Writes Guy Trebay, in "Are Wedding Sneakers the Ultimate Power Flex? Rupert Murdoch’s fifth marriage, this time to Elena Zhukova, seemed a casual affair, though some disapproved of the suit-sneaker combination" (NYT).
Murdoch is 93. Biden is 81. I don't think their wearing of sneakers raises conservative eyebrows or is anything anywhere near "the ultimate power flex." It's just a reminder that these men are quite old and we're all best off if they wear secure, stable shoes.
In any case, praise to Rabkin for coming out with the line "casualization has penetrated so far up the chain of formality that it would almost be punk for him to wear leather shoes." We need more people talking like that. It's not really that hard. Please do it.
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The wife has been wearing Hokas for a couple years now. Comfortable, wear like iron and still look great. You won't regret it.
Also punk: The traditional nuclear family. ICE vehicles. Tattoo-free bodies. Suburban living…
Suit/sneaker combo isn’t just for geriatrics, the wedding parties at the neighborhood chapel are often sporting the look. You can usually tell the fashionists from the elderly because the oldsters are wearing those step in Sketchers…
White and brown only, though some can pull off black…and though some do I would not recommend your Stan Smiths- yellow card from me. For more information look up ‘dress sneaker’.
I loved this article linked in the one about Murdoch.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/06/fashion/tyla-met-gala-balmain-steps.html
Deck shoes. Cheap-ass deck shoes in blue.
Not true. I know women who got married in Converse and other comfortable shoes that weren't prissy. Most women end up taking off the uncomfortable shoes they wear to impress other women.
Women are into the fashion thing. It comes from noticing that your body is actually, objectively considered, fairly ridiculous.
Agree with AA. That was a nice line she quoted.
I have said nothing is more counter cultural, "punk", these days than a quiet 16 year old with no tattoos and no piercings reading the bible in the school cafeteria during lunch.
At 93, he stood on his own two feet. Truly a man in the top 1%.
"Men seldom have to put up with the kinds of discomfort in dress women have historically been obliged to endure."
Right, on D-Day, men carried 60 pounds of gear in neck-deep water, and then had to cross a beach, soaking wet, in the face of withering fire. At least they didn't have to endure 4-inch pumps.
"Men seldom have to put up with the kinds of discomfort in dress women have historically been obliged to endure."
What about minorities? I'm sure they must have somehow suffered more, too.
HOKA is the Porsche Cayenne of tennis shoes.
I am not going to check google, but sneakers with a suit makes me think of Elvis Costello. He asked a question that I thought at the time was stupid, for some reason I can't understand now, "What's so funny about peace love and understanding?"
Everyone forgets about codpieces...
Of course, the writer had to virtue signal Biden's shoes as sustainably produced.
I am a big fan of Hokas. I own 7 pair and will be buying more.
As I get older, my feet need more cushioning and support because I walk at least 25 miles a week.
Getting married five times mocks marriage.
Still, I’m googling “what did Henry 8th wear for his fifth wedding?”
The King of England sets the couture
Hokas are running shoes for old people, unserious old people.
Now do adult diapers.
The only people "obliging" women to dress certain ways are other women.
mccullough:
The King of England sets the couture
Hence the massive bellied jerkins of the time.
I would much rather wear heels than a tie.
I would much rather wear heels than a tie.
If a tie is constrictive, then the problem is that your shirt collar is too small.
The problem with heels is that they are increasingly designed for only brief wear, which means bad designs become common because they look interesting. American Duchess sells historical women's shoes that several women I know swear by.
The notion that women have historically suffered in their dress isn't actually born out by most of history. Sure, at the upper ends there was some of that, because fashion was about social positioning, but for most of history women's fashions still had to be practical and anything that wasn't so would die off rather quickly.
I'll wear heels, but only with a platform - they look dressy but the actual elevation of heel over ball of foot can be quite small, an inch or two. I have a good friend, a very small young woman, who can wear real heels, HIGH heels, all day, including days of walking; she says sorority life trained her to push through the pain.
Underwire bras are a discomfort I put up with rather than wear my boobs down around the bottom of my rib cage, which is where they'd like to reside these days. Oh, for my lost youth...
But I am DONE with skinny jeans! So irritating!
Blogger Maynard said...
Of course, the writer had to virtue signal Biden's shoes as sustainably produced.
Are they sustainably produced?
What jumped out at me was that they are "sustainably designed" I have no idea what that means. But whatever it means, they could still be produced by 6 year old Uigher children in Chines camps.
John Henry
I object to the word "casualization" as it is unnecessary. He could have used "casual dress" just as well, without "ization-ing" us in the process. Will we next be seeing more such antifundamentalizationing in the languagedation with unneccessariation in literaturization of descriptionization? I hope not.
Men have never had to be uncomfortable in their manner of dress??? Throw a tie on every day for your entire working life, never be allowed to wear more open clothing when it is hot, no sandals, etc. - at least in terms of the office, this is a completely wrong take.
My grandfather was chewed out at the Red Sox game because his fedora was the wrong shade of gray…
No one makes women wear stiletto heals. The woman sportscaster on Friday's Mariners vs. Angel game was wearing 4" heals. She was practically walking on tiptoe. She could have worn 1" flats or heals and no one would have cared. Her decision. Or are women now telling us they are simply helpless females with no will of their own?
"If a tie is constrictive, then the problem is that your shirt collar is too small."
It's less the idea of constriction and more the idea of a length of something being tied around the neck and left to dangle. They look great, but I'm glad I don't have to wear one.
I think people make too big a deal about heels. I don't find them difficult to wear.
At least she got him to wear socks. The sixth wife won’t get socks.
By the way women:
The history of high heels dates back to the 10th century, with origins in Persian equestrian footwear known as "galesh". Initially associated with masculinity and high social status, high heels eventually became popular in women's fashion by the end of the 17th century. The design of high heels is believed to have descended from the riding footwear of medieval Persian cavalrymen, serving a functional purpose in securing the rider's feet in the stirrups.
That's seven centuries of "putting up with".
Appropriation!
Jamie:
I have a good friend, a very small young woman, who can wear real heels, HIGH heels, all day, including days of walking; she says sorority life trained her to push through the pain.
Same here, back in the Beatles days. She went to England for a couple of years and wore calf length highheeled boots constantly. Once she got back it took her months to stretch her calf muscles out and walk flatfooted again.
--- We need more people talking like that. It's not really that hard. Please do it.
Well, OK, but English is still good as the second choice, isn't it?
HOKAs are the 21st century stylish alternative to black/brown old lady Clark's support shoes that my grandma wore. My podiatrist says we lose fat on the bottom of our feet as we age and that's why walking is so painful for some of us. I have to wear HOKAs all the time for comfort, but I'm not sure I could wear them to a wedding or party without feeling extremely self-conscious. If I wear pretty flats for two hours, I'm extra sore the next day. BTW I loved seeing Murdoch's shoes showing in that photo (the photographer could have cropped them out, no?) and I noticed that the couple is sitting...an unusual choice for a wedding photo.
"Men seldom have to put up with the kinds of discomfort in dress women have historically been obliged to endure."
Maybe, but men have always had to put up with, y'know, women. That seems like a pretty good deal overall for the chicks.
“It's just a reminder that these men are quite old and we're all best off if they wear secure, stable shoes.”
You missed the point. Nobody cares about old white men.
"Men seldom have to put up with the kinds of discomfort in dress women have historically been obliged to endure."
There you go. All that matters nowadays is the historical downtroddeness of the historically downtrodden, especially women. Nothing else is really worth considering.
I remember hot Summer days when women could wear cool, breezy dresses and sandals while we men were in long pants, shirts, ties, and closed shoes (the latter of which should always be worn by men in public, of course).
I guess HOKA is now the New Balance for old folks. Not for me though, ugh.
Women use to wear thongs, and let their breasts swing freely. The good old days of social conservativism. Take down the matriarchy. Stand up to the Women. Hold a human rite for progress. Lean into the Slut Walk!
Somehow I think sneakers with a tailored suit are not quite what they mean by a “white shoes law firm.” ;-)
On men's dress: Get you collar size measured and go up a half inch, it will give some room on a humid day if your neck swells a bit. Get comfortable shoes, I have Dockers with a leather upper and rubber sole. Quite comfortable for day to day wear. And again on shirts, I have a longer torso for my height, so shirts with extra length in the tails are necessary to tuck them in and have them stay tucked.
The bank had a dress code usually only enforced for meetings. I despise anything around my neck, anything. So I would wander the second hand shops and buy really ugly ties. You can make me wear a tie but you can't make me have taste.
One nice one looked for all the world like a baby had spewed green pea soup w/ vegetables.
I also made some myself, the best being one split down the middle of fuchsia and green, both being that almost phosphorescent bike racing spandex. Several people told me it vibrated under the fluorescent lights almost crossing their eyes.
My favorite was more subtle. I found a 4" wide tie with a woven image of a Greek soldier with spear, shield and his trusty dog standing just beside and behind him.
What? Old style but innocuous? Yes it was - until I took an evening and carefully unstitched a back leg and restitched it so the dog was pissing on the soldier. Gil (VP) sat in that meeting staring intently at it and later told me he knew it had to be something. He did figure it out and we had a laugh.
I gave him the tie when I left the bank and he hung it on his office door.
Voting Republican and dressing Ivy is the new punk.
Business shoes with safety soles exist. Wearing sneakers to your wedding signals that you are prepared to run away.
Guy Trebay, fashion critic for the NYT, has no historical understanding of the centuries of human civilization prior to Sex and the City?
Guy Trebay, fashion critic for the NYT, has no historical understanding of the centuries of human civilization prior to Sex and the City?
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