FastFreddy2

A wide-fit is no use to me sadly. I fair much better with slimmer styles that keep my foot where it should be. Wider-fit styles have my feet moving around in the shoe too much, making me feel 'unsafe'. (Bit like wearing a roller-skate.)

Used the M50 to take some photo's of a lens earlier today, with a view to selling it. I struggled. Wanted to use exposure compensation, and couldn't find out how to adjust it intuitively. The only way I could make adjustments in the time I had, was to put the camera into manual mode, and use the thumb wheel to alter the exposure speed, which was a less than desirable solution. Not a great start. Ho-hum. On the up side though, image quality was very good.

And..... Two weeks ago, I also told a new lady friend the same picture (as above) was of me. She knows I'm a photographer, and has seen my portfolio, though after I mentioned the origin of the picture. Once again, nothing. It being Christmas, one of the few social events I go to, is a Christmas dinner with immediate family. I have some court shoes with 5" heels I put on for 2 minutes most weeks (I don't go out in heels) that remind me I can walk in heels, and like walking in heels. I tried them on as I got ready to leave for the function earlier today, with me wanting to wear them to the dinner. Mrs Freddy wasn't keen, understandably, so the shoes stayed at home. Perhaps one day ...

My findings certainly support that. I don't know if some people are 'hard-wired' to pick up the tap-tap of a stiletto, but some seem to be - including me.

I was tempted to mention them too, but thought better of it. Just in case I started a stampede.

While I have not taken any photographs with my new Panasonic G80 since writing, a month ago I succumbed to Canon's promotion on an M50 kit. It remains to be seen whether there is a noticeable difference in quality between the two. 16mp vs 24mp I would hope so. Especially since I'm £1000 into the new kit. One failing of the M50 already found (only yesterday), is the electronic 'silent' shutter on the M50 is not usually available for most settings, only one option under the SCN section. While die-hard SLR owners like the clunk sound of a shutter, I do not. In fact in quiet environments, the clunking of a shutter is very undesirable. I am wondering if I jumped too soon, and should have waited for an upmarket version with more bells and whistles? For general portraiture, the 'clunk' won't matter. But no more "no film in the camera" test shots of sitters. Strobe count has reduced. x1 I can't seem to sell. (Not really suitable for digital.) I might get this serviced, and keep. x2 kit (damaged in transit) with price reduction achieved and repair possible. x2 kit that I like and is keeper. x1 almost 'mini' that is to use for hair lights, with/without snoot. I've also got backdrop with white or black options, and boom arm for the hair light. What I don't have, is a space to use as a studio, yet.

That looks like a 'classic' western boot. As would the same be in black. If Philip Green wasn't on my sh*t list (actually appears twice), I might be very tempted to chase a purchase.

I think it more to do with boredom. I was a very active member of another board for several years. Every month, a new member would ask the same questions "is this better or the other one better"? "Should I do this, or do that?" These basic questions literally got asked so frequently, a FAQ section was created that fully explored the 'rights and wrongs' of any point possible in a debate prior to a purchase. Did the FAQ section stop the question being asked? Nope. Did pointing people at the FAQ section stop the same questions being asked, the same points on either side of any given debate being put forward? Nope. Responding, became an act of futility. This site needs at least 3 (to 5) regular respondents. I've been unusually busy these past months and haven't had the time I used to have for contributions. I expect to have more time in the new year, if my work position goes the way I expect it to. I'm happy to make contributions as I know Puffer is, but there needs to be others able and willing to contribute.

Great idea as a concept, but how to wash? (Clean?) I think made of a stretch material. The tightness around the thighs suggest this.

I think that was when I wore some shoes from Schuh called Lois. They were red. That video was posted some time ago, but should still have a link to it.... Here is the original post, that isn't shown in full. If the top right hand corner of the link is clicked on (where the arrow is) the full post will appear. Just for ease of looking/watching .... Here is a direct link. https://youtu.be/oknNtXyZjjg The video was uploaded in June 2012. What happened to the last 6½ years? Did I blink and it vanished?

I had such an opportunity, but the shoes didn't fit very well, sadly. While the flared leg has some potential, the absence of any toe showing is a give-away. In fact to be truly discreet, a high heeled shoe worn by a man must be 2-3 inches longer than usual. I have some very wearable shoes (easy to wear) I could walk around in all day. Slightly flared (bootleg) jeans or trousers, hide whatever needed hiding of the heel, bit no toe showing, draws attention. Less, is not more in this instance. I have some very nice ankle points with pointed toe, that fit very well. They are half-way toward a cowboy boot, but the absence of my foot showing, suggests I am wearing a heel, and draws attention for that reason. The appearance at floor level, is of a girl wearing high heels and just a bit of her toe showing at the bottom of her trousers. Even people not into heels, recognise that look.

I'd say that appraisal, was 100% correct. Here in the UK it's fairly straight forward in differentiating because shoes sold here have to be declared with their material contents. It doesn't often say PU, but will often say synthetic. Obviously, anything synthetic, isn't leather. Some sellers manage to find sources for leather shoes that might come in under UK£100, but these are now few and far between. Worse, it's not unusual these days, for synthetic leather shoes and boots to be well over UK£100. As the Chinese and Vietnamese manufacturing groups take over the worlds shoe manufacturing, smaller 'artisan' manufacturers lose more and more of their customer base, making their products more and more expensive to produce as they increasingly lose economies of scale. I would suggest whether you buy leather or synthetic/PU will depend on your intent. Most people buying shoes (women) these days don't expect the style they buy to be wearable for more than (say) two years. As my shoe repairer says, shoes made these days are "rubbish" and can't even be stored for any length of time. (I found a pair of unworn wedges owned by Mrs Freddy last week, the heels in pieces because the plastic had broken down.) The repairer says to me, buy them, wear them, throw them. Conversely, a more expensive "classical" style in leather, one that is neither in vogue or out of it, spend every penny you are comfortable with spending. Had I realised 30 years ago, "consumerism" and globalism would speed up the decline of the boot and shoe industry in the UK the way it has (and elsewhere thinking about it), I might have been more active in the learning skills that may already be lost to us. Somewhere I have a photo study of an 'old school' repair shop where the partners had the skills to make shoes from scratch. I remember vividly, one of the chaps I photographed telling me he was going to make a pair of shoes for his son as a present. Handmade shoes have a lifetime of 30 years or the rest of the owners life, whichever is sooner. As I write, I wonder if the son of the shoe maker, might want to see a photo of his father repairing shoes. I'm sure the son no longer has the benefit of his father in his life, unless his father is close to 100. I maybe should do something about that.

That's always the hope, but seldom is the case. Welcome to H4M anyway. Once you have made 5 or more posts you can (if you wish) post pictures, and I'm sure we'd all be interested in seeing your style. Don't assume that because people don't post, they don't visit. We've many more guests here than active members. Sadly, I've recently (or not so recently) taken a job with two hats that mean I'm busy during the day, and often in the evening at weekends too. The amount of time I have for going out in heels is significantly less than it was, though my bank manager is happy about the money I am building up in my bank account. Earning more, and able to spend less. On shoes anyway.

One of my favourites for heels ... Gwen Stefani. Circa 5" heels and fishnets .... Going to church. Yesssss.

Kendall Jenner does Jimmy Choo (and YSL) >> This << article is worth a look, possibly.

Taylor Swift ...

Carrie Underwood ....

Joanna Krupa in PVC skirt and Casadei heels.

Good luck with your first public walk.

Was in the West End last night, and looking through camera equipment (Christmas shopping for me). Got spotted wearing a heel. Very spotted. When I needed assistance, I contrived to have the 'spotter' help me. Went very well. No negativity, quite the opposite. I suppose I should have asked what they thought, but an opinion either way would not have any influence. So why ask? One of the things I often concern myself with, is falling over while wearing a heel. Falling over is bad enough, but in a heel! This afternoon while crossing a road and face stuck in a text message (so not looking where I was going) .... In flat (work) shoes, I tripped. Felt like I was going over as I crossed the road. Fortunately, I'd wisely waited for an empty road .... With my hands inches from the road and me dreading bloodied palms, I managed to regain my balance. Must have looked like a goose making a bad landing, but I kept off the floor (road). That'll teach me. Read all the time about people with head-stuck-in-phone coming a cropper, and nearly did that very thing. Mental note to self: 'No more walking while looking at phone'.)

Just so you know, that 'cuban' style heel is immensely popular this Autumn/Winter. I would agree they are good for male street wearing. I was tempted but I already have an earlier version, though I might prefer these .... The ones I own have a wider, more masculine look to them. You are right about the 42/8 being generous, which isn't always the case with Topshop. I find a Topshop 41 is waaay too small, so don't always expect a 42 to fit. In many styles from other brands, I get into a 41??

Will do. The up side to "all work and no play" is my bank balance is looking very healthy. I can't tell you how jealous I am you live in Texas. I will PM you why.

Around 3 weeks a ago. a picture I keep on my phone with me in black shiny leggings and high heels, was shown to the youngest member of my family and I informed him the image was a self-portrait. He had seen the picture before and had asked if the screensaver was chosen because of the leggings or heels, I had said both. After the admission, I didn't stop breathing, didn't disappear without trace, didn't get nasty phone calls from anyone. In fact, it would be true to say it was something of a non-event. Oh well....

An unexpected very long hot summer has kept me away from studio type photography. Bad enough we had to endure South European grade heat, without me making it worse by getting people to sit in a room with a camera pointing at their melting faces. Getting a job that required longer hours than I had been used to, hasn't helped. I'm not as fit as I need to be to do the work I have been doing, so I've been arriving home fairly tired of late. The heat hasn't helped. We have had 3 or 4 weeks of more temperate weather, and life is getting back to some sort of normality. Longer nights are fast approaching, and we've had one or two particularly cool nights already. Now September, leaves are showing signs the season is turning. Even though I've had next to no use out of my new camera, the extra income has had me interested in upgrading already. To keep the same style of camera (Micro Four Thirds) and increase pixel count, I have to more than double the budget. That would get me 20mb (up from 16mb), but a change of camera entirely that would get me 24mb, comes in at almost the same money as my current one. I mean the Canon M50. Why more pixels? Better low light capability (usually) and more importantly, more room for cropping. (Using the bit of the image you want, not the whole image.) With an adaptor, Canon's whole range of lenses can be used with the M50. Maybe later in the year...

Without getting into too much detail, what sort of work do you do? I would think some sort of office based employment given the formal nature of your footwear. Do the 10% negative comments tend to come more from men than women, and what sort of comments are made? Lastly, anything you can tell me about those ankle boots I like so much?