Puffer

I realise you speak from experience - and from the perspective of someone with a vast collection of ties in all colours!

Most interesting and very credible. The black leather ankle boots in the third pic are exactly what I would wear openly in public if I had just a tad more bravado.

Nice loafers! Essentially a man's shoe-style, purloined and embellished by women. Thanks for stealing back loafers for MANkind!

Yes, an interesting, articulate and literate piece. But as LC is a marketing man, I have to take much of what he says with a pinch of salt. And he won't sell much to the wider public at such high prices.

Yes, two fine models - one in nice shoes too! I'm also a model-maker (although not ships) and I'm puzzled by the 'all paper' description. Is the model really made (entirely) from 'paper', which of course lacks rigidity without treatment? I'm guessing that the principal component is in fact cardboard, i.e. laminated paper, but would be interested to know more about the materials used.

I might be prepared to invest in someone who would eliminate Facebook. Far too much time and effort is spent on such trivia by people who ought to know better - and by Trump, who clearly knows little of substance about anything.

Shyheels is absolutely right about the lack of originality in the Cosmos project. All he is doing is supplying some high-heeled shoes and boots of a conventional (female) style in larger sizes with the aim of selling them to men as well as women - an aim that will not be fully realised anyway if the sizing stops at 45, helpful though that is, and the prices remain at the present unrealistically-high levels. Yes, he is promoting his ideas in an intelligent and passionate manner (with no obvious off-putting fetish or CD overtone) but that is just 'marketing' rather than delivery. Too much theory; not enough practice, I fear.

Yes, indeed. Poor use of language alone advertises itself so obviously on the page. I often wonder how the writer (or sub-editor - if there is one) ever passed O-level English Language. But then again, the standard displayed by many school teachers is nothing to be proud of and, presumably, exam standards reflect this. Effective communication lies at the heart of any commercial activity; some defibrillation is badly needed by many!

An all-too-true comment that can be applied to most 'business' activities these days, not just to journalism.

I remember seeing, on BBC breakfast TV, a live item featuring several politicians being interviewed outdoors. A caption came up describing the one then speaking as '[Name]MP, Far Right Conservative'. The director's instruction to the caption writer had been misunderstood; what was meant was 'The man on the far right is "[Name]MP, a Conservative"! An apology was later made, although he might of course have truly been at the far right of his party.

Absolutely! But it could have been worse: 'Aisle of White' anyone?

Yes, an interesting, literate* and well-balanced article, for once. To my mind, however, it illustrated all too well the stupid bigotry and childish criticism levelled against a few well-known people because they were wearing footwear that, by our yardstick at least, was scarcely 'high-heeled'. To make (political) capital out of the sighting of a conservatively-dressed man whose boots had heels perhaps half-an-inch higher than 'regular' men's footwear is just pathetic. [For once, the term 'regular', as used in the US, seems more apt than 'normal' or 'standard' or 'ordinary' as it also rightly conveys the sense of nothing being wrong.] *I will overlook 'memories pail in comparison' at the beginning of the second para!

That they are Labour Party supporters. Fortunately, Eddie's off-beat humour and appearance is unlikely to be much of an encouragement to potential voters.

When navigating the Rubicon (or indeed when wearing high heels): in medio tutissimus ibis and festina lente both provide good advice.

It does appear that dispensing with adverbs in favour of adjectives is common in US speech and writing; I often notice it and am never sure if it is idiom or just plain sloppy. It is not common in the UK, although one might occasionally hear an expression such as 'He got there quick by car'. Reminds me of a holiday in Florida years ago when my first wife was browsing in a clothes shop whilst I waited patiently. An assistant asked me 'Do you like your wife to dress sexy?' - to which I felt obliged to respond 'Well, I much prefer that she uses an adverb'. And my stock answer to the formulaic 'Have a nice day' (an increasingly common farewell, alas, in the UK) is invariably 'Thank you, but I have other plans'. O tempora, o mores!