Men in Women's Shoes

Discussion of fashion elements and looks that are traditionally considered somewhat "femme" but are presented in a masculine context. This is NOT about transvestism or crossdressing.
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Crazyman
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Men in Women's Shoes

Post by Crazyman »

I've been wearing nothing but ladies' shoes for the past 6 years and my feet have never looked or felt better. When compared to men's shoes, there's just so many interesting colours and styles out there that it's incomprehensible why more guys haven't discovered this. Truth be told, my love for ladies' shoes began right after I had a stroke, which also explains why I absolutely can't wear high-heels because one of the faculties that never came back was my sense of balance.
The only shoes I wear are flat (1 inch or less) strappy sandals or ballet flats, always in black. I'm a professional dumpster diver and the first 4 pairs I got all came from someone's garbage. Since I have a size 42 foot, it wasn't all that difficult to find. All the subsequent pairs I've bought were via the web and if you check around there's lots of sites that sell large sized ladies' shoes.
Surprisingly I've almost never had a negative reaction to this. The only time I did was at the Post Office. There was this really muscular guy with his girlfriend who just gave me a long dirty look of utter contempt. But neither my family, nor my girlfriend have a problem with it because I actually look better in them. I've had long nails ever since I can remember and about 6 years ago I started doing them French style, and I've always had long hair, so the shoes don't look that out of place on me.
In other words, if society regards you as being a nonconformist for whatever reason, nobody's going to think that wearing feminine shoes is that out of place. And if someone out there finds it unacceptable, well, then I don't hang out with any bigoted or closed-minded people anyway, and besides, they're definitely in the minority. Personally I think that more men would be out there wearing ladies' shoes or skirts if they saw other guys doing it. So basically I'm serving as kind of a catalyst by getting other guys to think outside the box and not restrict themselves to just the same-old boring menswear.
Last edited by Crazyman on Mon Jun 08, 2015 3:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Caultron
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by Caultron »

Good for you!

And while I range a pretty narrow range of women's shoes, I think they do fit in when wearing a skirt. Big clunky men's shoes just don't look right.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

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dillon
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by dillon »

Some of us, of course, have no alternative to clunky men's shoes, unless we go the Pierre Silber route for cross-dressers. There are no women's shoes to fit my feet. Consider yourself fortunate, Caultron.
As a matter of fact, the sun DOES shine out of my ...
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r.m.anderson
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by r.m.anderson »

Crazyman:

Your (Metric) size 42 equals a USA women's size 10 or USA men's 8.5

You are very fortunate to be within the upper range of women's footwear.
Beyond USA sizing W12 (Metric 44) shoes are very difficult to find or have
to be custom made.
In the shoe width department you no doubt are escaping with the medium
width (M) or (B) width. Men's shoes are wider with a D width.

Noted previously the big large clunky men's wear shoes just don't have the
appeal of petite women's wear to match the outfit.
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
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Caultron
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by Caultron »

dillon wrote:Some of us, of course, have no alternative to clunky men's shoes, unless we go the Pierre Silber route for cross-dressers. There are no women's shoes to fit my feet. Consider yourself fortunate, Caultron.
I'm not sure I ever mentioned my women's shoe size, but it's usually 10 C/D or 11 B (42 or 43). And yes, although those are on the large size for women's shoes, they're fairly available.

In men's I wear a 10.5 or 11, which would be a 12 or 12.5 women's, but with men's shoes I wear much thicker socks.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

caultron
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Charlie
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by Charlie »

I've got some Hotter women's shoes in my size (UK8 / Euro42) which I bought mainly for the colour. One pair is very light, bright brown and the other is lilac which matches a polo shirt. Apart from the colours which I couldn't find in the men's department - no surprise there - when worn without socks they are far more comfortable than men's shoes as they have extra padding. And under a skirt they just look better.
Charlie
If I want to dress like a woman, I'll wear jeans.
Crazyman
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by Crazyman »

R. M. Anderson:

this is true, and yes, I do usually get the medium width, although the narrow width fits me too. I have bought shoes from outside the EU before but that's too much of an annoyance because the customs always catch it and then I have to drive all the way to another city, stand in line for half an hour, provide all the details of the transaction, then pay more money to get my shoes. I usually use the usual auction sites where I know the seller is in the EU. Andypola.es is also a pretty good site. I usually prefer to buy them online because the physical shoe stores here in Luxembourg don't have a lot of choices in size 42, which is at the upper end of the women's scale so my girlfriend, who's a size 41-42 also prefers to shop online.
Here's one bit of good advice that I learned the hard way. If you ever fall in love with a pair of shoes that has high heels and you're like me and you can't wear high heels? Just forget about them because there's no way you can shorten the heel without it looking totally amateurish. Sure, the outside is plastical, but there's a metal rod inside it! I ruined a perfectly good pair of shoes like that, so that the highest-heeled shoes I have are strappy sandals 1.75 inches high with a kitten heel. Melanies / Touch Ups by Benjamin Walk. Great looking shoes but because of that kitten heel they're not the easiest shoes to walk in, so I only use them for situations where I won't be walking around a whole lot, like certain grocery stores.
In total, I own 15 pair of ladies' shoes and 4 pairs of men's, which I use only for for my "work" (i.e. garbage diving) for safety reasons. Today I found 3 pairs of size 39 women's boots which I already have up on the ad listings. Also found about 4 kilos of silver coins from Switzerland. Somebody up there really likes me.
A major disadvantage to buying shoes online is the fact that never do they tell you in the ad whether or not the shoes are loud or not. No, they'll give you the dimensions, weights, everything, but not how many decibels they generate when you walk in them. I mean, I've had men's shoes that were "clickers" or what would pass for tap-dancing shoes back in the 40s. I don't like to wear these. Same with anything with a small heel because here in Europe you have a lot of cobblestoned streets and that can either cause you to peal out or at the very least cause a lot of strain on your lower back. Especially when winter rears it ugly head, I only wear shoes that have a minimum heel of 4-5 cm in width.
On the other hand, if you fancy a shoe that 's 1 or even 2 sizes smaller than what you need, you can use the freezer method or the hair-dryer method to make them bigger. I've successfully used this on only one pair of shoes I wear regularly, a pair of Janet D's I found. I first used the freezer method on them, but the bags didn't want to come out, so I used the hair dryer method and it worked. Another thing I've found is that if you prefer black shoes like I do, and the one you find are of a different colour than black, do NOT use a filtstift to colour them black. Use regular black shoe polish and just repeat the procedure 4 or 5 time, drying them on the radiator between treatments each time. You don't need any specialised leather dye. And if you're really specific about what type of shoes you want and you don't immediately see them on any of the auction sites or ad sites, just keep looking and sooner or later you'll find exactly what you're looking for. I was actually surprised to be the only bidder on a really nice pair of shoes I won at an auction recently.
And I mean if you guys are wearing skirts, I can't think of any footwear more appropriate for that than women's shoes. I wear women's shoes with all the styles of clothing I do wear including business suits. Ask yourself which type of officially "men's" sandals can you wear with a suit. Answer: none because they all look like something Rambo would wear, or a hippy. The only reason I don't regularly wear skirts is (a) it's not practical if your "job" consists of getting into and out of a car like 300 times a day. And (b) I do have a couple of skirts as well as dresses but only the minority of them have pockets, and I do need pockets for what I do for a living. I do have a favourite purse I use to carry all the things I need. I used to have a hip bag for all that stuff but the zipper broke on it so I've been relegated to the use of a beautiful black woman's purse. I have 4 mobiles because here in Europe the roaming charges are atrocious, and where I live I can literally walk to 3 different countries in less than an hour. And now that I think about it, I've had a ladies wallet since I was 16 because only the ladies' wallets have dividers in them so you can keep all your currencies separate, and in fact my mom gave me my first ladies wallet which was her own used one just so I could keep all my currencies separated. Thank God that we have the Euro now, really because that means I only have 2-3 different currencies on me at any given time based on where I hang out.
Speaking of hanging out, I was last week at a friend's house in Hamburg and I seen a LOT of guys dressing up, and a lot of people ask me if I'm a transvestite to which I'd say "no" because from what I understand, TV guys actually get off on this whereas for me it's purely an aesthetic thing. I just love women's shoes and I don't consider that in any way strange at all. And if a guy wants to wear a skirt every day, then I think it's perfectly OK and I wouldn't even think twice about it. I've had really long nails ever since I can remember, and the only thing my parents can't stand is when I tap them against a hard surface when I'm nervous. So I've taken notice of that and I don't do it around other people.
I've been blessed and fortunate to have been born in the most tolerant part of the world (save for Japan) where I can pretty much wear whatever I want to without anybody thinking anything. I lived in Manhattan for 18 years and that was cool as well, but the amount of acceptance you get there is directly related to how much you like the gay community, and if you dress like I do now, people automatically think you're gay, which I'm not. May God's grace be upon all the gays. The New Testament only mentions one prohibition against gayness, and that's St. Paul warning about a specific satanic cult which practiced homosexuality with child sacrifice, and the worship of snakes. It's also ironical that the only people who disapprove of me having French nails on my hands are homosexuals, while my girllfriend loves that I have my feet done up that way but not my hands. Strange, I know.
But like I mentioned in a previous post, my choice of clothing is far outweighed by my strength of conviction on other grounds, most notably the fact that I believe that POLITICS is the worst form of government there is, bar none. I'm pretty sure that you guys are among the 99.9999 percent of all the people on this earth who are good and who agree with me.
We should all get together physically somewhere in Lux City or anywhere in Belgium, Netherlands, or Germany. For an especial occasion like that I'd even wear my favourite "dirndl" dress.

Love and peace to you all,

The Crazyman
dillon
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by dillon »

Caultron wrote:
dillon wrote:Some of us, of course, have no alternative to clunky men's shoes, unless we go the Pierre Silber route for cross-dressers. There are no women's shoes to fit my feet. Consider yourself fortunate, Caultron.
I'm not sure I ever mentioned my women's shoe size, but it's usually 10 C/D or 11 B (42 or 43). And yes, although those are on the large size for women's shoes, they're fairly available.

In men's I wear a 10.5 or 11, which would be a 12 or 12.5 women's, but with men's shoes I wear much thicker socks.
LOL...I haven't worn a 10 since I was ten!
As a matter of fact, the sun DOES shine out of my ...
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owen
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by owen »

My sentiments exactly, Crazyman! "Women's" footwear runs the whole gamut from spiky slashers to bruiser boots, cushy crêpe-soles, slinky strappies, bimbo ballerinas, in every colour/material imaginable, so there's a whole world there to be explored. My own taste tends towards plain but elegant low-heeled mary-janes, and like yourself (though I don't make a habit of scavenging) I just happened to find my first pair of that very style sitting on top of a skip in perfect condition and sizing, many years ago. My main source for stuff like skirts and shoes now is EBay; buy good stuff cheap and if it doesn't suit then I haven't lost much.
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JeffB1959
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by JeffB1959 »

I'm all over the board when it comes to women's shoes which is ALL I wear when out and about in skirts. I have pumps, flats, knee boots, thigh boots, platform wedge sandals and slides, my heel heights ranging from three to five inches, but I wear four inchers frequently as that's my most comfortable height for lengthy periods of standing and walking. Women's shoes are what I love with skirts! By the by, most of my shoes comes from Payless Shoesource which offers sizes up to 13 wide, and are not "stripperific" shoes either.
I don't want to LOOK like a woman, I just want to DRESS like a woman.
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by rick401r »

I bought a pair of women's gold 4 inch heels to wear in a charity walk. I enjoyed wearing them so much I bought another pair with 5 inch heels. Then I went wild and ended up with a dozen or so women's shoes. I finally came to my senses and got rid of all but a pair of red heels (for the charity walks) and a pair of knee high leather boots with a 3 inch Cuban heel.
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

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I was looking for men's knee high kilt boots. Not much out there. I found linemen boots which were clunky and very expensive. I found a number of boots I can best describe as costume boots. Not very well made and the one I got was uncomfortable to wear for any length of time. There are motorcycle boots that are knee high that might work. I also ran into "engineer" boots but again very expensive and hard to find. I see the women in all types of knee high boots. Some of these look like one particular style of men's "engineer" boots I ran across. So lets forget about searching for knee high boots restricted to "men's". A search of DSW online shoe store I found a number of well made knee highs for women that were low heel (1") and simple in design. I wear men's 9M shoes. So add two and that gives me 11M in women's size. That is the maximum size for most styles on DSW's site.

They have worked out very well. The only change I would make is in the tread of sole. It is a little weak for slippery conditions in the winter. I don't expect snow tread but a little deeper would be a plus. I now have a black and brown set. I have worn them with kilts and no negative comments or strange looks. The size worked out perfectly. I have worn them all day long without them becoming uncomfortable.

I was not able to find any pictures so I must not have made any. Here is a link to ones I have. Looks like they call these "riding boots".
http://www.dsw.com/shoe/me+too+deedee+r ... Ref=SEARCH

So if you can find women's shoes in a size and style that works for you then go for it.
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by partlyscot »

Pleats, I have also been looking for such boot. I have a bigger foot, so less choice. I am looking at this one

http://ca.longtallsally.com/p/tall/leat ... 4#16H04BLA

Which by trying out some of there other boots, would work for me in a size 12 as their sizing is generous. Other brands might go up to a size 13. Another issue I have is that the calf tends to be too roomy, most women need a wider calf in the larger sizes. Mine is about 15" around. the one I linked to should work. Another one is David Tate Della boot, though I think I need a 13 in that, I think I prefer it, as the heel is little lower as well. At 6'2" I need tall heels like a hole in the head!
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r.m.anderson
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by r.m.anderson »

partlyscot wrote:Pleats, I have also been looking for such boot. I have a bigger foot, so less choice. I am looking at this one

http://ca.longtallsally.com/p/tall/leat ... 4#16H04BLA

Which by trying out some of there other boots, would work for me in a size 12 as their sizing is generous. Other brands might go up to a size 13. Another issue I have is that the calf tends to be too roomy, most women need a wider calf in the larger sizes. Mine is about 15" around. the one I linked to should work. Another one is David Tate Della boot, though I think I need a 13 in that, I think I prefer it, as the heel is little lower as well. At 6'2" I need tall heels like a hole in the head!
Not necessarily so - check the sizing on calf high boots for not only foot size and width but the circumference of the opening of the boot at the top.
Some women need more and yet some with twiggy legs have no need for that roomy effect similar to rolled down fireman boots or fisherman waders.
Some boots have a variable circumference with elastic gore inserts to accommodate more than one size.
Getting the calf circumference too tight may result in a tourniquet fit that is not comfortable and may result in snagging tights/ph.
With some designs the elastic gore is augmented or replaced with a strap and buckle applique.
If making an ebay or mail order purchase get all your ducks in a row with the critical measurements.
A little internet research goes all a long way to a fit that works and looks right !
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
partlyscot
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Re: Men in Women's Shoes

Post by partlyscot »

I did check the measurements, that's why I picked those 2 boots. If you look at the other models on the LTS page, you will see that many of them start at 16.5" and go up. The one I linked to is about 15" and has a stretch back, the David Tate Della is 14.5" and has a buckle adjustment for another 1.5"

Many of the women's boots are designed to go over pants, hence more room.
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