thighboots

Hi there - for those of you in the UK, I e-mailed Faith and Aldo this week re males trying on high heeled shoes and boots in store.

Both stated that they welcome all customers and will do all they can to put men at ease. Even better, both have stated that they will facilitate males trying on heels either, away from the shop floor or prior to the store opening! What great news!

The customer service rep for Faith even contacted my local stores on my behalf, explained the situation to the staff and has now provided me with the managers telephone number so I can 'call ahead'.

AMAZING!

I cant wait for the new Faith and Aldo boots to arrive in store - I will be taking them up on this offer. The abiliy to try before I buy without the risk of idiots staring!

highestheels

What fantastic customer service. I will have to try this at the trafford centre it would make life alot less stressful!

HHDude

I did that at Carson's last week. I tried on 3 pairs of designer shoes, and was caught off-guard when she asked, "What do you think?" I tried repling back as if trying to start a convo, but didn't come out that way. I hope what happened with you happens to me ...in 3-4 more weeks.

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HHDude - "I'm still alive! And don't be alarmed 'cause I'm still in my heels!"

liveinheels

You guys are right I should have left the store with them on my feet instead of a shopping bag. I find that it would be easier to take the step out of the store if I weren't alone. The first time I wore heels out I made it about 300 feet and heard from behind look that guy has on heels so I ducked into a food place and changed it was really a rush. I don't have a problem trying them on in the stores even with other people around never had a mean comment just can't seem to get past the door you know what I mean. It is getting easier though just knowing that all of you are out there heeling really helps. Happy heeling!

CassieJ

The best way to handle this is to let them know you heard them with a big smile. They tend to respect confidence. Show weakness and groups can become cruel.

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Cassie - http://www.fetishforhighheels.com

Saturn

I haven't replied to this thread, and it's a good one, so I guess I'll add my two cents.

It seems many of you went through the exact same thing that I did. First, I would try them on only in empty stores, and be very nervous and scared.

Then I moved on to not giving a crap. I think things changed once I got older, because when I was in high school, everyone from school went to the mall. Now, I'm lucky if I see ANYONE I know at the mall. I don't care what these clerks think. I've even asked for help - why? It's FUN! I actually like seeing the reactions, but I only really ask for help when I need it, and only from women - though it is surprising how little some women know about heels, especially those working at a shoe store!

I was shopping at a Shoe Dept. several months ago (this is a fun story). I was already in my "I don't care" mode, and I was trying on anything that I wanted. This was in May, so they still had many stilettos out (and on clearance) before the open-toed shoes came out. I was trying on some fairly normal-looking boots with a blocky 3" heel, and I asked the clerk girl if she could help me understand how they're supposed to fit. She was a little shocked, but helped me anyway, and then after a minute or two she didn't seem to care. But, as I mentioned, these boots were very inconspicuous.

Then, I noticed that they had some (non-leather) patent knee-high boots with a pointed toe, large buckle on the size, and a 4" stiletto heel. They were very feminine woman's boots, almost remind me of the "Pretty Woman" boots (except not thigh-high). I tried them on right in the store, size 11, size 12, then size 11 again. They only had one boot because these were up front, and they had to have a clerk get you the second. I decided on the 11s, and the clerk (who was an elderly man) got my other boot for me. His reaction was simply hilarious. "Are you sure?" he said. I'm like "Yep, go get the other one!" Heh.

So I bring the two pairs of boots up to the counter, the conservative and non-conservative one. There were two younger girls running the register (including the one who helped me). The only that didn't help me was talking about how she saw some strange goth kid that came in, and he was "dressed so weird and looked stupid. His hair was retarded." So the original girl starts ringing me up - "You're not going to return these, are you?" (talking about the 'hooker' boots). My reply - "Nope, they're mine now."

So the other girl continues on about how she was visually offended with this goth dude, and notices the heels being rung up. She looks up at me, and I say to her - "Hey, everyone's got something inside of them that makes them a little weird." And then I winked at her. She nodded, but didn't look freaked out. It was kind of a melancholy response. I grabbed my bag and walked out.

That was one of the most fun trips to the shoe store I've had in a while!

Oh, and on page 11 of this thread I noticed that somebody said that Shoe Carnival is not that great of a place for large sizes. I beg to differ. There are usually many size 11s and 12s for MOST of the higher (stiletto) heels. The only heels that stop at about size 10 are the trendier "junior" style heels, which is unfortunate, but they are mostly blocky-style heels.

When I was scared to try on heels in the store, I ended up buying a couple pairs of pointy-toed stiletto pumps (patent red and faux alligator) at Shoe Carnival in size 12. I've since learned that any size 12 (except Pleaser) slip off my feet, so I gotta get rid of those. You guys may see them on the "for sale" section soon enough.

Of course, my experience at this store probably differs from store to store.

Bubba136

Great posting. Thanks for the "recount."

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Being mentally comfortable in your own mind is the key to wearing heels in public.

HappyFeat

What a great story! I am glad you decided to chip in your "two cents." Like you, I have discovered the "not giving a crap" zone and love to ask for help, but usually do not ask for it unless I am serious about buying. Also, I have noticed that I am reluctant to ask for help from a male clerk. In some way, I kind of think its like getting marriage counseling from a priest, but then I remember that I am a guy who knows a lot about heels and wears them, so why would I assume the male clerk doesn't. Strange how I make assumptions about people when I am outside the stereotype myself.

In the end I am reluctant to get help from a man because I am afraid of a negative reaction. I know that I can get a negative reaction from a woman as well, but it doesn't seem to bother me as much. Though I admit that I bought two pair of shoes off the Macy's clearance rack today (that I just had to have) and was waited on by a guy who was very nice and courteous. SO I guess I can get extensive (expensive) therapy for father issues or just not care.

The Shoe Carnival experience is interesting as well. The only Shoe Carnival in my area seems to be staffed by muscle head young guys and I have never felt terribly comfortable there. Kind of blends my two issues...

Guy N. Heels

Buying shoes without trying them on makes no more sense than buying a car without having driven it. So just exactly what do the clerks and shopowners do to customers who first try on their shoes: shoot them; skin them alive; pillory them in the public square; barbeque & eat them; boil them in oil??? I've never had one to threaten any such thing and several have invited me to try them on while at least one insisted that I do so.

My friend, you have a "tigercage" around yer head. When you finally break-out of that "tigercage" you will not only see how silly you've been, but also you will find that a whole new world awaits you. So DO IT!

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Keep on stepping,
Guy N. Heels

Saturn

Thanks for the "thanks!"

Anyway, yeah, the male clerks. At Shoe Carnival (the one that I went to) had a lot of young guys in there, and several women. I'll have them ring me up, sure. In fact, one time, a guy my age asked for my area code (which was out of the area, I was away at college) and I gave it to him. He said (while ringing up a large pair of stilettos, mind you) that he was from the same area, and we chatted for a while. The shoes never came up in conversation.

I have asked the male employees to "check in the back" for sizes, but aside from that, I won't ask them for assitance. I agree it's strange - here we're generalizing about other males, yet we ARE male. I think the reason I stereotype is because it seems that males are often more victims of conformism than females. It's okay for females to have emotions, wear what they want, do whatever.But a guy has to be a guy, at all times. So I'm not really looking forward to the reactions from them, as they're rediculously predicable. The female reaction is far more entertaining and enlightening, actually. Be it close-minded, or intrigued, or whatever, at least the female is INTERESTED, right? Being a guy who wears heels, you immediately have something in common with most women. So the women are at least curious on many different accounts and want to know more. Men just think that their masculinity will somehow be affected just by being around you.

I'm very secure with my masculinity, and the heels don't upset it whatsoever. Still, they're allowed to have their view on the subject, but chances are I can predict how they're going to act.

As an experiment, I wore a very obvious pair of heels in an outing. They were a pair of 3", pointy-toed stiletto boots - shin-high (not quite knee high, so whatever) and they were WHITE. Yes, white... blindingly white. And they clicked louder than hell.

It was perfect.

So, I stopped off at several rest stops on my trip home from college. I noticed many men looking around trying to find the source of the heels, which was actually kind of entertaining (as I do the same exact thing!). In fact, any females (young or old) did NOT notice my boots! I was wearing them with jeans, but they were in full view. One young boy, I'd say 12 years old or so, did a double take at my boots. That was it. Then, on my way out of the last rest stop, a huge entourage of 20-somethings featuring Abercrombie & Fitch/Aeropostale/American Eagle/Hollister guys with two girls walked in. I got past the entire group, but the very LAST guy in the group looked down (blatantly) then looked up at my face. This guy's face said it all - "You're a freak." And I'm not imagining it, I can read people very well.

The next stop was my local HOMETOWN Wal-Mart. I often see people that I know here, and it was quite busy. Still part of the experiment. Well, Wal-Mart's parking lot tore the hell out of my heel tips, which sucked because they were doing fine on all the flat surfaces. Then, as I was walking in, a large group of black girls (late 20 somethings?) followed me in, maybe 15 feet away. One girl noticed right away, and pointed out my boots to her friends. She goes "Oh, look at those white boots? Do they have a heel? Yeah, they do!"

I heard a little giggling, but I didn't mind. Actually, I usually see black women wearing the more prominent stiletto boots, so I'm not surprised they noticed right away (as opposed to the decidedly caucasian setting of the rest stops, where zero females noticed the boots).

So what did I learn? If you go into crowded areas full of younger people, you might get laughed and pointed at. But like I said, I picked the most obvious pair of heels that I had. If they were black - I bet the people who noticed and said things wouldn't have said anything at all, even though they were very clacky stilettos. But this was my goal - to GET noticed, and see how bad it would be. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. One kinda negative reaction (Hollister guy), one neutral (curious young boy), one jovial/mildly negative reaction (black girl).

And yes, the whole situation was a thrill. Hey, you only go around once. And you just might be the most interesting point of someone else's day, right? And I don't really mind that, as long as can't stop me from being me - which involves wearing heels, of course.