Vending Machines for After Party Shoes

June 27, 2009 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion
This is a follow up on our post Free Shoes For People in Devon, in which a town in the UK was handing out flip flops to people who have had too much to drink. The program was geared towards women in high heels that had been out drinking at bars in fear that they will injure themselves walking home.

Image courtesy of Rollasole

Three new companies in England have taken this idea a bit further by selling their version of portable flats in vending machines at nightclubs. Rollasoles, Afterheels and Butterfly Twists have manufactured rollable or foldable ballet flats that sell for about 5 GBP, or $8.25 USD. There are listed 27 clubs offering the Rollasoles and 11 offering Afterheels. There was no information availalbe on clubs offering Butterfly Twists at this time. Rollasoles are available in 3 colors (black, gold and silver) and sold
in 3 sizes (small, medium and large). AfterHeels are currently available in metallic black pearl with fuchsia pink lining in two sizes (small and medium). Butterfly Twists are only available in black in 3 sizes (small, medium and large). All three are sold with a matching bag to carry their wearer’s shoes home. These shoes are a great idea also for those who must wear high heels at work. One can wear these for the ride or drive to and from work and easily change out of them into high heels. There currently are no vending machines here in the US selling this product. We are
Image courtesy of AfterHeels

Image courtesy of ButterflyTwists

unsure if these companies ship to the US but we did find one company here in the US, SpareSoles, which has an online store that carries ballet flats that has them in 4 sizes (small, medium, large and x-large) and 7 different colors (black, brown, gold, ivory, leopard, silver and white). They range in price from $25-$29 a pair (not including shipping). Each pair comes

with a matching pouch with wrist strap meant for carrying the flats only. They are not designed to carry the heels which have been taken off.

Is this trend something we should be expecting to see here in the states in the next few years? We buy food, drinks, personal products and many other items from vending machines, why not shoes? Women go out clubbing in high heels and normally have aching feet by the end of the night. Due to our society, women here in the US usually have some sort of transportation to get home, other than their own two feet. But in resort areas these could possibly become a big hit. Along with vending machines selling flats for women wearing high heels one could find in fancier restaurants or clubs, vending machines that sell ties for men or dress shoes for women.

Share

Bordello Collection Now Available

May 31, 2009 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion, New Styles and Discontinued
We have finished adding a new collection shoes and boots to our store. The Bordello collection of heels range from 2″ to 5 3/4″ in heel height, featuring glitter, satin, rhinestones, sequins and velvet. These new items include booties, peep toe sandals, pumps, slides, ankle and knee high boots. This is a truly sophisticated line of footwear perfect for special events including weddings, proms, pageants or if you just want to be noticed.
High heel closed heel sandal The Rosa-02, shown left, features a 3 3/4″ heel, closed heel, and flower accent on the vamp. It is available in baby pink satin as shown, black satin and champagne satin. This beautiful shoe is perfect for bridesmaids or the mother of the bride.
The Courtess-1025, shown right, is a front lacing 5″ platform calf high boot with glitter and rear lace up accent. This item is available in gold as shown, green and baby pink. Glitter calf high boot
Mary Jane platform pump The Teeze-07L, shown left, is a 5 3/4″ concealed platform Mary Jane style pump with lace overlay decor. This shoe comes in hot pink as shown, lime green, red and nude.
These three items are just a sample of the exquisite new styles now available for purchase.
Share

High Heels For Men in True Mens Sizes!

January 09, 2009 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion, How To Walk In Heels, Men Wearing High Heels
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, high heels were an indicator of wealth and status for both men and women. This held true until the Revolution where men and women stopped wearing them to try and hide their noble stature. Since that time high heels for men were no longer mainstream. In the nineteenth century high heels were introduced here in the USA, but since it came after the Revolution they were only seen worn by women. High heels for men tried to make a come back during the 70′s disco era and have been seen off and on being worn by a few performers on stage.
Over the last 3-4 years I have seen a growing increase of men wearing high heels. Now these men are not only cross dressers and transsexuals, but straight men as well who just desire ‘fashion freedom’ or men
who just love the look and feel that only this type of shoe can give. Seeing this demand I started talking to many manufacturers here in the USA and in China trying to get them to manufacture high heel shoes
for men in men’s sizes, on a men’s last, but I was never able to get this done. Although I was not able to accomplish the task of having high heels for men made, another gentleman named Bernie J. Fatla has been able to. Bernie has been able to do what I was not, and that is to have high heel shoes made on a mens last in true men’s sizes! I have talked to Bernie and we are proud to announce that we are now carrying his full line of high heel shoes and boots designed for men. Unlike other sites that offer women’s shoes in larger sizes and converting them to men’s sizes and claiming that they are high heels for men, this new line of shoes is different. They are truly made on a men’s last and are in men’s sizes…they are men’s shoes. You may have noticed that I am trying to stress the point that this new line of shoes are truly high heels made for men and that these are not women’s shoes. I am doing this because this is truly a big deal. Men’s fashion freedom has become more pronounced in the recent years and I have had customers asking me where can they get product that actually fits. I have talked to numerous manufacturers, but none of them heard my calls. I am very happy that someone finally did. Bernie is the only person in the country that has these shoes, but I am sure that he will not be the only one for long.Will this result in a true fashion revolution here in the states? I saw the demand for this product, Bernie saw the demand for this product and is working very diligently to fill the void and answer the calls of many men. Is this the beginning of a new trend? It is almost commonplace in the UK to see a male walking down the street in some sort of heel. Has the call for men’s fashion freedom been answered?

Please visit our store to see the full line of high heels for men

Share

Can High Heels Improve Your Sex Life?

January 04, 2009 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion, News

Happy 2009 everyone!! I hope everyone got what they wanted and had a safe holiday and New Year. I took the week off to spend time with family and friends. It was nice, but it is now time to get back to work.

Most people will agree that high heels are very sexy and some would go as far to say they are just as sexy as any piece of lingerie a woman can put on. But although these shoes are sexy and have the power to instantly turn on most men, they can also improve your sex life in other ways. Dr. Maria Cerruto, an Italian urologist, discovered that wearing high heels can improve a woman’s pelvic floor muscles. His findings were based on 66 women, all under the age of 50, who after wearing 3 inch heels were found to have elevated electrical activity in their pelvic muscles by as much as 15 percent on average. The women were also noted to have better posture as compared to women who wore flat shoes. This finding disproves the assumption that the spine will curve forward from the wearing of high heels. Professor Ki Kyung-Do, a professor at Kyung Hee University, states “Wearing reasonably high heels can tighten the thigh muscles and affect the pelvic muscles connected to the leg muscles. Since pelvic muscles are not used often, wearing high heels can provide them with a form of exercise. Although more negative studies show that wearing high heels can shift one’s body weight forward and put pressure on the knees and spine, there is no real danger for young women in wearing 1 3/4 to 2 inch high heels.” He goes on to say that if a woman wears heels that are 3 inches or higher that they should not wear them for more than six hours at a time and not more than four times a week.

Share

Gun Heeled Shoes

November 10, 2008 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion, New Styles and Discontinued
Well another week and we go from the stress of an election to the stress of the holidays. With all that we do not really need any added stress, especially stress over our shoes. Now you may or may not have seen all the images or read all the stories of the new lines that are coming out this spring, as there are many and most of them I like.
There is one shoe though in particular I would like to point out as I feel it has a major design flaw. This shoe is the Gun Heel that was designed by Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Shoes and were seen in Miami at the 2009 Resort Runway Presentation. Now before we go into the many flaws
of this shoe, I would like to go on record that I’m not in any way trying to put down or discredit Karl or Chanel in any way. I love their products and I believe Karl’s designs are top notch and they reflect his passion for what he does, as he is truly one of the best. With that though I have to also state that it is not the design but the construction of this shoe that I believe is flawed. Many times a designer has an idea and on paper it looks great, but it is not feasible or structurally sound. This is what I believe happened here.
To the left you see and image of a Gun Heel shoe. While this shoe looks great, it has what I believe are flaws that will lead to the breaking of the heel and possibly injury to the wearer. I would like to point out first the white arrows, drawing your attention to the thickness of the material. This is not thick enough to prevent wobbling of the heel in a side to side motion or back to front. This wobble will cause undue strain on the mounting point “purple arrow” causing it to
eventually fatigue and break. The next factor in this is the point of the heel “the blue arrow”. The shape of this is round making it very easy for the heel to rock back and forth. Although this normally would not be a factor as most heels are round, it’s placement makes it so. As seen by the red line, the point is in front of the heel of the foot on the person wearing it and is not located under it as most heels are, which makes it so the persons weight is not centered over the heel but behind it. Which brings me to the green arrow. The gap here is the main issue. This gap lets the back of the shoe drop down putting even more stress on the thin material and the mounting screw. If the handle of the gun was fastened to the bottom of the shoe eliminating this gap then there would not be an issue. But as it stands, the 1 1/4″ area shown by the purple arrow is all that is preventing this heel from moving and it is not enough.
This is my view of how this shoe should be made. I tried to keep the overall look of the shoe in mind while also fixing any possible issues. I started by increasing the thickness of the shoe bottom to prevent any possible wobble of the heel as weight is applied from the person wearing the shoe. I then flattened the barrel of the gun giving the heel more surface area to the ground. Then I changed the handle of the gun slighty to remove
the gap and also to provide another fasten point to secure the heel to the shoe. Lastly I branded the handle of the gun with their logo not only to add accent to the gun, but also to show at a glance the brand. These few changes I believe would make this shoe much easier to walk in and also make the shoe itself last much longer then its predecessor.

The Highest Heel also has come out with their own version of this shoe that is available now. You don’t have to wait until spring ’09 to get yourself a pair of gun heels, nor pay hundreds of dollars to get them. We are carrying the new gun heels designed by Highest Heel / Global Footwear. Now these are not the same design as those by Chanel, nor do they carry the same price tag or possible flaws. There are two pair of sandals, one pair of pumps and one pair of calf high boots that feature this unique designed heel, all of which are a five inch platform. You can find these shoes on our site quickly by searching the word “Gun” without the quotes in the search box.

Share

How high is high enough?

November 07, 2008 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion, New Styles and Discontinued
Hello Friends

I hope everyone had a chance to get out and vote. The election has made history, but history is also being made here in the fashion world as well. Now if you have not seen and heard, designers are designing high heels of an monsterous height. Reports are stating that high heels of 5 to 6 inches are in style, with designers coming out with 8 inch high heels for next year.


Photo from estresmodes.com
With this I have to ask how high is too high? Manolo Blahnik, who is a very well known and respected designer, for over the past 20 years has designed shoes with heels no higher than 5 inches. But Manolo Blahnik has announced that he will be raising his heel height from 5 inches to six. Manolo Blahnik though is not the only one leading this pack. Christian Louboutin recently declared that he will produce the first 8 inch stiletto heel outside the world of fetish. Now the world outside the world of fetish is the key here. These shoes are not anything new. They have been around for a long time, but have always been put off as a “fetish” heel. Now that well known designers are creating them and they have been seen on the fashion runway, they have made the change from being “fetish” to fashion. But why the push? Why are designers starting to design heels of this height? Manolo Blahnik says that 6-inch heels already account for about 30% of his company’s business.
Women, instead of rejecting the extreme heels, can’t seem to get enough of them. So the height is pushed up as the designers respond to what women want. Is this true or has fetish become common place? Some have compared high heels to drugs, even stating that wearing them gives such a feeling to some that they want more and the only way to get more is to go higher. I’m not sure if I agree with all of that, but for some men and women it sure seems to be the case. No matter how you look at it though, it is clear that fetish is no longer fetish but has become mainstream. The question though we have to ask is will this trend keep going? And if so how high will it go? Will one day people be walking down the street 8 feet tall? The image to the left is from a site call Estresmodes, and they sell some of the highest heels we have ever seen. The boot in the image is a 100 cm platform thigh high boot. That is a little over 3 feet in height! The average height of a woman is just over 5 foot tall here in the USA. That would make the woman 8 foot tall and feeling bullet proof! Could you picture yourself walking down the street in these? I’m not sure how I would react to be honest. Now I do not think that fashion will ever get to this point, but no one thought that 8 inch heels would ever become fashion, but it has. So where do we draw the line? Where does it stop? The truth is no one knows. I personally believe that it will top out at the 8 or 9 inch mark as anything higher crosses the line from fashion to gaudy, but think about it…walking down the street just once 8 feet tall. What fun as long as you do not fall down.

estresmodes.com is in no way an affiliate of The High Heel Store. They are though the only ones we know of that sell heels of this height.

Share

Wearing jeans with high heels.

October 15, 2008 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion

The GaGa look.

There are many, many ways to make men go gaga, including short skirts and low cut tops. But there are also ways to do it without exposing anything! High heels have this power over men and even turn on some women for that matter. In this article we are going to discuss wearing jeans with high heels. Jeans, if fit properly, give your legs and butt a sexy defined shape and movement that is nicely accented with a pair of high heels. But not just any heel will do. So here are a few things to think about before you go out to insure you turn heads while strutting your stuff.

1. Jeans themselves come in many different styles and colors. When shopping for jeans, look for a tapered leg, not a boot cut, as a boot cut tends to make legs look thicker than they are. Stretch jeans are good for that tight butt look but you do not want them tight by the ankle as you want the jeans to come down over the top of the foot to about midway between the very back of the toes and ankle. If your legs are on the thicker side, finding jeans that fit properly to your leg may be hard as they will tend to fit in one area but not the other. Do not give up hope just yet. If you know your waist measurement then head over to the men’s section of the store. These jeans are cut differently and you may find that they fit you better. You want to look for a relaxed fit when looking through men’s jeans. The big issue when trying on men’s jeans is the crotch. Make sure you do not buy a pair that has material bunched up in that area.

2. Now that you have a pair of jeans, the type of heel you add to them is also very imporant. With jeans you want to wear a higher heel.
A 3 – 5 inch heel is the best for this look. You can also wear a heel with a mini-platform as they work very nicely. If you choose to go with the mini-platform, try to find one that has a silver accent line or some sort of accent, but do not go overboard.

3. When the jeans are worn with the heels, the jeans should come down to or just below the arch of your foot hiding your ankle and some of the top part of the foot. This leaves only the heel and toe area showing.
A. You can wear open or closed toe shoes with the look, but if you decide to wear open toe sandals make sure you paint your nails a bright color like a bright red or blue. Also make sure the heels you pick are not too strappy. You do not want to cover the exposed part of your foot with straps. Pick a heel that either has a clear section or only has 2 or 3 straps crossing the foot.
B. If choosing a closed toe, you also do not want to pick a shoe that covers the entire top of the foot as you want to leave a little skin showing. Pointy toe shoes work best, but if you want to wear a rounded or square toe, try to find a pair in a PU and not patent as the patent will take away from the look due to the shininess of the shoe.

Notes:
We have found that black or dark colored heels go best with blue jeans where colored heels like blue or red go better with black jeans. White heels just do not seem to work very well and should not be worn with jeans.

Share

Picking the right heel for a short skirt.

October 14, 2008 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion

In this article we are going to discuss short skirts “an above the knee skirt” and give some general pointers on picking the right heel. You have a lot of options available to you when wearing a short skirt as you can also wear knee high boots.

1. The old school fashion rules are as follows:
A. Do not wear white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day
B. Do not wear a short skirt if you’re older than 35.

These so called rules were made a long time ago and do not hold up in today’s fashion place. So don’t let anyone tell you that you can not wear white in the winter and do not let anyone tell you that you can no longer wear that short skirt just because today is your 36th birthday as both of these have become accepted in today’s fashion.

2. When choosing a heel for your skirt, the first thing you need to do is look at the skirt itself. Is the skirt a plain solid color or does it have a pattern? If the skirt is a solid color, is the color a bright color or a dark color?

A. If your skirt is a bright red or pink, a plain black or white heel will not go right with the outfit. This is one of those times that black does not go with everything. You need to find a shoe that closely matches the color of the skirt or gives a nice contrast to it.
* It is possible to wear a different color shoe than the color of the skirt by adding a belt with a matching purse and matching the shoe to them.

B. If the skirt in question has a pattern or floral design one must match the shoe to the primary color that is in the design.
* If the skirt is of a known time period or theme like a plaid “school girl” or a pink “poodle” skirt, then the shoe must be matched with the theme or time period.

3. When choosing a shoe to go with the skirt one must also consider the shape and size of their feet and legs. Long pointy toe shoes tend to make your feet look smaller than they are. This would not be a good thing if you have thicker legs. Where on the other hand wider heeled shoes with square or rounded toes tend to make your feet look bigger.

A. If you have a thicker leg you would want to look at a shoe with a wider heel. You may also want to consider a knee high boot. Boots tend to give legs and feet a unified shape and tone while still offering a glimpse of the legs. Where as a person with a thinner legs should pick a shoe with thinner heels, one with thin legs and feet should steer clear from square toed shoes as they would tend to make their feet look too wide for their legs.

B. Taller females would want to consider lower heel heights. These shoes can also add a professional or classy look to an outfit. Shorter females would tend to wear higher heels or mini-platforms. These shoes tend to make the legs look longer.
*Care should also be taken when choosing a platform heel as platforms have a reputation that one may not want. We recommend sticking with a mini to a mid size platform due to this reason.

Note
We always recommend a shoe with an ankle strap as these can help prevent injury to the ankle by preventing it from slipping off the back or side of the shoe. This is especially true for shoes with a higher heel height. Mules are fine to be worn in shorter heel heights for everyday wear, but extra care should still be taken and a proper snug fit is also important.
Ankle straps on the other hand need to be snug and not worn loose. If you can remove the ankle strap without unbuckling it then the strap is too loose and should be adjusted.

*** Important ***
Care should be given if wearing a skirt with closed toe patent leather shoes. These shoes are shiny and can provide an unwanted reflection up your skirt…..

Share

What type of high heel should I wear?

October 14, 2008 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - High Heel Fashion

This is a series of articles that we put together to help people decide what type of shoe to wear with what outfit. In todays world women have so many different options when it comes to high heels. Should it be a pump or sandal, a mule or ankle strap? Picking the right heel for the right outfit is just as important as picking the outfit itself.

Share