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My New Years' resolution to explore heels - specifically stilettos - has prompted a bit of (unworried, untroubled) introspection. Why do I want to adopt a pair of stilettos? Curiosity is a big factor - as I said in another post, I would bet that the overwhelming majority of men would love to try on a pair of heels just to see what it was like, how it felt, how it looked. But such is society and it’s hidebound perceptions of masculinity that even the acknowledgement of such curiosity is buried good and deep within us. For many if not most guys, I would imagine, even an inkling that such a curiosity existed within them, beneath the surface, would be deeply unsettling, and prompt the hostile fearful reactions one sees. On a similar note I suspect too some of those reactions are based on envy, seeing someone else dare to do something they might wish to try too but daren’t. Seeing someone assume a freedom, take a liberty, is also unsettling and prompts angry responses. It’s how motorists view cyclists - people who are escaping the enslavement if the automobile and all its attendant costs, red tape, fines and legalities. I know that in my case, having given myself permission for some time now to wear otk suede boots (flats) it is only natural to acknowledge the curiosity that is within and act upon it. I am sure there are plenty of other factors, but a simple healthy curiosity must be the biggest motivating force.

One likes to think things will be less hidebound in 30 years time, but I am sceptical. Although certain things are more freely acceptable now - PVC and otk boots as you say - there is also, as a counterpoint, an erosion of freedoms of thought and speech, a rampant political correctness and political agendas being driven by Twitter storms and a collective risk averseness that is encroaching more and more on individual liberties. In many ways the 70s and 80s were a far more easy going period than now. I could, for example, easily see health and safety regulators, strident feminism, Twitter storms and fearful politicians banning high heels in the workplace - or else the lawyers fearful of lawsuits might do it on a company by company basis, with nightclubs and restaurants following suit. I am not sanguine about open societies and individual freedoms in the future...

The hunt is always fun. Topshop seems to have pretty well sold out of PVC jeans on their website. I reckon I must have picked up the last two pair that they had. That gives me a total of four pair of PVC jeans now - probably just about enough... But then again...

I see what you mean about the volume of those boots. They would be too big and floppy on my too. Obviously people choose shoes they find appealing for many and varied reasons, not just questions of pure abstract aesthetics. I am still sorting out in my mind, for example, the rationales behind my desire to wear and walk well in 4-5” stilettos and what form my stiletto adventure should take. While I am sure that my reasons are many and that the idiosyncratic logic behind them may not be readily articulated, I do know that in my case aesthetics plays a huge role. There is something majestic and appealing about the lines of a 4-5” inch heeled boot that I long to adopt for myself.

Indeed we did. And are all the better for it!