To Dress, or To Overdress?

[Cali]

4 hours ago, Shyheels said:

What would be the percentage right now of men in the population who paint their nails?

Around here its > 10% if you include "clear". Many salesmen will get manicures. I've had a financial adviser tell me he wish he could use some color instead of just clear.

10 years I never saw a "man-bun" now over 50%  of the younger crowd is wearing them.

Edited March 3, 2018 by Cali

[Shyheels]

What younger crowd is this that is wearing all these man buns?  They're not here...

And fifty per cent? Really? Me thinks not...where does that figure come from?

And your ten per cent figure for men polishing their nails? That comes from where precisely?

Edited March 4, 2018 by Shyheels

[Cali]

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

What younger crowd is this that is wearing all these man buns?  They're not here...

And fifty per cent? Really? Me thinks not...where does that figure come from?

I teach in silicon valley, I also encounter Ebay-ers, Google-ites, Apple-ites. Man-buns are extremely popular among the younger crowd.

http://worldexecutivesdigest.com/stylish-mens-haircuts-beard-can-try/

2 hours ago, Shyheels said:

And your ten per cent figure for men polishing their nails? That comes from where precisely?

Observations when I have encounter a male banker, or financial person, car salesperson, ...; they can't have un-kept fingers

Edited March 4, 2018 by Cali

[Shyheels]

No offence, but I would not exactly call hip young things earning vast salaries on the campuses of high-tech firms in Silicon Valley a typical American or Western demographic. 

As to salesmen painting their nails, I've never seen it.  But even if that was so, and your personal and localised Silicon Valley observations were universalised - ten per cent of 'salesmen' is still relatively small beer in a population. Think of the list of occupations  I made in an earlier post, in mentioning men who are unlikely ever to paint their nails, and to which we can add farmers, miners, ranchers, commercial fishermen, merchant marine, forklift drivers, truck drivers etc etc etc. I don't see any of these people taking time each morning, or any morning, to paint their fingernails or gild their toes - nor can I picture them doing so in the future 

We can look at sampling this way too - for the past few months I have been working on a book project and keeping close to home.Often my sole trip out for the day will be to visit the gym, which in my case is a rather gritty, rough-and-tumble affair in an industrial estate. I could therefore legitimately claim - based on my personal observations these past few months - that 70% of all the men I see nowadays have shaved heads, bushy beards, are covered with tattoos from their knuckles to their necks, have fifty-inch-plus chests, can bench press well north of three hundred pounds, wear hoodies and speak with South London accents. 

Does that bear any resemblance to your world? No man-buns, no painted nails.

Yet if I made such a claim it would be entirely correct - from my particular viewpoint in time and space. 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Shyheels

[Cali]

The man-bun is also popular among the young entertainer group, so it popularity will continue to grow.  It's like long hair in the late 60's and 70's. In 1962 everybody had a buzz cut.

[Shyheels]

We’ll see. I have my doubts. People have worn mullets and Mohawks too, but they’ve hardly been universal.

Nor do I understand what wearing “man buns” by niche groups of adolescents in Silicon Valley has to do with the question I posed about the heavy emphasis on wearing women’s clothes  on HHP and why there is so little interest in exploring ways to make heels work with menswear. It comes across more like heels as a pretext for cross dressing than wearing heels for fashion.

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Shyheels

[Pierre1961]

@Shyheels I totally agree with you 

HHP shouldn't become a place where cross dressing takes,the place of the pure  high heels  passion..

does a forum " menswear to match the heels( or opposite) exists? Shouldn't it be in the men forum? 

[Shyheels]

One would have though the general fashion column would have sufficed. It would certainly be nice if there were discussions along the lines of men’s fashions and heels, but in a site that is not meant to be about cross dressing in the first place you wouldn’t think you would need to have a separate column that was specifically not  about cross dressing, but about men wearing men’s fashions and heels. I shall start a thread, I think. See what happens...

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by Shyheels

[Cali]

Talk about man-bun is talk about men's fashion, it's a new men's hair style, not mine, but a man's style none the less. Another men's style now is men's skinny jeans (again not my style). Where did style come from?

So what do you do with your toes when you wear open-toed heels with your dress pants?

 

[Shyheels]

There has been no discussion whatever of men's style or fashion on this thread, and certainly not as it relates to wearing heels. I simply do not understand your non sequitur responses.  I posed a perfectly legitimate question about why there is such an overwhelming  emphasis on men wearing women's clothes on this site - skirts, dresses, gowns, blouses, pantyhose, corsets, handbags, fake nails, nail polish, make-up - and almost no discussion about men's fashion and how it relates to wearing heels, indeed a disdain for it. It all comes across very much like heels as a pretext for cross dressing, and creates an impression that this is not really a fashion site at all. I do not understand why you choose to interpret that question as a discussion of man buns and nail polish.... 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Shyheels

[Pierre1961]

Yes @Shyheels,you could  start a thread. And see what happens. 

[Heelster]

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

There has been no discussion whatever of men's style or fashion on this thread, and certainly not as it relates to wearing heels. I simply do not understand your non sequitur responses.  I posed a perfectly legitimate question about why there is such an overwhelming  emphasis on men wearing women's clothes on this site - skirts, dresses, gowns, blouses, pantyhose, corsets, handbags, fake nails, nail polish, make-up - and almost no discussion about men's fashion and how it relates to wearing heels, indeed a disdain for it. It comes across very much like heels as a pretext for cross dressing, and creates an impression that this is not really a fashion site at all. I do not understand why you choose to interpret that question as a discussion of man buns and nail polish.... 

And there lies the conundrum - - The oxymoron known as Men's Fashion.

59 minutes ago, Pierre1961 said:

Yes @Shyheels,you could  start a thread. And see what happens. 

Agreed. Maybe we should look more at what we can wear as men from our side of the aisle while still wearing heels

[Shyheels]

It’s only an oxymoron if we make it thus. Doesn't have to be - not like “holy war” for example.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Shyheels

[Heelster]

5 hours ago, Shyheels said:

It’s only an oxymoron if we make it thus. Doesn't have to be - not like “holy war” for example.

Agreed.

Unfortunately, Walmart and Dick's Sporting Goods don't count as fashion outlets.

[Shyheels]

We are deprived of those boutiques here in the UK...

[Heelster]

50 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

We are deprived of those boutiques here in the UK...

Lucky you!!

Think crappy jeans, T-shirts, sweat pants, pajama pants, camo anything, work boots, cheap sneakers and flip flops.

[Shyheels]

Hate to say this but if you had some sleek, hip, clever young snot (no doubt with a man-bun) who was all the rage amongst the beautiful people and the intelligentsia at New York Fashion Week he could put together an outfit based on all of the above and make the the dernier cri, the season's new look, setting all the hearts a-flutter and fashion houses falling all over themselves to peddle camoflage sweat pants at $800 a pop, flip-flops for $175, T-shirts for $250 and work boots at a cool grand  - each. 

[Heelster]

6 minutes ago, Shyheels said:

Hate to say this but if you had some sleek, hip, clever young snot (no doubt with a man-bun) who was all the rage amongst the beautiful people and the intelligentsia at New York Fashion Week he could put together an outfit based on all of the above and make the the dernier cri, the season's new look, setting all the hearts a-flutter and fashion houses falling all over themselves to peddle camoflage sweat pants at $800 a pop, flip-flops for $175, T-shirts for $250 and work boots at a cool grand  - each. 

Oh I'm sure he could - - - and while the beautiful people and the so called intelligentsia would search out the designers boutique, and pay those prices, the rest of the local yahoo's would sit back in some locals barn, pounding Bud Lights an laugh and laugh and laugh some more - - - - - and call the designer a gay snowflake.

PS - two things. After about the 4th beer, they would realize he's making a killing at the cash register. Second - this is the reality of those I reside amongst. In some cases, the cartoons / memes you see are correct.

 

[Shyheels]

When Mark Knopfler wrote the song "Money For Nothing" about the kid in the appliance store watching a rock band on one of the array of TVs for sale, he apparently literally lifted a stream of consciousness he'd overheard in such a store by one of the spotty adolescent clerks. The dumb schmuck to this day has no idea how much he helped contribute to the rock star and the riches he was envying... 

In my neighbourhood you can readily find the English version of your garlic-and-onions crowd....

[Heelster]

"That ain't workin - that's the way you do it" - - - - I remember the day that played on MTV.

Funny thing is - - it still applies today.

[Shyheels]

I get a laugh every time I hear that song. I can just picture the scene - and with a rock star standing there, unrecognised, laughing up his shirt sleeve while he’s taking notes...

[bluejay]

On 3/4/2018 at 6:24 PM, Cali said:

Talk about man-bun is talk about men's fashion, it's a new men's hair style, not mine, but a man's style none the less. Another men's style now is men's skinny jeans (again not my style). Where did style come from?

So what do you do with your toes when you wear open-toed heels with your dress pants?

 

I let my polished toes be showing, wearing dress pants(men's). I have no problem with that. I also have no problem wearing polish on my little pinkies, too even if I'm in my work environment and yes even at church!

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

[Steve63130]

I have seen Bluejay wear women's heels with men's apparel, and the way he matches colors, it comes off looking quite good. For instance, the first time we met, we went to a restaurant for dinner. He wore brown men's dress pants with Naturalizer "Daiquiri" sandals with 4" block heels. I wore the same sandals, but I wore them with bootcut women's jeans. The next day he wore men's white dress trousers and a royal blue shirt with white pumps with about a 3" heel. I was impressed. That was many years ago. We have visited several times since then. Whether he wears men's or women's apparel, he looks very well put together!

Steve

[bluejay]

Thanks Steve, for the compliment.

The shoes that I wore on that Sunday, were not white pumps but were a royal blue patent, peep toe, with red trim on the platform. They showed off my red pedi and the waitress at Cracker Barrel, complimented me that she liked my heels! Remember?

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

[Steve63130]

Obviously I didn't remember! I went back and looked at the photo of us that my wife took. Sure enough. You are correct! And you're wearing black nylons, it looks like. I'm wearing my avatar sandals, black Aerosoles "Platonic" sandals with 3.5" heels, with nude nylons. My jeans are way too long! I wear them shorter these days. Wow, the date on the photo is 2012! Long time ago!

Happy Heeling to you also!

Steve

 

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by Steve63130

[HappyinHeels]

Shyheels,

I reviewed some past posters and looked at the view counts. "The Jaunts of JeffB" currently has 259976 views or more than all but  a handful of British cities have inhabitants. Even MelrosePlant, who started much later, has better than 36000 views. Both these gentlemen present themselves as men wearing women's style shoes and they are extremely good at it. No boobs, or wild makeup, or wigs. I think this was what you were looking for but forgot it still is here on the site. For quite some time Thighbootguy had quite the beard while wearing his thigh boots and outfits until he left our site. Remember, this is refined entertainment and discussion for a very scattered audience. What Cali sees in California is what he sees there and I doubt was intended to be extrapolated to anywhere else. Whether it's 10% of men painting their nails in the San Jose area or 0.1% in the streets of Great Britain I think the attitude towards such a thing is much more accommodating today and that's the most meaningful difference. Some times hype simply way outdistances the raw numbers. Know how famously LGBT-friendly the city of San Francisco is touted around the world??? The actual facts as reported by the those residents say a mere 15.6% of San Franciscans identify themselves as gay. That's right just one in 6.4 people there. The source is the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The overall attitude in S.F. is tolerant but the actual lifestyle is much more like anywhere else. Same thing with men and their nails. More men get their nails done these days but very few of them are walking with them painted. Whilst the public's attitude towards such such expression is more tolerant now that does not mean great numbers of men are seen with painted nails.  I encourage you to paint your nails because Great Britain at this time of year must look pretty dark and gloomy   HappyinHeels

[bluejay]

Thanks Steve, for posting that photo. Wow, that's almost 6 years ago.Where does the time, go?

Happy Heeling,

bluejay

[SF]

I have worn gals shoes since I was a teen, and have boldly worn heels in the heart of Silicon Valley (and everywhere else) for the past 20+ years.  I wear my heels as a guy, with slacks or denim pants and a collared cotton shirt.  The style looks fine to me (at least) and no one seems to really care. I do make sure my feet and toes look presentable by using lotion and a clear coat or color on my nails. If you are going to wear sandals, your feet should look nice.

I don’t wear gals clothes (except for the shoes, of course) and that works fine with me. 

Take care all, be safe and have fun.  sf

Oh, and no “man bun” either......

Edited March 12, 2018 by SF
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