Seen out and About

[Jkrenzer]

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

A travel day - trains, a plane, cities. Virtually no heels - On the trains two women in chunky heel ankle boots and at the airport a woman in leather trousers and low chunky heels.  Lots of trainers - the white tennis variety- and on The trains lots of Doc Martens, including a violet coloured pair worn by a guy. Not a hint of a stiletto anywhere 

Not even you? Or were you the only one in heels, usually the case for me.

[Shyheels]

56 minutes ago, Jkrenzer said:

Not even you? Or were you the only one in heels, usually the case for me.

It’s a good point and one I was going to mention but in my airport rush, neglected. My journey began with a long walk in the rain on a muddy towpath. I wore hiking boots. This is just an overnight and so I wasn’t taking luggage 

[mlroseplant]

No better news on this side of the canal. I started a new job yesterday at an office building. I should only be there a few days, as I'm only there to help a guy get his job wrapped up. I'm not sure exactly what it is they do there, but it is somehow related to the insurance industry.

Although my construction zone is separated off from the office people, I had several occasions to visit the working office, thinking I might see some heels. Nope. Not even close. It evidently is a casual dress office, so there was a mix of trainers, Crocs, and Birkenstocks. I was thinking, "Man, if I worked here, I'd be wearing stilettos every day." I mean, it's a super easy job for wearing heels. Sitting at a computer most of the time, getting up only occasionally to do incidental things. Why wouldn'tcha?

[Jkrenzer]

That's how my work heels are used. Can't enter the factory proper but office use is common for me. Still I'm the only one.

[Shyheels]

I’m at the Copenhagen airport. Nothing but sneakers and the odd pair of crocs. I did see a woman wearing OTK boots on the Metro but with ordinary heels

 

stop the presses - someone wearing heels! On my flight! And it’s a guy in a very nice, quite feminine pair of ankle boots with 3” heels not at all hidden. Otherwise dress just as a well dressed smart casual guy. I believe it’s the first time I’ve seen a guy in heels out and about 

Edited September 24 by Shyheels

[mlroseplant]

It has finally happened. On my very last day, practically my very last hour on this office job, I saw heels. This company bought a rundown building several years ago, and has been renovating it piece by piece. The last to be done is the basement, which is where I am (was) working. There is one functional conference room in the basement at this time, and that's when I heard this "clop, clop, clop" coming down the stairs, presumably to attend a meeting in this conference room.

I don't know if it's just us shoe guys, but it is a reflex that is almost impossible to resist for me, when I hear certain sounds, I almost have to stop what I'm doing and see who or what is making that sound. Unfortunately for me, I didn't resist it, because when I turned around to look at who was making the sound, the woman looked me straight in the eye. I nodded and said a soft, "hello," and immediately turned back around to what I was doing (preparing for a wire pull in the hallway). I was cussing myself for not resisting my reflex, thinking, "There is no way I can now look again to see what kind of shoes she is wearing."

I did sneak a half-second peak as she was walking away, long enough to see that she was wearing chunky wooden-heeled sandals that were much like something I wear all the time, only maybe a little clunkier. I estimate the heel height at 4 1/2 inches with a 1 inch platform. Had a crime been committed and I were called as a witness, the only thing I can say for sure is, "Tan sandals, broad straps with brass studs, wooden heels and platform." Oh, and the fact that she was wearing pants for sure, because I'm not 100% sure whether the sandals were mules or not. I don't think they were.

[at9]

I was in the City of London (the central business district,also known as "the square mile" for those unfamiliar with the greatest city on earth) today. It's usually pretty dead on a Sunday. I saw two ancient ceremonies that are probably of Victorian origin. One was driving sheep across Southwark Bridge, the other was a gathering of pearly kings and queens by the Guildhall. Anyone not of these sceptred isles will think us mad but we really don't mind.

https://sheepdrive.london/

https://londonist.com/london/things-to-do/pearly-kings-and-queens-harvest-festival

None of the sheep were wearing heels! There were plenty of 2" to 2.5" block heel ankle and knee boots to be seen. A few women at the pearly festival were wearing nice 3" stilettos. one pair of OTK brown suede boots, about 2" heel.

 

 

[Shyheels]

Sounds like a nice day out! Yes block heel ankle boots and knee boots seem much in fashion - fine by me as I like the style. I just wish that given their popularity they’d be made in larger sizes!

I see knee boots quite often up here in rural Yorkshire but they are generally gum boots or riding boots and always worn only by women. I am the exception - I might not be able or willing to wear heels in the rough and muddy towpaths, but my low heeled knee boots are always the nicest. I am getting known as the guy who always wears tall boots. 

[mlroseplant]

My elder son got married on Thursday. It was a very small wedding. I would estimate the total number of guests at around 30, and about half of those were parents/grandparents. I was the only one in the whole bunch wearing heels except for my ex-wife, who has always been a big fan of heels. To be fair, I don't believe I've ever seen her wear a pair of "high" heels in her life, but she was often in mid-heels when we were married. Thursday she wore tan suede pointy-toed pumps with a three inch block heel.

The only other exception was the cellist in the string quartet they hired to provide the music. The cellist had on black patent pumps with a three inch stiletto heel. We'll take what we can get. For the record, I was wearing my black Aldo oxfords with 4 1/4" slim heels. Almost stiletto, but I can't honestly call them stilettos among enthusiasts.

[Jkrenzer]

Congratulations to your older son

[Shyheels]

Yes congratulations to your son!!!

[HappyinHeels]

Mlroseplant,

Was that the son I met who had once lived in California? 
Nice to see someone else here has worn heels to a wedding. I’ve done it a number of times with pumps and boots but especially wedge sandals for the outdoor weddings.

Perhaps your son stayed close by? 
Been busy with different projects and just returned from trip to Turkey, Morocco, and Spain all places I spent a lot of time in the 1980’s. HinH

[Shyheels]

1 hour ago, HappyinHeels said:

Mlroseplant,

Was that the son I met who had once lived in California? 
Nice to see someone else here has worn heels to a wedding. I’ve done it a number of times with pumps and boots but especially wedge sandals for the outdoor weddings.

Perhaps your son stayed close by? 
Been busy with different projects and just returned from trip to Turkey, Morocco, and Spain all places I spent a lot of time in the 1980’s. HinH

Sounds like you’re leading quite a full life!!!

[mlroseplant]

2 hours ago, HappyinHeels said:

Mlroseplant,

Was that the son I met who had once lived in California? 
Nice to see someone else here has worn heels to a wedding. I’ve done it a number of times with pumps and boots but especially wedge sandals for the outdoor weddings.

Perhaps your son stayed close by? 
Been busy with different projects and just returned from trip to Turkey, Morocco, and Spain all places I spent a lot of time in the 1980’s. HinH

Yes, you are correct. I think he was living with us the last time you came through? Although he has his own house now with his wife, he lives pretty close by in the major metro area.

I forgot to mention one other person who was wearing heels to the wedding--my sister. Although they were not quite kitten heels, they were definitely within my personal definition of low heels. The specific reason for this is discussed elsewhere.

I'm guessing that it would be inadvisable for a guy to wear heels in either Turkey or Morocco.

[Shyheels]

Not heels, but I did see something yesterday I’d not seen in decades - a young girl wearing leg warmers. A throwback to the 80s.

in a long day travelling by train, through various cities, I saw very few heels most of them being at the end of the trip, in an arty, boho part of town where quite a few middle aged women wore chunky heeled boots.

[CAT]

Still have my leg warmers.  Waiting for a comeback!!!!lol

[Shyheels]

I used to have a pair. I wore them a lot in the 80s, not out and about, but because I used to do a hell of a lot of stretching as part of my running and found them useful for keeping the muscles warm and supple. 

[Cali]

I too have several pairs. I used them in my waders for river salmon fishing. 

[Shyheels]

Just spent the weekend in York - no shortage of heels at all! Plenty of high-heeled knee boots, blocky heels rather than stilettos. On the cobbled and irregularly paved mediaeval streets stilettos would be a singularly bad idea. But plenty of heels, and almost all of them on knee boots.  

[Puffer]

15 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Just spent the weekend in York - no shortage of heels at all! Plenty of high-heeled knee boots, blocky heels rather than stilettos. On the cobbled and irregularly paved mediaeval streets stilettos would be a singularly bad idea. But plenty of heels, and almost all of them on knee boots.  

The further north one goes in the UK, the more heels are seen.   And I would expect OTK boots to be popular in York as it tends to get flooded frequently!

[Shyheels]

Only a couple of pair of OTK boots surprisingly. Almost all knee boots, with 2-4” block heels. I saw a few pair of slender heels (not stiletto, but more like standard high heels) , also in knee boots. It was quite nice to see. It was half term week, and “Ghost week” in York so the town was quite full of tourists so it was not purely locals wearing heels. Judging by what I saw, I’d say heels - at least in winter boots - are far from dead

[Puffer]

9 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Only a couple of pair of OTK boots surprisingly. Almost all knee boots, with 2-4” block heels. I saw a few pair of slender heels (not stiletto, but more like standard high heels) , also in knee boots. It was quite nice to see. It was half term week, and “Ghost week” in York so the town was quite full of tourists so it was not purely locals wearing heels. Judging by what I saw, I’d say heels - at least in winter boots - are far from dead

Which reminds me that Whitby (on coast of North Yorkshire, for those unfamiliar) is known for its 'Goth' atmosphere, mainly due to the Dracula legend.  And there are Goth weekend events on 1 - 3 November, doubtless following-in from Halloween.   Even when these events are not on, Whitby is a popular place for people in Goth clothing, which will surely include some extreme heeled footwear, with long points, buckles etc.

[Shyheels]

There were quite a few in York too for Ghost Week

[mlroseplant]

Couple of things to report on the young women's fashion front. Number One, when asked (or ordered) to dress up, high school girls still often wear heels. They may not be to my exact liking, but they're better than the alternative. I witnessed this when I went to drop off my son for his All State Band audition.

Number Two, which is related to Number One, our neighbor down the street just posted her daughter's senior photos on social media. Nothing really remarkable about them except for one thing: Her choice of footwear. I haven't seen anything like this on a teenager in at least ten years. I cropped out most of the picture for privacy and discretion reasons. To tell you the truth, until this social media post, I didn't know my neighbor had a senior in high school. Unlike my kid, all of her kids are very standoffish with adults. I only know the twins that are in my son's class (sophomore). This, of course, begs the question, "Are these for real, or just for a photo shoot?" The answer to which I will probably never know, and really don't care.

[mlroseplant]

Speaking of for real, there is yet more evidence that the lady at the bank is for real. I went in there again (of course in work clothes), and she was there, wearing a different pair of heels than what I'd ever seen before. It would appear that not only is she a heel wearer on the regular, but she's also a shoe junkie. I have now seen her five times, and she's worn five different pairs of heels. What is also notable is that the styles I have seen her wear overlap with the styles I wear. This means that she must not be buying new shoes either, but rather keeping old ones or buying them used.

[Cali]

Another fine day of heels at work. 6 knee highs boots with 3.5 to 4 inch block heels. And two others in stilettos. 

[Shyheels]

I am convinced that I am probably the only narrowboat dweller who even owns a pair of heels - no big surprise I suppose given how life is lived along the canals, the easy bohemian style of most boaters, and how little space there is aboard a narrowboat for anything non essential. My boot collection takes up an inordinate amount of space. I wear heels all the time indoors but walking along towpaths is an impossibility and wearing heels around locks would be dangerous in the extreme. I am known though for always wearing nice knee boots - low heels - everywhere so that’s something. I’m the only one though

[mlroseplant]

I hate to keep coming back to the same subject over and over again, but I've had occasion to visit my bank yet again, this time for an unfortunate event (which actually turned out to be nothing), and yet again my bank lady was in real, honest-to-God heels. The difference this time was that she was the person who assisted me directly, and was not sitting behind a desk or standing behind a counter. It seems that every time I have occasion to physically go to the bank, I am either in the middle of, or preparing to do some grubby project. Friday was no exception, and I was in work boots rather than heels. I was so very tempted to mention footwear but I resisted that temptation because of the creepiness factor.

Now that I've had a chance to interact and observe her up close, I am even more curious about her specific motivation to wear heels a lot of the time. This is because she is objectively the opposite of the type of person I would expect to wear heels by choice. I can tell you that she is married, or at least wears a ring. She appears to be about 35 years old, and is in reasonably good physical shape for an American that age these days. She wears little or no makeup. Her nails are unpolished, but well taken care of. She seems to dress very conservatively. I've never seen her in anything but tailored pants. What I'm getting at is that there is absolutely no reason for her to wear heels, and yet she does. Maybe she is one of us. I am not going to make it one of my life goals or anything, but I feel like if the correct opportunity presents itself, I ought to ask.

[Shyheels]

She sounds like an interesting and dedicated wearer of high heels. If you were wearing heels yourself you could probably get away with a reference - perhaps something along the lines of how nice it is to see another person in heels these days, thereby making the conversation about society and fashion trends at large rather than an observation about her personally. 

[mlroseplant]

On 11/10/2024 at 7:32 AM, Shyheels said:

She sounds like an interesting and dedicated wearer of high heels. If you were wearing heels yourself you could probably get away with a reference - perhaps something along the lines of how nice it is to see another person in heels these days, thereby making the conversation about society and fashion trends at large rather than an observation about her personally. 

That was/is exactly my plan, should the opportunity ever arise. Obviously, this plan does not work very well if I'm wearing work boots. But who knows? I've been around for 12+ years.*  She may already know who I am. Many of the bank tellers there do.

*As a heel wearer. I hate to think about how long I've actually lived in this town. More than quadruple that number.