What goes around, comes around!

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

Hi Everyone,

Those of you who are old enough to remember the *new* fashion of pointed toed shoes aka winkle-pickers in the late 50's ...... you know girls, where we all had to put cotton wool in the *shoes toes *to stop them curling upwards?

Quote from The Annals of Yorkshire from Archive CD Books:

Page 43: In 1467, the equivalent fashion of these shoes ...... the points of the shoes were so long, that they had to be tied up to the knees with laces or chains (silver chains for the guys, I suppose the girls had to make do with laces!)

Now how would we girls in the 50's have managed to get upstairs on a bus wearing these with our *sticky-out* skirts? How would the guys have managed to ride their motorbikes or drive a car?

[Ladkyis]

I ran a medieval murder mystery a couple of years ago and one of the gentlemen players wore a pair of curly toed shoes complete with silver chains and he had awful trouble with other people's swords. Every time he turned around there would be a scabbard to catch on his chains. He became quite adept at avoiding them but it did affect the way he walked and suddenly I could see what it would have been like at such a gathering in medieval times.

The ladies wouldn't have worn them because they would be catching on the petticoats all the time they would have kept their toes shorter and more curled.

Ann

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

Hi Ann,

Just shows that the ladies had more sense then?????

[busyglen]

Hi Everyone,

Now how would we girls in the 50's have managed to get upstairs on a bus wearing these with our *sticky-out* skirts? How would the guys have managed to ride their motorbikes or drive a car?

Oooh... how I loved those *sticky-out* skirts!! My can-can petticoat was the pride of my wardrobe, and was bought for me (dare I say it) as a surprise birthday present from the men I worked with in a shop. I think it was because I used to have to climb a ladder to reach the high shelves....but what they forgot was....my boss was an old `gentleman' and insisted that I wore an overall that virtually came to my ankles!

As for the pointed shoes.......I'm still suffering from the after effects of those and high heeled shoes!!

Glenys

[Ladkyis]

I sat here racking my brain to try and remember if I had a pair of "winklepickers" and I have come to the conclusion that I spent the 60's wearing wellies or riding boots because if I wasn't riding the horses I was in wellies mucking out stables or giving riding lessons - perhaps that's why I don't have twisty toes or bunions or corns or anything like that, just short fat feet that hold up legs built to last a lifetime.

Ann

[busyglen]

How sensible!! Wish I had been......but then we always cry too late!! I remember walking a mile to town in 3" heels and having to walk back bare foot!! That taught me a lesson....I wore flat shoes after that and changed when I got there!

It's wide...flat and comfy for me nowadays.

Glenys

[Diane Grant-Salmon]

Yes, all the expense of having our feet measured for shoes when we were lickle ...... a total waste of money! The pointed shoes squashed up our toes and made our feet look even bigger ...... Olive Oyl springs to mind here!

Glenys, assuming you too had a big night out coming up and then found that your Mum had forgotten to put starch on the shopping list for the *stick-out* petticoat?

Did you find as I did, that you could use half a bag of sugar? Great idea! Only problem was if it was cold in the Winter, the sugar coating got damp and the petticoat went like limp lettuce! Then you had to wait for ages in the cloakrooms for it to warm up again!

[busyglen]

My mum was a darling, and never ran out of starch!! She worked in service when she was young, and could cope with all eventualities and disasters!

Nothing to do with this, but I never forget that one evening I went to the pictures wearing a cotton dress. Mum said to take my jacket as it was going to rain later, but as the sun was shining I didn't!! There was a terrific thunder storm and the electricity went off so the film wasn't shown. In the end I ran a mile home in the pouring rain and ended up with the dress and my hair sticking to me. I was `dripping'. Mum being mum didn't say `I told you so' she just held a huge towel out and told me to get my clothes off!! She thought that I'd had punishment enough.

Good job I didn't have winkle pickers on that day!

Glenys