Period Shoes

[Gareth Hughes]

Interesting item from the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21151350
My one and only foray into the wearing of high heels was in the audience of the Rocky Horror Show, followed by a pub crawl round Norwich that left me unable to walk for nearly a week...

 

[Zebra]

That is interesting. I had always wondered when and why feminine apparel (jewellery, heels, decorative fabrics) for men ceased to be fashionable. Now I know!

 

[JoceAndChris]

That is interesting. I had always wondered when and why feminine apparel (jewellery, heels, decorative fabrics) for men ceased to be fashionable. Now I know!

Nobody seems to have told my husband that jewellery and decorative fabrics aren't the ticket! When I met him he had beautiful long red curling hair, and wore big boots with chunky silver jewellery and purple velvet trousers. I still have the photos! :lol: He's a bit more restrained now, the hair's chopped, the trousers are still frequently bright but unlikely to be velvet. However, if they brought back heels and doublets and hose with frilled shirts this would be a very happy household, and I think there's a certain Mr Juju out there who feels the same?

I'd like to see the Rocky Horror pics of Gareth? :wink:

 

[Penners]

My one and only foray into the wearing of high heels was in the audience of the Rocky Horror Show, followed by a pub crawl round Norwich that left me unable to walk for nearly a week...

Strange... I'd always imagined that crawling in high heels must be a great deal easier than walking in them.

I'd like to see the Rocky Horror pics of Gareth

I don't think I would. :x

 

[Lime]

That is interesting. I had always wondered when and why feminine apparel (jewellery, heels, decorative fabrics) for men ceased to be fashionable. Now I know!

It wasn't feminine in the old days, fancy clothes displayed the wealth and power of men.
If anything it was the women who wore nondescript clothes rather like in the animal world.

Before modern warfare, the more important ranks in the army had more flamboyant uniforms.
(Buttons on the sleeve initially were an attempt to stop the ranks from wiping their noses on their sleeves)
It was modern warfare that stopped fine colourful dress amongst men, particularly the First World War for the general public.

It is estimated that in the First World War 36,000,000 horses were killed.
Men still rode horses in that war as did the Poles in the second.
Horses were still common on the streets of London and elsewhere after the Second World War.

Short hair for men meant they were less likely to suffer lice in the trenches.
Low heals allowed you to escape faster in mud.
Non descript clothes that blended in to the surroundings concealed them from the sniper.
If a man wore fancy clothes and long hair in the street during the WW1 they were derided and despised as a coward.
Simple.

The tradition continued right through to the 60s.
I recall being grabbed by the lapels by a senior member of staff and threatened where I first worked, GEC Hirst Research Centre, for no reason at all except for the colour of my shirt.
I understood he disliked me for sporting long hair as most older people did, but the colour of my shirt sent him ballistic.
It was brown.
Younger people than myself have little idea of the almost universal prejudice, often violent, shown to people like myself for wearing colourful clothes in the 60s.

If you do not understand the significance of my brown shirt (as I didn't at the time!) I suggest you google the brownshirts.

 

[Feltwell]

Nobody seems to have told my husband that jewellery and decorative fabrics aren't the ticket! When I met him he had beautiful long red curling hair, and wore big boots with chunky silver jewellery and purple velvet trousers. I still have the photos! :lol:

Is "Joce" an internet disguise then? Are you actually Mrs Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen? :lol:

 

[Juju]

Mr Juju definitely likes to release his inner fop - he looked quite the ticket for our Christmas National Trust volunteering - all dolled up as a Victorian with a large fancy satin cravat.
Juju

 

[Penners]

Mr Juju definitely likes to release his inner fop - he looked quite the ticket for our Christmas National Trust volunteering - all dolled up as a Victorian with a large fancy satin cravat.
Juju

I remember you both looking pretty dashing, at a PPUK get-together!

 

[Juju]

Thanks Mr P! I of course also looked the part for our Christmas volunteering - in a huge satin skirt with hooped petticoat and many frills and fancies. I got lots of compliments from the visitors - although some were a bit scared when they walked into the dark room and saw me standing there like a ghostly lady of the manor. It was only afterwards that a member of staff told me I'd been in the haunted room!
Juju

 

[LadyArowana]

His Lordship would be very very upset if he was expected to wear heels. It caused him a huge degree of anquish when Church's became part of the Prada group, but it seems they have been left alone and are still making the same shoes as they did 30 years ago :roll:

 

[Feltwell]

it seems they have been left alone and are still making the same shoes as they did 30 years ago :roll:

You're missing the essence of clothes shopping for many men Lady A. Find something that you like - and then stick to it wherever possible, for as long as it's still available and it doesn't look ridiculous on your ageing frame.

Furthermore - that most marvellous of inventions, the interweb, means that once you have found your fondness for said item you can often avoid the unspeakable hell of "going to the shops" by repeating your purchases from the safety of your own home.

What - hopelessly out of fashion, me???

I have no idea what Penners means about me becoming a grumpy old man......... :wink:

 

[Penners]

I have no idea what Penners means about me becoming a grumpy old man.

Bad news - that's one of the sure signs of rapidly advancing grumpiness.

 

[Flyfisher]

Nobody seems to have told my husband that jewellery and decorative fabrics aren't the ticket! When I met him he had beautiful long red curling hair, and wore big boots with chunky silver jewellery and purple velvet trousers. I still have the photos! :lol:

Ah, the seventies. Platform boots, big flares, purple shirts, greatcoats and hair well past the shoulders . . . .

Fortunately, the photos were not digital in those prehistoric times so are not easy to post (phew).

 

[Penners]

Fortunately, the photos were not digital in those prehistoric times so are not easy to post (phew).

Go on, FF - force yourself! You've got a scanner, haven't you?

 

[Flyfisher]

I will if you will :wink:

 

[wobs]

My one and only foray into the wearing of high heels was in the audience of the Rocky Horror Show, followed by a pub crawl round Norwich that left me unable to walk for nearly a week...

"Photos or it didn't happen" is the standard phrase to use here.

There was a documentary by that transvestite artist guy (name escapes me) some years ago. He said that transvestism is usually more prevelant when men's fashions become less varied, as the "dandy" among the male population still wanted to dress expressively (for want of a better phrase).

 

[LadyArowana]

I will if you will :wink:

Oooooh, I'm looking forward to this

 

[Penners]

that transvestite artist guy (name escapes me)

I think you mean that self-seeking self-publicist, Grayson Perry, don't you?

 

[Penners]

I will if you will :wink:

Oooooh, I'm looking forward to this

Regrettably, FF and Yer Ladyship, I was far too old-fashioned and straightlaced to indulge in such fopperies.

I did once have a kipper tie, though.

(All together now: "milk and two sugars please!")

 

[wobs]

that transvestite artist guy (name escapes me)

I think you mean that self-seeking self-publicist, Grayson Perry, don't you?

That's the fellow.