Shoes and the Women Who Love Them

[shereads]

Re: )*&^%&#!!

To me, shoes are a bit of a pisser. When I get the urge to buy shoes, I go to the mall, look at hundreds of pairs, then I get my choice between a). patent leather Mary Janes made for 8 year olds and b). sneakers made for eight year olds.

When you wear miniscule shoes, there is a serious lag phase between urge to buy and actually being shod. At least a week.
MG
Ps. Thank God for my Cinderella of Boston catalogue.

Try Nordstrom online. They pride themselves on service and if they don't have your teensy size, they'll probably find a shoemaker's elf to sew some up for you.

Smaller than a 4? They have 4s.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Even flats make my feet hurt. You're insane, Colly!

My grandmother, who is equal to my shoulder when standing, used to teach high school. The heels she wore every day were so high that she would have to use both hands to literally pull her foot back to being flat when she would take her shoes off at night after standing in them all day. I'll just never understand it.

- Mindy, comfy in my work boots

I have gone out dancing and club hopping all night in 5 inch pumps with a single gold spike heel. About the size of a pencil eraser at the tip. I had a blast and came home with my feet feeling fine. I have gone out for two hours shopping at the mall in flats and come home just wanting to soak my feet in hot water and epsom salts.

I know you think I am insane, but high heels ARE comfortable shoes to me

Except for the six inch spikes, I only wear those when I expect my feet to be pointed at the ceiling most of the night

-Colly

 

[Guest]

Except for the six inch spikes, I only wear those when I expect my feet to be pointed at the ceiling most of the night

Brava, Coll. That's the only time I can wear spikes. Love it, you.

Perdita

 

[lucky-E-leven]

I have gone out dancing and club hopping all night in 5 inch pumps with a single gold spike heel. About the size of a pencil eraser at the tip. I had a blast and came home with my feet feeling fine. I have gone out for two hours shopping at the mall in flats and come home just wanting to soak my feet in hot water and epsom salts.

I know you think I am insane, but high heels ARE comfortable shoes to me

Except for the six inch spikes, I only wear those when I expect my feet to be pointed at the ceiling most of the night

-Colly

Now that's what I call getting 'mileage' out of a pair of shoes.

-E (digging mine out tonight for a test-drive)

 

[minsue]

I have gone out dancing and club hopping all night in 5 inch pumps with a single gold spike heel. About the size of a pencil eraser at the tip. I had a blast and came home with my feet feeling fine. I have gone out for two hours shopping at the mall in flats and come home just wanting to soak my feet in hot water and epsom salts.

I know you think I am insane, but high heels ARE comfortable shoes to me

Except for the six inch spikes, I only wear those when I expect my feet to be pointed at the ceiling most of the night

-Colly

I just say you're insane out of envy. I'd love to just be able to walk in heels much less find them to be comfortable. Alas, considering the number of people, upon seeing me in a skirt, have said,"You really do walk like a guy!", I don't think it's to be.

- Mindy

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Dammit, Mabeuse, look at this boot and tell me you wouldn't lust after a one-legged woman in one of these. Then think what TWO legs and TWO of these boots would look like. With a black leather garter belt. C'mon. 'Fess up.

A woman who wore these boots would look like one of Santa's Elves in BDSM drag. Those toes! Those are the same toes that the Grinch has on his boots.

Since when did Dr. Suess toes become high fashion?

---dr.M.

P.S. What do you think about opening finance offices in these places like Jimmy Choo's? Cash rebates, no Payments till 2005, that kind of thing?

 

[dee1124]

A woman who wore these boots would look like one of Santa's Elves in BDSM drag. Those toes! Those are the same toes that the Grinch has on his boots.

Since when did Dr. Suess toes become high fashion?

---dr.M.

You ... you mean we're not supposed to wear pointy-toed shoes?

They've always been high fashion, Doc, whether or not they're comfortable to wear or make you look like an elf in drag, which I doubt She or any of the ladies who've posted here would resemble.

Aren't you glad you started this thread, though? I haven't seen one grow this fast since I started attending the Hangout.

 

[Lovepotion69]

Honestly, I don't get the fascination with shoes myself. I own heaps of them (majority half broken). I keep breaking my shoes as whenever I get a new pair, I wear them ALL the time. Mind you, majority of my shoes are sneakers and boots. That's what I like and feel comfortable in.

I don't get how some women manage to squeeze themselves into pointy shoes, or perhaps my feet are just too broad? As long as it's comfortable to them, but I just can't. If I wear high heels the heels have to be broad, I can't do the stick heels.

Evern though I'm not into shoes, it still takes me forever to find a pair. I'll walk into every shoe store about 2-3 times. I won't try heaps on, but I just look at them and try about three pairs, but I can never decide. Mom told me to never shop shoes with a friend/bf...

So, while we're on the subject of women's accesories, can someone explain the handbag thing to me? Why do women like handbags?

/LP
P.S. Doc, when I need a pick-me-up for some reason I get a haircut. For a while I bought Clinique stuff, but that got a bit expensive... Nah, redoing your hair usually works great!

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Brava, Coll. That's the only time I can wear spikes. Love it, you.

Perdita

Love you too Dita

You would love these shoes too. Black patent leather, six inch spike heels, very thin strap that goes around your ankle with small silver buckle. Circia 1930's. I got them from an estate sale along with some period drawers and 2 unopened boxes of real, pre war silk stockings

-Colly

 

[dee1124]

So, while we're on the subject of women's accesories, can someone explain the handbag thing to me? Why do women like handbags?

/LP
P.S. Doc, when I need a pick-me-up for some reason I get a haircut. For a while I bought Clinique stuff, but that got a bit expensive... Nah, redoing your hair usually works great!

Part of the handbag thing, LP, is what Colly said above about shoes: a different one will change your look. That aside, they're for carrying things. And ask your male friends what they have in their briefcases. The only real trouble is, the more capacious a handbag, the more junk you can throw in it, until you're toting around a five-pound weight everywhere.

And a haircut's great, though save them for when I really need a pick-me-up. You can't throw a haircut in the back of the closet if it turns out you don't like it.

 

[Lovepotion69]

I mostly stick to those small backpacks. Much more comfortable than having a bag over my shoulder, me thinks.
Actually, my mom kept telling me to get proper shoes, claiming I wasn't a kid anymore. She also got me a nice leather handbag and later on another handbag. I have to admit to using them nowadays, but definitely not every day. More if I'm going somewhere special.

Hm, thinking about it, I'm far more excited by the idea of dragging a guy out to shop clothes for him! I always see clothes in stores that I'd like to see on my man... I like buying stuff for guys.

 

[minsue]

I mostly stick to those small backpacks. Much more comfortable than having a bag over my shoulder, me thinks.
Actually, my mom kept telling me to get proper shoes, claiming I wasn't a kid anymore. She also got me a nice leather handbag and later on another handbag. I have to admit to using them nowadays, but definitely not every day. More if I'm going somewhere special.

Hm, thinking about it, I'm far more excited by the idea of dragging a guy out to shop clothes for him! I always see clothes in stores that I'd like to see on my man... I like buying stuff for guys.

I don't understand the purse thing any more than I do the shoes. I had to go buy a handbag for the above-mentioned wedding. I carry a wallet in my back pocket.

I do love buying clothes for my husband, though I don't like shopping with him. Of course, I not only buy him the clothing I want to see him in, but also clothing I want to borrow.

- Mindy

 

[destinie21]

I have never understood the pain thing, I love high heels and am really more comfortable in then than most of my flats. I can wear stilletto heels all day and not have my feet any more sore than they are after a day wearing regular shoes.

-Colly

FInally, this is me too I wear heels anywear from two and a half to four inches and work in them all day, they don't bother me at all.

 

[Guest]

You would love these shoes too. Black patent leather, six inch spike heels, very thin strap that goes around your ankle with small silver buckle. Circia 1930's. I got them from an estate sale along with some period drawers and 2 unopened boxes of real, pre war silk stockings

I love period shoes, wish I could find them, and in my size. I personally find ankle straps sexy, and love the feel of them. I so would love real silk stockings too. Gosh, it sounds like we'd have fun shopping together.

Perdita

 

[Guest]

Amusing, mildly bogus info

Excerpt:

Sex and footwear have had a long association. At the turn of last century, the argument that feet were linked to sex found impetus in the groundbreaking work of Wilder Penfield, a Canadian neurosurgeon and researcher who developed a map of the brain. He discovered that the parts of the brain responsible for orgasmic activity lie next to the section responsible for the feet.

Anatomically, the foot is one of the most tactile parts of the body. Research revealed that the foot contains thousands of tiny, sensitive receptors. These receptors supply the brain with information on pain, temperature, pressure and body position. Its nerve endings also account for the feet's sensitivity which often takes the form of ticklishness.

Freud believed it is our bipedal stance that literally lifted us from the ground, bringing bosom, abdomen and thighs into view. It created erogenous zones and visual sex appeal features. This position made human frontal copulation, unique in all nature, possible. Visual stimuli and continuity of sexual excitement led to year-round sex. Therefore, we have an innate sense that the feet are somehow responsible for our sexuality.

The feet, says William A Rossi in his classic work, The Sex Life of the Foot and Shoe, are sensual objects, which often require to be hidden from unwanted attention. In fact, 'shoe' (scoe) is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning to cover, not in the protective sense, but rather to hide an erogenous zone. He declared: "The shoe is no simple, protective housing for the foot, nor a whimsical decoration. It serves chiefly as a sexual covering for the foot's natural erotic character. Footwear fashion is podoerotic art."

shoe stuff

 

[Guest]

shoe trivia

from same site above:

Did you know that….?

That shoe sizes were standardized in Britain in 1885?

That shoe sizes in Britain differ by 1/3 of an inch – allegedly the length of 3 barley corns?

That the open-toed shoe became fashionable in the 1930s as a result of the new vogue for sunbathing?

That 18th century legislation designed to create paved walkways within cities allowed women to wear less practical shoes with higher heels?

That the boot scrapers installed outside Georgian front doors indicate that the gentry could walk about a city instead of going everywhere by carriage or sedan chair?

That shoes were originally made as straights and could be worn on either foot. Left and right shoes only asserted themselves with the reintroduction of the high heel in the nineteenth century?

That the average person walks 2,000 miles a year?

That one quarter of the bones in your body are in your foot?

That there are 18 muscles in the human foot?

That fairy tales often use shoes as a symbol representing an escape from an otherwise humdrum life?

That red shoes have always been considered special?

That the first known images of footwear are boots depicted in 15,000 year old Spanish cave paintings?

That St Crispin is the Patron Saint of shoemaking (cordwainers) and that St Crispin’s Day is 25 October?

That over 100 different operations go into the construction of an individual shoe?

That shoes have traditionally been hidden in buildings to protect the house and its inhabitants from evil and misfortune?

That the most ever paid for a pair of 2nd hand shoes is $665,000. Judy Garland’s last pair of ruby slippers, worn in the Wizard of Oz film, were sold in 2000?

That the boots Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in are still floating around in space?!

 

[Guest]

ok, I'll stop now, I promise.

Brief Footware Timeline (same site)

3,000 B.C.E.---Egyptians paint murals of shoes and shoe makers on temple walls.

c.46 CE---Plutarch describes Greek society as having 8 basic guilds of artisans, which include both shoemakers and tanners. Slaves are distinguished from free citizens by their deliberately bare feet. Actors wear raised shoes to tower over their audience and their resulting swaggering gait sends females into sexual ecstasy.

200 CE---Roman emperor Aurelius proclaims that only he and his successors may wear red sandals.

1400s---European knights adopt long-toed shoes, called crackows, with toes up to 24 inches long. Sumptuary laws will dictate the allowed length of the toes.

mid 1500s---Platform shoes rising up to 30 inches called chopines become all the rage in southern Europe.

Early 1600s---Shoelaces emerge as the latest shoe fad.

Mid 1600s---France's Louis XIV is a short man. He starts a whole new movement in platform shoes. Some are 5 inches high and decorated with miniature rustic, romantic or battle scenes. Fanatical about his shoes, the Sun King does not allow anyone other than the privileged classes from wearing the platform shoes on penalty of death.

Late 1600s---A mistranslation from the original French fairy tale turns Cinderella's fur (vair) slipper into a glass one (verre).

17th century---6-inch-high heels are worn by the upper classes in Europe. 2 servants, one on either side, are needed to hold up the person wearing the high heels.

Early 1800s---Flat shoes and Grecian sandals become popular.

1840---The first woman's boot is designed for England's Queen Victoria.

1858---Trained as a boot maker in London, John Lobb moves to Australia to try his luck in the goldfields. Although he doesn't make his fortune in gold, he comes up with the idea of making hollow-heeled boots for prospectors to hide their gold. The idea catches on and John he sets himself up in business in Sydney in 1858.

1860s---A flexible, rubber-soled cotton-canvas shoe with laces is created in England for the newly fashionable sport of croquet. These are the first sneakers, called plimsolls.

1861---The Civil War begins in the U.S. Unscrupulous contractors supply below-par footwear. Many cavalry boots are mass produced using reinforced cardboard. Climatic conditions take their toll and the soldiers suffer deep cuts to their feet. A Chiropodist General to the U.S. Cavalry will be appointed, and the English language is enriched with the word "shoddy" which describes manufacturers willing to compromise for profit. The final victory by the North is in no small part due to the superior footwear of the Union army. Right and left boots are introduced at this time but it will take another half a century before the masses are introduced to such luxuries. By the end of the war the federal government has half a million pairs of boots surplus to requirements. Troops stationed on the frontier will be supplied with shoddy boots and the foundation of the cowboy boot trade in the frontier will be based on the simple necessity for civilian bookmakers to replace defective military footwear.

Late 1800s---A buttonhook becomes an essential part of every woman's wardrobe, as high-buttoned shoes become the fashion norm.

1880s---The cowboy boot is beginning to emerge as a distinctive style.

1914---The film industry moves from the East to California. The real cowboys employed for the western films wear dull clothes compared to the illusion in dime novels. So the actors wear highly decorated boots outside their trousers. Italian shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo makes boots for one of Cecil B de Mille's films. de Mille is so impressed he says, " The West would have been conquered earlier, if they had boots like these."

1929---The Great Depression begins. Shoes with holes in their soles become known as "Hoover Shoes" after the unfortunate occupant of the White House during the Depression.

1950s---Sneakers are the preferred footwear of teenagers and the symbol of rebellion. Cheap, they are worn by students around the world. In the U.S., cheerleaders wear sweaters, short skirts, and ankle socks with canvas topped shoes (or keds). The fashion is officially sanctioned when James Dean is photographed wearing his Levis jeans and white sneakers.

 

[shereads]

Jeezeamunkey!

Thank you, Colly. I plan to use that tomorrow at the office. I don't know when or how I'll work it into a conversation, but it has to be done.



I love lingerie too. Unfortunately, no more than two dozen people ever get to see the good lingerie at any one time, whereas with shoes the world gets to look.

 

[shereads]

Re: shoe trivia

That the boots Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in are still floating around in space?!

How?

 

[shereads]

A woman who wore these boots would look like one of Santa's Elves in BDSM drag. Those toes! Those are the same toes that the Grinch has on his boots.

Since when did Dr. Suess toes become high fashion?

---dr.M.

You are not invited to the AH "Naked Except for Black Stillettos" Tea Party next week.

 

[dee1124]

Re: shoe trivia

Did you know that….?

That the average person walks 2,000 miles a year?

Don't anybody tell me I don't get enough exercise!

 

[Dirt Man]

Re: Re: shoe trivia

How?

They were jetisoned due to a weight restriction for reentry, and the fact that they were bringing back a load of rocks from the moon.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

 

[MathGirl]

Re: Re: )*&^%&#!!

Smaller than a 4? They have 4s.

Dear Sh,
Size four? That's for a sasquatch. Try 2.5.
MG

 

[Guest]

Gosh, Maths, I tried searching for you and came up with nada but Cinderella's. Sorry.

Perdita

 

[shereads]

Re: Re: Re: )*&^%&#!!

Dear Sh,
Size four? That's for a sasquatch. Try 2.5.
MG

Win I win the lottery I'll give you your own shoemaker.