shyguy

I wouldn't actually buy any of them to wear out either but it is fun to look sometimes and to share what's out there which catches the eye..

I quite like the patriotic and unusual look of these heels, is it just me? Find them at Rubber Sole http://www.rubbersole.co.uk/Irregular-Choice-PATTY-x135439.php

I've absorbed some facts about history due to my interest in other things (like the history of heels starting out to make it easier to stay on a horse and the higher heels being worn by men to show off their status originally and that we got railway track widths from the original Roman chariots and I have read that there is a continuation into the space age with these widths of tracks being used on trains to ferry shuttles but that may be incorrect). I find it interesting in passing only and not really something to pursue though.

Wow, what a speech from Freddy, so come on people let's hear some stories lol

I think it's worthwhile to visit more than once, plus they have different events going on during the year meaning different exhibits. It also appears that the shoes to try are changed around too. In other words I hope to go again at some point. As for museums, I am interested in the more mechanical and technical side of things so enjoy the likes of Beaulieu museum of motoring when I can get there (hasn't happened in some years though) and the Milton Keynes museum at Wolverton for its railway connections and telephone exhibit. History isn't my thing TBH.

Well we had our visit to the "shoe museum" as my daughter calls it. When we arrived there was a school trip going on just in front of us with a teacher making more noise shouting at the children to be quiet than the children themselves were. Mrs Shyguy didn't enter into the spirit of trying on the shoes which you are allowed to try, and I was also discouraged from same. A shame as there were some different red platforms from my last visit which looked like fun. My daughter (youngest) tried on a few pairs again but that was all there was to say about that. I agree with Freddy that there was indeed some very clever and artistic use of old beer cans and bottle tops to make interesting sculptures. As we progressed around the museum the school party seemed to be just ahead of us, and at one point blocked access to a whole portion of the shoe displays for a good 20 minutes. By the time we'd looked at the historical timeline of Northampton and gone back down and they were still there Mrs Shyguy was itching to leave, museums aren't her thing anyway and the fact it's got a lot of shoes in just made her all the less interested, so we had to leave without seeing that section of displays. All in all I still enjoyed looking at the museums exhibits, and it passed an hour or so of the day with my daughter who enjoyed herself too which was the point of the exercise. Sometimes it's disappointing that Mrs Shyguy doesn't loosen up a bit and join in the silly dress up (in the historical section at Northampton and also earlier in the day at a different museum with a Roald Dahl exhibition, in Aylesbury where you could dress in Tudor clothes) and the shoe trying but that's just her.

It's not naughty to try any new tools out at someone else's place first. Indeed I believe there may be a little known law which makes it illegal not to have tested the new equipment elsewhere before you use it in your own home. I mainly practised DIY at friends houses before I even got my own place, the phrase "of course I know how to..." was often uttered before I tried doing some house repair or other at someone else's risk.

Another United Nude design, I'm not sure I like it but I'd really like to try a pair out of curiosity. Priced at £175 though I don't think that's too likely here's a link to the page in case anyone wants to see more.

Been there and done that with drilling the lintels, destroying drill bits etc. It seems every major wall in our house is made of that same concrete as even putting up a shelf on any wall takes the same effort as drilling a lintel. The new drill should be fun to use though Freddy, always worth investing in the right tools when possible. Our latest diy disaster involved replacing light switches and sockets for the new decor. The first few were fine, swapped over in a couple of minutes as they should be. Then the trouble started, one of the socket boxes had been cut out by a previous bodger for some unknown reason and they'd left one of the threaded lugs dangling one end. We'd always thought the socket box was loose in the wall before and this would be our opportunity to secure it, but this was worse as the box had been nailed in place, screwed glued and something else holding it. As the wall had just been painted couldn't risk ripping the box out. Instead the end of the screw lug had to be secured instead until next time we decorate when we can sort this box first. Luckily it's a socket which is rarely used except for a plug in air freshener so it won't be pulled around too much. The last was a light switch which needed replacing. Someone had put up a thick piece of decorative wood where the switch was screwed on. Only when we got it out did we find that they'd used wood screws and that the actual box was too deep and obscured by the wood to get proper screws in. Moving the switch to meet the box would leave a hole on one side. The wood also had to be opened up a little for our new switch to fit the hole, which then left no material to screw to. That took a lot of head scratching to find a solution. I butchered another box and screwed bits of it in place to mount the socket. It's all earthed properly so no dangerous wiring practises because of it so it ended OK I guess.

You're right, Northampton does have a large retail base spread around that area. At least 2 different malls full of shops and a long pedestrianised area with shops both sides. Pictures look good, and I'm pleased it wasn't just me who couldn't get a decent picture in the poorly lit museum. At least you had a good day out from the tone of the report anyway, and the recommendation at the end.

I've probably said it here before but I'm not a big fan of the pointier toed shoes like the first pair shown. The round toe pumps look good though. How are they to walk in?

Looking forward to seeing the pictures you took, hopefully some better pictures than those rushed and dark ones I posted. Did you all enjoy your visit is more what I want to hear though... We still plan to go to Northampton next week, and also to the Roald Dahl museum in Aylesbury as our 9 year old daughter loves reading the Roald Dahl books. We're going to try to do both museums in one day from our location which is centrally placed between the two of them, give or take.

Looking forward to seeing the pictures, and some more in depth reviews ;-)

Seems to work for me :-)

Have to wait until payday before buying tickets to Rocky Horror, hopefully some will still be available..

I am hoping to go to the Rocky Horror show when it comes to Milton Keynes this year, Mrs Shyguy has agreed in principle to us both going for a night out. I'm pretty sure heels will be discussed beforehand, and probably prohibited or at least restricted to low and un-noticeable levels.

Didn't realise before but they also have a blog with shoe of the month posts

Geri Halliwell Bag It Up has men dancing in heels too.

Northampton Museum is mainly about the shoes apparently :-) I'll let you know after I've been back there.

Nice to hear I'm not the only one to have DIY disasters Freddy, lucky your house isn't a rush job ;-) I hate DIY, but costs ensure that I end up doing a lot of it. My most recent major project was to replace our rather shabby looking shower cubicle. A trip to B&Q found a nice cubicle which should fit, but they only had a returned one, all but guaranteeing parts would be missing so we asked them to order a new one in for us. A delivery date was arranged and time off work arranged, when the day arrived, the cubicle arrived and dont ya just know it was the one we could have collected in store with the previously opened packaging. That was sent back and another one brought out to us. The old shower surround came out easily one evening, and the next day I opened up the new box to fit the replacement. Checked the instructions, which were for a completely different unit. A phone call was made and a PDF sent to my email of the right instructions, it looked easy but many of the "just place part c on part d and line up the pre-drilled holes and insert screw E" steps ended in swearing as the holes in "D" didn't line up with the ones in "C". It did go together, but ended up 25 mm or so smaller than the old one, no problem with the base, but the tiles had been cut inside the old unit, and the new one would either have to mount on them or we had to cut down the edges. Mounting over the tiles seemed good, but meant drilling lots of holes through the tiles to mount the cubicle. Masking tape and great caution won the day and the cubicle went up without cracking a single tile. Siliconed and set, Mrs Shyguy was happy with the completed project. Now she has much more planned for me.

It's school half term in a couple of weeks and we were going to take our youngest daughter to London's science and natural History museums. I came home from work tonight to be told that she doesn't want to go to London but would prefer to go to the Roald Dahl museum (she's a great book reader like her dad) and also to the "shoe museum" Northampton again and would I mind the change of plans? Well I tried to look disappointed but another trip to the Northampton museum and my daughter says we must have fun again trying on those shoes like last time, and mum has to try them too sounds good to me. Might get some more piccies as the exhibits have changed a little and Mrs Shyguy has a better camera on her phone ;-)

OK, I'll go with that post of a couple posts per week. Let's see what happens...

Those Biba jeans are a tad on the expensive side Freddy, and I know what you mean about M+S jeans, as the wife wears them too and the quality has definitely gone downhill. On this topic, it's funny how things change, my wife is now all but insisting I wear the womens jeans I got every time we go out as she says they look good on me. I'm also told I have to get another pair of a different colour. Contrast that with this quote from earlier in the thread

I was looking at these before Christmas when they dropped in price to £18 I usually find an Evans 7 pretty comfortable so kept an eye on the website waiting for some money to pop into the bank account. The money dropped in but these had sold out in size 7. Haven't had the chance to get to a shop so looks like it's game over for getting these.

Hi Ludovic, I had a similar situation early on in my discussions with my wife. One day she asked me to stretch shoes for her and it panned out in a similar way to the story you related. I ended up wearing the shoes for a while and I was also told how it had "done nothing for her while I wore them". Since then, when I have shown an interest in new shoes she has bought I have always been asked in private if I want to try them, and sometimes almost commanded to try the shoes on and compare feedback. At least you have had the chance to wear heels for a while without any upset in your relationship. Hope things continue to improve in the heel wearing discussions.