Getting Your Feet Wet

[Sharon C]

Hi Megan (and the rest of the gang), Just thought I'd drop in to report a rather cool soaking the other day. As the weather has started to show signs of summer, I decided a swim was in order and, as you know with me, swimsuits or bikinis are not my thing so it was more a case of picking what clothes and shoes I fancied wearing in the pool. I went for a casual but comfy sporty look which was comprised of my new white leather 'Shape N Tone' platform trainers with white ankle socks worn over 80 denier black opaques, full-length classic black cotton/lycra leggings with cotton panties, a sports bra, and a fitted long-sleeved tee with a cerise pink hoodie top. At first, I couldn't make my mind up whether to walk in slowly down the steps, or to go to the deep end and simply jump in. After about a minute of thinking about this I decided to walk in slowly, first enjoying the cool water filling my nice new trainers and soaking my socks and tights, and then wading in deeper until I was submerged to the waist It felt simply amazing. At that point, I just put my arms forward and slipped fully into the water and started swimming. It was lovely. There's just something so satisfying about swimming in decent trainers with tights and leggings. I'll probably do it again over the weekend (weather permitting), only next time I'll probably do it wearing knee-length boots with my black skinny jeans. Not sure about the top half of the outfit yet. Any suggestions? Anyway, look forward to hearing from you soon, Regards, Sharon. xx

[Sangue16]

Sharon, I would love to hear about you going in dressed to the nines! Dressing up is of vital importance to me, I think one carries oneself differently when finely clothed. I certainly do. For me, getting wet is the best when it is a naughty spray on beautiful clothes, as long as they don't get ruined of course! From your mention of cleaning your pool regularly, I think you would also never soak in mud. But anyways, I think it would be great if you did a dual layer of stockings, color over black for a complex tone. I imagine you would enjoy seeing the black overpower the colored tone as you went in. You have so many different colors of tights I bet you could pick just the right combination! Also do the dressy knee high boots you suggested and a nice, black skirt, maybe a pencil skirt. A flowy blouse would dreamy in the water, too! The most I have to report, myself, is washing my stockings... with them on! That's the only way I remember to clean them so they don't sneak in with the to-be-machine-washed pile so they don't get ruined. The opaque grey ones I did the other day were fun because they resist soaking and easily become saturated with suds. I wonder if I would dare to dive in fully clothed once I get a pool? We are thinking of getting a pool that can be taken down at the end of the summer while we finish all our home renovations and get to the jacuzzi. I bet Megan would for sure, wouldn't you! I could see you loading your hair with flowers and jumping straight in with matching flowered wedges. Sharon, how do you keep from dragging in dirt/gravel/sand as you go back in the house? I am thinking of Amanda's and my aversion for sandy feet and I imagine so much wet clothes would be a magnet for this material. As neat as you are, I bet you have a way around it

[meganiwish]

Hi Sharon and Sangue, Sharon, what a lovely tale, you obviously enjoyed yourself. I love the care you put into thinking about your swimming outfit. You know how they used to have bathing machines back in the old days? We should campaign for something similar, a sort of fitting room on wheels on the beach, with a full length mirror so we could check we looked right before going down the steps into the water. I could do it if it was made sort of formal. I agree with Sangue, a floaty blouse would feel wonderfully floaty in the water and would feel completely different when you got out, all clingy. Sangue, my washing machine broke nearly two years ago and I've never been able to afford to replace it, so I do my laundry by putting it in the bath and treading up and down on it. I sometimes think it might be easier to wash my clothes by having a shower in them, but I don't always want a shower at the end of the day. I suppose I could put them back on in the morning and shower. Now, how would I go about laundering my bedding? Oh, I would most certainly jump straight in if I had a private pool, but I'd need to have goggles to stop me fretting about my contacts. Look forward to hearing from you both soon. Regards, Megan x

[Sangue16]

In hopes of luring Sharon out, an maybe even some new heel lovers with a taste for water, I will share a rather slushy experience. This happened, of course, at school on a day when all the accumulated snow suffered from a small rise in temperature. The bridge from one campus to another gets downright treacherous with ice in the winter, yet I insist on my heels as usual On this particular day I found myself forced to walk the slushy side of the walk to avoid the ice slicks--normally I skid with confidence but on this day it was particularly slippery. At first, with the whole walk ahead of me, I clicked my way through the thinnest slush taking care to step high and descend softly. At the first turn there was nowhere to step but a mirror-like ice patch or a deep puddle of slush. I instantly thought of the ladies here daring to step in puddles and dip their feet in fountains and plodded right in. My only disappointment was that the slush completely muffled my heels; I so love to click. Of all my new online friends, I am the only one that adores heels in every waking moment except in my type of dance (I will share what that is when I can do it justice). I missed Sharon and imagined she might be at that moment pouring a sneaky bit of water into her great boots. Megan, I thought I could hear you egging me on and I walked faster and more proudly. I even let my jacket hang open, a long, black wool coat. Underneath I wore a black and white printed dress, black sheer stockings, and white, long dancer's legwarmers. To my standards, it was a very whimsically thrown together outfit, chosen because I wanted to wear each of the individual items rather than taking care to build a look. I thought what a great group we would make, putting the world to shame for being to careful to glory in all the splashing. xo Sangue

[meganiwish]

Slush, brr. You're very brave, Sangue, but then you are the Peeptoe Polar Explorer. You could pitch that idea to one of the programmes they have on the Discovery channel and bring your own brand of style to adventure TV from the North Pole to the Amazon.

[Sangue16]

Today's mini expedition to bring in our post quickly dissuaded me I did not imagine the snow was over a foot thick when I stepped out so I was wearing low cut flats. It is a cold day today, the kind that gives the snow a grainy or even dusty feeling like a powder. The first few steps took me over solid snow and the rest... plunged me through those six inches of powdered ice. By the time I was running back the nerves in my feet almost burned as the snow started melting and absorbing energy. It was an uncomfortable reminder of the endothermic conversion of ice into liquid water! I have finally written the post I mentioned yesterday: http://flexines.blogspot.com/2013/02/what-is-pole-fitnesspole-dance.html xo Sangue