The High Heeled Ruminations Of Melrose Plant

[mlroseplant]

Hello all, I have been considering starting a "jaunts" type thread for some time, but I don't really "do" jaunts. In other words, I don't ever dress up for the sole purpose of going out dressed up. I just simply go about my everyday life wearing heels and usually close-fitting women's jeans. So, in light of that, I thought I would start a thread which will feature probably rather random thoughts about high heels and perhaps other traditionally women's fashion that I might like to incorporate into my wardrobe.

I have decided to start this thread with an introduction, or re-introduction, rather than jumping right in with thoughts and insights into the world of a male who likes to wear high heels.

My name is not actually Melrose Plant, that is a work nickname which has fallen into disuse over the years. However, it persists on the Internet, as I prefer it to my current work nickname, Squirrel. I am married and I have two sons, aged 6 and 16. The boys are fine with my choice of footwear, even the teenager. My wife tolerates it, but I am sure she wouldn't mind a bit if I decided one day to throw all my heels away. That ain't gonna happen.

As I said, I plan to share random thoughts about wearing high heels and perhaps other traditionally women's clothing from time to time, and I hope it becomes an interesting thread. I welcome all comments and opinions.

[w6ish]

i like your words:  "close fitting women's jeans". 

amusing!

 

looking forward to reading your words.

[mtnsofheels]

Looking forward to your random thoughts Miroseplant.

Think on!

 

Cheers,

[mlroseplant]

My first random thought: I have read many an article which recommends that if you must wear high heels, you shouldn't wear them every day, and you should severely limit your time in them, wearing them only on special occasions, as if heel wearing were a bad habit that must be kept under control. I couldn't disagree more.

The problem with this advice is that if one only wears heels occasionally, one will never become any good at walking in them. I compare it to ballet dancing or playing music. If you don't practice often (which means every day at a professional level), you will lose skill level rapidly. I experience this every year when I travel to Vietnam for three weeks to visit my wife's family, and I am not allowed to wear high heels (and rightfully so--I don't think I would enjoy myself in that environment as a man in heels anyway--they are not yet ready for it).

Although I have only three years experience wearing heels on a regular basis, when I come back from my visit, I always feel a bit awkward in heels for a couple of weeks until I get back in practice. Let's face it--wearing high heels is an athletic skill which must be practiced often if one is to exhibit any grace and style and endurance.

I would be mortified if I ruined an outing because I chose to wear 5 inch heels, and then had to limit the group's activities because I couldn't hack the walking. You don't get to that level by limiting your time in heels, as many suggest.

[w6ish]

i totally agree: practice does make perfect with heels!

[Rob]

if one only wears heels occasionally, one will never become any good at walking in them.

I agree.

I remember that back in the 80's the majority of younger women wore 2-3" high heels on a day to day basis. At parties & events they would wear 4" heels and the shoes didn't appear to cause them any issues.

Nowadays the majority of younger women wear flats on a day to day basis, and for parties and events wear 4" & higher heels (often with platforms) and I see so many of them staggering about or walking like robots as they clearly don't have any "heel wearing skills".

[Guest]

I am like you. I don't dress up just to go out in heels. I try to go about my everyday life but in heels.

My 15 yr old son knows what I wear but says nothing. My older daughter has to know but may be in denial. I think our good 45 yr old female friend that lived with us for over a yr has to know. Especially since she put on a pair of my 4.5in boots and asked why are these so big. She and my wife are a size 6.5.

I am far from looking like a woman but I do wear the jeans and heels.

[mlroseplant]

I get a lọt more attention in skinny jeans than I do in boot cut jeans. In spite of this, I prefer the skinny jeans because I only wear mules/slides during the summer, and it's so much easier not having to deal with my pant legs getting caught up in my shoes. It's also a lot easier to deal with the attention when you've got a wife, a kid, and a really hot female college student in tow. Long story.....

[AZShoeNut]

Really hot female college student in tow...

I'm curious and totally game for a long story.

:-)

Larry

[Steve63130]

Mlroseplant,

 

I can tell I'm going to enjoy this thread! Yes, I'm up for a long story, too!

 

Steve

[mlroseplant]

It's not nearly as exciting as I have made it sound, though I haven't told any lies or exaggerated anything.

A couple of years ago, I teceived a telephone call from a friend who works in the P.R. department of our local college. He said he had a freshman student in his office from Hanoi, Vietnam, and he thought she was feeling rather homesick. He knows that my wife is also from Hanoi, and thought that perhaps we might consider inviting her over to our house. We did so, and although she doesn't come around too much during the school year, it has come to pass that she has been hanging around here a lot lately, now that all her friends have gone home for the summer. We also take her out to eat or do other activities quite often. She's cuter than a baby bunny.

She seems to accept my heel wearing without question, which I find extraordinary. She's evidently never even mentioned anything to my wife, because if she had done so, I'd have heard about it, believe me (Rolls eyes).

Now for the bad news. When we first met her, she almost always wore heels, like a great number of young Vietnamese girls do. Now that she's been in the U.S. a couple of years, she does not. I was teasing her the other day--"How DARE you show up to my house wearing Crocs!" She took it in good humor.

Even in Crocs, she's a wonderful young lady. Serious, very intelligent, and with a sense of humor that transcends cultural differences. Besides, how can you not like a really cute girl who sounds ever-so-slightly like Cookie Monster when she speaks?

[jetheelsfan]

...if one only wears heels occasionally, one will never become any good at walking in them. ..

 

Sadly, that seems to be a very true statement.  Those who have "mastered" the process appear to be "gliding gracefully as they flow" while others look like they are on the boiling rapids.

Some of it also seemes to be a "problem" with choice of style.  When there is a platform involved, the flexibility of the foot is decreased and lack of practice really is obvious.  Just saw a video of a graduation ceremony where a young lady was "clomping" along and finally lost control and wobbled stumbling for 12 seconds before she finally lost the battle with gravity.  She was not graceful or skilled - imho.

On the otherhand, I had the joy of watching an older lady who appeared to be wearing 3 to 4 inch stiletto pumps under her pants leg who looked like she was floating along with fluid movement.  She was shopping with her husband in a big box store and dressed rather casually.  My guess is she just wore heels consistantly instead of ocassionally for the special occasion. 

As I was a child, it was normal to see the ladies and moms of friends in some type of daily heeled footware.  That was part of feminity then and was practiced.  Some changes have not been good for the male enjoyment of observation.  During some of my interaction with female sales associates at Payless, it has been amazing how many have stated, "I cannot wear heels."  I have not delved into asking "why?"  I have been a long time fan of watching the walk in heels and so seldome see that "special" movement created by the proper wearing of heels.

[robbiehhw]

I've been wearing heels for the better part of 20 yrs - more in the last decade - easily 4 days a week. I put them on when i dress and take them off sometime after coming in the house. The more you wear, the more comfortable you become.

[mlroseplant]

It seems that indeed some shoes weren't made for walking. I have several pairs of shoes which have not held up very well under the rigors of actual walking, and none of them are terribly cheap shoes. All of them are shoes which most people (ok, most women) would not consider walking 3 or 4 blocks in, much less miles. I guess the manufacturers never figured anyone could actually wear them like normal shoes.

[mlroseplant]

How ironic. Now that I've started my own thread, I find myself unable to post much, due to working an insane number of hours, which also means little time for wearing heels.

I can tell you that all of the new, higher heels I've bought recently feel very awkward after just a few weeks of not being able to wear them a lot. I still feel very comfortable in shoes with a rise of 4 inches or less, but my newer shoes, which are steeper than that, well, I'll have to start over again with them when I get time. Two steps forward and three steps back.

[robbiehhw]

Like you, my daily wear is women's jeans ( i actually own zero male clothes, unless you count a couple pieces that i saved for sentimental value), i prefer skinny jeans and i probably wear heels 4 days a week.  I have a lot of other style jeans but nothing other than leggings/jeggings shows of nice shoes like skinny jeans.

 

I've seen the culottes  and flair jeans coming back into style and i've started to buy some of those styles, which make it rather hard to highlight the shoes. I guess we'll have to go to 70s style platform wear.

[mlroseplant]

I hate to admit it, but I chickened out last night. Once a month, there is a fairly sizable motorcycle rally in our town. A male friend and I decided to go on the spur of the moment, to drink some beer and see the sights.

I had been working all day outside in oppressive heat, and I decided I didn't have the energy to be the recipient of any unwanted attention, so I chose my leather flip flops instead of heels. The flip flops are thin strapped and thin soled, and are slightly girly anyway. Paired with skinny jeans and a deep royal purple t-shirt, I was not exactly "normal" for that lot, but I didn't get any stares that I noticed. Of course, I was walking around with a big muscle bound guy wearing a tank top with pink flamingos on it, so that's to be expected. He got all the attention.

I did notice that I really don't feel all that comfortable in flats any more, and I kind of wish I had worn heels after all, but oh well. There were quite a few gals in heels out there to look at. Some of them even looked tasteful. Not all, however. Consider the venue.

[SF]

You?  Chicken out??  What?  Now here's a guy who plays b-ball in heels at a party, then won't wear heels to a m/c rally.  Geezzz….   OK, I'm just joking, I have those times when I just "chicken out" too.  But, like you - I still wear heels or flat gals shoes….  

Gotta have some fun at least….   Take care…  sf

[mlroseplant]

I tried something new this morning. After chickening out last week at Bike Night, I wanted to try a little bit of a different look to regain my confidence. I usually wear a suit and tie to church (with heels, of course), but during the summer months, I often dress a bit more casually, as does almost everyone.

What made today different was 1), I went for a monochromatic look, complete with shoes I never thought I could wear in public, and 2), I wore straight-cut pants hemmed just below the ankle, so that the entire shoe was visible at all times. Not quite "skinny" cut, but definitely not a boot cut. I received no comment whatever, but it's not so much different from what I usually wear, so that's not a big surprise.

The sandals are Ralph Lauren "Safara." They have a 4 1/2 inch heel with a 1 inch platform. They are very easy to wear all day, anywhere. I have another pair of Safaras in tan that I've worn just about everywhere. I didn't think I could wear the natural snakeskin print, but they really seemed to go with this outfit.

I welcome your comments and criticism about this outfit.

[Steve63130]

Mlroseplant,

 

Those are great looking shoes. You have a trim figure for them and they suit you well. The color blends well, too. I'm sure the snake wasn't happy about it, but as long as you like them, that's what matters!

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Steve

[mlroseplant]

Thanks, Steve. Your comments carry a great deal of weight with me, because I know they are sincere.

In other news, I made a video of myself this morning, walking in heels. When I first started wearing high heels in public, some three years ago, I used to film myself quite a bit, in order to see what I really looked like. These videos turned out to be quite useful for adjusting the way in which I walked, which at first was quite awful.

I haven't taken a video of myself in a couple of years, but this morning, instead of doing my back exercises (I've suffered from work related back pain in the past), I made a video of myself walking in the garage. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am WAY better at walking in heels than I imagined. I have studied many videos of women walking, as well as a couple of men, and I know what I like, and what I don't.

I am unfortunately handicapped with bowlegs, but I have largely learned over the past three years to compensate for it. I prefer an athletic walk, with longer strides than many take in heels. I need to get from Point A to Point B in a reasonable amount of time. Ideally, I would like to have the heel of my trailing foot come off the ground before the heel of my leading foot hits the ground. I am not quite there yet, but I am very close. I am probably over-analyzing, but that is in my nature.

Overall, I am pleased with what I see, and I will likely continue to wear pants that show off my heels more often.

[Steve63130]

Mlroseplant,

 

Good analysis! The only way you can impove is to measure, compare to a standard or set point, and work on getting there. Doing it by video recording and watching yourself afterward is a great method. I would do that, but I'm kinda lazy, so I look at my reflection in big picture windows when I pass them. I try to maintain good posture and not to slouch. I don't have bowlegs, but I do have scoliosis (crooked spine - born with it - blame my mother). Occasionally I get lower back pain but not too often.

 

Keep up the good progress!

 

Steve

[HappyinHeels]

mlroseplant-  Firstly, if you wore those clear sandals, and didn't get noticed in Iowa you have cleared any possible excuse for "chickening out". Secondly, the advice practice makes perfect is true in just about everything. If, in your electrician training you stopped at learning how to wire a simple interior outlet you never would have learned four-way switches, 220, 3-phase power and other advanced applications. Lack of exposure (practice) at anything you wish to master will always leave you wanting but short of the goal. I have never filmed myself but have universally told I walk well in heels and I don't wear anything under 5". The idea is a good one though if for no other reason to see how certain outfits and heels sit on me as I walk.

[Tech]

I welcome your comments and criticism about this outfit.

 

The shoes say "Red carpet after party" yet from the ankle upwards it says "Bank manager tidying his garage on a day off"..

Total mis-match, its not a good look...

 

If your going to wear sharp shoes that scream style, please, at least make the rest of it match too...

Its worse than seeing people in a razor sharp suit wearing trainers or sandals and socks...

 

This look just screams "shoe fetish" as its obvious your just wearing the shoes for shoes sake, and not because your a fashion guru, which in turn will give off totally the wrong vibes..

 

Some smart black jeans and a "plain" shirt (Not tucked in so tight it looks like your shirt will get sucked into your pants) would be better..

Also, it looks like your a red-head? Go with dark browns/blacks in plain, not stripes...

 

Confident attempt, now try again :-)

[LuvyourShoes]

I enjoyed the pics!! Very nice indeed. The shoes are cool!

[Steve63130]

After Tech's critique of your outfit, Mlroseplant, I went back and looked at your photo again. While I was not put off by your outfit, on second consideration, I think Tech has some good points. The jeans and shirt are casual, but the shoes are much more formal, so there is a bit of a disconnect there. I agree that smart black jeans or black dress pants, with a plain polo shirt, maybe in gray, off-white, or light tan to pick up colors in the shoes, would be an improvement. So would a silver bracelet and a neck chain. The jewelry would be accessories that would create a more elegant look without femininizing you at all. So I think Tech has offered some valid advice and I would encourage you to try his suggestions. And if you want to take another photo, we could check it out and offer further constructive criticism.

 

Steve

[mlroseplant]

It just so happens that I have a pair of black pants which are pretty much identical to the gray pants I am wearing in the photo. I'm also sure I have a solid color polo hanging around somewhere. Perhaps I'll try another photo sometime, and we'll see how it looks.

The reason I chose the gray pants (other than the fact that they were already ironed and the black ones weren't) is that I was going for a sort of monochromatic look. Evidently, some like it all right, and some don't. No biggie.

[mlroseplant]

I have another photo to show, but it's not an evolution of the last photo, as I had originally contemplated. I would reckon that if you didn't like the last one, you probably ain't gonna like this one either. I seized another opportunity to debut another pair of new shoes at church, and another pair of sandals.

First, the shoes: Charles David, model name unknown, 5 1/4 inch heels, 3/4 platforms. They are my one and only pair of slingbacks. Surprisingly comfortable. However, the manufacturer seems to have chinced out on the quality of the soles, probably figuring that nobody would ever actually walk any distance in them. The soles are ridiculously thin leather, and will probably not last another 5 miles. I will have to visit the cobbler soon. The heel tips are actually faring better than the soles, believe it or not. The pants are women's Faded Glory (Walmart brand) bootcut chinos. The shirt is a men's button down, some Vietnamese export brand, probably purchased in Vietnam, where they make men's clothes that actually fit me.

As usual, nobody really reacted to my outfit. I thought that a couple of teenaged girls were giggling at me at one point, but after several minutes of careful but discreet observation, I don't think so. Phones were out, but they never pointed my direction at all, not even for a second. If they did notice me, I guess I wasn't that interesting. The old folks have long ago quit reacting in any overt way. Many of these people have known me for 40+ years, and they're way more interested in other things than what I'm wearing.

I do still find it almost awkward being so tall. I've never suffered from Short Man's Syndrome, and it seems kind of unnatural to me to look waaaaay down to the 5-foot-nothing old ladies. Here are the photos:

On edit: I have my 6 year old son take my photos, and he does a reasonably good job, but somehow the photo quality suffers between my phone and uploading it to this site. I wonder why?

[LuvyourShoes]

I personally love this look. I too have not ventured over to womens tops, but I most certainly enjoy womens jeans to the fullest. I'd like some khakis like yours as well.

Plus the shoes are awesome!

We'll done!

[Steve63130]

Mlroseplant,

 

I like those sandals a lot. They suit you well. I think that whole outfit is better than the previous one. Again the shoes are formal, but the outfit this time is less casual. The shirt is more of a dress shirt than a sport shirt, and the khakis are better than the gray jeans you wore. I prefer the bootcut style on a guy. So I don't find the disconnect evident that Tech pointed out in the earlier outfit. Tech, what's your take on this outfit, better?

 

Steve