I ' Lost ' it. A Shoe Expedition.

[ilikekicks]

This isnt really about ' high heels ', but womens footware none the less. Ive been gabbing with a few people from the site here that I have confidence in about a certain element of my life, my personality or ' being '. So.. I thought I would offer this to everyone as its not how I usually ' am ' and Im rather sure of myself when I feel others can have a VERY serious ' relation ' to what happened with me. Dr. Shoe.. do NOT ban me/kill me for this one ok? Onward with the story.. Im out shopping for a pair of UGG Boots for a family member. Her mother refuses to spend ' good money ' on shoes for a high-school aged girl as ' They will only get wrecked or she will outgrow them.. '. Shes had several pairs of the knock-off's or imitations. They get destroyed but she hasnt outgrown them. So, Darian and I are out galavanting the stores looking for a certain style/color of UGG Boots. Both of us are wearing UGG boots ( Its cold this time of year here ), Im wearing jeans and a shorter-type jacket. We went into the first store and a Gentleman came up ' Can I help you ladies with anything? ' I turned and just stated ' Yes, Im looking for a pair of dark grey boots, style 5816 in dark grey.. ' " Sorry, I didnt realise you were a guy. Hey, your wearing our boots.. " ' Yes, warm, dry, comfortable.. Im looking for a pair in size 8.5 for a gift for the holidays.. ' I was cut off. ".. Those are from the ladies line that your wearing, did you know that? ". ' Yes, and they fit rather well and I really like them. Do you have a pair of.. ' cutoff again.. I didnt even hear what he was saying.. I just walked out. If the guy wants to have a conversation, he can have it with himself. It would probably be a better conversation then the one he would have had with me. 3 or 4 stores down, yet another place that carries UGG boots! We're looking around " Excuse me miss.. " I turned around " Oh sorry sir! I didnt realize.. " ' Its ok, happens all too often. Do you carry.. ' Interrupted again.. " I love your hair " ' Yes, its brown, isnt it? ' I smiled HOPING she would get the gist.. It was Darians turn to be ' rude ' ' Were looking for a pair of UGG Boots, size 8.5 in Dark grey. Do you have them, yes or no please.. ' " Umm.. sure! I think so! Let me go look for you! " Next thing I know, half the younger ladies in this store are sorta watching me. It wasnt like they were seeing if I was going to steal anything, but they were watching me.. The salesgirl came back with the correct boot, wrong color, wrong size. I thanked her and off we went to the next store.. We went to so many stores and FINALLY when it was very close to closing time, made it into one of the last stores in the whole mall. It was vacant outside of Darian and I. Darian and I were looking on the shelves and boxes and noticed that NONE of the boots were in a half-size. The sales woman came over and asked " Is everything OK? " I turned around and stated ' Yes, but could you help us.. '. She was rather tall, clearly 7 or 8 inches taller then myself and looked a bit ' disproportionate '. " Is there any particular style or color your looking for? " Deep voice. Its a guy. No big deal. ' Yes actually. Im looking for a size 8.5.. dark grey, the boots with the laces up the back.. ' " I dont think they make half sizes at all in UGG brands. " he/she seemed very unshure. " Lemme check, be right back! ". Very friendly and outgoing. While we were waiting, 3 younger girls came in and started looking around. When the salesperson returned, all 3 of the younger girls started laughing and ( more or less ) being rude/making un-needed comments. I could tell the comments were taking their toll on the salesperson and I was just so fed-up, I did something that I normally dont care to do. As soon as I turned to look at them, one of them said ' Oh my god! Look! Theres 2 of them! '. " Yeah, and this ones gonna need a new pair of boots as Im about to break this one off in your ass! " They all left, rather rapidly without the smiles on their faces if I might add. I apologized for the ' scene ' I made to the salesperson and found out her name was ' Kim '. We started gabbing and she kept smiling and I had to ask ' why are you smiling? I havent bought anything *yet* ? ' " To be honest.. I thought.. well.. " and we all laughed. I didnt know UGG made other footwear outside of the ' Classic Tall ' boots. They make these clogs and wedge boots.. They did have the exact boots I was looking for in a size 9. A good pair of socks will take up that half-size! Score one for me! I spent almost a grand AFTER Kims discount. It was good that there was an individual out there whom didnt care what I was wearing and was actually polite and courteous. We exchanged phone numbers with Kim and plan on having an evening with her for dinner or entertainment sometime soon. So.. I wound up in trouble with the Cops/Bobbies. Heres what happened! Were leaving. We were parked WAY out in the parking lot. Ice is all over. UGG Boots + ICE = Bad! No traction at all! Boxes went flying everywhere when some idiot almost ran me over! The guy stopped and got out of his car ' Whats wrong with you, stupid broad! ' Thats all it took.. I was just so bent from the whole evenings affair ( aside from Kims store ) That I really wanted to just.. The cops patrolling the mall must have seen the brake lights and the boxes flying and thought someone was hit.. they were there almost instantly! I dunno if it was Darians comments or my yelling that caused the cops to tell us both to ' park your ass on the ground, now ' and told the guy that almost hit me the same thing.. They listened to what the guy said and what Darian was telling the woman Officer questioning us.. I had nothing to say as I might say something very bad and get in some serious trouble as its not good to make a threat about someone when the cops are right there. So.. My butt is getting cold because it melted the ice and I was then sitting in a puddle.. Finally the other Officer sent the guy on his way and came back to us.. " You ladies appear to be alright.. " " Piss OFF! " was all I could muster while Darian grabbed me and helped calm me down. They both ( Officers ) apologized and even helped collect and pack all those boxes and load them into Darians car. The woman officer was nice and told me ' Im surprised to actually see a guy.. I mean.. your actually dressed very decently and you appear to take good care of yourself and.. well.. ' She was nervous? Why? ' I thought you were a woman myself. Sorry about that, I told my partner I would speak with you 2 in case.. ' I was done being mad at this point. " It just gets VERY old and happened all night long in the mall. I come out here and the guy driving that car almost runs me over and calls me a stupid broad.. theres just too many asshats in society these days.. ". She laughed and we went on our way, stopping at a local coffee shop we frequent where everyone knows us.. no ' mistakes ' at all in there! Tonight made me realize in a most sincere way that : The Moral of the story is : Dont be anything your not. I've given it a lot of thought lately ( and have conversed with others about their opinions/reflections ) and have realized when out and about in what some might refer to as the ' other genders ' attire, People may genuinely mistake you for something we arent. Being mistaken is NOT a bad thing. It does NOT mean at all that ( not being offensive to anyone, if it seem such, my apology in advance ) you have some type of social or medical problems. It doesnt mean your trying to be a woman if thats not what your intentions really are. Others MAY not be ready to deal with what you present and if they make a mistake, they might become curious. If you feel uncomfortable, its not ' wrong ' to walk away if you feel the need to. It is ' alright ' for others to mistake you as what a lot of us do isnt all that ' common ', though it seems to be gaining popularity ( and the more the better!!! ). Thanks for reading! ILK. ( Damn, just realized the acronym for my username here spells something horrible.. )

[Shafted]

Tonight made me realize in a most sincere way that :

The Moral of the story is : Dont be anything your not. I've given it a lot of thought lately ( and have conversed with others about their opinions/reflections ) and have realized when out and about in what some might refer to as the ' other genders ' attire, People may genuinely mistake you for something we arent.

Being mistaken is NOT a bad thing. It does NOT mean at all that ( not being offensive to anyone, if it seem such, my apology in advance ) you have some type of social or medical problems. It doesnt mean your trying to be a woman if thats not what your intentions really are.

Others MAY not be ready to deal with what you present and if they make a mistake, they might become curious. If you feel uncomfortable, its not ' wrong ' to walk away if you feel the need to. It is ' alright ' for others to mistake you as what a lot of us do isnt all that ' common ', though it seems to be gaining popularity ( and the more the better!!! ).

Thanks for reading!

ILK.

( Damn, just realized the acronym for my username here spells something horrible.. )

This says alot about you ilikekicks. You have discovered a basic truth that not everyone knows.

It's absolutely okay for people to make mistakes. I think that most people will correct themselves once they realize their mistake. In your case I can see where it might get old but that's just peoples social conditioning at work. It's not their fault. Those that use their own minds as opposed to social conditioning are pretty cool. They may love the way your dressed or not, but they will still be cool with it.

I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt as it's outside of their experience. That means we must always try to remain cool, calm and collected. Be cordial and answer all questions honestly even if we find them a bit insulting or repetative. Try to put them at ease. Attacking social standards outright doesn't work. Giving them the ammunition to attack the social standards in their own mind is how it's done.

People will always first make a judgement based on appearance. What we need to do is give them a different thing to make a judgement on (like who we are). I know for a fact that there are many more people aware of me in public than have seen me. As I try to leave people with a favorable impression of me I know that those others are hearing mostly the favorable comments. To be in control mentally is how I somehow managed to control other peoples impression of me.

I hope this makes sense. I feel like I'm rambling.

[ilikekicks]

Thanks for the input Shafted. You hit the nail right on the head about people making mistakes. The issue I was having were different people were all making the exact same mistake. It makes me think *I* am wrong somehow.. If its just ' me ' and 509 others saying something is different, its best to take another look at our position to make sure we know what were doing. Call it the ' Law of numbers ' or ' tyranny of the majority ' if you will

[ilikekicks]

I have a GREAT UPDATE! Darian and I went back to Kims store, when we first walked in, there was a guy buying a pair of over the knee stiletto boots. He seemed very gabby and we conversed. He MIGHT come to the site here as I did give him the url. Kim, Darian and I did go out for a late dinner and talked. Kim said there are quite a few men purchasing heels. The majority state they are for their wives.. in sizes 11 and 12 US Womens though? Some openly try them on and just buy them without question. Kim stated about 1 in 7 or 8 men whom buy heels from her store are ( in her opinion ) buying them for themselves. Granted, more Women shop there then men do on a wide scale, but she believes that theres a larger ' cult ' of men out there whom are into heeling but just dont care to let anyone know about it. This is all good news if ya ask me . The oddity that I injected into our conversation is her store is in a busy mall with HUGE glass windows that dont allow much privacy. Her store also sells mid to top labels ( YSL, BCBG.. Not CL's nor Pleasers, but most of their products run between 80-450$ from what I have seen ). Not to many people are going to spend that much on a pair of footware just to wear in their house without anyone knowing. I sort-of have a feeling that about 1 in 20 men actually wera or have worn heels at some point be it for a costume or as a pleasure/fashion statement/' everyday ' kind of thing. What I think it all boils down to is that there are probably more men that wear heels or fashionable footware then we all might believe. Such is GREAT news!

[Shafted]

I have a GREAT UPDATE!

Darian and I went back to Kims store, when we first walked in, there was a guy buying a pair of over the knee stiletto boots. He seemed very gabby and we conversed. He MIGHT come to the site here as I did give him the url.

Kim, Darian and I did go out for a late dinner and talked.

Kim said there are quite a few men purchasing heels. The majority state they are for their wives.. in sizes 11 and 12 US Womens though? Some openly try them on and just buy them without question.

Kim stated about 1 in 7 or 8 men whom buy heels from her store are ( in her opinion ) buying them for themselves. Granted, more Women shop there then men do on a wide scale, but she believes that theres a larger ' cult ' of men out there whom are into heeling but just dont care to let anyone know about it.

This is all good news if ya ask me .

The oddity that I injected into our conversation is her store is in a busy mall with HUGE glass windows that dont allow much privacy. Her store also sells mid to top labels ( YSL, BCBG.. Not CL's nor Pleasers, but most of their products run between 80-450$ from what I have seen ). Not to many people are going to spend that much on a pair of footware just to wear in their house without anyone knowing.

I sort-of have a feeling that about 1 in 20 men actually wera or have worn heels at some point be it for a costume or as a pleasure/fashion statement/' everyday ' kind of thing.

What I think it all boils down to is that there are probably more men that wear heels or fashionable footware then we all might believe.

Such is GREAT news!

It's great that you were able to talk to that guy and let him know about us. I've always thought that there were more of us out there that we are not aware of.

[Walkonit]

What I think it all boils down to is that there are probably more men that wear heels or fashionable footware then we all might believe.

I totally agree with you. Statistics tells us that those who are highly visible, famous or well known in an activity represent only the tip of the iceberg. In the case of heeling we could interpret that as the members of this forum only represent the tip of the iceberg.

It's also interesting to see the number of internet shops out there selling larger sizes of high heels that clearly mainly cater for men. They sem to stay in business so must be selling plenty.

Is there anybody on the forum who has the sales numbers from such an internet shop to give us an idea of how popular high heels for men realy are?

[ilikekicks]

I dont know about the internet, but I just called Kim ( Shes at work ) to see if theres any way she can track ' sales by size ' to see what sizes are sold. I dont think its a fair presumption to think every size 10 ( or bigger ) sold was bought by a man nor size 9.5 and smaller by women. Im just curious about the numbers in general.

[spikesmike]

ilikekicks The remark about "More people out there, wearing high heels" has more truth to it than you may know. I was in Meijers the other day (12-15-2011) to do some photo printing. I was wearing a dark blue jean skirt and jacket w/ a red shirt to match my Red 6" high heel ankle boots-w/ spurs. On my way to the photo department, I passed the BANK that is in that store. One of the tellers called me over to ask about my high heels and attire. While talking to the tellers, a young woman (about 20yrs old) standing at the next tellers window ask where I purchaed my boots. She actually made the remark that they turned her ON. I gave her the information, and as it turned out her boyfriend wears high heels too. I then gave her the HHPlace info. also. I am hoping the young couple get in touch. Foot note: I will be wearing this outfit to the New York High heel Meet in March. I hope to see and talk to all of you there. Spikesmike

[BobHH]

Look at Payless on line - the size 13 women's heels are often the first size to be sold out.

[Walkonit]

Look at Payless on line - the size 13 women's heels are often the first size to be sold out.

I've noticed that as well, but also noticed that shoe sales often contain a lot of large sizes. Perhaps they only stock comparitively few large sizes.