19 Items

The article on MSN caught my eye:  "19 items no man over 40 should wear".  I'd link to it, but for some reason - probably since I stay signed into Bing all the time - it looks like it has my own account particulars in the URL.  I'm sure you can find it if you're that interested, along with hundreds of other, similar articles that are as equally worthless.

Oops, gave away my opinion of the article far too soon.  Here are the 19 things and my own comments under each:

The Parka:  This one is just plain silly.  I'd say the only reason to not wear a parka is if it's in the summer...unless you're in Antarctica, then I'm sure it would be acceptable.

Wide-leg trouser:  I don't get this one.  I don't think I have any trousers that would fit this description, but just exactly how wide is considered "wide"? What if you have wide legs?

The Fanny pack: I can understand this in a way because they look a little silly on just about anyone, no matter their age.  OTOH, there have been times when I wished I had a fanny pack. If I see a 50-yr. old man wearing one, I'm not going to point and laugh.  Maybe he needs one to pack along all his medications he has to take...or maybe it's to keep plenty of condoms on hand because he needs a lot of 'em.  Plus his Viagra.

The Gilet:  I have several of these and love 'em.  They're perfect, along with a sweat top or long-sleeve shirt on cool days that suddenly get colder.  At least your core body temp. can be maintained.  I think they look cool, plus have pockets which are handy when you don't have any in the top you're wearing under it.

The Soccer jersey:  I suppose the equivalent that I could relate to would be a football jersey and while they're probably not the ideal thing to wear to a nice restaurant, there's nothing wrong with wearing them to a party or esp. to a football game.  I would draw the line at having my own name on the back of the jersey or even a player's name, even if he was one of my favorites.

The Bomber jacket:  This is a silly prohibition;  bomber jackets look cool.  Chuck Yeager is over 90 and he still looks great in one.  Then again, he's actually flown bombers, so...I don't have one, but if I did, I'd wear it all the time and only take it off to slap someone who told me I was too old to be wearing it.

The Beanie:  No, not the idiotic ones w/ a propeller on top, but a close fitting sock cap.  I have several and it sometimes gets so cold here that I wear one and put another, larger sock cap on top of it.  I'd rather be ridiculed for being too old to wear one than have my old ears freeze off.

Thongs:  Finally, something I can agree with, but only for me.  I hate those things...the footware, not the skimpy undies young women wear.  Old women probably shouldn't wear those, but more power to 'em if they wanna. Personally, I don't like thongs on anyone's feet, but if they can handle that strap between their big toe and the next, then good for them. 

Speedos:  Again, something I can agree with and I personally don't think they look good on men of ANY age, but that's just me.  Maybe if I was gay.....

Leather trousers:  And again, I agree, but it's more of a comfort thing for me and also because I'm a clutz and slob and often spill things on my clothes. 

Oversized suits:  Well, they're out of style, aren't they?  I dunno.  Don't care, either.

The rock band t-shirt:  Well, I still like rock and roll, but I don't have any band t-shirts.  I'd wear one if someone gave it to me as a present, but I'm not paying 25 bucks to advertise a band that has more money than Carter has liver pills.  (I guess that last bit really tells my age, huh?)

Y-fronts:  I had to go look up the definition.  I think 95% of my underwear fits that style, even the longer leg boxer/briefs I sometimes wear.  I like the support.  I don't own any "tighty-whiteys" as they're sometimes called;  mine are all in various colors, even camouflage.  I have a few boxer undies, but unless my pants are really loose fitting, they bunch up and are uncomfortable.  Why would anyone care what kind of undies I'm wearing, anyway?

Hoodies:  Screw 'em, I like hoodies.  They're nice to wear on a cool day and the ability to put the hood up or down makes it nice, esp. when the cold wind starts blowing down your neck.

Baseball cap: I wear one all the time...well, not to bed, but you'd BETTER wear something on your head here in the Texas Panhandle.  During the winter, they keep your head warmer than nothing at all and in summer, they keep the sun from frying your brain.  I wear 'em in the house sometimes;  that way if someone comes to the door and I want to let them in, I tell them I just got home and if I DON'T want to let them in, I tell 'em I'm just going out.  (learned that from an Andy Capp comic strip, BTW)

Skinny jeans:  If you're skinny, then wouldn't your jeans be skinny too?  I hate tight jeans, so I don't wear 'em.

White trainers:  White TENNIS shoes, as I call 'em.  I have a pair, but when they started getting stained, I started using them for yard work or the like.  I'll buy another pair someday and for now, keep on wearing my brown and black pairs.  I'd like to have more colors, too.

The leisure suit:  From the example shown, I wouldn't be caught dead in one, not now or when I was 20 yrs. old.  I DO wear sweats a lot and screw anyone who thinks I'm too old to wear them....I'm too old to care what they think.

The novelty tie:  Ehh....not much on ties, but if someone wanted to wear a funny one to work as a nod to Casual Fridays in the office, then fine by me. I wouldn't wear one with kittens or copulating couples, but wearing a red tie with Christmas trees during the holiday season or a green one with shamrocks for St. Patty's?  Lighten up, sheesh.

Flip Flop on the Name

A couple of months ago I bought a pair of flip-flops and kept meaning to write a post about them.  Since today is National Flip-Flop Day, I decided I'd better go ahead and do it.

My sisters and I used to wear them all the time when we were on vacation at the lake.  Back then, though, we called them "thongs" which means something entirely different these days.  When did the name change occur?

I'd really rather write about the thongs of today more than the flip-flops of yesterday.  I've never worn the former, but I like looking at them...well, I like seeing women wear them. They sure look uncomfortable, though, but wearing flip-flops is also uncomfortable.

I recently bought a pair out at WalMart;  I'm constantly having to run out to my vehicle for something or taking food out to the stray cats and it's too much trouble to lace up my sneakers just to wear them for two minutes.  I've ruined several pairs of house shoes by stepping in puddles of water in the dark...or in little "surprises" left by the stray cats. Ahem.  I was looking for a new pair of house shoes when I saw the flip-flops on a nearby rack.  They were cheap, around three bucks, so I thought they might be something that I could quickly slip on and off and save my much more expensive house shoes.

Here's the kind I bought, a cool looking camo style:

I brought them home, snipped the little plastic tie holding them together and slid my feet into them.  Ugh. I remembered why I didn't like them as a kid and the reasons hadn't changed. 

First of all, I hate something between my toes and that's the only thing that keeps the flip-flops on your feet. (I also hate anything between my "cheeks" so that's why I suspect I wouldn't like wearing a thong) I haven't worn them enough for it to happen yet, but with any sort of rough use, the rubber toe divider is notorious for popping out of the molded hole.  With some doing, you can pop it back into the hole, but once it happens, it will keep happening until the hole tears and then the footwear is useless.  I remember being on vacation and having that happen and taking a bit of twine and tying it around the part that sticks through the hole to keep it in place.  It really didn't work too well and then it was doubly uncomfortable, the chafing between the toes and a big knot of twine poking up from underneath.

Wearing them for any length of time takes some getting used to.  I remember getting blisters on my toes when wearing them on vacation;  that was painful enough, but get some sand in between your toes and into the blisters and it's agony.

You can't run in the darn things, either.  In fact, that's what usually made the toe piece pop out of the hole when I was a kid.  That probably won't be a problem with my new pair as I haven't run anywhere in years, not even when I'm wearing running shoes.

They're also deceptive in that you get the illusion you have protection for your feet, but it's as easy to stub your toe wearing flip-flops as it is going barefoot.  That's a little ironic - breaking your big toe from wearing flip-flops and then that being the only thing you can wear on your feet because you then can't wear regular shoes with a broken toe.

I doubt my flip-flops will get much use; oh, I'll slip them on when I think about it when I need to step outside for a minute, but just looking at them makes me shudder thinking about how uncomfortable they are.  I would never, EVER wear them in public as do some folks...my toes are just too ugly.  Flip-flops look cute on girls though. 

I think I'll go Google "girls wearing flip-flops and thongs".  That shouldn't be uncomfortable at all.