Whathello, re banding:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...high-heels.cfm

Actually, this thread seems to be the original:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ns-at-home.cfm

Thanks for the memories. I am banding as I write this.

I feel sorry for our OP. This was a *simple* question.

I don't know if you were including me in your tirade, but l don't live a miserable life. Far from it. We live in a rural French paradise, which isn't to say that we don't hop up to Bordeaux or Paris or Amsterdam or Rome or Budapest or Brussels or other places in Europe as often as we can, when we can afford it, but we're probably, most assuredly, not on NYFC's budget. We have an old house to renovate, and that sucks money. When we do travel around Europe we do so happily in un-famous places. I am not even close to 6 feet tall and don't want to be. My husband can reach the top of our cabana where the flower boxes hang just fine, which is all I need right now. And I dont' wear heels and would never want to be famous or even close to famous. I'm perfectly happy being incognito except in my own small community, where I am well-known and greeted with warmth and charity whether they see me in my gardening digs or my bathing suit in all my skinny, sagging old glory or something a little glitzy.

When we are at home you'll see us in Wellies and sweaty, stained T-shirts mowing the lawn and clipping the bushes and weeding the stone walls and stripping and painting old furniture and applying anti-rust solvents to our old rusted gates and ripping off old wallpaper and planting vegetable and herb gardens and scraping down old limestone walls and applying treatments so that they don't drip onto our kitchen surfaces. You'll also see us in our old bodies skinny-dipping in our pool. I highly doubt if this is even remotely like your life. It isn't Vogue. It isn't fashionable. But it's normal for us, where we live. Gag if you like. We would never aspire to your life. You would never aspire to ours. So be it. People have different aspirations.

Yes, surely this is an entirely different world from the one that NYFC inhabits, but when an occasion for celebration comes around, or sometimes simply when we want to have an elegant evening together in our garden, we "dress up" a bit. Never the need for heels for me, as we live in grass, and the fancy restaurants we go to don't require anyone to be gorgeous or look like George Clooney. But DH has a closet full of custom-made linen shirts from when he was an advertising guru in Hong Kong, which he wears with aplomb, rolling the sleeves up and slinging one of those cashmere French sweaters around his shoulders. I think he looks gorgeous, but I bet most women wouldn't. He's balding and has long hair, what's left of it, and he has our salon leave a kind of braid of it to the left of his ear, and he decorates it with a small bit of bling (those of you on the gardening thread and those of you who have visited us have seen it). I mean, a guy, a brilliant and incredibly sweet guy, goes bald and does the best he can with it. He's not George Clooney, who would never appeal to me, but who needs that anyway. One only needs a best friend and lover and someone to trust. And a lovely, calm place to live, and all is well.

No need for kick-boxing. An affectation if there ever was one.

<i><font color=#555555>"I don't know if you were including me in your tirade"</font></i>

Dearest StCirq, I'm not sure I was even aware that you had contributed to this thread until now. So, of course, my tirade (your word, not mine) did not include you.

<i><font color=#555555>"I am not even close to 6 feet tall and don't want to be."</font></i>

I can't say I ever wanted to be. My DNA was gifted to me. It took me a long time to learn how to embrace my height and eventually love it. Losing 100 pounds my sophomore year of high school helped a lot.

<i><font color=#555555>"I dont' wear heels"</font></i>

Many women don't. Some women can't. From a very early age, I have always loved what a higher heel does to the look of a woman's leg. My mother was tall and had a great pair of legs. She had a large shoe collection. As a child, I loved playing in her closet.

I'm not a fan of outrageously high heels, or any shoe that makes you walk awkwardly. I have ballet training. I never needed to learn how to walk gracefully in high heels. It comes naturally to me.

<i><font color=#555555>"He's not George Clooney, who would never appeal to me"</font></i>

George Clooney is a doll. He wasn't always as handsome as he is now. I just used him as an example because he's very casual in his everyday life, with great taste in clothing, but when he dresses up, OMG, he's a stunner. I love a man who enjoys playing dress-up.

<i><font color=#555555>"He's balding and has long hair, what's left of it, and he has our salon leave a kind of braid of it to the left of his ear, and he decorates it with a small bit of bling"</font></i>

Sorry. Sounds a little visually scary to me. To each her own and thank goodness love can leave us blind at times. :-)

"its no secret on this board".. you think people actually think about you more then they do.. I seriously doubt most folks know your height or hobbys.. and not got the least clue as to why this information was relevant to anything said on this thread.. on topic or off topic.. ?
A bit bizarre..


As for catty and nasty your comment have taken the cake.. pronouncing women desperate, declaring womens arms chubby and disgusting..


As for Vogue.. perhaps when you become editor you can decide who is beautiful enough to be on the cover.. until then other people apparently disagree with you.. including the editor of Vogue.. lol

And all the while you bleat .. ( you are quite the bleater ) that I misunderstood you .. or misquote you .. you poor baby.

And I would close my mouth on models. The vast majority do not eat without worry. That comment alone makes me doubt the veracity of everything else you have said..

Perhaps OP might come back to tell us what her husband has decided.

That might bring this conversation to an end.

Intersting, I always thought that women who wore heels had something missing.

I used to have some hiring rules, never hire
1) a golfer, well obviously
2) a person who applied for a job in heels
3) a man who wore short sleeves to a job interview
4) a man who had too many buttons on their shirts
5) anyone who smoked

Now I discover that 1,2 & 3 are fashionable ;-)

<i><font color=#555555>"That comment alone makes me doubt the veracity of everything else you have said."</font></i>

As if I will ever care about your doubts. LOL! But thanks for reading and commenting on my every word with such vivid dedication. I adore my fans, even the haters.

B., would you have hired this guy?

http://images.fastcompany.com/upload...jobs-large.jpg

Haha .. his rebel year , 2009.. the year of the black belt. glad he got over that crazy fad.

This will be our 14th (I think) trip to Paris. I have never worn dress shoes, a coat or a tie to any meal there, and we've eaten at some pretty nice spots. I've also (gasp) worn short sleeve shirts on a warm day or night. Don't stress and save your luggage space.

((H))

Just remember Steve Jobs was half Syrian and so would be excluded from the USA under Trump Law?

And I never claimed to be good at business ;-)

Countess de Billy, who lives in the 7th, thinks all problems will be solved if husband wears a dashiki.

Tell everyone you are ex-pats living in Lagos and are big fans of Chimamanda Adichie.

On another note, Great Anna has very little fashion sense (wears the same print dresses with statement necklaces over and over and over...) but knows what sells. Amy Shumer is hot right now (as is Adichie), hence the cover of Vogue.

I think the red dress looks great on Amy, but if I spent tens of thousands on veneers I would most certainly show my smile.

Anna is NOT Carmel Snow or DV. She does not have a good eye. She would have been better served writing about tennis for the BBC.

Thin

<i><font color=#555555>"Amy Shumer is hot right now, hence the cover of Vogue."</font></i>

But not hot enough for the September issue.

<i><font color=#555555>"Anna is NOT Carmel Snow or DV. She does not have a good eye."</font></i>

I'm not allowed to think such thoughts aloud, but I totally agree with this statement.

Ok, I did some internet browsing... check out Ryan Gosling Cannes 2014. Although dear hubby is no young celebrity, he cuts a dashing figure for his (middle) age.

I think he looks perfectly acceptable, but the first thing I notice was his scuffed shoes. Change the shoes to dressier ones (black or brown to match the belt) and this is the general look my husband has for more casual dinners.

While this would work for the south of France, we did wonder about Paris.

He will include a long sleeve shirt, and light sweater. Nix the jacket/tie. Our only dilemma is now his shoes... his brown ones too casual, black ones too dressy. I may shop for an in-between pair.

And restaurant choices for us will be mostly $$ to $$$, nothing to break the bank, but we still like to dress appropriately.

Most here have been helpful, shame on those who think by asking a question we are insecure. We wouldn't have such a lively forum if people didn't ask a question or two! I enjoy this forum and have taken quite a bit of travel advice, especially on planning this special trip.

We'll be the handsome couple; she in a dress with low heels for walking the cobblestones, he with nice slacks, short sleeve shirt belted and tucked - sitting on a sidewalk bistro enjoying the atmosphere. If you see us in Paris or along the Cote d'Azur in September nod to us or stop to chat.

I don't think any place has ever checked my shoes. I wouldn't worry.

((H))

We will be on the Côte d'Azur in September!

Except for Thin's always entertaining, always witty posts, this entire thread is emetic.

If you have to shop for special shoes to wear to dinner in France, where do you dine at home?