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The High Heeled Ruminations Of Melrose Plant


mlroseplant

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A little bit off the subject of heels--I decided to get my kid, soon to turn 11, a decent pair of dress shoes. He is U.S. Men's size 6 now, which I have always found frustrating when it comes to buying shoes. I am size 7, and that's hard enough when it comes to buying a decent pair of shoes. I looked through the "big kids" section, and the selection was just terrible. Clunky, square-toed, plastic awfulness. Then I thought, "You idiot! Why not get him some used women's shoes, size 8 on ebay, just the same as you do for yourself?"

After just a few minutes of searching, I came up with these Cole Haan oxfords, which are much more attractive and much higher quality than any of the stuff they have for "big kids." They look like they were barely worn. For about the same price I would have paid for that junk. No wonder younger boys don't like to dress up anymore!

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5 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Why not get him some used women's shoes, size 8 on ebay, just the same as you do for yourself?"

Nice shoes.  From what I understand, Cole Haan is a good brand.  I've never been a consumer yet though.  Will you tell him they are manufactured for women?  

Edited by kneehighs

Feminine Style .  Masculine Soul.  Skin In The Game.

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Happy 2020 to All,

I believe we are all greater than the sum of a few misplaced labels. Such a discussion with women wearing pants and shirts and shoes clearly bought from the men's side of the aisle would never be held because, you know, women can wear whatever they want. How is it different with men??? Wear just the heels, mix it with a cardigan, or some skinny  jeans, or a long coat, or go all out and wear them with a skirt or a dress. An expression of one gender to emulate the other via clothing choices need not be met with suspicion or derision. Anyone seriously feeling threatened by one gender wearing clothing normally associated with the other gender has some insecurity issues which may well be their undoing. Freedom of expression is an easy sell when one immerses oneself in group think but the world at large is not like that. If we had no trailblazers then we, in all likelihood, would have little if any freedom. Dare to be different and live your life on YOUR terms.  Those who are secure in their own identity and place in the world should be no obstacle to you rather they may indeed be an inspiration. It all starts with that first step out the door. HappyinHeels

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17 hours ago, kneehighs said:

Nice shoes.  From what I understand, Cole Haan is a good brand.  I've never been a consumer yet though.  Will you tell him they are manufactured for women?  

He won't care. This is the kid who wore his mother's snow boots to school when we were surprised to find that his boots from last year were much too small. I even considered getting him some "Harry Styles" height heels, of which there are MANY in that oxford style (no pun intended). But nah, now's not the time.

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I have really been slacking lately. I haven't been exercising, and particularly I haven't been exercising my feet. This was driven home last Sunday when I had to attend all three church services because I was substituting in the band(s). I was at the church for five hours, much of the time standing. I don't often make a choice about my footwear based on things like this, but I sure should have this time. I chose to wear my Nine West Plantera loafer pumps, which have been a perennial favorite, but I have to admit that by the time I got home, I was ready to take those suckers off! In the past, they have been all day shoes with no problem, but I see I am no longer worthy of them. And yet, here I am, complaining to people on the internet about it, instead of doing something about it.

Planterasml.JPG

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Well, exercise time may be coming as a possible storm arrives in the Midwest Friday into Saturday. Winter has been largely absent for the last five weeks just like last year. Of course last year we were visited by the polar vortex and I would swear "Life Below Zero" was being filmed right in my yard as the temperature reached -31F on 31 January. So sharpen those shovels as it may be needed. I have been doing some work in the basement as it has been a little breezy here. HinH

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On 1/4/2020 at 3:12 AM, mlroseplant said:

I made a reply to this conversation some 15 hours ago, but for whatever reason, it was censored, subject to the approval of a moderator. I have my suspicions about why, perhaps I used a certain word too many times in one post, but you guys know me, the reply contained nothing even approaching inappropriate. I shall wait this out to see what happens.

Rather than just having suspicions, which only EVER breed negativity, why dont you just ask and clear the air? Drop me a PM and I'll tell you. :-)

Heels for Men // Legwear Fashion // HHPlace Guidelines

If something doesn't look right, please report the content ASAP!

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On 1/8/2020 at 5:43 AM, HappyinHeels said:

Well, exercise time may be coming as a possible storm arrives in the Midwest Friday into Saturday. Winter has been largely absent for the last five weeks just like last year. Of course last year we were visited by the polar vortex and I would swear "Life Below Zero" was being filmed right in my yard as the temperature reached -31F on 31 January. So sharpen those shovels as it may be needed. I have been doing some work in the basement as it has been a little breezy here. HinH

Yup, we got snow, but not as much as they were threatening. More concerning is the thick layer of ice we got before the snow. I actually wore almost low heels (2 1/4") to the grocery store yesterday. I guess I'm getting more timid in my old age.

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3 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

Yup, we got snow, but not as much as they were threatening. More concerning is the thick layer of ice we got before the snow. I actually wore almost low heels (2 1/4") to the grocery store yesterday. I guess I'm getting more timid in my old age.

I don’t recall if you’ve ever mentioned this before, but in the snow/ice conditions, have you ever considered getting some wedge boots that have a more traction friendly sole? You could still achieve a 3-4” heel height and hopefully have better traction in less than stellar walking conditions.

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19 hours ago, KneeBooted said:

I don’t recall if you’ve ever mentioned this before, but in the snow/ice conditions, have you ever considered getting some wedge boots that have a more traction friendly sole? You could still achieve a 3-4” heel height and hopefully have better traction in less than stellar walking conditions.

I did have a pair of Dr. Martens wedge boots at one time which would have been ok for snowy/icy weather, but I got rid of them a long time ago. It's been so long ago that I can't remember why I got rid of them. I wound up wearing a pair of cheap rain boots to the grocery store which have a slight wedge to them, maybe a little over 2". I just bought some clogs that are wedge heeled, and I wore those out yesterday, except to church, where I wore my giant Nine West platform loafers. Got some comments on those to the effect of "You're an idiot for wearing shoes like that in these conditions." Eh, it wasn't so bad.

I probably won't make a wedge boot purchase for this year, but I might consider it in the future. The only thing about wedges is that they don't leave very attractive footprints in the snow. It just looks like a person with freakishly small and oddly shaped feet has passed that way.

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It's not much to do with heels, but my younger son just had his first school band concert last night. I didn't figure going to listen to 128 beginning wind players play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" would be all that thrilling, and I wasn't too disappointed--it really wasn't all that thrilling. However, I think my wife liked it better than she likes my performances, judging from her reaction. My son, who is not visible in this picture or any other, unless somebody took one with a drone, is theoretically where the arrow is. He got to wear his new Cole Haan dress shoes, mentioned several posts above this one, Women's size 8, which fit him just fine. I think I misspoke before--they are not oxfords, but rather derbies. He was the only boy with decent looking shoes in the whole band. His saxophonist friend did outdo him by wearing a jacket, but the boys just don't dress up anymore for anything. The girls looked quite a bit better, and there were quite a few heels, believe it or not. Remember we're talking 10 to 11 year olds here, but I'd estimate that about 10% of the girls had some sort of heel on their shoes or boots. There were a lot of booties, but not all. They were all block heels without exception, and looked like they ranged in height from 1 1/2 - 2 1/2". One girl actually had on sandals with a heel. In January. Even I didn't do that! I wore my DVF wedge heeled clogs.

5thgradeconcert.jpg

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18 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

It's not much to do with heels, but my younger son just had his first school band concert last night. I didn't figure going to listen to 128 beginning wind players play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" would be all that thrilling, and I wasn't too disappointed--it really wasn't all that thrilling. However, I think my wife liked it better than she likes my performances, judging from her reaction. My son, who is not visible in this picture or any other, unless somebody took one with a drone, is theoretically where the arrow is. He got to wear his new Cole Haan dress shoes, mentioned several posts above this one, Women's size 8, which fit him just fine. I think I misspoke before--they are not oxfords, but rather derbies. He was the only boy with decent looking shoes in the whole band. His saxophonist friend did outdo him by wearing a jacket, but the boys just don't dress up anymore for anything. The girls looked quite a bit better, and there were quite a few heels, believe it or not. Remember we're talking 10 to 11 year olds here, but I'd estimate that about 10% of the girls had some sort of heel on their shoes or boots. There were a lot of booties, but not all. They were all block heels without exception, and looked like they ranged in height from 1 1/2 - 2 1/2". One girl actually had on sandals with a heel. In January. Even I didn't do that! I wore my DVF wedge heeled clogs.

Quite the cultural anthropological shoe analysis there!  Maybe you should've been an anthropologist?

Feminine Style .  Masculine Soul.  Skin In The Game.

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21 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

... He got to wear his new Cole Haan dress shoes, mentioned several posts above this one, Women's size 8, which fit him just fine. I think I misspoke before--they are not oxfords, but rather derbies.  ...

I don't think the shoes are the 'Derby' style, and certainly not 'Oxford'.   The punched overlay on the toecap indicates that they of the 'brogue' style, generally referred to in the UK as a 'full brogue' and in the US as a 'wingtip'.   

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1 hour ago, Puffer said:

I don't think the shoes are the 'Derby' style, and certainly not 'Oxford'.   The punched overlay on the toecap indicates that they of the 'brogue' style, generally referred to in the UK as a 'full brogue' and in the US as a 'wingtip'.   

I suppose there are endless possibilities to disagree about terminology, and I will cite but one example. I always thought 'brogue' referred to the little holes that are punched in the leather of the shoe, whereas 'oxford' and 'derby' referred to whether the doohickies that hold the shoelace eyelets (that's the formal term for them) are sewn underneath the vamp, or they aren't sewn underneath the vamp. So to my mind, they are indeed brogues.  .  . which also happen to be derbies.

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11 hours ago, mlroseplant said:

I suppose there are endless possibilities to disagree about terminology, and I will cite but one example. I always thought 'brogue' referred to the little holes that are punched in the leather of the shoe, whereas 'oxford' and 'derby' referred to whether the doohickies that hold the shoelace eyelets (that's the formal term for them) are sewn underneath the vamp, or they aren't sewn underneath the vamp. So to my mind, they are indeed brogues.  .  . which also happen to be derbies.

You are right in that a brogue shoe can have various types of closure, including that of a derby  (quarters and eylet tabs on top) or an oxford (eylets underneath).   But your son's shoes appear to have no  visible eyelets, so are they truly derby-brogue shoes?   Maybe they are a combination of styles that defies precise categorisation - or perhaps they could be called a 'coventry' as that city is midway between Oxford and Derby!   (Incidentally, despite Derby being an English city, in the UK we generally call the derby shoe a 'Gibson'.   Don't ask!)

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I just dropped off my wife and son at the airport. They will be in Vietnam for three weeks. For the first time ever, I will not be going with them. My job presently will not allow the freedom to take that much time off all at once. So, on the one hand, I don't have to have my Annual Farewell to Heels post, but on the other hand, I won't be able to report about heels in Asia, either. Incidentally, I did not drop them off at the airport in heels, but rather snowboots--it's THAT kind of weather, and I had to move 200 pounds worth of luggage. Luckily, they got really lucky and got out of here between snowstoms.

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I bet their clothes were just a fraction of the 200 pounds. That's just four 50 lb bags. A 50 pound bag is easy now that they have wheels.

I took 40 pounds of summer clothes to South America for my daughter and came home with 40 pounds of winter clothes.

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8 hours ago, SF said:

Two Hundred pounds of luggage??  Wow.  How many pounds of that were her shoes??  Smile....   sf

 

4 hours ago, Cali said:

I bet their clothes were just a fraction of the 200 pounds. That's just four 50 lb bags. A 50 pound bag is easy now that they have wheels.

I took 40 pounds of summer clothes to South America for my daughter and came home with 40 pounds of winter clothes.

You are right, 95% of the weight was gifts for friends and relations, as is expected in Asia. This gift giving business is a nice sentiment, but thankfully, I don't have to be a part of that nonsense this year, except for the brief use of my muscles to get the packages on the scale at home (some of us are prepared and do NOT bring overweight luggage to the ticket counter), then into the truck, and then onto the cart at the airport. We quit using suitcases years ago, now opting for heavy duty cardboard boxes. They have a much lower tare weight, and you don't worry about the airline trashing your nice luggage, probably busting one of the wheels off in the process.

 

And now, here's a sight you won't often see: Me wearing boots. Since it was so freaking cold today, and since I have two pair of perfectly nice kneehigh boots, I figured I'd better wear them. So I did. I had to clean all the spider webs off them, though.

highbootssuit.PNG

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200 Lbs of luggage on board an airline bound for Vietnam at today’s prices for excess baggage?  No wonder you have to work overtime. ;-)

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Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.

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1 hour ago, Bubba136 said:

200 Lbs of luggage on board an airline bound for Vietnam at today’s prices for excess baggage?  No wonder you have to work overtime. ;-)

Oh, no! That's included in the ticket price. 2 tickets (Mama and Son) x 2 checked bags each @ 50 lbs each = 200 lbs. Normally, with me going as well, we take 300 lbs of luggage!

3 hours ago, RonC said:

You look good in those boots - should wear them more often!

 

What I should have done is to have worn my other pair of knee high boots. This particular pair is absolutely TERRIBLE on the ice. The other pair, which cruises on ice much more easily (seems to have a grippier rubber sole and heel), is looking a bit ratty these days. 

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It has been several years since I last flown commercial anywhere.  The last time was to Chicago to attend a funeral.  I packed light for my three day trip.  One suit bag and a small carryon hand bag.  And. The airline wanted to charge me  $25.00 each to check them so I carried them with me.   Admittedly Atlanta to Chicago isn’t as far as your wife and son were traveling but I am surprised at the large amount of luggage they are allowed to carry.

Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.

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US domestic and international flights are essentially two completely different products, and even the airlines they do both have to distinct policies between the two in order to adequately compete in both.  US domestic is like a bus, international is like an overnight train.  They make it a point to make the experiences different because that is what the market will bear.  

Edited by p1ng74
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