Re: "Countrified": good thing or bad?

[mint]

Judith, you have no idea how I sympathise with you!  Same problem for me, special semelles from the podologue and they are just so chuncky and so wide that most court shoes, as you say, are out of the question; ditto, pretty sandals.

Mind you, I do rebel and I often leave the soles out when I want to wear nice-looking shoes.

Nah, flat shoes leave a lot to be desired when it comes to showing a shapely leg..........[:(]

[Judith]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

Mind you, I do rebel and I often leave the soles out when I want to wear nice-looking shoes.

[/quote]

Moi, aussi - but only if I am not walking anywhere!!  And I suffer the next day.  Agree - heels do make a good shapely leg (of which I am proud to say I still posses) even more agreeable, but I rarely suffer for appearances sake these days!!!

[mint]

It's surprising how relatively good the legs remain even though everything else has gone to pot.  Mine are too short to be beautiful but they are not a bad shape; once the 40-deniers are on and you can't see the varicose veins, that is![:-))]

[mint]

I know it's all advertising talk to part you from your money but, hand on heart, aren't you just the teeniest, weeniest bit nostalgic, remembering the good old days when we all did wear lipstick?

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/beauty/article7072609.ece

[Chancer]

Hey girls thats something else I have in common with you, no not lipstick but pieds valgus souple, and I too wear semelles ortos, I had a real problem when I travelled as like you I could not wear sandals without losing the semelle and I cant walk for very long without them, even the piscine causes problems.

But to keep wearing the same hiking boots day in day out was also a no-no, then I discovered Teva Terra sandals which have a very pronounced raised, quasi-orthapaedic insole which I am able to wear all day long without discomfort, ,  and I have even done  multi-day tramps (randonnées) in New Zealand in them, they are ideal for terrain when you are forever in and out of the water.

They do ones shaped anatomically for ladies and they look quite trendy yet smart at the same time, I have just returned from a day in Brussels wearing them as I wear mine for best!

They aint cheap but I have stocked up when I have found them on E-bay at a good price, but they are one of the few brand name items that to me are really worth the retail price.

[mint]

Chancer, I have written down the name and I shall research them for sure.  To be able to wear sandals would be lovely though, for all sorts of reasons, I have been one of those boring socks-and-shoes persons, even on holiday.

I don't like getting my feet dirty and I don't like hard skin on my feet! LOL!  So how the devil I am going to cope on the Compostelle is anyone's guess...........[geek]

[woolybanana]

Bobo is certainly not going to watch over those feet![6]

[mint]

Yes, I know you're right.  When I walked the Offa's Dyke for charity some years ago, I took pictures of my feet complete with blisters, plasters, blood, etc and showed them to would be supporters.

A bit like a beggar showing off a gammy leg or missing limb I suppose but many did take pity and gave quite generously.  Or, they couldn't stand having these off-putting pictures put under their noses and were paying to be let off looking at them; I'm not quite sure how I got the results I did.[:D]

Edit:  oh, for goodness sake:  OK then Offa's Digue, is that better?

[woolybanana]

Perhaps the mods can be persuaded to put a blanket ban on fotos of your feet after your coming traipse to wherever, please, please, otherwise I shall begin to fotograph parts of my anatomy that are in a state and expect sympathy and, by the sound of it, money for my retirement fund![6]

[Judith]

[quote user="sweet 17"]It's surprising how relatively good the legs remain even though everything else has gone to pot.  Mine are too short to be beautiful but they are not a bad shape; once the 40-deniers are on and you can't see the varicose veins, that is![:-))][/quote]

Mine have always been good - I've got a splendid calf, being a dancer and walking a lot (until I did in my achilles 2 years ago) they kept their shape and only one nasty vein (twisted falling down the steps of a London bus 20 years ago) - now I keep fit (as much I am likely to do) by going up and downs stairs (I was going to type - running - but I don't run up or down stairs with tiled floors - too dangerous!), and some dancing still - again having to find a pair of dancing shoes to wear means I wear "latin" ones which look like grandmother used to wear in the 30's, but at least I can still dance - that is if my back and hip will let me......

[Judith]

[quote user="sweet 17"]

I know it's all advertising talk to part you from your money but, hand on heart, aren't you just the teeniest, weeniest bit nostalgic, remembering the good old days when we all did wear lipstick?

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/beauty/article7072609.ece

[/quote]

No - no - no - no - no - no........  but other than that Sweets, I think we seem to have a lot in common....

[Patf]

My feet are a problem too - reminded me of the old rhyme

"oh miss (so and so) she thinks herself so sweet

with skinny malinka lang legs and umbrella feet."

http://madhatters.me.uk/2010/01/04/umbrella-feet/

[pachapapa]

Got my Mick Fanning flip-flops ready for the summer, a gift at Christmas. Last summer I was really impressed with youngest daughter's boy friend opening beer bottles with crown top openers embedded in both soles; real beach bum countrified stuff. But seriously they are only comfortable as well.

http://www.reef.com/

The ones I got! http://www.spydersurf.com/getproduct.asp?p=536&ptid=1&b=1

 

[woolybanana]

I spent a lotta years walking bare foot in Africa as a kid so have feet like skates wings, and fallen arches. Best way to get shoes is to go to Germany where they have bigger feet than France.

[mint]

Pacha, I couldn't wear flip-flops, honest............can't have that strap thing between my toes, wouldn't be able to hobble about, nevermind walk![+o(]

[Chancer]

Et Ben Voila! SW17  http://www.teva.com/productslist.aspx?g=w&categoryid=425

I recommend for comfort and durability whilst trekking and/or to wear around camp (if you wear boots on the trail) any of the ones on the line stating Terra Fi 3, basically with the Teva strapping system. Of course your choice may be more influenced by style as they are not the most feminine of the ladies sandals. Actually a couple of my pairs are ladies ones and they seem to suit better my crippled feet.

A girlfriend recommended them to me years ago she knew I was tightfisted and that they cost a lot but I trusted her judgement and elle avait raison, I keep a look out for tem on E-bay but most of the sellers seem to have dissapeared from whom I coud buy them for £13ish.

[5-element]

Chancer; those Teva shoes and sandals look just the ticket, thank you as I didn't know about them.

I really would recommend the BIRKENSTOCK collection (similar price range) - although they are more like clogs, they are truly fabulous. I was lucky enough to get a virtually new pair exactly my size, for 1.50 from Secours Catholique, and they have revolutionised my idea of foot comfort. They exist in 3 feet widths, so most feet can be accommodated.

It was one of my best buys ever from a charity shop!

[Will]

But 5E, aren't they also a vital part of the uniform of the woolly liberal bean-munching commie pinko ban-the-bomb Guardian reader sociologist brigade?[;-)]

[5-element]

If you put it like that, Will....

I would even add "unwashed CND tree-hugger" especially since buying stuff from charity shops...:-))

[mint]

5-e, if you're going to start smelling anything like Madame la Voisine, I think it's just as well we don't live near each other.

Anyway, back to the sandals; I'm nervous about sandals generally but, if they don't weigh much, I might be tempted to carry a pair in my rucksack on the Compostelle.  Just to get the feet aired in the evenings after tramping kilometres in 2 pairs of socks and walking boots........Eeeuh, perhaps it's YOU who will be glad not to be anywhere near me.

Other thing is, today, after my "wake-up" call of last week, I thought I'd make a bit of an effort with my appearance.  So, I put gel on my hair, actually blew it dry with the hairdryer, slapped on some tinted moisturiser (BTW, do you know who sells tinted moisturiser in France and what it's called?) with an SP factor of 15 and put on lipstick and blusher and ran the kohl pencil round the eyes.  Took about a minute and a half.

Then, I put on a pair of well-fitting jeans, flattie shoes (yes, socks as well of course), thermal vest, floral top and a red jacket that has a sort of swing to the cut.  Did I feel any better?  No, not really; felt a bit as though I was going to some illicit meeting with a lover or some such.

Might go back to au naturelle, I think [:D]

[just john]

[quote user="Patf"] all the local ladies are even more old-fashioned. [/quote]

Went to the local Salle de Fete do last weekend as the only english in the village and had to keep looking around to make sure I was not on the set of 'allo allo'! a la mode was more like Edith in 1947.[:D]

[5-element]

Sweet, re. your query about tinted moisturiser: I would try "Fluide hydratant matifiant" or "bonne mine", or "Crème de jour hydratante teintée", something like that.

You sound terribly sophisticated in your neck of the woods. I particularly like the thermal vest under the floral top.

As for my personal scent, I'll have you know that it is a mix of vanilla (my favorite), sometimes patchouli (when in a hippy mood) or ylang-ylang.

Madame la Voisine, and Edith, eat your heart out.

[mint]

Oh, JJ, I wish I could get my hair to stay in rolls like Edith's!!  Mind you, when the time comes for dentures, I hope I'd get a better set than hers and which won't look like the piano keyboard!

5-e, you clearly have no idea of sophistication.  When I say thermal vest under a floral top, I mean a long-sleeved thermal vest under a short puffed sleeve floral blouse complete with sequins to give glitter.  Aaarrrggghhh, what do you know who have lived in Paris AND the North West of England?? heh, heh?  Ridiculous, that's what!

Scent, forgot to tell you that I normally don't "do" scent as I have asthma and eczema but I do use a floral eau de toilette which smells sublime (pronounced in a French accent, STP)!

Not only that, I bet you don't have a whole drawerful (and it is a VERY large drawer) of scarves of all sorts of colours and materials and rolled so that each scarf can be picked up by sight!  So, there!

Then there are the larger shawls which are all folded up in sections of the drawer and can also be picked up by colour, material or size!

Yes, I'm a very sad individual and, if I had any sense, I'd get rid of all this "stuff" which I now no longer wear and don't actually have the heart to get rid of![:(]

Anyone know what I should do with a whole cupboardful of shoes, mules, sandals with vertiginous (spelling?) heels which are now no longer "fit for purpose"?

[Hoddy]

This is getting a bit worrying Sweet 17.

Guess who has a drawer full of scarves ?

Some of them are collector's items.

I sold my most vertiginous shoes on Ebay.

Hoddy

[mint]

But, Hoddy, I can't quite bear to part with the vertiginous shoes yet.  I mean I have a pair of 4 inch high mules that are a simulated bright blue snakeskin!

I mean, how does one part with such treasured possessions?[blink]