tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post8457489425028530347..comments2024-03-23T09:28:00.454+00:00Comments on Random Distractions: Shoe storiesmonixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16631194815411019266noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-63135964269747777502009-05-26T14:27:51.807+01:002009-05-26T14:27:51.807+01:00e, I'm glad that your experience of convent school...e, I'm glad that your experience of convent school was as good as mine.monixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631194815411019266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-59184346796281850162009-05-26T14:22:54.406+01:002009-05-26T14:22:54.406+01:00A word in defense of nuns.
Although though my fa...A word in defense of nuns.<br /><br />Although though my family isn't Roman Catholic and I had never seen a nun before and didn't speak a word of English, I was sent to a Catholic school run by the Sisters of Charity from first to eighth grade.<br /><br />Everything I know about civilized behavior, courtesy, manners, not to mention, copulative verbs and other oddities of English grammar, history, geography (my geography book served as a life-long guide to my future travels) was learned from those lovely soft-spoken and gentle Irish girls.<br /><br />I'll never forget their kindness to a scared child and sixty years after I left them, they still occupy a special place in my heart.erphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09826044412670324694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-1531822067449457342009-05-26T11:46:47.221+01:002009-05-26T11:46:47.221+01:00A family wedding sounds as a lot of fun!
Me havi...A family wedding sounds as a lot of fun! <br /><br />Me having a weakness! <br /> <br />Well, I have to admit that I'm a pack rat. I've learnt from the generations before me never to throw away anything that might be useful. <br />Come to think of it, books are indeed my weak point - but I know that I'm not the only one here who can't resist a book.emhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01463254055979575950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-52559568701344760802009-05-26T07:28:04.483+01:002009-05-26T07:28:04.483+01:00Sorry for the delay in responding to all the comme...Sorry for the delay in responding to all the comments - I have been away for a few days at a family wedding.<br /><br />D and erp, those awful shoes I bought were winklepickers, too. My toes have never been the same since!<br /><br />Cath, I suppose that mother-daughter relationships have to be tested at least once. Perhaps we each need a painful memory of our own behaviour to make us better mothers in our turn?<br /><br />Margaretha, do you have some other weakness instead of shoes? Perhaps you have a secret store of hats or bags?<br /><br />Harry, your sister seems to have a very difficult time with those strange nuns. My own experience of convent high school was of being encouraged to feel that girls were as academically able as boys and that we should aspire to do well.<br /><br />Karin, you and Margaretha put us all to shame. I can see that the shoes will have to go!monixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631194815411019266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-2381151088494934882009-05-25T04:20:40.861+01:002009-05-25T04:20:40.861+01:00Heh. Short wear was the not myth about patent leat...Heh. Short wear was the not myth about patent leather shoes that my sister was inflicted with by the nuns at St. Pius X High School.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-3366061580564268172009-05-23T15:25:40.029+01:002009-05-23T15:25:40.029+01:00Guess I'm not very feminine - I have no idea when ...Guess I'm not very feminine - I have no idea when I got my first pair of high heels - probably as I've always preferred no shoes at all over shoes. And if I have to wear shoes they have to be comfortable, walking shoes and sandals are my kind of shoes. No problems to move my shoes I can carry them all in a small bag!<br />Margarethaemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01463254055979575950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-63801340289695914652009-05-22T06:45:40.844+01:002009-05-22T06:45:40.844+01:00erp - even Google gets it wrong sometimes! In the ...erp - even Google gets it wrong sometimes! In the 1960s winklepickers (shoes with very long pointed toes) were worn by young people (female as well as male) here in the UK. So, yes, I aspired to wearing winklepickers . . . the longer and more pointed the better!<br /><br />There's a brief reference on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winklepickers60 Going On 16http://60goingon16.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-16559788983092928742009-05-21T21:38:22.467+01:002009-05-21T21:38:22.467+01:0060 ...
Winklepickers?
Googled 'em up and they ...60 ...<br /><br />Winklepickers? <br /><br />Googled 'em up and they seem to be pointy toed men's shoes.<br /><br />I'm guessing that's not what your 12 year old self had in mind.erphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09826044412670324694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-74409672176526358172009-05-21T20:17:13.815+01:002009-05-21T20:17:13.815+01:00That photo of the pile of shoes in the concentrati...That photo of the pile of shoes in the concentration camp is simply horrifying. We all have those sorts of rows with our mothers at 13 or 14. Mine was over a mini-skirt I wanted, if memory serves, and I can actually remember shouting at her over it. Terrible, because, like your mother, she was bringing myself and my disabled brother up on her own. But I wasn't interested in that, I just wanted to look like the other girls. Awful how shallow teenagers can be and amazing how forgiving mothers are. Lovely post, M.Cathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06371069000185280668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-52442926550033246302009-05-21T18:59:11.851+01:002009-05-21T18:59:11.851+01:00Fascinating post, M, and it's hard to think of any...Fascinating post, M, and it's hard to think of any other item of clothing that can encompass tragedy and comedy.<br /><br />My childhood wasn't particularly happy (although I'd resist calling it fashionably unhappy . . . !) and strangely enough, the first gift that my now-you-see-him, now-you-don't father bought me was a pair of shoes. I must have been about 12 and he was more than happy to indulge my pre-teen longings for white frosted leather winklepickers, to ingratiate himself and to try to make up for his long and unexplained absences. <br /><br />My mother, who had kept careful watch over my growing feet and had shod them in sensible Start-Rites etc was horrified. But too late, the die was cast and I've been a sucker for shoes ever since.<br /><br />(Rattling On - I had a pair of crepe-soled sandals when I was young. They were very hard to walk in . . . .)60 Going On 16http://60goingon16.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-43323693249122461052009-05-21T06:23:49.330+01:002009-05-21T06:23:49.330+01:00Rattling On, I remember the myth about patent leat...Rattling On, I remember the myth about patent leather; my mother refused to buy those lovely shiny shoes because she thought they wouldn't last. <br /><br />e, I love the idea of two trips for shoes. Men just don't understand, do they?monixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631194815411019266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-42966476758019207272009-05-21T03:48:55.214+01:002009-05-21T03:48:55.214+01:00I loved shoes too and had a lot of them. After we...I loved shoes too and had a lot of them. After we got married, my new husband couldn't believe we needed to make a special trip to get my shoes to our new apartment. He was doubly stunned when it took two trips to do it. Those were the days!erphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09826044412670324694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22922478.post-87432743375587278982009-05-20T23:13:16.598+01:002009-05-20T23:13:16.598+01:00Great post, great stories.
All I ever wanted was a...Great post, great stories.<br />All I ever wanted was a pair of patent leather shoes (we too had to have Clarks' finest sensibles), I never got them. My own daughters had Start Rite dolly shoes, and then- patent- of course. Which turned out to be quite hard wearing, contrary to my mother's beliefs.<br />I do remember one pair of summer shoes, bought on holiday after pestering my dad for days. They had crepe soles. I don't know if it's the way I walk, but I tripped up in them continually, but had to wear them after all that pestering. (I do miss the proper sandals we wore in summer, boys and girls- the ones with the cut out fronts.)Rattling Onhttp://www.rattlingon.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.com