sizes. Nevertheless it was good to see the choices. The shops are more limited where i live. I did see a pair in office, a pair of knee boots with a stiletto about 4.5in, but a rounded toe. If i had £110 they wouldve been mine!! Just for the record, after my hard efforts to endure my 4.75 in heels for nearly 8 hours, i finally put my trainers on just before i left everyone, and my left foot is still a bit numb . Would also like to add that i started out nervous, but with the group it really began to feel natural, as if i was just in my normal shoes, which is eventually how id like to be every time i wear heels outside. Me and xaphod agreed that some people will associate the image with been gay, so next time im out with my girlfriend, that will knock that idea out of the way for people. In fact, the meet has given me a boost of confidence into wanting people to react. I still wont be doing it around my family or friends, but away from home where i dont know people, i hope i will rise to more frequent heeling with less nervousness and more enjoyment from now on Thanks for a good day people. Was nice to put faces to names. Daz

[Firefox]

Glad you enjoyed it Daz and hope you got back all right. I hope you manage to take it as far as you want and maybe some day you will do with family and friends. It's not that difficult, if you take it easy, but you're probably right not to go too far too fast. After you left, we continued for some drinks at the Oxford Arms, a quick tour of fetish shops and then five of us went back to Dr Shoe's place for Pizza, Stella, and a grand tour of Dr Shoe's extensive collection and a trying on session. Thanks Dr Shoe for your hospitality!

[Bubba136]

I'm surprised that with a group that size you didn't attract more attention than you apparently did. Next time, give the press a "head's up" and perhaps they would do one of those "on the street" interviews for TV. Imagin what exposure would do for the men in heels movement

[Firefox]

We were mostly in quite crowded shopping areas so the group wasn't that obvious. I think the main source of attention stems from Xaphod with thigh boots and leather coat plus hat. Also Dr Shoe's leather and stiletto thigh boots outfit was eyecatching too. Having noticed something quite out of the ordinary people are naturally on their guard, and when they see 8 other guys around with interesting boots, they are typically somewhat gobsmacked. Either that or they blame too many the night before and spend the rest of the afternoon looking down at feet, wondering if they have sobered up or not.

[Dr. Shoe]

Thanks for the note of thanks, we enjoyed it as much as you guys and even Ruth had a good time. It started at 10.15 when I went down to the bus stop in my flat thigh boots and waited ages for a bus. When it eventually arrived I went upstairs and sat almost opposite the stairs and surreptitiously changed into my stiletto OTK boots so that when I got to Liverpool Street I only had to dive across the landing down the stairs and scuttle out of the door before anyone could notice.This was a silly idea in hindsight as plenty of people were going to see them anyway! With a certain nervousness I walked across the road and down the escalator to the concourse with one lady doing a double take at the top. Also a couple of lads coming up the other way glanced down but said or did nothing. I walked across the concourse to the entrance to the tube (subway in Americanese) and I felt a few eyes watching but just carried on nonchalantly as if I did it every day of my life! As I went down the escalator to the platform I realised that this was the first time that I had gone on the tube in stilettos though as I used to live and die in 4" blocks it wasn't the first time in heels. I got to Tottenham court road at around 11.30 and phoned firefox to find out where everyone were, he told me to turn around and look at Starbucks to see if I could see him waving which I could. Knowing that the entire group were watching me, I crossed the road, went in and bought a cup of tea and went upstairs to join the others. I was shocked by how many there were, nine of us in total with one on his way! (FF, Xa, Heelfan, Ionic, Myself, Calv, Daz, Red Mountain, Jo and Someone-who-hasn't-yet-posted) Once we were joined by Jo, we went to Wallis next door but I had forgotten my bag and went back for it to be questioned by some of the other customers so I told them about the board and that we like to get together and be different! In Wallis I tried on some divine little kitten heeled ankle boots with a strap across the toebox which i must buy as soon as I've created more space in my cupboard :rofl:! After that we started to work our way up Oxford street which it must be said needs a couple of days to see it all properly but we wanted lunch and to get to Harrods to look at the Ferragamo exhibition. After looking at Dolcis, Faith, Barratts etc. we found a little Korean restaurant with an "All you can eat" menu which worked out at £8.30 including a bottle of beer-not bad in the West End. Next, we jumped on a Number 10 and made our way to Kensington Gore so we could walk through a litte alleyway I know about bringing us out virtually opposite Harrods (where a coach driver boggled as we waited to cross the road!). Unfortunately, Heelfan didn't have a ticket for the bus and Joe didn't make it so they shared a taxi and waited for us at the exhibition . After that we made our way to Camden at which point Xaphod walked past a couple one of whom said "Look a man in womens boots!" then as I walked past: "There's another one!". When we changed at Leicester Square, several people boggled as we were waiting our train because there were comparitively few people on the platform and we stood out a bit! At Camden we made a bee-line for some of the shops on the way to the Stables Market when Heelfan and I got separated from the rest of the party so I phoned FF again to find that he was standing only a few yards away ! We crossed the road and were "interviewed" by two young ladies in the shop who thought that what we were doing was great. After we went on to the Oxford Arms where Xaphod did his bit to keep crime off the streets, or more precisely to boot it out of the pub and onto the street! After a quite scoot around the stables (it was closing) we went up to Chalk Farm station where we split up because some like Daz had long journeys or return deadlines and the rest of us, 5 in total made our way to my house for Stella, Pizza and a neb at my collection. It was certainly a memorable day and I think enjoyed by all, and spurred by the success of it I am looking forward to the Birmingham meet and will make every effort to be there and we (Ruth and I) may even make it to Paris!

[new_look]

a memorable day in definate. apart from my unfortunes i had the time of my life. After a while it did begin to feel natural, and after about 6 hours in my 4.5in boots i started to feel the ache more than the nice height of the heel, but thats part of the fun. Thanks Dr Shoe for the commentary above, still awaiting replies from some of the others who joined in. would be nice to hear their feedback. I will say to anyone who might have thought of joining us sometime, this was my first meet and i would encourage anyone. The group are very friendly and we had some interesting chats. When we were on the No 10 bus, Ionic and i think Dr Shoe were talkin quite loud about 4 inch heeled knee boots and it was amising to watch the puzzled look on the girls face sat in front The boost of confidence has been given, i was going to go for a spirited walk today with jade, but the dull ache in my feet is still with me (my big mouth about been able to cope eh) So next time i have a break from work, we will just see what happens daz

[MountainTop]

Hi Guys I had a marvelous time, it was simply so much fun. At the Oxford meet which was my first I was very nervous and hung back and watched peoples reactions. But this time I didn't notice other people hardly at all. The group is so friendly, polite, mature, it was like chatting about footie. Relaxed, interesting and very enjoyable, one of the best days out I have had in a long time. In the Birmingham meet my wife is considering coming along to since it sounds so good. With the size of the group it is a shame we didn't get a group photo. Everybody has photos of one person in boots, but a group photo I think would let other people see that there is strength in numbers and there is actually a lot of us. Cheers Lads.

[jo]

It was nice to meet up with all, put faces to names, see the sights of London, and have a beer and a chat. Daz had some travel difficulties, mostly caused by losing the return part of the train ticket.

For me, the day started very early, getting up at 04:45, and cooking a full breakfast. The coach journey can be over three hours if traffic is bad. I planned to get to London for about 09:00 and not have another meal until about 13:00 or so. Even so I took some sandwiches, and bottled water, just in case. It turned out I needed both.

I made it to the coach station with a minute to spare at 06:15, but due to a computer fault, you could not buy a ticket on the coach even though it was nearly empty, and rarely fills up on the other 4 or 5 stops in this area before the transit to London (they could not sell me a ticket just in case the coach had already been fully booked by advance ticket sales, and they didn't know how many tickets were already presold as the computer was down). I have never (in 15 years of travelling) had any problem buying a ticket just at the start of a journey, but today was to test my patience to the limit.

I had to wait for the next coach at 07:15, got blown out for a ticket on that one too, then waited for the next coach at 08:00. The local ticket office didn't open until 08:30, and the coach after that was supposed to be at 09:00 I think. There is another major pickup point a few miles away, and the driver informed me that the ticket office there opened at 08:30 too, but as the computer was down they wouldn't be able to do anything either. At a minute past 8, after this third rejection, I gave up on the coaches and legged it to the train station, missing the 08:05 by mere seconds. The cost to London on the train was going to be about GBP 50 (compared to GBP 20 for the coach). Just as I was about to get a ticket, the ticket clerk informed me that due to engineering works, a large part of the journey was going to be by coach, and it would take longer than ever. Aaaaarrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!.

Studying the coach timetable again, although most coaches started from where I was right now, I saw that the place just 4 coach stops away (and right next to the train station, three train stops down the line) had some fill-in coaches, on the half-hours, starting from there. I decided to try to catch one of those. I therefore got the 08:30 train and travelled just a few stops, arriving at 08:40 or so. The ticket office was jam packed, and the sign on the door said that it had been open since 07:30 - thanks a bunch to the coach driver who said it opened at 08:30. By the time I got to the booking desk, all the tickets for the 09:00 coach had been sold, and there was one left for 09:30 which I bought. At 09:10 I phoned Firefox to let him know that I was soon to be on the way, now a good half an hour after the time I had planned to be actually arriving in London. Firefox suggested ringing again as soon as I was in London and he could let me know exact location, probably somwhere close to Tottenham Court Road, or Oxford Street. By now, over three hours had elapsed and I had still only managed to travel 7 km from home. It would have been quicker walking, I could have done at least double that in that time.

The journey was uneventful, made good time, and I was in London by 11:30; feeling hungry by now I ate most of the sandwiches I had brought along too. As soon as I was off the coach I phoned Firefox to report progress, and was told that they would wait about 30 minutes for me to arrive at the Coffeeshop just off TCR.

There was a massive queue for tube tickets, and a delay on the tube train arriving too. Eventually I was on the way again. I made my second ever journey error when changing tubes at Leicester Square. One platform had trains billed to arrive in 3 minutes and in 25 minutes time; the other in just 1 minute, and it arrived as I was reading the sign. I jumped on it, but as it started moving I realised I was now going the wrong way, heading towards Charing Cross. As we reached Charing Cross, I could see the tube that I really wanted to be on just pulling in on the other platform. I legged it rapido off the wrong tube, across the platform, and on to the waiting tube. I was mindful of the fact that there would be at least a 20 minute wait for the next one if I missed this one, and that 30 minutes had already elapsed since the conversation with Firefox. Off at TCR it took a few minutes to find the Coffeeshop, but I guessed the group of people in the windowed area upstairs were the ones. Indeed they were, with a few chatting at the base of the stairs too.

After a few minutes we were off, first into a joint Evans/Dorothy Perkins (where I got pestered with a phone call from work -- gakkk leave me alone on my day off will you), then another store, Office, Walk, Dolcis, Ravel and Faith. We missed Aldo, and I don't remember doing Barratts either. Ho hum, must do those next time.

In Faith, the security guard was completely phazed, didn't know where to look. As the others were leaving, a girl coming into store looked at Xaphod, then looking at the security guard she said she couldn't believe what she had just seen. The security guard was somewhat flustered and said he had never seen that before, he had seen the occasional single heeled shopper, but this time he said, "there were five" -- umm, silly bugger couldn't count, there were actually ten.

High heel sighting of the day was the girl with very long legs, 4.5 inch heel lknee length boots, and short skirt. She was in and out of several shops in the area, and seen several times in the previous half hour or so.

Onwards to a litttle Koren restaurant in a side street, and down to the basement area where we took over about half of the room. The other tables were empty. Part way through the meal a mother and two adolescents, and an older relative sat on another table. The mother eventually clocked the footwear worn and kept taking a peek. She was obviously purplexed, but didn't engage anyone in conversation. She pointed it out to at least her daughter too. After a meal and beer there, with lively conversation on heels, the plans for the day, website design, and many other subjects, it was time to be on the way again. Juat before that several people changed their footware, and then it was off down the road, to get the number 10 bus to Harrods.

Some little coloured kids gave the group some lip just before the bus arrived, but from the aura around them they seem to have been smoking a little bit too much weed for their own good methinks. They musta dreamt what they saw. LOL.

The bus arrived, and Heelfan suddenly panicked as he realised that he was leaning against the ticket machine that you buy a ticket from before getting on the bus. I looked round to see what was happening, stepped forward to get on the bus behind the other eight, and the bus driver slammed the door in my face as it was now full. Darn. Luckily HF flagged a taxi directly opposite, which was empty, stationary, but pointing the wrong way. The taxi went down a lot of side roads, and arrived long before the bus. We decided to have a look around the exhibition, and soon found it on the first floor. At first we walked through the shoe department, which is vast, and it took a little time to realise that the exhibition was not along one wall, but rather was in little cabinets, one (sometimes two) shoes at a time, dotted all over the departmant. We had looked at nearly all when the other group arrived, Xa could be seen for miles in that big hat! Some of the customers were intrigued and nudged their shopping companions to have a look. We looked all over the exhibition as well as some of the products for sale, noting some lovely D&G pointy patent shoes, and georgeos jewelled Gina sandals, at a few hundred quid a go.

As we about to depart, I noticed a sales girl who walked over to a group of her colleagues and said you must come and have a look at this. She preceeded to drag them down the other end of the shop where they just gawped at Xa in his brown, over the knee, 4.5 or 5 inch boots, big black leather coat, and big black hat. They then noticed the others too, and were most puzzled I think.

From there, it was a quick tube to Camden, and the events as described above, just a visit to a few shops (and the conversation with some customers in one store) then as the rain started to fall, it was into the nearest pub for an enjoyable pint to two in the Oxford Arms, almost spoilt by the attempted pickpocket. I can testify that Xa shot out of his seat at great speed, and across the pub equally rapidly, in those heels! He didn't attract a great deal of attention, the only reaction I saw being two girls in the far corner, on a raised area, one who noticed and nudged her friend who both looked in disbelief for a few seconds then continued their conversation again.

We missed looking in a few of the bigger shoe outlets, like Scorpion and Aldo Clearance (don't know if that is the Aldo), missed out Camden Lock market, and went into Camden Stables market instead. By now the twilight was upon us, and it was obvious that things were winding down for the day. A few departed on their way, and the rest of us headed back to Dr Shoe's for the rest of the evening. This involved a couple of tubes and one bus. Footwear change on the bus, so that Dr Shoe's neighbours had nothing to twitch curtains at on arrival.

The evening was spent eating home-delivered pizza (we didn't let the pizza delivery boy in the door, or even a look in the hallway, as by then there were about 20 pairs of size 8 and 9 high heels strewn around the room), drinking Stella, ignoring the television, chatting with Ruth (Dr Shoes other half) and later on viewing and trying on some of the massive collection of heels that the Doc has accumulated over the years. Many well known styles from Pleaser, Faith, Barratts, and so on were recognsed as soon as they came out of the many boxes. We also found out that he had a few pairs acquired via ebay and such like that were too small, and after some trying on of shoes, and brisk, good-natured, haggling, several items changed hands for a fraction of their new new price. One pair had three interested parties after them, with the eventual buyer offering first refusal to the others if he changes his mind in the coming weeks. One pair caught my eye too, were for sale as too small, but at Size 8 were a little too big for me. We all tried the pair of 7 inch metal heeled shoes, and the metallic ice-skate type platform shoes too.

At some time after 11 it was time for everyone to make their way home, or back to their hotels or B&B for the night.

This was a great day out, and maybe a few more might be tempted next time too.

[new_look]

I was quite disappointed i couldnt make it to the good Docs house. It seemed a shame to refuse such a gracious invitation. I wouldve enjoyed joining in the shoe sampling, however i had to sort my travel mess out. Just to add to my luck, i had my phone pickpocketed at Kings Cross and i didnt even realise until i was back at Doncaster. The transport police somehow managed to catch them however, (didnt say how) and rang my house from my mobile, and ive gotts pay a tenner to get it back. It appears that i must have had to much good feelings, that extreme bad had to happen to balance to a normal day I think my heels must have found too many lines of 3 grates Daz