Who has bought some new shoes

[mlroseplant]

OK, we're on a roll now! For today, we have a pair of Miu Miu patent leather nude sandals. Actually, I'm not keen on that term to describe the color, but that's what is popular to call them. Even taking the politics out of it, it's not really descriptive anyway, but sounds sexier, perhaps, than "beige."

At any rate, these are my third pair of MiuMius, and I will feature my fourth pair in the days to come. I am surprised, because I have traditionally been thoroughly unimpressed by MiuMiu as a whole. MiuMiu is, of course, a less expensive offshoot of Prada, and the diminutive name of Miuccia Prada, creator of this brand. It is also the family nickname of one of my favorite nieces, though the meaning in Vietnamese is obviously different than the same sounding word in Italian. Fascinating Fun Useless Fact of the Day.

I picked these up for a  fairly cheap price for a designer brand, probably because a) they're perhaps a little dated, being platformed with a towering 5 1/2" heel (nobody wears those anymore, right?), and b) because they have some black marks on them, probably from careless storage. I'm contemplating how to remove these marks without damaging the shoes, but even if I leave the marks, they're not really all that bad. Shoe people will notice, but no one else will.

As far as fit goes, they are a perfect fit for me at size 39, which I expected, and furthermore, the curvature of the shoe where it rises to the heel actually matches the dimensions of my toes and ball-of-foot, which is always a bonus, especially in a sandal. 39 is usually too big for me in a sandal, but I suppose these designer brands tend to run a little small. I have yet to wear them outside, but I don't really expect any problems from them. Someone has already applied sole protectors, so even that is not a worry.

 

[CHRISPAP]

Great shoes

[mlroseplant]

Annnnd.  .  . let's do this one more time. For this week, anyway. I TOLD you it was a busy week for me! Today, we have yet another pair of Miu Miu sandals, bringing my total Miu Miu count to four pair. As I said in the previous post, had you told me in years past that I would someday own four pairs of Miu Mius, I would have called you nuts. But here we are, what can I say?

When you get a look at the pictures, some of you may roll your eyes. Yes, I got another pair of wooden shoes. For some reason, I just like that style, as long as the heel tapers nicely to the ground, and the platform is not absurdly thick. This particular model, labeled "Belt" on the box (I assume because of its strap design that goes around the bottom of the shoe), has a 5 1/2" heel and a 1 1/4" platform. These numbers are "discounted" 1/4" for comparison purposes, since the shoe has no insole at all, and your foot rests directly upon the wood base. For this reason, I believe the platform appears thicker than it actually is, since it is just a solid chunk of wood, visually uninterrupted by anything like an insole. The heel tapers down to 3/4" diameter where it touches the ground.

Speaking of wood, whatever these are made of is solid and heavy. And noisy. These are among the loudest shoes I've ever worn, bordering on obnoxious, and it's not a stiletto click-click, it's definitely a wooden sound, exactly like what you'd expect. Kind of a TOK TOK sound. When the time comes to replace the heel tips, they may quiet down some, but I guarantee they'll never be quiet shoes. Perhaps this is why the previous owner got rid of them. They had obviously been worn some, but not a lot. I could not find any flaws or damage other than a little bit of wear on the heels.

These are the only pair in my latest series of sharing that I've actually walked some distance in and worn out and about in the Real World. And I must report that they are good out of the box, easy to walk in, and the wide straps are friendly for longer distance walking and longer period wearing. The back sling, while in my opinion was totally unnecessary and should have been left off, does not come up very high on the back of my heel and therefore does not bite into my Achilles tendon like many slingbacks are wont to do. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase!

And yes, in case you're wondering, these shoes are navy blue, not black. And yes, I've bought 3 pairs of blue shoes in the last two weeks. I've never owned blue shoes before in my life.

[Cali]

I can't pass up blue suede shoes. I now have 2 pairs.

[RonC]

Lotsa platforms in this batch!  Enjoy.

[mlroseplant]

On 12/11/2020 at 5:35 AM, mlroseplant said:

These are the only pair in my latest series of sharing that I've actually walked some distance in and worn out and about in the Real World. And I must report that they are good out of the box, easy to walk in, and the wide straps are friendly for longer distance walking and longer period wearing.

I did manage to get a shot of me actually wearing these sandals--but a few hours before it snowed. I had to go get some maple syrup from the grocery store. I kind of like taking pictures with my mask anyhow. It reduces the number of rejected pictures because of an awkward smile.

[RonC]

Thought I'd post a few pics of me wearing the new slingbacks I posted last week.  While they seem to fit pretty well, my toes start to go numb after 10 minutes of so, so I guess they probably won't get a lot of wear unless they loosen up a bit with wear.  I've tried rotating the first two three times, save them as rotated, but they still come up sideways.  Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[Breeheels]

I recently bought a pair of size !! Rockport Janae pumps on ebay. There was no size on the shoes at all and they certainly werent 11. Got my money refunded and they are a nine and they fit my GF perfectly. So now im on the hunt for a pair again, for mayself.

[jeremy1986]

On 12/10/2020 at 1:37 PM, mlroseplant said:

OK, we're on a roll now! For today, we have a pair of Miu Miu patent leather nude sandals. Actually, I'm not keen on that term to describe the color, but that's what is popular to call them. Even taking the politics out of it, it's not really descriptive anyway, but sounds sexier, perhaps, than "beige."

At any rate, these are my third pair of MiuMius, and I will feature my fourth pair in the days to come. I am surprised, because I have traditionally been thoroughly unimpressed by MiuMiu as a whole. MiuMiu is, of course, a less expensive offshoot of Prada, and the diminutive name of Miuccia Prada, creator of this brand. It is also the family nickname of one of my favorite nieces, though the meaning in Vietnamese is obviously different than the same sounding word in Italian. Fascinating Fun Useless Fact of the Day.

I picked these up for a  fairly cheap price for a designer brand, probably because a) they're perhaps a little dated, being platformed with a towering 5 1/2" heel (nobody wears those anymore, right?), and b) because they have some black marks on them, probably from careless storage. I'm contemplating how to remove these marks without damaging the shoes, but even if I leave the marks, they're not really all that bad. Shoe people will notice, but no one else will.

As far as fit goes, they are a perfect fit for me at size 39, which I expected, and furthermore, the curvature of the shoe where it rises to the heel actually matches the dimensions of my toes and ball-of-foot, which is always a bonus, especially in a sandal. 39 is usually too big for me in a sandal, but I suppose these designer brands tend to run a little small. I have yet to wear them outside, but I don't really expect any problems from them. Someone has already applied sole protectors, so even that is not a worry.

 

These look great!

[mlroseplant]

11 hours ago, jeremy1986 said:

These look great!

Thanks, Jeremy!. Evidently, they look so great that my female friend wants me to find a pair for her! If I could only find a pair in EU36, or possibly 35 1/2, then we'd have two pairs of matching shoes that we can't wear together. The other problem is that a cursory search on ebay tells me that the typical pair of these will run you about 250 dollars or so. I assume that for that price, you get a pair that doesn't have black marks on it.

[RonC]

ANyone have the answer to rotating the photos?  I tried to rotate them in the photo app and saved them.  When I opened them on my computer from the app, they were correct orientation.  Then when I copied them here I got sideways again.  Don't get it.

And just a comment on the shoes in my last post.  The heels appear short in the pics.  Must be the angle.  They are a full 4".

[Cali]

Try making a copy on your computer in your photo program as a "Save As". Maybe jpeg to png and the back.

[at9]

Full explanation here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/254830/why-your-photos-dont-always-appear-correctly-rotated/

Basically photos are often stored by your camera in the oritenationt hey were taken, along with a flag that says which way up they are. Some apps allow for the flag and display photos the right way up, others don't. I use a simple image editor such as Irfanview to put photos the right way up before uploading them to forums etc.

[StockingTop]

[CAT]

48 minutes ago, StockingTop said:

THOSE ARE AWESOME PUMPS!!!!!!!

What brand are they??
 

[RonC]

16 hours ago, at9 said:

I use a simple image editor such as Irfanview to put photos the right way up before uploading them to forums etc.

That's basically what I did, and it didn't work.  Next time I'll try a different editor.

[StockingTop]

34 minutes ago, CAT said:

THOSE ARE AWESOME PUMPS!!!!!!!

What brand are they??
 

https://www.lightinthebox.com/en/p/women-s-heels-2020-summer-fall-stiletto-heel-pointed-toe-sexy-wedding-party-evening-solid-colored-patent-leather-black-red_p8058728.html?prm=1.18.104.0&_ga=2.43457637.1958013522.1607989254-38674731.1606910264&_gac=1.27356110.1607989254.CjwKCAiAt9z-BRBCEiwA_bWv-COEB87-vryvME-zmspdZVvST_30_pHCqMO86JkBZPQ21FlndLyM5xoC5_YQAvD_BwE

[StockingTop]

These are new to

 

[Sabrina]

Some sandals in the sales, ready for next summer.

[mlroseplant]

I wasn't going to go to the trouble of doing a write-up on this pair of sandals, which I acquired about two months ago, but I have changed my mind. I know that there are some of you who would probably like to see them whether or not I ever wear them as part of a regular outfit, which is doubtful. When I ordered them, I had some idea that I might be able to actually wear them in the real world, but once they arrived in person, it seems rather unlikely, for reasons which I will enumerate shortly. As many of you know, I am trying to expand the heel heights in which I can walk well and in which I can walk and stand comfortably for an extended period. Currently, the steepest shoe I will venture out in is about 4 1/2" difference between toe and heel. I would like to expand that up to 5" someday. This is on U.S. Women's size 9.

Pictured here we have a pair of Hey Si Mey silver open toed mules, with a sort of holographic rainbow film built into the upper. The heel is just plain metallic silver. They are your straight Chinese-type "party sandal," ordered directly from China, but they weren't super cheap. I paid about 70 USD for them with free shipping. On a slow boat from China, so they took quite a while to get here. I believe there is a reason why they cost 70 bucks, they do seem to be a cut above your typical cheap Chinese shoe. They are very solidly made, I detected no chemical odor when I opened the package, and the craftsmanship is definitely a few notches above the really cheap shoes. No odd bits sticking out where they shouldn't be, no uneven seams, no blobs of dried glue, or anything of that sort. I ordered size 40, per their inches/cm size conversion chart. That turned out spot on, as they are just the right length, and the strap happens to fit my foot also, which can be rather unpredictable. Typically I take size 39 or even 38 1/2 in a sandal.

Now for the disappointing bits. When I saw the shoes pictured on the website, they appeared to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 1/2" high, no platform of course. Because I am used to wearing mules, my personal choice on most occasions, I thought it might be good to have that style in my aspirational heel height. However, when the shoes actually arrived, the heels measured a mere 5", right on the dot. I thought, "Hmmm, how can this be?" If you haven't guessed, I'm about to tell you how that can be. Number One, the toe and ball-of-foot length (in other words, the front part which is parallel with the floor before the shoe begins to sweep upwards toward the heel) on these shoes is slightly longer than it should be to fit my foot. Which is ironic, because every Asian that I personally know (and I know quite a few!) has shorter toes than me, in some cases substantially shorter. At any rate, this particular proportionality makes the shoe much steeper than it would be otherwise with only a 5" heel. Also, it is designed with a sort of "super arch," meaning that the shoe flattens back out slightly where your heel rests, instead of sweeping upward in basically a straight line like most higher heels do. The combination of these two factors make the shoe unbelievably steep for having a mere 5" of heel height, and there is a small gap behind the arch of my foot where the shoe does not match the contour of my foot. I have seen much worse, but it's there. It's not a deal breaker in and of itself.

All of this is a rather long and complicated way of saying that I can't walk in them without taking the smallest, most mincing steps while still keeping my knees straight. It's very hard to tell in the mirror exactly, due to the angle from which I am able to see, but it sure looks like the tops of my feet are nearly perpendicular with the floor, which is a bit more extreme than I had in mind when I ordered the silly things. And in a way, silly they are. It would be quite a bold statement to wear them out somewhere, even if I could walk well in them, but that alone would probably not stop me. However, it is doubtful I will ever get to the point where I would feel comfortable crossing a parking lot in them, so for now I will consider them training shoes only. I still like them. They're cool!

 

[Cali]

@mlroseplant look into Delicious Shoes. They sell in-expensive shoes with higher heels.

[Jkrenzer]

Mlroseplant those mules ate pretty hot, toi bad you can't wear them. As for me i love the fit of hey si mey heels. The high arch and flattening of the heel works quite well for me. Seems to take a bit of weight off the ball of my foot. You're right about the quality as well. A cut or two above most Chinese makes.

[mlroseplant]

44 minutes ago, Jkrenzer said:

Mlroseplant those mules ate pretty hot, toi bad you can't wear them. As for me i love the fit of hey si mey heels. The high arch and flattening of the heel works quite well for me. Seems to take a bit of weight off the ball of my foot. You're right about the quality as well. A cut or two above most Chinese makes.

I am not giving up just yet, but at this point, I just don't see how I can get there from here. If only the toe section were 1/4 - 3/8" shorter, I would be a lot more optimistic. I see some other Hey Si Mey shoes I wouldn't mind buying, but now I'm afraid they're all going to be built on the same proportional last in my size, so I'm resisting the temptation. I will say, though, that after wearing these mules for 20 minutes, the 5" Pleaser pumps that I couldn't really walk well in before suddenly seem doable. So all is not lost!

[Pierre1961]

Very interesting observations 

the shape of the shoe is not totally predictable when purchasing a new pair on internet. Even in a shop it needs more than the short time we usually spend to be sure the shoe will fit on the long run. 

I also realize that a properly fitting arch gives a relief to the ball and the back part of the foot. On the opposite too much arch can be very painful or even dangerous for the health of the foot. 

Thats the reason why I keep on purchasing shoes and only wear some of those. The other ones goes directly in the trash. 

That brings us to the other topic:can you stop wearing heels?

No. but if I could  it would be a huge money saving. 

[hiddenheels]

On 12/18/2020 at 8:22 AM, mlroseplant said:

I wasn't going to go to the trouble of doing a write-up on this pair of sandals, which I acquired about two months ago, but I have changed my mind. I know that there are some of you who would probably like to see them whether or not I ever wear them as part of a regular outfit, which is doubtful. When I ordered them, I had some idea that I might be able to actually wear them in the real world, but once they arrived in person, it seems rather unlikely, for reasons which I will enumerate shortly. As many of you know, I am trying to expand the heel heights in which I can walk well and in which I can walk and stand comfortably for an extended period. Currently, the steepest shoe I will venture out in is about 4 1/2" difference between toe and heel. I would like to expand that up to 5" someday. This is on U.S. Women's size 9.

Pictured here we have a pair of Hey Si Mey silver open toed mules, with a sort of holographic rainbow film built into the upper. The heel is just plain metallic silver. They are your straight Chinese-type "party sandal," ordered directly from China, but they weren't super cheap. I paid about 70 USD for them with free shipping. On a slow boat from China, so they took quite a while to get here. I believe there is a reason why they cost 70 bucks, they do seem to be a cut above your typical cheap Chinese shoe. They are very solidly made, I detected no chemical odor when I opened the package, and the craftsmanship is definitely a few notches above the really cheap shoes. No odd bits sticking out where they shouldn't be, no uneven seams, no blobs of dried glue, or anything of that sort. I ordered size 40, per their inches/cm size conversion chart. That turned out spot on, as they are just the right length, and the strap happens to fit my foot also, which can be rather unpredictable. Typically I take size 39 or even 38 1/2 in a sandal.

Now for the disappointing bits. When I saw the shoes pictured on the website, they appeared to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 1/2" high, no platform of course. Because I am used to wearing mules, my personal choice on most occasions, I thought it might be good to have that style in my aspirational heel height. However, when the shoes actually arrived, the heels measured a mere 5", right on the dot. I thought, "Hmmm, how can this be?" If you haven't guessed, I'm about to tell you how that can be. Number One, the toe and ball-of-foot length (in other words, the front part which is parallel with the floor before the shoe begins to sweep upwards toward the heel) on these shoes is slightly longer than it should be to fit my foot. Which is ironic, because every Asian that I personally know (and I know quite a few!) has shorter toes than me, in some cases substantially shorter. At any rate, this particular proportionality makes the shoe much steeper than it would be otherwise with only a 5" heel. Also, it is designed with a sort of "super arch," meaning that the shoe flattens back out slightly where your heel rests, instead of sweeping upward in basically a straight line like most higher heels do. The combination of these two factors make the shoe unbelievably steep for having a mere 5" of heel height, and there is a small gap behind the arch of my foot where the shoe does not match the contour of my foot. I have seen much worse, but it's there. It's not a deal breaker in and of itself.

All of this is a rather long and complicated way of saying that I can't walk in them without taking the smallest, most mincing steps while still keeping my knees straight. It's very hard to tell in the mirror exactly, due to the angle from which I am able to see, but it sure looks like the tops of my feet are nearly perpendicular with the floor, which is a bit more extreme than I had in mind when I ordered the silly things. And in a way, silly they are. It would be quite a bold statement to wear them out somewhere, even if I could walk well in them, but that alone would probably not stop me. However, it is doubtful I will ever get to the point where I would feel comfortable crossing a parking lot in them, so for now I will consider them training shoes only. I still like them. They're cool!

 

They look really really nice though!

2 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

That brings us to the other topic:can you stop wearing heels?

No. but if I could  it would be a huge money saving. 

Hahaha, so true! A large store which carries shoes is going bankrupt here, and I've been looking at some of their shoes. They're nice, and some I've been eyeing for a long while, but I can't put them anywhere, and I don't want to spend more money...

[RonC]

Ml, just looking at those things I can tell there is no way I could wear them comfortably, much less walk anywhere!  BTW, is that some sort of blemish on the left heel?  Or just an odd reflection?

[mlroseplant]

32 minutes ago, RonC said:

Ml, just looking at those things I can tell there is no way I could wear them comfortably, much less walk anywhere!  BTW, is that some sort of blemish on the left heel?  Or just an odd reflection?

I noticed that after I posted the picture. It’s just an odd reflection. There is nothing wrong with the shoes at all, which is a pleasant surprise for Chinese shoes. 

3 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

Very interesting observations 

the shape of the shoe is not totally predictable when purchasing a new pair on internet. Even in a shop it needs more than the short time we usually spend to be sure the shoe will fit on the long run. 

I also realize that a properly fitting arch gives a relief to the ball and the back part of the foot. On the opposite too much arch can be very painful or even dangerous for the health of the foot. 

Thats the reason why I keep on purchasing shoes and only wear some of those. The other ones goes directly in the trash. 

That brings us to the other topic:can you stop wearing heels?

No. but if I could  it would be a huge money saving. 

Haha, yes! We could save a LOT of money if it weren’t for our silly shoes! I typically have about an 80% success rate with shoes I buy on the internet. The remaining 20% I either resell, donate, or throw in the trash, depending upon the purchase price and the condition. 

[Puffer]

9 hours ago, Pierre1961 said:

...

Thats the reason why I keep on purchasing shoes and only wear some of those. The other ones goes directly in the trash. 

...

Do you really mean that you throw unsuitable but new shoes away?   Given your description of some of your past purchases, you must have invested a fair amount in throw-aways.   Can't you sell them or at least find them a good home elsewhere?   Maybe some would suit others here! 

[Pierre1961]

I was a little too fast. 

First i didn’t buy so many shoes since the first lockdown 

Then ,the shoes that don’t fit don’t all go to the trash. Only a few of them if they are a real crap. These wouldn’t make anyone else happy ,plus being lazy for going on eBay,to the post office....and more boring things 

The others I don’t like are kept for spare pieces purposes. I often change the heels of one pair with the ones from another pair. Because too high,too low,wrong balance,wrong angle ,too thin,too chunky or whatever we all have experienced 

As I wear heels very often and am crazy enough for going to the highest possible,I am very demanding.

[Cali]

I try to return everything that doesn't fit. A few have been on final sale and I can't return them. I had plan to resale about 3 or 4 pairs before the pandemic.  I have learned unfortunately through trial and error (costly) what not to buy in the first place. It's a waste of money to buy boots without a full zipper or even look at pumps. I also need to remove a few pairs I have worn out to make room for my new pairs.

Before I switched to only women's shoes, I had under 8 shoes total.  You don't buy shoes when you can't find any that fit.  Then I found that women's shoes fit my feet. Now I can say I am a shoe-whore with over 60 pairs. most with over 4 inch net rise (heel - platform > 4).

Edited December 20, 2020 by Cali