The above is a headline from the Sunday Detroit daily newspaper. I’d say Free Press, but I wouldn’t want readers to think I read it.
Quoted are designers and socks makers. I read no quotes from the man on the street, the man in the stadium or the man in the bar.
The first quote is from a designer and professed ankle exhibitionist, ‘It’s (socklessness) the new male cleavage.?
C’mon! The only relation to bare feet and cleavage is that ‘V? toes make. It’s even stretching the word cleavage when reference is made to plumbers.
A Manhattan advertising executive says not wearing socks is feeling like you’re not wearing anything.
This week I had to take my shoes and socks off for a doctor. It’s too much of an effort to put stretch socks on twice a day, so I put my naked feet into my loafers for the ride home.
I did not feel like I was not wearing anything.I felt my sweating feet stick to my insoles. I felt conspicuous, cheap, weird, ashamed and I think like an inter-planetoid would feel among human beings. I also feared someone would see my ugly ankle.
This same New Yorker explained, ‘It’s more of a comfort thing than a fashion statement.? There’s no comfort involved in uncovered/in-shoe feet.
The writer did point out something helpful for Odor Eater sales. There are thousands of sweat glands in the feet, which can produce enough moisture to dampen a pair of leather shoes fully.
Of course, there had to be a reference to other barings exhibited by the young and not so young. A majority of people, in my opinion, believe the expanses of midriff, thigh and backside are obscene, revolting and out of place, except in burlesque.
But, the article says that many people also think baring ankles is obscene. If that’s the case, fewer people have their head in the clouds than I thought.
I play golf four days a week. When getting dressed I sometimes wonder if I should wear the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row. My conclusion is that I couldn’t tell you what any golfer in our group wore on his feet, head or body the day before.
So, I wear whatever I please that I have previously washed the stink out of, feeling their memory is no better than mine.
Last week President Bush welcomed a bunch of young women to the White House. The camera showed all of them wearing sandals. Which prompted the question: ‘Are flip-flops appropriate wear when being welcomed by the president of the United States??
In the 1950s men wore white socks with loafers and the world did not end. Same with wearing white shoes and belts before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. We can assume bare ankles will pass, and we can hope they will be replaced by a rebirth of Argyle socks for both men and women.
By the way, an exposed ankle should be a tanned ankle. A men’s fashion designer from Saks says, ‘No one wants to see a bare white leg stick out there? even if they are wearing haute sneakers.
Several years ago a publisher from Plymouth came to a Michigan Press convention sockless. We of course concluded there was no reason for his existence.
He said his mother was equally unimpressed. He told us he didn’t dare tell his mother he was also under-shortless. If that becomes a trend, keep it under cover.