Shyheels

I was talking about assumptions made about men in heels in general - and you present these images as 'case in point'. Is it your assumption then that all men in heels are closet drag queens? That certainly isn't mine. And do you really believe that 'blindingly obvious' assumptions about someone's morals can be made by the clothes they wear? I don't.

Still, it would be leaping to a conclusion

In the same way that it is an obvious conclusion than a man wearing heels must be gay? Or unmanly?

Shackleton, eh? Any relation to Ernest?

True. And alas, even amongst those who do have reasonable English skills, even native speakers, there are few who seem able to express themselves coherently or make meaningful comments or observations

Because of the global nature of the internet you will often get votes/comments etc in such polls by people from distant countries who have very limited English. Quite true on the sample size issue - 17 yes votes and 3 nays in 20 total respondents and you'll have 85%. Kinda meaningless.

I would never question or judge the morals of anybody by the basis of their clothes. I might wonder about their fashion sense on occasion, but that would be the extent of my wondering on that score. I don't see anything wrong with her outfit. It's fairly conservative, actually, in its styling. Had her raincoat been of any other material no one would give it a second thought. I'll bet she's a formidable lawyer though ... the one you hope your soon-to-be ex doesn't turn up to court with

Very interesting. And not really surprising. I think there are a lot of men out there who are not happy at having to meet the quite rigid and arbitrary and arch-conservative expectations of manliness and what is appropriate for men - not just heels but attitudes and behaviour, colour choices etc. I think if given a choice a lot of men would just like to be able to take a more relaxed, less uptight and less macho approach to life

I liked her in The Apartment.

Good Lord, what a movie. Looks like it could be kind of fun, actually, on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a bowl of popcorn and nothing else to do. And what a voice-over on the trailer!

Or as Ronald Reagan said: Hard work never killed anybody, but why take the chance?

I have never seen a blind person who was wearing stilettos. Mind you it is unusual enough these days to see sighted people wearing them, but I cannot recap ever seeing a blind person in stilettos. I’m sure it happens, but I shoukd think they’d want a companion.

I have never been afraid of hard work. In fact, I’ll lie down next to it and go to sleep!

I don’t care for gin at all. I did read an interesting book the other day about the history of gin - it was a book of the day deal on Amazon (for Kindle) and at 99p I thought, why not! It was really quite fascinating, starting with the Dutch fondness for it in the 17th century, through Hogarth’s Gin Lane period and Victorian gin palaces and colonial gin pahits. Didn’t make me want to drink any. I like fine rum - Eldorado, from Guyana, my favourite. Almost buttery and notes of burnt caramelised sugar. I like scotch too, the big peaty Islay single malts - Lagavolin especially. That said, a single bottle would last me a couple of years. I have four bottles of rum at present - practically a lifetime supply!

Yo-ho-ho!

Indeed! But no matter how much I've drunk the weather hasn't gotten any warmer! Ripped off!

My OTK boots have thick sturdy walking soles. They really are made for walking. One of my OTK boots, a biker style, actually has a Vibram sole. Again a lovely boot and the heavier sole goes well with the biker boot look.

I received three bottles of lovely boutique rum - I have become quite fond of nice sipping rums. These are the kinds you mix with anything...

Yes, it’s troubling that I and nearly everyone I know are nicer and more forgiving than the “loving” god of the church (any church)

Yes and no - a belief in a higher power and a fear of divine retribution and damnation does keep the masses quiet as a rule, that and the fact that most people are law abiding by nature. But by the same token even a quick glance at the news will show you that an overwhelming amount of the violence in the world today has religion (of one sort or another) at the root of it. Murderous religiosity is a coda the times.

Yes, very drôle. And I could happily live without autocorrect and 'predictive' text...

Any government wants conformity too and will seek it with even greater vigorour - having (generally) more power.

That is certainly true. I was just reading an editorial on the Fox News website (yes, I know, but I try to get my news from a variety of sources) in which the writer was condemning the Hollywood set in no uncertain terms for their lack of strong, conservative Christian values Such a person as that writer would not bother labelling a man wearing stilettos with any term other than “evil”.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I think you're just dead wrong. I wear OTK boots all the time - low heeled, grey or brown suede, and there is nothing even remotely suggestive of cross dressing about them. I am enjoying wearing stilettos at my office at home - I can imagine that someone might - for reasons that seem obscure to me - decide that it 'looked gay' but that would be the extent of it. Nothing more.

See the world through her eyes? No thanks! Scary eyes if she's seeing Oprah with three hands and Reese Witherspoon with three legs. I think I'll stick with my own peasant view of the world, thank you very much!