Shyheels

Gin doesn't cut it for me. I used to be fond of the big, bold Islay single malts - and still am to a degree - but After spending some time out there I have discovered the joys of fine rum from the Caribbean. Eldorado, from Guyana, is a favourite. like you, though, I am not a drinker. I bottle of rum will last me a year. But I do enjoy it!

That's a nice story about the bicycle and your son.

I am hugely impressed at your DIY skills. I am a good bicycle mechanic but that's as far as my handy man skills go. I would not even begin to contemplate tackling such a job as you describe, and if I was reckless and foolish enough to try I would end up with a first-rate calamity on my hands.

On foot and by bike, if local. Train otherwise. But generally I travel overseas so taking the train to the airport is my usual mode.

It is quite a large and well curated exhbit. Lots of shoes of course, but film clips etc as well. It is divided into sections and includes shoes and boots from all over the world, and through the ages. I really enjoyed it.

Has anyone been to the Pleasure & Pain exhibition at the V&A Museum. It is extremely good - a well curated exhibition covering the history of footwear with exhibits brought in from collections all over the workd, plus those from the V&A's own collection. Fascinating exhibit, well laid out. It will be there intil the end of January. just thought I would mention it.

Well, I have cycled in hiking boots in the past so I can't see why cowboy boots wouldn't work. Although as I say I have seen women in stiletto boots cycling in London - not many, but some nonetheless. I have even seen, and I apologise for not having the link, high-heeled cycling shoes designed for clipless pedals! I have never seen anyone wearing them - the sales figures must be miniscule- but I have seen them offered. It seems you can get anything these days... (Although I doubt this particular offering came in any larger sizes!) Wait - here's a link http://www.visualnews.com/2013/10/10/bringing-sexy-back-biking-high-heeled-biking-shoes/ Oddly enough this is not the pair I was thinking of. Perhaps there is a larger market than I imagined...

Why not? :-)

Thank you for the welcome!

To be alliterative you could wear your cuissardes to the cafe to consume croissants and coffee

I have seen an immaculately dressed girl in London riding a bicycle and wearing a pair of stiletto knee boots. She looked elegant and she rde elegantly as well, manoeuvring her bicycle through traffic like she knew what she was doing. That said, I can think of better footwear choices for riding - and I say this as someone who does not use clipless pedals, and likes the flexibility of being able to grab my bike and go no matter what I am wearing on my feet. If you are wearing long slender heels and you misalign your foot during a pedal stroke, you could easily put your heel into the front derailleur or across the line of the chain. This would not be fun.

I meant over jeans. The auto-correct on my iPad thinks it knows better than me what it is I mean! Drives me nuts!

I was lucky in finding a perfect pair. No need to collect. Although by a fortuitous string of events I have subsequently acquired a pair of flat heeled brown suede OTK boots which I like equally well and which look great with jeans. Not at all feminine, except by means of society's broad and prejudcial association with women and tall boots. Looked at in any neutral framework, there is nothing intrinsically feminine about them. As a cyclist with an interest in history, I find interesting parallels with the golden age of the bicycle when newly liberated women were taking to their bicycles and adopting - at some considerable social risk - trousers. It was the bicycle that launched the shift towards trousers for women.

Actually the feminine traditions for boots do not even go back that far. Since I permitted myself to indulge in this I have done a bit of research on the topic of fashion, footwear, men in heels and boots. It's a very interesting story really. As to boots - the fashion I feel that I am (or was) missing out on, that dates back only 50 years or so to some designers in the early 1960s going for a masculine Three Musketeers look for their lines and using cuissards to round out the look. Add Nancy Sinatra's hit song Boots in 1966 and there it was. And as we know, once a thing has gone feminine, it never really comes back. I would wear my suede boots out in public, over heads, without a second's hesitation but I do not live in a vacuum. My wife is extremely tolerant but I want to be very careful not to embarrass her in any way. For now, that might do it. I decided to buy and wear these only last year. At any rate I am fortunate enough to work from home, except when I am travelling, and so OTK boots are de rigueur in my office (my official dress code) and the places I travel to for work are not places one would wear nice suede boots anyway. So in truth I miss out only on wearing them to Tescos. A very happy compromise. But, as I say, were I on my own, they would certainly be worn out to do the shopping! I have not the least shame or embarrassment in owning or wearing them.

I travel a bit in the UK, mainly overseas. When I am not on the road I work from home, hence my reclusive lifestyle and knowing few locals.

I know what you mean. In a perfect world I would have oodles of space indoors for presenting my bikes as the works of art they are, but alas. One of my tourers has more miles on it than many cars do. I am hoping one day when my ship comes in - presuming same ship is not a garbage scow - to have it stripped down, the rusting old drop-outs replaced with new stainless steel ones, and then resprayed. It is a bicycle that deserves that attention and money, given where all it's taken me. It is very personal bit of mobile art! My other two are 5 and 7 years old. Not as high mileage but well used and loved. Glad to her you're riding again though!

My interest was in boots rather than heels per se - going back to the late 60s and a very pretty red haired girl who often came to school wearng leghugging go-go boots. I fancied the girl, and as something of an introvert myself, envied her chic qualities and sassy extroversion which was richly suggested, in my mind, by her stylish trendy boots. I wanted a pair too, in my own rather puppyish way, and nearly blurted out this fact without thinking and was crimson faced with embarrassment at this near miss when I woke to the fact that what I fancied were girls boots. I buried this for many years. Boots were never a fetish or an obsession, just something fashionable that came back to mind each autumn when boots would come out and I would feel wistful that such things were for women only. Last year I said the hell with convention and bought my nice suede OTK boots. I only wish I'd done that earlier. A lot of confusion built up over the years. Tall fashion boots are so strongly feminised these days that wearing them, heel or no heel, is as fraught for men as wearing the spikiest stiletto - or nearly so. I more or less assumed my liking for these feminine boots had something to do with heels - often a salient characteristic of the boots I liked. It has only been since I bought and wore my boots, with their three inch chunky heels, that I began realising that I woukd be just as happy with flattish OTK boots. Heels were just an added spice. I'd like to get another pair of tall boots, and I am happily looking at low heeled ones. It is the style that I like, the elegance of them. Heels or no. I hope that doesn't make me a fraud here. As I say, tall boots run neck and neck with heels in terms of riskiness in being worn by men

A couple of my bikes seemed to pretty to use when I first got them, but they've all been oretty heavily used by now with many thousands of miles on each. The ride as beautfully as they look and they do no good sittng in the shed, burdened with theft proof chains!

I doubt it. I know few people in Britain. I am relatively new here and most of my work is done overseas, as are most of my contacts!

They are all well used, but beautiful works of art. My extravagance - but then I don't own a car.

Tall boots are their speciality. They do lots of equestrian, field & country styles and vintage boots for the classic car and motorcycle people as well. In general, yes, tall boots - knee, otk, and thigh. They are building a new website at present which will better reflect their range and style. Really nice people. i hadn't filled out my profile tagyet, bacause I only just was able to join. I live in the UK, on the south coast.

A fellow cyclist, I see. Bicycles would be my most expensive treat as well. I have three with hand made frames - tourers, not racers, and with rather old fashioned, but to me elegant, components.

Hello! I have been posting for a while on HHP but have had a hard time logging on here. Got on this morning and thought I'd launch my first posts. I am a regular straight middle aged man who likes tall boots of a look and style that society generally considers feminine. That would be the only feminine thing I wear - indeed no other feminine footwear either, just boots. I look the tall elegance, have for years. Last year after many years of wishng, I decided to do something about it. Life is too short. I have a very lovely pair of Jean Gaborit over the knee boots in grey suede with chunky heels. I love them. my wife is very good natured and tolerant of my fashion quirk so I am very lucky in that regard. it is nice at last to be on this forum!

At last, I have been able to get on here. My password had not been working and I couldn't get a new on through the link until just now. i am a big boot fan - indeed my whole interest here is boots. I do not wear any other kind if footwear that is perceived to be feminine other than nice tall boots. I have big feet UK12+ and then legs from much cycling and in order to get otk boots that fit (and were not for the fetish crowd) I had to go custom. I bought some really lovely suede ones from Jean Gaborit - not cheap, I know, and beyond most budgets, including mine were I to have a collection as most people here seem to have. But this is my one foray into heels and so I pushed the boat out. You only live once and you can wear only one pair at a time! i love the boots. They are perfect and the quality of the craftsmanship and if the heavy suede is incredible. And they are nice and warm on chilly days. as to the look mentined above with the high heeled ankle boots and the generally refned conservative outfit - I too nitice that often and regret that such stylishness is not 'allowed' men.