It’s still off-season - Fashion!

[CharleyHorse46]

Kilts - I’d wear one if it were a light cottony one.  I wouldn’t be caught dead in scratchy wool.

[CousinFreddie]

One of my favorite authors wears a kilt in public: Alexander McCall Smith.  We saw him give a reading to a packed house (n=2500) at the Schnitz in Portland, and he started off by saying "I'm amazed at how many of you came here tonight to hear thoughts from a man wearing a dress" and then he howled in laughter and we howled with him.  What is it about some people with the true gift of making you laugh, and really just by occupying the same space with them?

Okay, my fashion question is much more mundane, but I'd like some sandal recommendations.  The ones I have tend to make my feet sweat a bit, and after wearing them awhile they get a bit, I dunno, sticky or something.  And, don't worry, I'm not one of those guys who tends sweat so much that I walk outside and get instant sweat rings or something.  You wouldn't know that I was sweating to look at me.  But my feet get a bit sticky.  Just a bit.  Is this just part of the sandal lifestyle?

Of course I guess I could go back to those days when I would just go barefoot all summer.  By August my feet were so tough I could cross a hot Oklahoma asphalt road, a wide one even, barefoot, and not even need to run.  Maybe walk a bit faster, but that's it.  Them dogs was tough, I tell ya!  And, I don't remember sweat ever being an issue for my feet when I went barefoot as a kid.  Of course Mom would send me straight to the tub and make me soak every night to clean up my act, but I'd do my best to undo all her fuss over that every day.  Gawd summers as a kid were just plain wonderful weren't they?

[CharleyHorse46]

Twenty five years ago when my father was in his 70s he began wearing leather sandals with white cotton crew socks.   He looked absolutely atrocious but happy.  In fact during one of those gender sequestering moments when womenfolk chat huskily in the the kitchen while menfolk meditatively sit on the backporch and make idle conversation while scratching the ears of faithful dogs my dad told me he had never been happier.  It was like he had attained a higher level of consciousness and enlightenment.  The last 15 years or so of his life were bliss.

About ten years ago I was in socks and had to run out to close carwindows as a freak summer rain rolled in so unthinkingly I slipped my sandals over my socks before runn8ng to the cars.

The sensation was amazing.  Almost like the smell of fresh baked cookies, words of encouragement in a time of need and slow BJ all in one.

But alas I’m not mature enough to take the plunge.  I still imagine there are beautiful young women in this world who have yet to make love to me, who would love to make love to me, and will surely make love to me someday unless they see me wearing socks with sandals.

I imagine I will lose my sons’ secret, unspoken respect if they see me in socks and sandals.

I worry I will lose all motivation to work and strive and provide and achieve if I begin wearing socks with sandals.

But sometimes when I’m home alone I wear socks with sandals and it’s heavenly.  I even take pictures of my feet and send them to a pervert I know.

Someday I’ll cross over into true enlightenment and begin wearing them boldly all the time but for now I’m just a padawan in the game of life.

[utee94]

I mean, what kind of sandals?  

[FearlessF]

I can't wear sandals out in the sun.  tops of my feet burn

[CharleyHorse46]

I can't wear sandals out in the sun.  tops of my feet burn

Heh!  Pasty yankee.  Thank you for sharing.  It’s things like that that make us Texans feel genetically superior and divinely enriched.

[CharleyHorse46]

Why do styles have to change?

Over the last year or so I’ve bought several new suits of the slim fit variety and while they look great and I get compliments and generally feel fine they are just so tight around the johnson area. I’m not sure I like that.  

I’ll be glad when we can get back to the baggie 90s hiphop style,

[CousinFreddie]

Mine are Eccos.  I've had them awhile as you can see, but they're still in good shape.  They hold the feet well, never cause any blisters or foot pain in the arch etc.  My only complaint is that sweat thing that builds up under the balls of the feet after wearing them for awhile.  Hmmm, yeah, I guess they make my balls sweat ...



And, HH, heh, yeah the sock dilemma.  I've worn them a few times, but only inside the house, well out of sight of the general public.  Turns out Portland has a surfeit of people who wear socks with sandals, totally belying their general hip image (or maybe part of their tragically hip image).  Something to do with the persistent 45 F cool weather that happens there from about Nov to March, and even spring fall and shoulders of the summer it might only get up to 65 F on a given day.  Perfect weather for sandals with socks, at least in their mind.  But I didn't go there, and now PDX is in my rear view so the threat of gradually succumbing to sandals with socks with advancing age or creeping tragic hiptitude is off.  Or at least so I think now ...

[MikeDeTiger]

Question and a comment:

Are cargo shorts not cool?  I have a couple pair that I love, I think they look nice and they look nice on me.  I gather from my nieces and other youth that cargo shorts are the new jorts.....i.e., only do this if you intend to embarrass your nieces.  When did this happen?  And I don't care.  I like my cargo shorts.  

I used to love sandals when I could wear them, but not ones with straps like the ones Fred posted.  I think those look a little better than than the thong sandals I wore, but a major reason why I wore sandals was for complete laziness and ease.  Just put my foot in them, slip my foot out.  The sum action required to move between a state of being shoeless and shoed.  Straps were too much work for me and I'd just have soon worn my sneakers, which don't look as cool as sandals but were hardly any more work and provided a greater level of comfort and versatility.  You don't want to be asked to go jogging spur of the moment by a beautiful college girl in San Marcos and be wearing sandals.  Unless they're thong sandals and they're so easy to take off and on that the benefits outweigh the consequences.  

In which case you just say "Ok, I can't go jogging with you right this instant, but tell you what.  I'll do a raincheck and jog with you later if you'll let me take you out right now to anywhere you want to go.  That's right.  Because unlike the 'roided out college losers who are more interested in looking at themselves in the mirror at the gym than in looking at you who you're used to dealing with, I'm in my later 20's and I have a job and my own place."  Then you just find a way to further explain how those other losers are only thinking about one thing, how they can get her to please themselves.  Whereas I on the other hand, being a little older and wiser and just generally of better substance than the average goon, understand that relationships on any level are a give and take, and I like to focus on ways to make her happy.  

So, another question:  There's nothing better to make a woman knock herself out trying to please you than by hinting to her that all you really want is to please her.  Did you all find that to be the case, or is that just me?  

I seem to have severely digressed.  Back to the fashion thread.  

[CharleyHorse46]

Question and a comment:

Are cargo shorts not cool?  I have a couple pair that I love, I think they look nice and they look nice on me.  I gather from my nieces and other youth that cargo shorts are the new jorts.....i.e., only do this if you intend to embarrass your nieces.  When did this happen?  And I don't care.  I like my cargo shorts.

...

So, another question:  There's nothing better to make a woman knock herself out trying to please you than by hinting to her that all you really want is to please her.  Did you all find that to be the case, or is that just me?  

Your neices are correct. Cargo shorts are no longer cool.  Much like a cold front this hit different parts of the country at different times.  I first heard murmurings that America’s affection for cargo shorts had played out in 2009 at which time I was assured that had been the case in the more avante gard parts of the country as early as late 2006/ early 2007. By 2015 all of America had received the news.
That said I still keep a couple of pair for when I go fishing, hiking or kayaking.  There’s a quality of manly indifference with a Jeep, hiking boots, a fishing pole or kayak covers the cargo shorts with a plausible purpose that transcends fashion.
Here again, I despise the fashion of today because the newer tighter shorts cut into my swing.  When you live a good 20 years or so in baggie pants and cargo shorts, your johnson comes to expect a little elbow room.  Then fashion changes and he feels choked. Mark my words fewer babies will be born over the next 20 years because balls can’t breathe and produce semen.
And I don’t know how I would’ve raised kids without wearing cargo shorts.  Without them big ass pockets, I would’ve had to carry a diaper bag.
But so it goes. Unless we reach the age of enlightenment and just don’t care we’re all slaves to the good thoughts of others.
Think we’re not?  Then ask yourself if you would drive a minivan and why not?
Economy, roominess, sliding doors and more AC vents, power outlets and drink holders than you can shake a stick at.  It’s the most practical and affordable vehicle ever built but just like cargo pants the 14 year old Caitlyns and Mikaylas have declared it SO uncool.
As for pleasing women to make them happy.... I caution you, young Amos my friend, to never ever think you’ve discovered any possible solution to figuring out women.  Their natures are too unpredictable.

[FearlessF]

I'm not sure of the definition of cargo shorts

do they need to have a certain number of pockets?

I've seen references regarding golf and the frowning on cargo shorts on the course.

I won't buy a pair of shorts that does not have a pocket for my cell phone

If golfers want to look down on me, so be it.

[Mr Tulip]

My feet are poorly designed. They're mostly size 10, and to say they're a "B" width is generous. There's also the notion of the monstrously high arch. I own athletic type sandals (the velcro strap kind) for outdoor water/sand trips, but not for long term wear.

I've discovered I like "Sanuk" sidewalk surfer shoes. They're the right mix of casual and functional. Plus, I can stick orthotics in them. I like linen pants, and they look good with them.

I'm on a mountain bike a lot, and cargo shorts still work well with them. Usually, it's when I'm wearing a floppy, button down rayon shirt, so the shorts are the least of my fashion worries.

Pocketed pants don't bother me. I do a fair turn as a theater tech (audio, lighting, stage), so I've got lots of Dickie's style pants with a ton of pockets (mostly black). During a run, the pockets are crammed with an alarming amount of oddball stuff.

[DevilFroggy]

As a long time wearer of cargo shorts I too was caught off guard with the news they are now uncool (the new jorts is a very apt description) but as someone who never was all that cool to begin with I continue to wear my cargo shorts. I mean, my girlfriend still sleeps with me so how bad can they be?

[DevilFroggy]

I never been a sandal wearer but most of my adult life in Texas and Arizona if the weather is over 55ish and sunny I'm wearing shorts and flip flops and a t-shirt 90% of the time when I leave the house for anything other than work or the rare times I go somewhere "formal". 

Speaking of work. While I've always considered myself a desert rat who never minded the sweltering summers here too much I will say having to wear steel toed work boot with thick jeans (and being outside a decent chunk of time I'm working) has made me tolerate these summers a lot less than I used to. I mean I still love it here and will likely never move, but still.