An uneventful evening out. (Again).

[fastfreddy2]

I've mentioned this a number of times, and sadly for you members, I'm not fed up with repeating it (yet): I am close to being too-confident wearing heels! So far, no adverse reactions.

The plan tonight was to leave home at circa 5.30pm and travel to Oxford Street by car, stopping at Brent Cross on the way. B/C closes at 8pm every night during the week, and it's about 25 minutes from me. Major stores in the West End close at 9pm on Thursday, and I only really wanted to go to Debenhams anyway, and HoF if there was time. Setting out, I wasn't short on time....

But ..... tonight for some reason, the owner of every motor vehicle in North London decided to travel South into the West End at 6pm. I was delayed so much, I had to skip B/C and didn't get to Oxford Street until 7.45pm. I've travelled faster on a bicycle.

This evening I wore some rather noisy (and inexpensive) 4" blade ankle boots. Despite my best efforts, and 33" inside leg jeans, I was unable to completely hide my heels, and as they clonked, I was fooling no-one. My jeans were far from being at half-mast, but my footwear wasn't as discreet as usual, and I was out in daylight. My companion was under-impressed, as she always assumes the shoe-Police will arrive any time I walk out in public anyway. [i still remember her warning me about being 'caught' by yobs in the weeks after Christmas. ]

So we started walking along the Street towards Debenhams...... I must've taken 50-60 steps before I have my first 'glide' along the pavement. I think I sometimes try to land the outside corner of the heel, and it slides rather than grips the pavement surface like rubber might. I had to walk much more carefully than I anticipated. I still had another couple of 'glides' before arriving at the store, but I got there without mishap.

I bought the jeans I went there for, but the place was packed. [20% off day.] The ground floor shoe area looked like some vandal had thrown all the shoes off the racks. That or someone had told the shoppers one pair of shoes were made of gold ..... .... and every pair had to be removed for inspection .....

I had another couple of glides in the shop, one so spectacular, my companion burst out laughing. And then added insult to injury by quietly informing me; if I went over, she'd disown me ..... To pay her back, I tried on some ankle boots in full view of everyone. [i know me doing this embarrasses her.] Sadly the boots didn't fit. No-one 'batted an eye-lid'. One girl did look at me <in the eye too> when I purposely raised the leg of my jeans, to straighten the line of them, revealing my ankle boot to her as she walked toward me. Neither of us were phased.

We walked back to the car in fading light, me being very careful with my stride. Thirsty, we had one of Starbucks warm milky drinks they (laughingly) call Latte. I walked in and out of the shop 3 times in total, amongst a very cosmopolitan clientele. My boots were noisy, and despite me looking, I don't think one person noticed. Or at least, no-one bothered to let me know they had noticed. We drank our warm milk back in the car, where I wanted to return having absent-mindedly left the car earlier in the evening, with my phone on the dashboard in full view of the many pedestrians walking past.

We returned home, via an ASDA <supermarket> we'd passed on the way into London. I've seen some shoes in one of these stores I quite liked the look of some weeks ago, so we took a detour to what was obviously one of their larger stores. It's on the A5, and close to Colindale ... I think.

Despite it being 9.30pm, the place was heaving. We went in, with me still in my ankle boots. I'll admit to thinking I was asking for trouble <looking at the customer demographic>, but the evening was so uneventful, I was possibly trying to see just how close I could get to 'the wind' as it were.....

In keeping with the rest of the evening, the clothes section was located, literally 150 yards away from the entrance we'd used. Okay, I did want to walk .... We'd been in the stores seconds, when a rather large young lady did what I had been trying to avoid all evening. Except she slipped on some spilt milk. There one second, on the floor a split second later. She had her wits about her though, asked for the manager immediately! <clever girl>

Normally I would have offered to help her up, but it was plain this wasn't required. The manager needed to see her sitting in the milk..... it seemed.

Once at the shoes, I was disappointed, as the courts I was hoping to find there nowhere to be seen. They did have some wearable (girls) cowboy boots reduced to £5, but only had them in smaller sizes. Booth myself and my companion looked for a pair each, and found nothing but size 5's, so we left.

Half hour later, we were home.

So what is the point of this thread, and what is it I'm not (yet) fed up with saying?

I think many of us worry much too much about the rest of the world, and what it might think of us wearing heels. [Two nights ago I had a Policeman drive past me at 1am in the morning. I had slightly flared trousers on, and wedge heels. He had a good look, and just kept on driving.]

I'm lucky in that I seldom have to walk alone, but I do, and was certainly alone when I got watched by the Policeman. But many of you out there should know, walking out in heels is possibly more fun than you realise, and doesn't carry a health risk?

Possibly more of us would be inclined to 'street-heel' if we had a 'heeling-buddy'? Probably 'one of our own' as it were? Maybe I should start a poll to get a feel for it as a realistic opportunity. I don't expect any of you to volunteer to street-heel in your spectacular 5 1/2" courts or high boots, but hearing more of you venturing out in sensible height shoes, [1"-4"] would make good reading.

Any response from those not used to going out in heels, not even in the middle of the night perhaps? Do many want to go out, but are unsure if they should? Or is everyone content with what they currently do?

.....

[Danielinheels]

I think that having someone along with you, who knows and doesn't waste time talking about it, is a major plus. People see that interaction (or lack thereof) and play off of it (or don't, as it was in your case). It's like my friends and I... there aren't many occasions where we aren't telling a joke, and on several instances unknown passersby would chuckle or chime in. I once spent an evening out with my best friend (a female) wearing my mary-janes and opaque kneehighs; nobody said a word about it because we didn't.

[Thighbootguy]

ff2 -

It sounds like you had a fine evening, even with the slow traffic.

On this board, I have been preaching two messages: have confidence, but don’t become complacent.

I do believe society has become less caring about what people wear and is willing to tolerate guys pushing the envelope but we should not let our guard down too far. Your comment, “I'll admit to thinking I was asking for trouble <looking at the customer demographic>” concerned me. I’m glad everything went well and that you were aware that you were pushing things a bit.

Thanks for the post and as they used to say on Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there”.

[fastfreddy2]

Your comment, “I'll admit to thinking I was asking for trouble <looking at the customer demographic>” concerned me. I’m glad everything went well and that you were aware that you were pushing things a bit.

Thanks for the post and as they used to say on Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there”.

Thank you sir!

As I've mentioned to you by PM, you are an inspiration. I'll never manage to push as far as you have managed, but I do what I can in my own <smaller> way.

"Trouble" is a relative term, that perhaps bears some explanation.

I generally walk out in the evening under cover of darkness. Getting harder here as darkness doesn't arrive until about 9pm at the moment. [Midsummer in 5 weeks.]

I'm getting more used to visiting malls and town centres in discreet heels, but yesterday I went out in heels that weren't that discreet. Until now, I'd had almost no experience of this. There was one short trip to a restaurant I've mentioned elsewhere, where I also nearly slipped over a couple of times on shiny wooden flooring, but that was about it.

This time out, I kinda declared my presence, though still in a fairly subtle way.

The main shopping area in the West End of London was fairly straightforward, and I've been there in heels a number of times already. The supermarket I went to, is situated in a reasonably poor area. I'd never been there before, and knew little about what sort of person I might meet inside. Two men I followed in through the front door, looked like they had been to the pub prior to going shopping for groceries. Us Brits have a problem with drinking, <controlling our consumption when we start> and alcohol is well known de-inhibitor.

I never worry about violence. I'm not big, but I do look like someone who might not provide an easy target. I've spent some of my recent years working in areas where 'decent' people would not choose to go. The closest I ever been to being mugged, I was being asked for 'fare' home. I gave a chap £1 coin. His mate wanted one too, and I refused. The 2nd chap was insistent, as was I. The 1st chap saw what going to happen, and thought better of the whole situation. Sure I was scared, but we Brits are known for not walking away from a fight, even if we expect to get a bloody nose. I guess these two realised that, and moved on to a softer target.

Same with shoes. I don't expect the sort of abuse some here who live in other countries, have suffered in the past. I am more worried about what I will describe as verbal abuse. I mean embarrassment of course. A bunch of [young-ish] lads laughing at me, (or girls thinking about it) would be the worst thing for me. Individuals looking at me, and making a point of laughing while I could see, would feel quite hurtful too. On balance, I think I'm starting to put myself in a position where this becomes almost inevitable, because I feel I should experience it? Not because I find it an attractive prospect, but I feel the need to 'inoculate' myself against a situation where I might have absolutely no control over the outcome. If I can acclimatize myself in a situation I've half-way arranged, I might be able to maintain an element of control.

So, "trouble" in this instance, was never likely to be any more brutal than being at the sharp end of a couple of middle-aged drunks, having some amusement at my expense.

I do appreciate your good advise though, and will endeavour to make good use of it.

I enjoyed reading the latest episode in your long-running thread last night. You sure have carved out an attractive lifestyle for yourself over there. May it long continue. My best regards to you.

....

[shyguy]

Graet post FastFreddy2, you are certainly getting "out there" now and enjoying your streetheeling. Keep the tales coming they're always interesting.

[roniheels]

Fastfreddy2... Thank you, as always, for sharing your street heeling stories with us. I enjoy street heeling so much and your stories, as the stories from others, are an inspiration to me and give me ideas of other places to street heel that I haven't before. Back in college, when men's high heels were in style, I had a "heeling buddy" (my roomate) and we went out on the town in our platform high heels. We even wore the same shoe size and traded shoes. It was fun and we had fun. I now street heel alone but it doesn't bother me. The more I do the more fun and exciting it is. And the more of us that people see wearing high heels in public, hopefully the more common place it will become. Time will tell. Thank you again for sharing your experience.