Hot, So Hot... Pink, That Is

Ordering shoes online is a very simple and satisfying process... that is, until you find out that you need your shoes in a different size, at which point the exchange becomes tedious and time-consuming.  One of my first purchases for my own feet was a pair of Pleaser Dream 420 pumps (the 420 part is important because Pleaser has a line of Dream pumps, and they're not all the same) and since I was having a hard time with a pair of size 16s, figured I'd have to go with size 17s.  That ended up being a mistake, as they were way too large, leading me to believe I really am a size 16 and I just had some bad luck with one pair.  Between waiting for the pair of shoes to be returned to the seller, the time it took to process the return and bill me for shipping for the new pair and allowing the USPS to do its thing with the new pair, at least a month had passed.  Of course, all will be forgotten if the new pair fits.

I was a little disappointed when my Pleaser Vanity T-strap pumps arrived because the attention to packaging detail was lacking.  That particular style of shoe must be an anomaly because my Dream pumps arrived as expected, wrapped in black cloth bags surrounding a larger one for storage.

Even better, the shoes fit.  They're still a little loose but I don't think a size 15 would be comfortable.  And!  They're hot pink, which is good because my other four pairs are red and black.  I'm thinking I need one or two more pairs, maybe something in a metallic?  In the meantime, I have many shoes I plan to destroy with the 4" heels on these, which are tall and sharp enough to cause lots of suffering, but likely not tall and sharp enough to be unbearable.  Stay tuned.

Lou's Girlfriend's Shoes: Part One (Hello, Red Flats)

Since coming over from Europe, Lou's girlfriend's shoes have been a bit neglected.  As soon as the weather improves, they'll be taking a difficult hike in the woods courtesy of a friend of mine with a voracious desire to be very abusive to the shoes on her feet.  In the meantime, I thought I'd send the red flats a greeting with my Pleaser T-strap pumps.

As promised, the information found here will give you a little insight as to what's going on.  I didn't measure the heels of my Pleasers but the top pieces are very small, somewhere between 3/16" and 1/4" of an inch.  There are times in the video when I am putting nearly all of my 300 pounds onto the heels of my shoes, meaning the pressure being generated is somewhere in the 10,000 PSI range without any motion whatsoever.  That means the number is going to swell as I lift my foot off the floor and stomp back down on it.  What abuse Lou's girlfriend's shoes are being forced to endure!  Good thing they held up with only a few scratches, although the road only gets more difficult from now on... figuratively and literally.

Connie Celebrates No More: Part One

 

It's been a generally unsatisfying week as far as this hobby goes, as I've barely had any alone time to enjoy my collection.  It was also a slow week when it comes to additions to my collection, highlighted only by the arrival of two pairs of pumps.  One pair was purchased because the trashing and abuse I could see in the photos led me to believe it would make a fine addition to my collection and the other was purchased because it looked as though it would make for a nice target for destruction.  Note to sellers: combining shipping costs for multiple purchases leads to, um, more purchases.

The high-heeled pumps pictured here are the ones purchased so I could end their shiny little lives.  They are made by Connie and are apparently part of the company's "Celebrates"line of shoes.  I'm not sure where that causes them to fall in the Connie universe, all I know is that it's quite cumbersome as it rolls off the tongue.  Wouldn't Connie Celebrations make more sense than Connie Celebrates?  Celebrates what?  The destruction of her shoes?  Okay, I'm down with that.

Once again, I enlisted the help of my Pleaser Mary Janes.  Of all the shoes in my collection that were purchased for the enjoyment of my feet, they're the ones with the sturdiest heels.  Maybe one day I'll get destructive with the shoes with the higher heels but right now I'm sticking with what I'm most confident wearing.  Size 8 Connies, meet size 16 Pleasers.  Poor adorable things.

When I destroyed my Moda sandals, my favorite moment was when I put all of my weight on the heels of my shoes and used them to collapse the shanks of their victims.  Since then, I've purchased a few pairs of shoes with lower heels, hoping to be able to recreate that moment.  The Connies taught me that I have to keep things modest.  In this photo it appears that the heel of my Pleaser is going to bend the silver pump in half but I discovered that there is no way to stabilize a pump so that it remains upright under the weight of a heel.  After this photo was taken, the little Connie fell to either side as the heel dragged along the foam-padded insole but failed to cause any structural damage.  From now on I need shoes with low, blocky heels because at least they remain stable and upright as I stand on them.

Since the insole was already working its way loose long before I bought the pumps, I tried peeling it back so that the top piece of my Pleaser's heel wouldn't be subjected to such a slippery surface.  The end result was ultimately the same since the sharp curvature of the shank was too much and the heel still slid down, unable to remain in one spot long enough to break the shoe.  Frustrated by my lack of destructive success, I threw the Connie down on the cold, hard garage floor and stomped, kicked and dragged the life out of it.

Did I go too far?  I'm thinking it's a possibility as I'm starting to get concerned about the long-term health and well-being of my Pleasers.  The heels absorbed a massive amount of abuse with serious damage to the top pieces and even the leather covering them.  As I walked back in the house, my Mary Janes felt a little wobbly and sloppy.  An inspection revealed the heels still very tightly attached, so is it my imagination or are is the abuse only evident when my 300 pound body is walking in them?  Time will tell.

As for the Connies... well, I concentrated all of my anger on the right shoe.  The left one is completely intact right now and surely happy it's not looking like this one.  The stomping by the Pleasers resulted in the bending of the metal strip that forms the shape of the shank, which in turn has the heel bent under the shoe.

Part of the reason one of my Pleaser's top pieces is in such dismal shape is because I dragged the Connie along the course concrete floor of the garage.  This created deep scratches on the rubber outsole as well as a hole in the upper.

The stress inflicted on the shoe during the dragging session caused the upper to tear away from the outsole.  Whatever was left of the already-worn top piece shattered into many pieces, exposing the metal nail in the center of the heel that proved to be the only part of the shoe to survive the rampage completely intact.  The flash I used for this photo blacked out the background, allowing a good look at the part of the pump that suffered the most damage.

With the insole peeled back, the shoe's new holes can be seen along with the cracking of the shank near the base of the heel.  This particular pair of pumps doesn't appear to have been all that expensive, although I suppose all pumps are made this way?  (I'll have to tear apart a few more to be certain.)  The shank is made of an extremely rigid compressed paper-like material, which I assume is sufficient because of the metal strip between it and the outsole, and the heel is attached with a couple of nails.

One down, one to go.  It won't be long before I take on the self-imposed challenge of making the left shoe look worse than the right.  To be continued...

My Collection: More Flip Flops of an Unknown Brand

Once again, it's been a while.  I really have to work on some form of consistency with this blog.  However, in my defense, it's been a busy week and I haven't had many alone moments at the house in which to photograph shoes in my collection and when I do, it's late at night and I can't count on the help of natural light to help in my photography sessions.  I see no point in posting lackluster photos that don't do the shoes any justice, just for the sake of making sure there is something new to post.  Quantity is the goal but quality is a must.

I'm not sure if I'm really sick enough to have taken the day off from work, but I did, and now I can use some of my time alone to catch up on a few things.  First is the breaking in of my Pleaser slingbacks.  Wow.  Two inches of heel height makes one hell of a difference!  It took me no time at all to get used to 3" heels but the 5" heels of these shoes make my feet wobble, not to mention hurt quite a bit as the weight of my body is forced into the balls of my feet, which in turn squeezes my toes into the pointy toe box.  It probably doesn't help that the heels are very narrow to the point where they could probably be defined as stilettos.  On the plus side, my calves are being stretched so much that I shouldn't wake up in the middle of the night with cramps for at least a few days, and being 6'3" tall in 5" heels gives me a feeling of power.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with these shoes.  Maybe I'll feel more comfortable using them for destructive purposes if I can get accustomed to having to balance myself on the tall, thin heels but right now I feel like one wrong move will send a heel snapping off the shoe, which will in turn leave me needing another pair.  This is by no means a cheap hobby!  But anyway, being home today allowed me to not have to rush to leave work and get to the mailbox before my wife gets home because I knew today was the day I'd be adding another pair of flip flops to my collection.

I have no idea of the brand name, as only the faint remnants of letters can be seen in the heel area.  The seller advertised them as a size 9 and I believe it, because they're just barely big enough to squeeze onto my feet for short periods of time (time on me feet is how I got the straps to maintain a shape long enough for me to take some photos.)  The seller claims to have another pair just like these and just about as worn so I'm hoping to make a deal for those.  Perhaps then I could have one pair to admire with my eyes and another pair to suffer under my feet.

As I've said in the past, flip flops can be boring, but can also be extremely enjoyable.  This pair is clearly an example of the latter.  From afar, they look as though they need a new coat of paint.  There's way too much wear here for a black Sharpie to repair!

The wear to the heel areas reveals the honeycomb-like structure sandwiched between the insoles and outsoles.  The insoles feel as though they're real leather but as I've stated in other posts, can never be quite sure.  Regardless, a good portion of the leather/faux leather has been worn off, revealing a cloth-like material below.  The white marks are the remains of the brand name that was once printed on the flip flops.  Any shoes CSIs out there willing to help with the identification of these poor things?

The front areas of the shoes are even worse.  Note the long thongs that slide between the big toe and the other four.  It's almost as if the thongs were designed to extend forward from where they attach to the insoles before rising up.  Or is it possible they stretched about three quarters of an inch?  Either way, the extra long thong is part of the reason why I can massage my feet into these flip flops, so I'm not complaining.

In some areas, the lining is so worn that the cloth-like material is also worn away, revealing the rubber of the outsole.  These flip flops did not have an easy life.  In addition to having been used a lot, it seems as if the wearer wasn't very careful with them, although that could be an assumption I want to make as I fantasize about what these went through.

The front of the right one is a total mess- frayed, with all the layers of material beginning to separate from one another.  Peeling it back provides a revealing look at the sandwich of rubber, cloth and even paper that comprises the construction of these flip flops.

The straps being stretched out beyond the shape of the outsoles and under the weight of the body left permanent indentations in the leather/faux leather.  A nice touch that I discovered only after spending some quality time with the shoes.  It pays to have quiet moments where they can be enjoyed with more than a passing glance.

The straps are decorated with countless colored pieces of plastic that remind me of sequins, except rectangular instead of round.  Many are still intact but many are also missing, having left behind traces of white thread that likely held them in place.  They seem to be firmly attached so it must have taken collisions with some pretty hard objects to work them loose.

Flipping the shoes over doesn't show a ton of wear on the bottoms of the outsoles.  They're worn smooth in some spots and the honeycomb-like rubber in the heels can once again, but other than that these flip flops took most of their beating on the other side.  Here's hoping that I can soon be adding their sisters to my collection.

Destroying the Gold Ballet Flats: Part One

I try to make educated eBay purchases but every once in a while emotion (or something else that I can't explain) grabs hold of me.  In this case, it was these ballet flats reminding me of the ones pretty much all women (and girls) seemed to wear in the early 90's.  My mother had a pair, as did her friend... and my best friend at the time... and her sister... usually white, all with a cute little bow above the toe box.  I saw these and was immediately captivated.

As you can see, there's not much about them that's trashed or abused.  In fact, the outsoles of the shoes look practically new.  Something tells me these shoes spent the majority of their life indoors, confined to carpeted areas and other surfaces that didn't inflict much damage at all.

The most significant sign of use is inside the shoes where sole is completely gone.  Maybe the woman that wore these shoes had sweaty feet and the moisture worked them loose.  Maybe she got rid of them, just because...?  Either way, the thin layer of foam meant to provide some cushioning is a little dark and dirty in some areas, so whatever the case, the shoes spent some time being worn with the soles MIA.

With a house to myself and wanting an opportunity to do something with my new Pleaser Mary Jane pumps, I figured that I would make up for the fact that I allowed myself to buy a pair of shoes that really wasn't anything special aside from the fact that it took me back about two decades for a brief moment.  Yes, that's my lovely feet inside my red patent leather beauties.  I love how my gigantic Pleasers look eager for their chance to rip the flats apart.

I started slowly by stepping on the sweet-looking bows with the heels of my shoes.  Since there's not usually much in the way of structure in ballet flats, I could barely feel anything as I put my weight on them.  They seemed to compress into something no thicker than a piece of paper.  Not at all satisfying.

Next, I stepped on the backs of the shoes.  Again, the sensation was mediocre at best because of the lack of a stiff counter in the quarter.  When I destroyed the Moda sandals, they put up a bit of a fight.  Ballet flats don't resist much of anything, they just sort of go with the flow.  I suppose that could be why they're so popular, and women tend to keep them until they fall apart.  I have a few good examples I'll be showing you over the next week or two.

Somewhat disappointed, I took the flats to the garage where I figured I could do some serious damage.  And damage the shoes, I did.  This is what they looked like after the Pleasers were unleashed on them.

Remember the scene from the end of Jurassic Park where the pair of velociraptors team up to frighten the hell out of Hammond's niece and nephew?  I've learned that a pair of heels can create an equally effective team.  By using the heel of one shoe to hold the victim in place, the other can kick the life out of it without it moving all that much.  It's all about finding a way to maintain a good amount of weight on the heel of the shoe that's holding the victim in place while being nimble enough to inflict damage with the other.

The heel marks on the foam padding were nice to see but what I loved more was how they hooked themselves onto the bow as I kicked away, eventually ripping the fake leather material enough to leave them looking injured but not anywhere close to death.

The absolute best result of the fury was the hole I made in the back of one of the shoes as I held it down with the heel of one of my Mary Janes.  The top piece of the heel eventually cut through the thin layer of material, further trapping the poor ballet flat underneath it and preventing it from being able to escape.  Talk about a torture device!

I found that kicking ballet flats positioned on a concrete garage floor means you'll miss about twice as much as you hit the target, or at least until you get a feel for what you're doing.  The top pieces on both heels took some abuse, but the heels themselves seem as sturdy as ever.

Still, the moment left both of my Pleasers with some unintended damage, like this black mark that doesn't seem ready to go away anytime soon.  Part of me feels bad, and now I can reason with women that get distressed when they do something to hurt their brand new pair of shoes.  Yet another part of me knows this is the life I intended for these shoes, and the damage that accumulates over time will be worth the results.  Speaking of results, the gold ballet flats are getting put away, but their trashing and abuse is far from over.  Stay tuned.

Another Pair For My Feet To Embrace

Another day, and another pair of Pleasers arrives for the pleasure of my feet.  This time it's a pair of Vanity T-strap pumps.

I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the thrill of opening a box like this.  I used to wonder why women would buy more shoes than they'd ever have the ability to wear but now I'm starting to get it.  This is my fourth pair of shoes (with one more on the way- a pair of size 16 pumps to replace the 17's that were too big) and while I now have more pairs of shoes than I'll be able to enjoy as much as I'd like, I'm getting the itch to buy another pair or two, and maybe even boots if I can be assured that they'll work with my calves.

There's certainly no real reason for me to be disappointed but I'm just a little dismayed by the fact that Pleaser has made a bit of a liar out of me.  Not long after I sang the praises of Pleaser's packaging, I open the box to find no black protective storage bag to house my shoes.  These shoes also came wrapped in white cloth bags that weren't as substantial as the black cloth bags that contained the other Pleasers I purchased, so I'm assuming it wasn't a simple oversight and is just a case of Pleaser not providing the protective storage bags with all their shoes?

Regardless, the shoes are awesome.  They're red patent (don't be fooled by the bad lighting of the photos- they're not pink, although the pumps that are due to arrive are a flashy hot pink, just to switch things up a bit) and the 4" heel should make them a bit easier to deal with than my slingbacks with the 5" heel that feels just a tad delicate, although I'll be the first to admit I need to get used to them.

At first I was worried because I had a hard time squeezing my feet between the straps, but then figured it was more about the angle of approach than anything else.  Still, I give straps a lot of credit.  I stretched these in ways that made me sure I'd snap them apart, and that was once... and with the shoes in brand new condition.  How do the straps do it when they're old and having been stretched to their limits (and likely beyond) hundreds of times?

I look forward to seeing how these straps do it.

Two Pairs of Pleasers For My Pleasure

Please accept my apologies once again for having been quiet the past few days.  If you notice a pattern of me disappearing on the weekends, you've been paying attention.  During the week I can sneak home every once in a while and indulge in this hobby of mine but on the weekends, it's tough to do so with the wife present.  It's not that I forget about all of this, just that I'm not able to come up with much to post.  Perhaps I'll have to work on an extra post or two during the week so I can make sure the blog is updated on the weekends.  But anyway, I digress.

My quest to build a small collection of large-sized shoes started out great with the arrival of my Ellie sandals but then became a bit of a challenge.  Because a size 16 worked the first time, I figured it would work again.  That wasn't the case when I bought a similar pair of Pleaser sandals (which are now gone... in the hands of a lucky reader that I trust is having fun with them.)  Figuring that I got lucky with the Ellies, I ordered a pair of traditional pumps by Pleaser in a wide width size 17, and was frustrated when they were so large, my feet were just about swimming in them.  I sent them back for a size 16 and hoped that the other size 16's I had on the way would work after all.  Maybe the Pleaser sandals being too narrow was just a fluke?

As it turns out, that was the case, and now I am adding two new pairs of Pleasers to my collection.  The first is a pair of Seduce slingback pumps.  Since I already have black patent Ellies, I was hoping for a different color but had to settle on black patent again, as I'm guessing colors become more basic as the size of the shoes increases.  Regardless, they're extremely sexy- very simple with a thin strap to hold the back of the foot in place over towering 5" heels.  After a quick lap around the living room, I've found I can handle myself in them just fine, although another inch might make them a little difficult.

I've come to love Pleaser.  Sure, it mostly has to do with them making gorgeous shoes that fit my insanely huge feet, but there's a part of me that appreciates their attention to detail when it comes to packaging.  I'm a sucker for packaging because while it doesn't mask the faults of shoddy product, it makes good products seem even better.  Anyone who's ever bought and opened an Apple product can surely attest to that.  Pleaser shoes come in a nice black box with a red lid covered in butterflies, and the box is of a ridiculous quality considering the price of the shoes that usually go for about $50 on eBay.

Open it up and it's a sea of black, regardless of the color of the shoes.  Each shoe comes individually wrapped in a cloth bag, probably to keep them from rubbing together during shipment.  Very classy.

Even better, Pleaser provides a larger cloth bag with a drawstring to store the shoes.  Honestly, I can't see many women using this bag, as the shoes would either remain in their box on the floor of a closet or be stored on some kind of rack, but for someone like me who hides his best footwear above a ceiling tile in his man cave, the bag is a priceless part of the package.

Officially the most delicate of the pairs in my collection, I'm not sure how often I'm going to be wearing these or what I'll be able to do with them, so time will tell.  That doesn't prevent me from wanting to stare at them for hours!

My other recent arrival is a pair of Pleaser Divine Mary Jane pumps.  I couldn't resist the red patent leather that makes me think of a classic muscle car when I look at them.  These aren't as dressy as the slingbacks, but the fact that they cover more of the foot and have a thick 3" heel means they make more sense for destructive activities.  They're going to play a big role going forward, so expect to see a lot of them and the results of their actions.

The destruction of the Moda sandals with my treasured Ellies was a blast, but I think the style of the shoes brought everything to an end quicker than anticipated.  Violently stomping on something while wearing a pair of shoes that holds your foot in place with a few straps means the foot isn't held in place very well at all, and the height of the heels only made matters worse.  I'm sure I'll continue to use my Ellies for destructive purposes but I can see these shoes being better as they will hold my foot in place and the thicker heel will give me more control as well as peace of mind, as I won't have to worry so much about it snapping if I get too into the moment.  And believe me, you're going to see a lot more destruction in the future.  I've already ordered a nice assortment of shoes with low heels that I plan on making suffer under mine.

Anyone Want These Pleaser Size 16 High-Heeled Sandals?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am trying to build a small collection of large-sized shoes for my large-sized feet.  I figured a size 16 would work just fine and it did.  Well, once.  The second size 16 I purchased and attempted to fit onto my feet didn't work as well.  I think I need a size 16 wide because while the length is perfect (or at least it seems perfect, as the shoes have open backs so it's a little tough to tell), they're much too narrow where the straps converge above the balls of my feet.  I've since purchased a few size 16 shoes in a wide width as well as a size 17 (which wasn't easy to find) and we'll see what happens.  In the meantime I am stuck with this pair of shoes that I managed to keep on my foot for all of 30 seconds.  Anyone want them?

 They're made by Pleaser, a company that seems to pride itself on sexy, well-made but reasonably-priced women's shoes, and they make shoes in all sizes so it's not like they cater specifically to the crossdressing crowd (not sure why, but I like that... maybe I like the idea of women's shoes made for women, not men?)  They're called the Flair 420 and are T-strap sandals with 4.5" heels.  The soles are covered in a grippy rubber material (making them good for someone like me who has no experience walking in high heels and is likely to take a spill at any given moment) and the inner lining is a soft, cloth-like material that feels sweet against the feet.  They look and feel very sturdy but at the same time, a towering heel is a towering heel and I'm sure it wouldn't take too many wrong moves for them to break off, just in case that appeals to you.

I'm not looking for much in exchange for them.  I paid about $50 for them on eBay and that included shipping, and I'd rather let them go for half that amount rather than toss them away.  I imagine that most guys do not have a foot as large as mine, so if you're around a 11, 12 or 13 and have always wanted to slip your foot into a sexy pair of heels, now might be a good chance.  And if you decide to have any adventures with them (non-sexual, that is), feel free to send photos and stories so they can be shared with everyone.

 Any takers?