World Heel Meet 2008, London: Sat. Feb. 16th - Page 25

fastfreddy2 · 19th February 2008, 00:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastfreddy2

All went well until I got to the front door. It was locked, and I was stuck out in a street in broad daylight wearing patent boots with 4 1/2" heels .... At the time, my heart-rate was raised, but on reflection, I don't remember one single person noticing me.

Got pointed at the side entrance by someone inside, and seconds later I was in!

.......

Once again, a very enjoyable experience, amongst very friendly people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by altf

Ah, my significant other and I went to the miller at noon.
Because we didn't know if we would make it, we didn't confirm our arrival. Anyway, we just wanted to see other wearers by curiosity so had a peek through the window. Unfortunatly, we felt quite uncomfortable and left.
Why didn't you open the terrasse ? It was a nice day (cold, I know but bright).
Oh well maybe next time.

I'm so sorry you didn't get to come in. Believe me, your immediate impression [discomfort] didn't reflect the goodwill and welcome waiting for you inside. But like you, I was a tad concerned for a couple of moments (as above) there was no obvious "Welcome" at the door, or any door actually. If the two chaps sitting at the front window hadn't been there, I might have left too. [Thanks, euchrid.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kneehighs

We have many more testimonials to be written about the heel meet, but you can already see that in the short span of just one page, we have 2 NEW BREAKTHROUGHS.

These meets are a good thing, as long as they don't become the sole mechanism that drives one to street heel, they are a powerful tool for overcoming fear.

Well said!

And the experience at The Miller, led me to walking around the 02 Arena (aka Millenium Dome) today from 2.30pm to 9.45pm, wearing 4" wedge ankle boots. Yes the security men did see my footwear. Yes some (one or two) others noticed them. Yes I did get seen by at least one member of staff and one customer while I walked up an open stairway (and back) to the toilets in a restaurant. Did anyone make me feel uncomfortable? No. In fact the waitress in the second restaurant where my footwear (and aching feet) were quite visible, was if anything, overly friendly. [Spent waaay too much time at our table.]

Has face-to-face contact helped me do what I actually want to do? Ooooh yes!

a3:

Stunning boots at The Miller, BTW. Was really impressed with your walking too.

[And quite envious - if I'm honest.

]

kneehighs:

Oops! Sorry, wrong name for the ballet boot wearer. I don't suppose you have a picture of these being worn at the meet?

bladerunner · 19th February 2008, 00:51

Hi all,enjoyed my brief stint at the heelmeet (too brief really) but said i was gonna go! It was good to meet some new people,all a friendly crowd and in a very and i mean very relaxed atmosphere! apologies if i dont mention any names apart from heelfan,kneehighs,tara,euchrid and firefox i have a memory like a sieve but never forget a face!
Had a real pain getting to the miller,seemed every side road had been dug up but thats what you get when driving,still finally got there about midday.Decided against heeling to the pub as i lost my bottle..lol...even though it was onl 50 yards! then found the main doors shut! found kneehighs doing a fashion shoot out the back so i knew id found the right place....
Had a good chat with euchrid,who had a similar tale to tell as myself about life in general and how 'other ' people are not quite into men who like to wear heels! i.e family
Had a first with euchrid heeling in daylight (oh the whole 50 yards!!),nearly had a fit when a group of hoodies sauntered round the corner but eucrid kept goin and so did i!!!!
Next meet i will certainly make the effort to have an all day visit but due to family commitments this visit had to be cut short.
All i can say to any future 'newbies' is that it is an ideal location - ncp car park right next door (not the cheapest but it is London whats new) and plenty of room to heel in the pub on the great wooden floors.
Thanks to everyone that had put in their time and effort to organise things , i would thoroughly recommend it,heeled or not.Its just good to chat face to face with like minded souls!
Bladerunner

Pumps · 20th February 2008, 07:19

I had a great time in London. I did however had the usual problems with foot swelling. This year I brought sneakers for sightseeing, but it did not make that much difference, so I didn't get to wear my pumps as much as I'd like.
I did wear my red pumps for most of the heel-meet, even though I thought I was gonna pass out when I took them off.

I'm a bit sad that some people came by, but didn't come in. That's really a shame. Also Cathy said that she wasn't sure she was welcome, because it was a "boys club". We should probably do more to make sure the word is out the EVERYBODY is welcome and especially women, since they are in minority.
The heelmeet certainly wouldn't have been the same without Cathy.

The Miller-girl was certainly a good sport modelling Dr.shoe's boots and shoes for us.

The turkish resturant was a good choice, but it was a bit embarrasing that there were a reservation for 25 and we were 9

20th February 2008, 17:06

I did take two videos of Barbara the Miller bar girl, just not sure how to link videos onto HHplace but just look up Loveshighheels in any case

Video Here

Nigel · 20th February 2008, 20:55

It was a great meet,

I arrived at about 10.30ish having pinched a lift from Richie (thank you), The car park was very close (and would be fine for any shy guys to walk to and from), on entering the Miller, we ordered some coffee and went about saying hello to everybody. I greeted Kneehighs, and then moved on to see the Doc, Heelfan, Calv, Firefox and Xa, I had met these members before at other heel meets, Heelfan in and around Bristol, the Doc at Hayway and Bristol, Calv, Firefox and Xaphod at the Bristol meet a couple of years ago.

I tried to meet everybody, but I am pretty sure I missed out on shaking Bladerunners hand, I think it was a flying visit on his part.

It was great to meet so many members who post here and make the site what it is today, I admire the effort that everybody made to travel all the way to London for the meet, by the time I had to catch my train, 24 names were down on the list. The Venue was great, I missed out on the staff trying on the boots, but it was great to feel welcomed by them.

Thanks too, for your kind words of encouragement for what we do here on the site, it makes it all worth while when you take the time to reassure us that we are striking the correct balance here when moderating these forums.

My thanks go to all of you for making the effort to organise and attend this meeting. It was great to see you all and catch up with old friends,

Nigel.

heeluis · 20th February 2008, 21:26

I had a great time with Ramon, the designer, David & Wife and had a great talk to Freddy (Best regards!!)
I did left with Ramon to go to town to get tickets for a musical at West End and a walk throw SOHO so I´ve been heeling non stop from 9:00 till 11 PM when I returnd to the hotel to get changed and go to TG where I had a great time till 4AM. GREAT WEEKEND!!

Richie · 20th February 2008, 22:43

Ditto to what Nigel says

(He words things much better than I do, so I'm glad he said all that)

Heelfan · 23rd February 2008, 14:08

Yes, A great three days for me! The first meal on Thursday night at Sergio's (10 members) was excellent. The lunch on Friday at Greenwich (eat as much as you like for 6 0r 7 pounds) was most enjoyable (although some of us were delayed arriving). The only temporary disappointment was at Red's where they refused to admit the sixteen of us (not because most of us were in high stilettos, but because of a mix-up in the booking), but we all heeled our way down to and across Piccadilly Circus, and the Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse at the top of Haymarket saved the day by re-arranging tables to seat all sixteen of us with no prior notice. How's that for service!

The Main World Heelmeet on Saturday was a great chance to see many old and many new faces. Although we only got thirty attendees (instead of the 40+ hoped-for), it was still a world record, beating last year's 28 by two. Also, if those who chickened-out outside the Miller had come in instead, it would have been an even better record!

Many thanks to Thighhighs and all the helping organisers, to the Miller and to all of you who attended. Most enjoyable - roll on future Heelmeets!

Oh yes, and Kneehighs, are we going to see the group photo posted soon?
Ihope so!

Cheers, Heelfan

kneehighs · 23rd February 2008, 15:13

The World Heel Meet 2008 was a gargantuan success. Thought we didn't meet the 40 expected attendees I thought we would, we still had 30 attendees show up in total for the day.

And the quality of the experience for every attendee -- to the best of my knowledge felt comfortable, made a connection, and enjoyed themself -- means more to me than the quantity of attendees.

I had my camera and took literally hundreds of shots that day. I was careful not to upload any photos of people that explicitly expressed a desire to remain anonymous, so if that's you, please don't worry.

And without further ado, here is the story as it unfolded through my eyes:

One of the first people to arrive was Tara. Here you can see airwolf on the left watching as Tara begins to unload her shoes on to the flea market table. Here is Tara aka Dr. Shoe setting up her flea market table of dozens of pairs of shoes. She actually had to make a special trip to a storage facility to get these shoes, so many thanks for the extra effort. As well, Tara was also kind enough to open up her house for three nights to crotchhiboots, so an additional note of appreciation for that is also warranted.

Soon thereafter, others startled to trickle in . In this photo you can see airwolf, Calv, heelfan, Mrs. iloveboots, euchrid, iloveboots, and shakedown.

By around 12 noon, the bulk of the group had shown up. We had about 24-26 people in The Miller at that time. A lot of people started the day with a cup of coffee, like Richie here. Then they started to mingle with one another.

It was like any ordinary cocktail party really. People branched off into smaller groups, which is to be expected in a large group setting like Saturday. The result looked a little bit like this shot with Xaphod, Calv, and Shakedown immersing themselves in some conversation and heelfan and Firefox in the background having a talk between themselves as well. To the top right corner of that photo, you can see others were also standing and talking amongst themselves too.

People were free to come and go as they pleased. Many, like heeluis and thedesigner stepped outside to relax a bit and have a cigarette break.

As time went on, I decided it was time to do some individual shots. Here is a shot of crotchhiboots striking a dignified pose while standing outside the front entrance to The Miller.

Here is one of Xaphod, in a masculine pose while sitting on the side of picnic table, with The Miller sign neatly composing the background.

Here is an unrehearsed photo of thedesigner, wondering how I wanted him to stand...if I remember correctly. Capturing this impromptu reaction seemed a bit more special than a posed one.

ramon020 and heeluis exhibiting totally cool chic while standing on a table inside The Miller.

My favorite shot of Nigel examining the horizon of Southern London.

By this time, I realize that some people were ready to go. Xa wanted to hit the British Museum and iloveboots was ready to call it a day. So remembering that Jamie, the manager of The Miller, had told me that his girlfriend was good with a camera and would love to take a group shot of us, I approached her and asked for help.

These are the two group shots she took: 1 and 2.
It's important to note that the group photo does not constitute the entire roster of attendees. It's just of those who did not mind having their picture taken. In both cases from left to right: shakedown, thedesigner, a3, Xa, Calv, heelfan, admirer5577, Pumps, airwolf, crotchhiboots, iloveboots, Mrs. iloveboots, kneehighs, heeluis, firefox, Nigel.

And of course, I can't leave out the highlight to the end of the day. Around 17:00, the night staff for The Miller started showing up. It happened to be two attractive women. One was an Italian and she was so excited about Tara's shoe collection, that she actually had to try on a few pairs. I managed to snap this picture of her and Pumps.

Overall, I would say a great time was had by all. We had a rare chance to get many people under one roof and chat and connect.

To those who made a special effort to attend by either traveling, sacrificing time with your wife/family on Saturday afternoon, surreptitiously attending, or just having the courage to attend your first meet, a special thanks goes to you.

I sincerely hope to see more testimonials in the near future.

shyguy · 23rd February 2008, 15:44

Some great pics there Kneehighs. The group shots show a great variety of styles from understated to plain in your face, but everyone looks so natural in whatever they were wearing. Good stuff guys.