Shyheels

Lambeth Bridge in London has pineapple decorations on top of its pillars, a 17th century celebration of this exotic fruit which English horticulturalists had managed to grow in a greenhouse in Lambeth

Thanks. I’m going to give that a try. I got a few drops of olive oil on my jeans as well, which also did not come out in the wash.

Metal has been used for adornment for thousands of years, since the dawn of the Bronze Age. You can read too much into it though. The simple fact is that if you are going to wear these sorts of adornments there are just so many possibilities in how you can do that. While you can pin a brooch onto a cloak, anything else has to be wrap-around - a ring, a bracelet, a crown, a necklace. Such things were worn mainly as symbols of rank or importance, displays of wealth, not enslavement. so called cave men never chained women to cave walls. For starters, they did not have metal. There’s a reason it is called the Stone Age. Nor is there much, if any, knowledge of social structures in Paleolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic societies although advances in technology have been opening up archaeology is ways that would have been unthinkable a decade ago, especially with regards to the Neolithic. What evidence we do have suggests women could be in positions of power. Im surprised by the negativity about ankle chains. Certainly today. in Double Indemnity (1944) Phyllis, the femme fatale, wore one and while it caught the eye and interest of insurance salesman Walter Neff, there was nothing overt about it. Certainly it passed the Hays Production Code at the time.

That would do it! Or white trousers and Hawaiian shirt.

I don’t understand the torn jeans thing. The holes in them would just annoy me constantly. Living in a canal boat one dresses more for practicality than style. There is also a very definite boho vibe among water dwellers, which suits me fine.

Yes material failure seems a good bet. And I take your point regarding the repair. Ive got a bit of a repair/cleaning issue. I was wearing some nice dark grey nubuck suede OTK boots while cooking and spilled a couple drops of olive oil on the top of the shaft. Not hugely noticeable to be sure but I want the marks gone. Naturally it would have to be the suede boots … Yes material failure seems a good bet. And I take your point regarding the repair. Ive got a bit of a repair/cleaning issue. I was wearing some nice dark grey nubuck suede OTK boots while cooking and spilled a couple drops of olive oil on the top of the shaft. Not hugely noticeable to be sure but I want the marks gone. Naturally it would have to be the suede boots …

Yes that would do it. Find the right shade of denim and a shirt that would work with the shoes

I like the colour and design. You’d need to pair it with the right, summery, attire

That’s a bad development. Unfortunately mass produced footwear, heeled or no, is designed for very limited life. I had a pair of so called hiking boots once from a popular brand and they lasted about ten miles. When I complained that these hiking boots had lasted for just ten miles, I was to.d - by someone with a straight face - that they were not designed for such “extreme” activity.

I ordered myself another two pair of skinny jeans yesterday, to wear with my knee and OTK boots. I noticed my comment on the post now has over 130 likes and several supportive comments as well and still only the one polite disagreement. It's encouraging.

There’s a men’s fashion Instagram account that keeps popping up in my feed and it’s rather interesting. Yesterday they had a post about men’s fashions becoming more feminine - specifically mentioning skinny jeans. The chap whose account it’s, and who deals in bespoke suits, was very much against this. I posted a comment saying that I thought it was time to lighten up, allow men the same degree of freedom, fun and theatricality women took for granted. I was pleasantly surprised to have 75 (and counting) likes and only one (polite) disagreement

Yes, I could see such a thing being a very brief fad - intensely interesting for a time but then stored away to gather dust

My brother - not the nicest of chaps - decided on an idly vicious whim to drive his ex-wife to distraction by giving his young daughter (who lived with mum) a set of bagpipes one Christmas.

Yes. There is a young woman on Instagram - American, not Scottish - who plays hard rock numbers on the bagpipes. She does an amazing version of Free Bird on bagpipes.

I don’t mind bagpipes! There is the old joke - why are bagpipers always marching? It’s harder to hit a moving target

THat's not much of a lead to go on - could you be more specific?

Narrowboats have to gave a safety inspection every four years. my troubles stem from the top of a toe rubbing on the boot - no idea why that should suddenly happen, and only one toe in my left foot!

I’ve not worn stilettos while seated on a bar stool but I can see where it would be awfully easy to hook them thoughtlessly on the cross bar if the stool and forget that you’d done so when you went to get up. Unless of course it was something you did regularly. i used to have the old toe clip pedals in my bicycles and because I used them all the time I never once forgot to take that into account when I dismounted

Sounds like an interesting meeting. No such sophistication here in the rural north of England although I did see a woman sporting knee boots with 3-inch heels in the local grocery store the other day. the first time I've seen heels in town...

Funnily enough a couple if my pair of boots have been doing something similar. One of my low-heeled boots, I wear almost daily, and one of my OTK mid-heeled boots have both started rubbing in the top of my third toe on my left foot. Weird. And for no reason I can understand.

That’s such a great project and one that will bear nice fruit in the future. Wonderful for bringing you closer together and giving him some valuable skills and treasured memories.

That would have been priceless indeed!

That’ll be a great education for him!

People have bow thrusters, a few have stern as well, and curiously enough those who use them are often less able than those without to moor up in a tight space because they rely on them and never learn proper boating skills. I have bow thrusters on my boat but the only time I use them is when I am sharing a lock and the wash at the end of the lock causes the bow of my boat to drift and get in the way if the boat entering the lock beside me.

Try mooring a 58’ narrowboat in a tight space!