Walking a fine line ...

Have you ever noticed how, as soon as it warms up, women immediately dust off the sandals, short skirts, dresses, & heels? Well, if not, you should be more observant because that is what happens. I'm guilty of it myself - I wore a skirt & flip flops today. I wore a skirt & flip flops one day in Paris because the weather was glorious.

Now I am have nothing against wearing such things since I do it myself. What I am against is the way a woman walks in the outfit! I have noticed that British women do not know how to walk like ladies! Now maybe I am falling into the patriarchal conceptions of women, but you should see the way women present themselves over here.

Today, for example, I ventured into town so I could run by work to write down my schedule. I had to take the bus. Now a bus station, especially Swansea's, is the prime location to spot such fashion faux-pas victims.

First, there was a girl, probably teen-ager, dressed in a not so modest jean mini-skirt (if she bent over, I bet I could see her knickers (aka underwear - Zoe's trying to break me of my horrid American English ways) & half a shirt (I say half because you could completely see her stomach, which looked as if it had never heard of crunches or sit ups). Anyway. Shoes. She was wearing these hugaciously large stiletto heels. How she walked in them in the first place, I will never know. But the way she did walk in them was problematic. She took overly large strides that threw her body off balance, causing her to teeter-totter back and forth. All with her stomach hanging over (I don't see how people tolerate that!). On top of that she was chewing gum like a cow chews their cud. And we know that is not lady-like (at least mom always yelled at me for chewing with my mouth open). The overall picture was very displeasing. She looked uncomfortable.

Second, there was a woman - 30s maybe, but you never know with Swansea residents - wearing a knee-length skirt and sandals (very cute ones at that). Think how male high school students walk with their pants halfway to their knees. That's how she walked. Didn't work at all.

There were many other examples I could cite, but I won't. Those were just two that I can quickly recall. Now, again falling into gender stereotypes and patriarchy, my mom had the decency to teach me how to walk in all types of shoes. In heels, I take smaller strides even though I hate doing that. In flip flops, I walk so my shoes stay on. In tennis shoes I can run. Most of all, I walk upright, stomach sucked in (at least I try to hide the flab), and, of course, modestly dressed (most of the time). I don't slouch (unless I'm sitting down). I walk with a purpose. It's not rocket science people. If I kind figure out, surely everyone else can!

So next time you go out, watch how people, especially women, are dressed and how they present themselves. Maybe etiquette classes should be brought back into the school curriculum.

Anyway, I'm off to Ireland tonight (at 3am!). Freddy and I (and 2 of his German friends) fly out of Bristol early tomorrow morning and return sometime on Friday. I'm sure I'll have tons of photos to post as we are flying to Dublin, picking up a car and going to Cork and Limerick. At least I'll be in heaven for a few days.