The nerve to wear heels to work

[iggy_ze]

Hi, I have worn the attached to go shopping in the evening and at weekends but never had the nerve to wear these to the office. At home my other half is quite happy for me to wear up to 5in heels and boots and given an appropriate environment they even get worn to go out. Working for a very large company there is a strict anti discrimination policy and many people wear jeans and t-shirts to work, although there is no male cross-dressing and many women of course wear trousers. Some of the younger guys wear earrings, something else I would also like to do to the office. It would be wonderful to break out and wear either of these pairs to work but I just can't face coping with the comments. Ian

[johnieheel]

What I do is 1st, let every body know in a sorta of humours way that I wear heels and get sort of a self survey of opinions from guy's and gal's to let you know what kind of atmosfear your dealing with. It will be mixed I'm sure but for the most part, most will say if thats what you like, oh well. Then go from there so it isn't a total shock to them when they see you in heels.

[BCBG]

When you do, go with the second pair. They just look nicer.

[Celso999]

Hi, I have a similar pair as the first one and I can assure you that, when used with jeans nobody will notice since they are quite unisex. Do the following: go to work with your normal shoes and take the first pair with you in a shopping bag. Change them when already seated in your desk. Make small adventures to the bathroom or just around your workplace. You will graduately get confidence as you will see that nobody really looks to our feet to see what we are wearing. I always use black socks in order to disguise the somewhat feminine shape of the shoe upper part. I did that in my office and it worked fine. Once a male co-worker noticed the 8 centimeters heel and just said: "Hey, those are nice boots!" Good Luck, Celso.

[loswabs]

Hi Ian Is it heels and earrings you want to wear or is there more you want to wear? A skirt maybe? If not, I think there's two possible approaches. First, the "can I blag it?" approach. How tall are you? If your under, say 5' 10", you could say you're feed up with being short and wanted to be taller without wearing horrible stacked shoes and you chose them with your wife. Or maybe say you've got high arches and your foot doctor (sorry, can't rememeber the proper noun) suggested you wear high heels to compensate, again you chose them with your wife. Alternatively, you could say nothing, wear the pair in your second picture on dress-down Friday and say nothing until you're asked. Apart from maybe, you're wife chose them. I'd do this. Either way, they can't discriminate against you, though I'd just check your contract and maybe seek advise if you meet customers or suppliers as you don't want to fall victim of having been let got because you compromised the company's image type bull. Also, is wearing heels likely to jeopardise the safety of you or others in you working environment, e.g. they're not a good idea in a warehouse or other physically active area. Hope this helps, good luck

[las]

foot doctor (sorry, can't rememeber the proper noun)

Chiropodist!

[thedesigner]

ive worn heels to work for ages, and once people get over the initial shock and pointing, they ignore it. Dont worry !! Good luck !!

[Bernheels]

I agree 100% - go for it with the 2nd pair - they are hot!

[Thighboots2]

The 2nd pair are a bit high for a first outing to work, also the heel is a little too narrow. I would go with the first pair ( which is what I did when I first started wearing to work as I had a similar pair). The stability of the large block heel is not to be scoffed at in the early days of being "out". Also with the wider toebox and the right length black trousers, they will look good too. They appear to be leather so your feet will breath nicely as well. The 2nd pair are from Evans if I am not mistaken, so are PU and not leather. All day in PU shoes and your feet will not thank you. Save them for evenings out wearing bootflare jeans. One downside of trousers cut for men is the leg cuff is usually too small to sit nicely with a heeled shoe. Simple answer is to aquire a pair of ladies trousers which are lighter and far more comfortable to wear, and are designed to wear with heels (naturally). The downside is little or no pocket facility and you must be left handed for a trip to the gents. Now WHY do ladies garments do up the other way to mens? TB2

[yujie]

I wear it alot to work. All of my pants cover the heel perfectly. Sometime I get comments from female co-workers. Most of the time its more comfortable than my men's shoe.

[Pumps]

Hi,

I have worn the attached to go shopping in the evening and at weekends but never had the nerve to wear these to the office. At home my other half is quite happy for me to wear up to 5in heels and boots and given an appropriate environment they even get worn to go out.

Working for a very large company there is a strict anti discrimination policy and many people wear jeans and t-shirts to work, although there is no male cross-dressing and many women of course wear trousers. Some of the younger guys wear earrings, something else I would also like to do to the office.

It would be wonderful to break out and wear either of these pairs to work but I just can't face coping with the comments.

Ian

I wore womens flats to the office one day and nobody said anything. Go figure.

[Mickey S.]

@yujie: Except for the comments - same for me! @iggy_ze: Go for the second pair. I have them as well -they're awesome! - and wear them now to work on a daily base. CU! -Mike

[derf]

Boot leg jeans are commonly made for men and will help alleviate the heel cover problem and they are still men's pants.

[Mae]

Iggy_ze, I really love the first pair. What brand are they? Where did you find them? How tall of a heel do they have? As far as wearing them to work, I have a suggestion if you have never worn womens shoes to work. First, find a pair of womens loafers around 1.5" to 2" and wear them first. I have been doing that for nearly 2 years now. At first, I was very self-consious about wearing them and thought everyone would notice and laugh at me. I have only heard 1 comment during the entire time which was "Man, do you have a lot of shoes." That is because I wear about 10 different pairs to work, 8 of which are various styles of womens loafers with a heel height of 1.5" to 1.75". I have slowly introduced a pair with 2 inche heels. One woman asked me last week if I was wearing boots. I turned my foot sideways and lifted my pant leg a little so she could see the profile and said "just slip-ons". Nothing more was said. Moving slowly has worked for me. If you are fearful about your image at work, this method may work for you.

[Mae]

Deleted entry

[loveheel]

One downside of trousers cut for men is the leg cuff is usually too small to sit nicely with a heeled shoe. Simple answer is to aquire a pair of ladies trousers which are lighter and far more comfortable to wear, and are designed to wear with heels (naturally). The downside is little or no pocket facility and you must be left handed for a trip to the gents. Now WHY do ladies garments do up the other way to mens?

TB2

The history of this is that historically women's garments were designed to be put on by a maids. The maid would stand in front of the women when helping her get dressed. Hence the zippers and buttons would all be the reverse of "normal" garment

[JNR]

Now that bit of information is -- interesting.

[las]

We do learn something every day.

[ShockQueen]

I tried the foray of wearing heels to work, but I really went over the top regarding what styles I wore (see here for details). It met with mixed reviews at best, but mainly nice compliments from my fellow colleagues.

[iggy_ze]

Hi All, In reply to some of the questions. I am 6'1" and about 16 stone, thats 230 pounds or 105kg, yep a bit overweight. Do I want to wear earrings and skirts as well? I wear earrings most of the time just not at work and skirts with stockings at home and clubbing whenever possible. The skirt wearing is not en femme I just find it so much more comfortable. P M me if you really want more details as to why. My wife supports me in all these ventures and has bought me several pairs of earrings as presents. I just really find it difficult to wear earrings and heels to work. That said last friday I did wear the first shoes at work and am wearing them again today. As I do have a lower back problem which is releived by wearing heels, I guess that is a valid reason. Wore the normal boring mens shoes to work and changed when I arrived. I must admit that I did chicken out for the two meetings I went to and changed back, althouth the journeys to the bathroom and tea bar were quite interesting. Of the two pairs shown both are from Evans, the first is leather with a 2.75 inch heel whilst the others are PU with a 4 inch heel. Sorry if i missed any other of the questions. Ian

[Puffer]

I just really find it difficult to wear earrings and heels to work. That said last friday I did wear the first shoes at work and am wearing them again today. As I do have a lower back problem which is releived by wearing heels, I guess that is a valid reason. Wore the normal boring mens shoes to work and changed when I arrived. I must admit that I did chicken out for the two meetings I went to and changed back, althouth the journeys to the bathroom and tea bar were quite interesting.

Of the two pairs shown both are from Evans, the first is leather with a 2.75 inch heel whilst the others are PU with a 4 inch heel.

I bought a pair of the first shoes, hoping to wear them outside; the discreet masculine loafer style is ideal. I too have a lower back problem which I hoped they would relieve. Unfortunately, the shoes (UK10 wide and true to size) are too small for me, despite a careful attempt at stretching. I shall have to sell them unused, reluctantly, and maybe someone here would like them. If so, please PM me.

[Bootking]

I normally work alone and was wearing 3" block heels with laceup ankle boots at the office when the door opened and one of my assistants (who works miles away) came in. Happily, I was seated at my desk (a U shape) and didn't have to get up so he didn't see them. He finally went out and that was great!

But it gave me pause for thought as I'm really not alone and I'm not ready to deal with any BS about it.

[Tosca]

Hi all, I've been wearing a pair of navy 3 inch heel court shoes for a couple of days this week. I work in an academic library, so I'm seeing people all day, in the office and around the building. I get compliments from several of my female colleagues, which is nice. Today, as it's Friday, I'm wearing black patent 3 inch block heel MJs (Pleaser Gogo). It's the first time I've worn them during the week here, only one person has said they were 'striking', and I think she was being complimentary..... Generally, most people around here, students or staff, don't seem to be bothered by it. Maybe they're just used to my 'amusing eccentricities...?' If I'm working at weekends here I'll usually wear a long skirt. I haven't gotten to that point during the week yet, but over this coming summer, when a lot of people wear crops, I reckon I can get away ok in a knee length denim or khaki skirt and summer wedges.....well, I can but try and see what happens.....? All best wishes Tosca

[billyb]

Yesterday I took my 4" pumps into the office with me and when I got to my desk I changed from my cowboy boots to the pumps. The pumps are a suede flat black and look simular to my boots also had on thin black socks and black boot cut jeans which covered the heel. I share the office with 3 other programmers but I am in the back corner. Our office floor is carpet and so I went to the printer and even helped one of the other programmers and no one noticed. I don't have the nerve to go down to the break room or the boys room since the hall floor is tile and I don't want to draw attention. I am wearing them again to day and have walked around the office but still won't vinture out past my office.

[corsair]

I have worn boots to work for almost ten years now, and in very conservative work environments. I wear low-heeled knee-high boots with a riding boot look and usually don’t get any notice at all. I had one guy at church who noticed my boots, commented on how nice they were, and then confided that he had a thing for shoes and owned about 50 pairs, but he was talking about regular men’s wingtips and loafers (yawn). However, it meant that he didn’t view mine as anything but nice men’s boots. More recently, I had a guy at work who, as we were leaving a meeting, stopped and asked me, “Are those boots?” I said yes, and he wanted to know where I got them because he needed some new ones. This is a very stout guy who wears regular men’s boots that are about ankle high. I honestly told him that I got them a Nordstroms a few years ago; I didn’t mention that he would have to look in the women’s shoes to find them.

The biggest “problem” with my boot wearing is that they sound like women’s heels on the tile floors around here, which makes guys turn their heads to look at the (presumed) female that is going by. I have had a couple of the guys who have laughingly cursed me and said to quit wearing girl’s heels because they are getting whiplash thinking that a girl came in the door. I just laugh and keep going. I noted that another guy in our group wears men’s loafers that also have a heel that is loud and I’ve swiveled my head thinking he was a girl, and they agreed that they had as well.

A few times I have worn some Maripe boots with a higher heel (1.5 inches) and they look rather feminine even though they have a block heel. And I think that I once overhead someone from another group asking one of my coworkers about my “high heels”. I don’t know that much of an answer was given, but since then I’ve not worn those boots to work. I’m bucking for a promotion and don’t need it derailed due to footwear.

I said all that to tell you this:

I had a funny episode this morning when I went down to our fitness center to weigh myself. I was in the director’s office using her scale so that she could tell me what I weighed 5 weeks ago. Prior to weighing, I emptied my pockets and then sat down and pulled off my boots, a pair similar to these:

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2931429/0~2376778~2372808~6007659~6007688?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6007688&P=1

I weighed myself, found out I was still at the same weight (dang) and then started to put my boots back on. We are both sitting down facing each other and she starts staring down and asks, “Are those boots”. ( Well, they sure aren’t loafers.) She then said, “Those look like my boots. Not to be rude, but those look like the boots I wear.” I finally told her that it was probably because they were women’s boots. At that point she started laughing, not because of my boots, but the irony of it. As she explained, she found it funny that I was wearing women’s boots while she was wearing men’s sneakers. (It turns out that she has such small feet that she has problems finding shoes that fit her.)

She asked if I wore women’s shoes all the time or just boots. I told her just the boots, because: 1) They keep my feet and lower legs warm in the winter, 2) They are comfortable, and 3) I think they look good and that men’s shoes are big and clunky looking. All of which she was perfectly comfortable with. By this time I had finished zipping them back up and had pulled my pants back down and I asked her how they looked. She practically gushed about how nice they looked and that she would never have thought they were anything but guy’s shoes if she hadn’t seen me take them off. After that, the conversation was mostly “girl talk” and she wanted to know what size they were and how hard it was to find women’s boots in my size. It was fun to talk so openly about my shoes.

I told her that I had dozens of pairs and asked if she wanted to see any of the others when I wore them. “Absolutely!”, she said. So it looks like I may have another boot friend at work. Too bad she is always dressed in her work uniform, which is sneakers and exercise attire.

[Guest]

try boots. find something with 2 to 2.5 inch heel. mayby even cowboy boots. i wear a pair of 2.5 inch bare trap boots every day. i was in a class for a month and i wore a pair of 4.5 inch heel boots everyday 18 hrs a day for a month! beware of the hard heels, they make a lot of noise on hard floors.

[roniheels]

I work virtual from home but go into the office at least once a week for staff meetings or other meetings. I wear a suit and boots with a three inch block heel on them. Everyone has seen me for years in them and no comments are made by anyone anymore. I try to coordinate all of my high heels with my suits and attire. The men's boots with the high heels really don't attract attention in my workplace. If they do, I don't hear anything.