Dr. Shoe Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 You select the style you like. You ask the assistant for your size. You then get your Mobile (cell-phone) out and pretend to dial a number. You wait a decent time for it to "connect" then have the following half conversation with yourself: Hi babe. It's me. You know those shoes/boots/sandals/etc you like, well guess what I've got in my hand? No, not those ones.. yes that's right, the [whatever] ones. Yes they have, I'm holding a pair right now. I don't know, I'll ask. you turn to the assistant and ask if they're available in another colour Yes they have/no they haven't. You're going to have to come down at the weekend and try them on. You sigh You know I don't really like doing that! You turn to the assistant and ask to try them on (you have the same size feet etc.) OK I'll do it this once, by the way, did you get to the bank at lunchtime? Oh good. Ok, I'll better go now. I love you too, bye. You need to just keep it low key, next time you genuinely talk to someone on your mobile, make a mental note of how loadly you talk and how you pitch your voice. With practice you can make it very natural. Don't forget to leave enough gaps to allow "her" to interact with you! Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 Ingenious. Jo had some other thing where you consult a text message prepared on your mobile "from gf" asking about a certain size and style. I'm afraid I just have to laugh at all these dodges though. Shopping for shoes for yourself is really so simple there is no need for it, and it can be a nice experience too. Also, these dodges do nothing to improve the attitudes of the public or indeed sales staff that it's quite a regular, open, fashion concept. Indeed, they have the opposite effect, as if they suspect the shoes were for you, then it's kind of subliminally suggesting the concept is somehow wrong, on acount of your deceit. Don't get me wrong. If that's the only way forward that works for you, I'm not going to knock it. Whatever bait lands the fish as they say. However, sales staff are not stupid. They've seen it all many times before and if you can bring yourself round to the honest way, my opinion is you'll earn more respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris100575 Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 I'm looking forward to the day I have the guts to try them on in the shop. Usually I just browse and either ask for or pick out my size. I'm getting pretty good at judging whether I need a seven or eight, and just ask if I can return them if they don't fit. I've never explicitly said that they were for me, but I've never lied about it either. That said, I once bought a pair from Evans in Stockport and the assistant asked if I wanted to try them on. I'm still kicking myself for declining, but I'm keeping an eye on their racks, and next time I'll take her up on it. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 I always try them on in the store, unless it is a stodgy conservative type store. Otherwise, I've never had a problem. The salespeople want to make a sale, they don't care to who. I've had a lot of them ask me if the shoes are for me before I even ask for a size. Depending on the store, more and more these days, I think, they have had lots of male customers. I think they know, a guy alone looking at women's shoes, that he wants them. Usually guys are looking at women's shoes only when they are with a female who is buying a pair. And a few customers have seen me trying them on; I've never had anyone freak out. They seem rather interested, as a matter of fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted March 17, 2004 Author Share Posted March 17, 2004 It's the same with me. I can't really remember a time that I haven't, especially if it's one of those places that only have one staff. However, sometimes I might pop into a shop during my tacho break so am in uniform. I seem to have a problem trying them on when in uniform, don't know why. Hence the tactic. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob2hh Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 In my modest experience, trying to excuse yourself one way or another may be a trick which only makes sense when you are buying your high heeled shoes for the first times. I did it in my first 3 occasions. I respect it and can pave the way towards the next step. Not everybody has the experience that others could accumulate after a number of years the very first time. But later on you realize that it is far simpler to confess openly that the shoes are for you. Professional shoesales staff will help you and it can be a very satisfying experience, opening you a full new range of options, and offering you a much better service. For example, asking for a different number that would fit better in a different shop and reserving it for you the day after, looking in their warehouse to find exactly the model that pleases you, announcing that there such and such models soon to arrive, etc. And I was never treated in an unpolite way. Regarding other customers, some young ladies even turned into the conversation and offered her advice, always in a positive sense. Men always were silent, but fairly neutral to the point, which is OK for me. It is so simple to confess that even if I am a guy I like some ladies' shoes designs. I believe that as long as you buy in cosmopolite cities, you won't have any problem at all. Regards, Robert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stilettofan Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 However, sales staff are not stupid. They've seen it all many times before and if you can bring yourself round to the honest way, my opinion is you'll earn more respect. I completely agree with you, Firefox. If we guys as customers act as if we do something forbidden then we will never gain acceptance in the general public. And, after all, who knows best who buys which shoes? Sales staff in a shoe store, of course. And if more and more guys drop in to buy heels in an open and honest way, they will know first. And they will tell their families, friends and so on. So more and more people will get to know about it and hopefully accept that it's a normal thing to do and that guys in heels aren't a little bunch of weirdos. High Heels - a true feelgood-factor for everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdrk Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I agree that it's more fun to ask but most women's shoes don't come in a UK 10 so I generally use Brantano which is a help yourself store. It's fun when there are others in the store and they look up to se a man trying on high heels. The first few times it's very nerveracking but if you don't shop locally it becomes easier and easier. I think that my view has become, "Bollocks" but then as I say I do it away from home. I think that this makes me a hypocrite to some extent but then I don't want to upset the domestic apple cart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladerunner Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 PDRK i don't think shopping out of your local area makes you a hypocrite.Its just common sense.As time goes on it will make you more confident,you have to start somewhere! I just love those suede heels!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussieheels Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 Dr Shoe... the tactic sounds alright, but make sure the phone is actually off, otherwise, while you are pretending to be talking on the phone, it may actually ring and completely blow your cover.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubba136 Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 How can the phone ring when it's turned off? Doesn't it have to be on -- in receiving mode -- before an incoming call can be announced? (my cell phone won't receive calls unless it's turned on.) Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris100575 Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 I think that was the point aussieheels was trying to make when he said "make sure the phone is off". It's so that you don't get a real call in the middle of your pretend one. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shoe Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 you could dial 150 (or other free service offered by your mobile company) and talk to the automated switchboard. Graduate footwear designer able to advise and assist on modification and shoe making projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loveheel Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Here is mu guess: 90% of the sales people assume that the shoes are for you. The more reserved sales people won't ask anything, even though they know. The other ones ask if you want to try them on. Think about it: They have to pretty confident about it to ask a guy if he wants to try on women's shoes. So from that I deduce that they have all seen it before. Actually, I have asked that many sales people, whether I am they only guy that tries on ladies shoes. The answer I ALWAYS get is "You would be surprised" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asdf174 Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 I just buy them and walk out. I'm trying to work up the guts to try them on in the store. It's all good. ~Arron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 Excellent choice asdf. I'd say go for it if they have a chance of fitting, if they are not goiing to fit I can see it could be somewhat embarassing. As always, my number one tip; wear heels when buying heels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpho Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 This was a good thread....i would like to reply... The phone tactic is a good one I started with it at the beginning then I followed the selction of other stores where they have also clothes so they have a fitting room, in where there is no employee checking how many garmets are you taking into the fiiting room, there I tried the boots or pumps etc, Then I just noiticed that almost always my number is 10 in womens so i just go for it in whatever shoe store, including brands and mall retail. I have to check if there is an exchange policy or cash refund, so is better to try them in the car and check for the size to fit perfectly, in one ocasion i had to birng it back because the zippper of the boot was not closing properly, and my foot got trapped, imagine the embarassment if i just gotta tried it at the store, i cant imagine, so after 10 minutes and very exahusted i could get of my foot from the boot and take it back saying that it is broken and just noticed, they exchange it for me inmediatelly, In other places if i have really to see styles and sizes, i pick up a pair of womens tennis shoes and trainners etc, so the ladies around me know they are actually for my wife or somebody but actually looking for my size in a sexy stilleto hheel, and as soon as I find it i take it and head to the cahier with the tennis shoes slippers etc, buy everything in one transaction and the next day return the pairs that are not intereting to me, obiously. I have to say that this is part of the emotions of this hobby, I get my heart beat at the maximum, and like it somehow. V. Morpho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan J Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Dr. Shoe: Very nice strategy, as this is understood to be for those who are a bit hesitant to buy HH shoes for themselves. It is refreshing to read through the thread and note that no one is having trouble, and some are having a lot of fun, trying on HH shoes in the store. I'm still a bit like "Chris" and "asdf" (earlier in the thread) in that I haven't gotten confident enough to try shoes on in the store. I do tip my hat to those who not only manage it, but have fun with it. Well done. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roniheels Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Before I got over my shyness to buy high heels in a department store, I use to buy some nice, but inexpensive wrapping paper, a birthday card to a female, a bow, and of course the high heels, and maybe anything else I might need from that store. I would carry a piece of paper, a "list" of things, and as the clerk rang up the items, I would check them off of my list. I made sure the paper, bow, card, and high heels were all together to be rung up. There was alway a slight look as they rang up the high heels, but there wa alway people behind me so the clerk would have to hurry. I paid for the items and left. Piece of cake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iggy_ze Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I often use the similar ruse of referring to a text message on my phone when trying to find stockings in the supermarket. Particularly when the display has been rearranged again, or is it that someone just threw them on any hooks quickly because they wanted to go home!! Regards, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yozz Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I think it all sounds rather silly. Any salesperson worth their salary will see immediately through whatever trick you are inventing. It actually draws more attention than less. The best thing is to do normal. Buying shoes for someone else who doesn't come to fit them? Whatever ruse you invent will give the salespeople a good laugh afterwards. If you do normal you are just one of the men who buy women shoes. All salespeople I have talked to say they get those quite frequently, especially for boots, although they don't say what that means in numbers. And they will very happily sell you the complete inventory. Of course the first time your heart may set a new record for beats per minute, but if you manage to stay cool on the outside, all that happens is that you have to pay, you get the shoes and you leave the shop and the salesperson continues with the next customer. Many years ago (1990) I was in a department store and some man was getting a pair of stiletto boots which he put on the belt, the girl rang it up, he paid and that was it. And I thought: "that easy?", so next time I went to that shop I bought my first pair of high heeled shoes, just like that. Quick learner. The only playacting you have to do, is to look normal. That's all. Raise your voice. Put on some heels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootking Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I really have to agree with you, yozz. These little subterfuges might be okay for the first time to get over the "embarassment" or strangeness of buying high heels but after that, gee, what is so difficult? I don't think that we're breaking any laws????? It's all about the heel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roniheels Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Yozz and Bootking... You are both correct. In my case, after the purchase of my first pair of high heels, I no longer felt I had to deploy any tactics. Now I go to those same stores and try them on before I buy them. It is truly state of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crotchboots-m Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 most salepersons dont care what you are going do with the footwear you buy. their job is to sell,sell,and sell somemore. and if they did make any untoward comments,i am sure the store manager would be more than happy to put them in their place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flavio Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 I was today at a shoe store, I aways try the shoes before I buy and remembered this thread imediatelly at the entrance door. Unfortunatelly I didn't find any shoe that fitted my desire and feet size. Flavio - Brazilian heel lover, now in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roniheels Posted April 19, 2008 Share Posted April 19, 2008 Flavio... Good luck to you on future shoe shopping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnieheel Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 I was today at a shoe store, I aways try the shoes before I buy and remembered this thread imediatelly at the entrance door. Unfortunatelly I didn't find any shoe that fitted my desire and feet size. Don't give up. There is still hope! LOL. real men wear heels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeelsForMen Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I use a similar strategy, a recent pair i bought from select i went to the store took a picture on mobile being obvious and then text, in a minute i would relook at phone pick up the shoes and off to the till giving impression i sent pic for approval, also you could go back to another select walk straight to staff show them the pic and ask for them in whatever size they will assume your girl has sent pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loswabs Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 As always, my number one tip; wear heels when buying heels. If the potential buyer isn't confident enough to try heels, it's unlikely they'll be confident enough to go into the shop wearing them inthe first place. It's my opinion, no more, no less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partyshoes Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I use a similar strategy, a recent pair i bought from select i went to the store took a picture on mobile being obvious and then text, in a minute i would relook at phone pick up the shoes and off to the till giving impression i sent pic for approval, also you could go back to another select walk straight to staff show them the pic and ask for them in whatever size they will assume your girl has sent pic. Ditto - both work !!! Still doesnt stop me breaking into a cold sweat :nervous:though wondering what they think of a bloke buying heels. Gingers Rogers did everything Fred Astair did .. but backwards and in heels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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