Althouse: Thanks...

September 2, 2013

Thanks...

... to all who've used the Althouse Amazon Portal for your shopping.

May I recommend some shoes? Ladies shoes. I like these, which are similar to these, which I bought yesterday when I was out walking, downtown, and the sole of my shoe broke in half, right outside a shoe store. I was the ultimate captive audience. I had to buy new shoes, and I did. The shoe that broke was one of these — expensive... but they lasted almost 20 years.

For a men's shoe, try these.

17 comments:

Big Mike said...: Nah. Buy this instead.; 9/2/13, 8:59 PM
David A. Carlson said...: Keen's? the Manolo is very disapointed in you.; 9/2/13, 9:00 PM
Æthelflæd said...: Yankee gals have strange taste in footwear.; 9/2/13, 9:25 PM
Unknown said...: I thought you said men's shoes?; 9/2/13, 9:34 PM
bandmeeting said...: Good god. And you think men in shorts is a fashion crime.; 9/2/13, 9:40 PM
Ron said...: Those men's shoes won't work, Althouse, I need more width!

Oh, the bigotry of the non-Hobbit-footed!; 9/2/13, 11:07 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Those Merrell shoes are terrible. Tasteless. My God, it would be like a woman wearing just a *** because, you, know, it's feminine and practical.; 9/3/13, 1:41 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Keen's? the Manolo is very disapointed in you."

We're talking about different categories of footwear. I was out on a 5-mile walking and biking trip, where the alternative would be sneakers. This is a way to wear shoes that are good for that including when you're wearing a skirt and when you stop in at a cafe. The kind of shoes Manolo shows would be: 1. painful, 2. worn out after one day, and 3. an insane waste of money (given that they would not last).

We're not talking about going to business meetings or dinner in the city. We're walking all over the city in the daytime, going to the Farmers Market, getting coffee, and riding B-Cycles.; 9/3/13, 6:08 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I was able to walk out of the shoe store in the new shoes, walk a mile, ride a bike for 2 miles, and walk another mile -- in brand new shoes -- and arrive home without my feet hurting... and I have feel that have a tendency to start hurting (from the inside) for no apparent reason (that is, not simply because the shoes are rubbing or pinching).; 9/3/13, 6:10 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Some of your reactions to those shoes makes me want to promote them even more, because it's just sad to leave the house having made a decision to limit what you can do by your choice of shoes. You could run in those Keen shoes if you wanted.

Also, there are things you feel you need to do in NYC that you look almost foolish doing around here. I see some young women around campus mincing about on heels when no one else is. There isn't one man around who is dressed to go with that. It's as if she's on her way to a party that exists only in her mind. That seems a little tragic.; 9/3/13, 6:17 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Good god. And you think men in shorts is a fashion crime."

I never say "fashion crime." If you look at the old posts that explain the problem, it's that the shorts, sneakers, and big overhanging shirt make a grown man look like a large boy. It's de-sexualizing. The man is removing himself from being someone a woman could want. I find that sad, even for a married man whose wife isn't telling him how unsexy he is.

Now, there are a few men I've seen who are able to look sexy in shorts, and I've always made an exception for them. I've put up a couple photographs and explained this.

Take a good look at yourself in the mirror when you've got your shorts on. Ask yourself if I were a woman, would I fuck me? (The question, put that way, assumes you are not a gay man. If you are a gay man, you don't need advice from me on how you look to other men.); 9/3/13, 6:24 AM
Ann Althouse said...: I'm vulnerable to the criticism that I've promoted women's shoes that are like little girl shoes and that's inconsistent with saying shorts infantilize men.

I'm treading -- in Mary Janes -- on dangerous ground!

But women's fashions are often girlish, and a woman evoking girlhood is different. Maybe women should dress in a more mature style.

But that doesn't change the problem of the unsexiness of a child-man.; 9/3/13, 6:27 AM
kjbe said...: My husband was taught - by his mother - that he (and his brothers) were not fully dressed unless his shirt was tucked in and he had a belt on. And of course, he adheres to this rule.

He also recently shared (and he doesn't recall who told him this as a child) - that real men part their hair on the left. He recently shared this after returning from getting hair cut that the stylist told him his natural part was on the wrong side.

My stylist split a gut when I told her the story.; 9/3/13, 11:15 AM
Crunchy Frog said...: Most guy activities are not such that dressing sexy is appropriate, let alone required. If I'm going out on a date or a night on the town, I will dress the part. If I'm headed to watch a football game with the guys, I'm wearing shorts and a T-shirt, lest everyone start thinking I'm getting a little light in my (oh so sexy) loafers.; 9/3/13, 12:55 PM
Be said...: As walking is my primary means of transport, appreciate your recommendations. Did save my pennies for some Arche flats, but due to their cost, keep them strictly for office wear.

Love the cute patterns on the Keen Mary Janes; I think that they might make a nice alternative to the comfy and office-acceptable (but kind of dull) black Earth Shoe Mary Janes I'm currently bombing around in. For something more conservative (but still a bit flashy), might consider the red leather ones featured in the second link.; 9/3/13, 1:29 PM
Tari said...: "Take a good look at yourself in the mirror when you've got your shorts on. Ask yourself if I were a woman, would I fuck me?"

This is the last question I want my husband asking himself when he gets dressed in the AM. Really.

And while it's nice for men to look good, it's not always that necessary for their "fuckability" (for lack of a better word). My initial reaction to what my husband was wearing the day I met him was "what in God's name was he thinking?!?" But he was otherwise handsome, charming and smart, and he cleaned up well for our first date. The rest, as they say, is history.; 9/3/13, 2:43 PM
Tari said...: I forgot to add, I love the Keens and might have to get a pair. I wish I'd bought them instead of the horribly uncomfortable shoes I have that were similar in shape. I lost inches of skin off my feet when we were in NYC this past summer. Ugh.; 9/3/13, 2:45 PM