Thumbs Up or Down – Shoes, No Socks, No Service
I
admire people who make fearless fashion choices. Typically, they have a fearless personality
to match. I especially applaud men who
have the confidence to rock some color or pattern mixing or shoes with no
socks.
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| via |
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| Nick Wooster via |
Recently,
I was a bystander in a cyber kerfuffle over the whole concept of men wearing
shoes without socks. I had no idea this
was such a polarizing topic. I wear
shoes without socks all the time.
Loafers, high heels, ballet flats, chuck taylors
etc. Why is it generally accepted for women
to wear shoes without socks but for men it is considered a no no?!
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| via |
I love
the look of a man wearing a slipper or brogues sans socks. To me it shows a certain self-assured
swagger. An insouciant jauntiness that
says, I don’t take life or myself too
seriously.
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| Nick Wooster via |
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| Scot Meacham Wood of SMW Design |
But the
point is not really about men wearing shoes without socks. The point is about manners. This little kerfuffle happened over on Pinterest. Scot Meacham Wood, whose design skills, taste, and style I have
long admired, was pinning these images of men sporting shoes without socks. And men mixing prints and wearing bright colored pants. I was surprised to see a bunch of negative
comments posted about these pinned images.
At first, I thought perhaps these were close friends of his poking a
little inside fun. But that doesn’t seem
to be the case, as he eventually had enough diplomacy to politely ask them to ‘unfollow’ his
boards.
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| look at his drawing room! so great. via |
Isn’t
the intent of Pinterest to be a place to catalogue images that are important
and meaningful to each of us? And share
them with like-minded folks - people who choose to 'follow' us based on similar
tastes or aesthetics? And if so, then why the need to be so nasty?
To be
sure, I don’t like everything pinned by the people I follow. I might even snicker a bit to myself –
wondering what in the world you were thinking.
But I wouldn’t have the bad breeding to post snide comments. Unless of course, you are my sister,
in which case I would tell her she was being bonkers.
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| Scot's wonderful red pants! And that rug in his office! via |
I
follow Scot precisely for his vision and for his taste. We are like-minded in our aesthetics but he
has the added experience, confidence, and self-assurance to sport any of the looks that he has pinned. And that is why I follow his boards and read
his blog - The Adventures of Tartanscot. He inspires me to push beyond
my comfort zone. And I haven't even touched on his amazing work.
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| his bedroom! look at all the details. via |
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| a small sampling of his shoe collection. dying over here. via |
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| Scot and his friends at home as featured in Rue Magazine |
In an homage to Scot, I donned a bright and cheery outfit the other day complete with loafers sans socks. Scot, if we lived in the same city, I would give you a big
momma hug for always displaying such style and grace. Then I would squeal with delight over your
red pants and not so subtly beg an invitation to your next holiday fete. Who wouldn't want to be smashed in the middle of these jolly gents having a laugh?!
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| no socks! |
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| If only I had a bright colored pant-yellow or minty green! And why do I look possessed?! |
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| Every time I try to photograph myself it ends in peals of laughter over my ridiculous faces. What is up with that dang eye?! |
So, I
say THUMBS DOWN to petty comments on Pinterest. And I say
THUMBS UP to men wearing shoes without socks AND women! What do you say? Have you encountered any mean comments on your boards?
kisses, mrs. V
21 comments:
Men wearing shoes without socks totally reminds me of David Gary. He was so ahead of his time :)
Ah, David Gary! Yes, he was always forward thinking and had more than a little swagger. In all the years I had the privilege to know him, I only recall him wearing socks once. And that was b/c Ace forced him to wear socks to one of our launch parties. How I miss him!
Yeah!!!!
I would be hard pressed to wear socks even in the snow!
Sock less forever!!!!
If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all. This old saying is still right. I hate negative impolite comments and don't see the point in them.
@ Madina - Agreed!
Jane - the only time I love wearing socks is in front of a roaring fire, and preferably argyle! Otherwise, I am typically sockless.
Well said! and also...Scot legs (!) and style allow him to be sockless. Having grown up in Italy I was used long time ago to stylish men walking in Portofino, Capri, Milan...in loafers without socks.
Mrs. V,
Firstly, thank you for being able to write the blog post that has alluded me for the last few days. Sometimes it's SO hard to write about ones self . . .
And secondly, I clearly could never imagine a more gracious and literate battle captain than you. Thank you for being one of the 'voices for good' over on ye olde Pinterest - and for bringing a much-needed smile to me face this morning.
Cheers!
Scot
I understand that people get passionate about certain subjects and discussions get heated. But socks? Seriously? Aren't there so many other things in life to get snarky about? Different strokes for different folks. My motto has always been, be nice or leave.
Thankyou for this post!! I am fairly new to pinterest, so I haven't encountered much negativity as yet- but it is a big turn-off when a great social-visual sharing concept such as pinterest is spoiled by the petty negativity of some people. What ever happened to 'live and let live?'- Style is such a subjective thing, if a man wants to go sockless, so he should!! Everyone should be able to express themselves without fear of judgement or ridicule- fashion is meant to be fun, there's enough grief in the world without folks being hung up on clothing! :-)
Great post! I had someone comment on this pin and it annoyed me for days.... http://pinterest.com/pin/184295809720790756/ I will never accept homophobia on my boards, and I'm glad people answered back.
A much needed discussion! So glad you elevated the conversation. Most of the research I see says negative works--for traffic that is. So perhaps Scot will be the winner in the end. Good can come out of it in that the haters will stop following him (and hopefully, me) and things will happen like me finding your delightful blog. By the way, you look lovely in the photos you took of yourself!
Well said! Brava!
I love Scot's style too. As much as I love Pinterest, I'm ready for a bit of privacy and manners on Pinterest.
In the meantime...
Always and forever, as I learned while watching Bambi, "If you can't say something nice, don't say any thing at all." -Thumper
Thanks to all for the comments. I really just couldn't get past the fact that people who chose to follow someone's pins would in turn leave such silly and shallow remarks. I simply had to put a voice to that frustration.
In my previous life as a change agent in corporate America I was often faced with overcoming varying levels of acceptance/resistance to transformation efforts. I have found this old adage by Charles Kettering to still hold true,
'People are very open minded about new things. As long as they are exactly like the old ones.'
Scot - glad to have provided a smile. And now I am going to jump around like a crazy person in my backyard because a.) your sweet words and b.) this humble little blog has never had so many visitors! I am literally quite gobsmacked. Thank you darling.
Mrs. V,
I've actually had several people comment (when I posted this little missive on facebook) how much they liked your blog and writing style. So yes, hopefully I've brought you a few new readers - along with myself.
Cheers,
Scot
Actually no, but so many of my pins are of the chocolate persuation and no one has anything bad to say about chocolate. Well, maybe "Why do you think about chocolate SO much?" Loved this post and the heads up on Scot...following!
Hello Mrs. V. I've just stumbled upon your blog and am anxious to see more of your creative posts. Scot is on my blogroll and I am happily on his and that's how I came to find you. I enjoy seeing men with, as Scot says, a little swagger. My adorable David is a perfect candidate for current styles because he's so trim and muscular. I'm feeling inspired by your post today to go shopping for him! I don't think he'll let me dress him in monogrammed loafers (dash it all) but the sockless look with jacket and rolled jeans is a must. Nice to meet you!Shiree'
Nice to meet you too, Shiree! Thanks for coming on by...
Hello Mrs. V., I, like Scott, had a very unpleasant encounter regarding one of my pins. You see, I posted a little boy who was naked but had covered himself completely with his mother's personal hygiene items. I thought it was just too funny and that he was absolutely precious and(whoever originally took the picture must have felt the same way)saw nothing pornographic about it at all. BUT that is what I was accused of, pinning child pornography. I can't begin to tell you ho I felt as these were personal attacks on me, who I was, my moral character was attacked and I as made to feel like you know what on the bottom of a shoe. I, thinking I was indeed a bad person started leaving comments of my deepest and most sincere apologies to the ladies I had offended. What a debauched and unworthy soul I felt...until three of my fellow pinners spoke up for me. One spoke of how it might be offensive to them but I meant no harm, another flat out told the to get...I'll say stuffed, and one spoke with such with such finesse that you would sear she was cross between Gandhi and John Kennedy. I'm telling you I was impressed and so grateful to all of these women. I think everything must be okay, as I haven't heard anything from Pinterest about the unwholesomeness of my pin.
Sorry to hear about your experience @ Romance. Glad that you had some crusaders of your own!
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