Are we kidding ourselves ?

[thedesigner]

Whether you look 'ridiclous' depends on the whole outfit (here i go again). I do co-ordinate it all so the whole outfit flows (its the fashion/designer bit). I've got white/ blue/purple/green/ brown/black/copper/cream heels which i wear as part of a look. Heels only with an overtly male outfit can look a bit oh -ah. but there again thats moi. It's a point (in both senses) of conversation with my hairdresssers...

[Pumps]

Oh how fun it would be to go into a store and say "I have a challenge for you. I need an outfit for these shoes".

We need to do that in London.

Whether you look 'ridiclous' depends on the whole outfit (here i go again). I do co-ordinate it all so the whole outfit flows (its the fashion/designer bit). I've got white/ blue/purple/green/ brown/black/copper/cream heels which i wear as part of a look. Heels only with an overtly male outfit can look a bit oh -ah. but there again thats moi. It's a point (in both senses) of conversation with my hairdresssers...

[Dr. Shoe]

Oh how fun it would be to go into a store and say "I have a challenge for you. I need an outfit for these shoes".

We need to do that in London.

You will not be the first nor the last!

[thedesigner]

Sounds like a fun idea, mind you working out my style would be fun !!

[L.K.]

At the end of the day, we are just talking about a pair of shoes. Let 'em giggle if that's their response. Maybe they're just jealous or insecure... or closed-minded. I agree with the consensus here, the beige pumps don't coordinate well there. I doubt the response was about color coordination though. I used to have a pair of red jeans that I wore to school, I liked them, i was made fun of, but I didn't care, i thought they looked cool. To each their own. Some people think t-shirts aren't cool, some do. Be yourself.

[HappyFeat]

I thought I would relay an observation of my own. I have noticed that most people don't notice most things anyway. I have been out on many occasions that I walk by in my heels and people are so absorbed in their own little worlds that they don't notice anything. Sometimes I think, 'Hey if you pay attention to the world around you, maybe yo can see some cool (or at least different) things like a sunset, a shooting star, or the guy wearing heels who walked right in front of you!' Wearing heels and looking for reactions has taught me more about other people than I could have ever dreamed. Another observation is that young women (girls) in a pack are ill mannered. If anything is outside the ordinary they will laugh and make a fuss. That in and of itself is fine, however they feel the need to share it with anybody who will listen. Women (over 24, for the sake of argument) do not tend to behave that way in a group. However, one on one, the same young woman would react much differently and may even be polite. I think i has much more to do with their maturity and the need to not be viewed as deviant from what is expected. Recently, I have had a few encounters with young straight men who have been quite complementary...something in the order of great shoes dude! These encounters may have had a bit of sarcasm involved, but once the comment was made, they simply moved on. I have also noticed that I am sensitive to others more. I wouldn't wear heels around some people because it makes THEM uncomfortable. For example, older women (Over 65, for the sake of argument) attend to get quite flustered and people with young children tend to overreact. The former simply because gender boundaries are a fact of prior generation's lives and the latter simply because they don't want their kids to scream.."Hey MOM LOOK AT THAT GUY..." I try to avoid certain situations where heels would make other feel uncomfortable. But that's just me. Probably the rudest treatment that I received was at a gay bar...but that's another story for another time. I the end, if we love wearing heels or other articles of clothing marketed to women, and are cool with it, we are being true to who we are...and that's not kidding anybody!

[blackslide]

I live in a redneck area of the west where minds are still very narrow. My wife is also dislikes what I wear. I have a fine line to walk in my narrow heals when I wear them. Dark bars at night are usually OK but lookout if some drunk sees your women's shoes. He (or she) can make a real scene. The ususal comment is "I see you are wearing your dancing shoes." There is a new style that is like a penny loafer with a narrow 3" heel. This feels great under jeans, and is not too noticeable. I find myself wearing these often going to the store or out on errands, and don't think twice about it. I have a brown pair and a black pair. It would be nice to be as free as Jeff B. He has a unique situation.

[Elegant]

Probably the rudest treatment that I received was at a gay bar...but that's another story for another time.

That's quite interesting. A lesbian club [well, theoretically- gay males, bi or straight people have fun there too] was a place where I really felt at home and received some compliments from girls on my heels and nails [which I painted black].

[HappyFeat]

That's quite interesting. A lesbian club [well, theoretically- gay males, bi or straight people have fun there too] was a place where I really felt at home and received some compliments from girls on my heels and nails [which I painted black].

Actually, Lesbians have been pretty cool...As Blackslide said i his post, I kind of live in a "redneck" area, and a lot of the gay culture here is very much into gender roles. Crossing the gender boundries is really not heard of here...

[Guest]

all this is, is that our culture is varied in how these kinds of basic things are perceived. ignorance is generally bred from within, or so I've been told.