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What is the deal with wearing shoes?!


tabitha2

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Not just Florida, you'd have to include most of the coastal states at least. From Virginia, south to FL and across the southern USA, most coastal and desert living folks wear flip flops or sandals or nothing at all for most of the year. When I lived in VA, flip flop "season" was late April to October. In Arizona it's February to December (January gets kinda chilly in the PHX area). Here in Las Vegas it seems to be March to November (there's actually winter here, it gets right chilly December - February).

I don't get what the big deal is. Maybe my pathological hatred of shoes is blinding me to whatever reality someone's attempting to sell here.

Flip flops AKA "slippahs" are practically the state shoe of Hawaii. You can warr them almost everywhere and many people never wear anything else.

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I think they don't dress appropriate for many things and shoes is just part of it. Hike through the C. American hills in flip flops and skirts? Sure. Work on the farm in the same? Yup. Why not where a long flowing skirt while you are on exercise equipment-- I'm sure it's not an accident waiting to happen.

How many pictures have we seen of Duggars at an event where everyone is dressed up but the Duggars? I saw a recent pic where Smuggar was finally in formal wear, JB was in a suit, but Michelle, was wearing something not out of place walking around TTH ignoring her kids.

I understand that both Jessa & Jill wanted bridesmaid dresses that were cheap and could be worn again, however, those ponte knit dresses were not appropriate bridesmaid dresses given the traditional and formal wedding GOWNS. Those bridesmaid dresses are more appropriate to wear to a lunch or running around doing errands--not even out to a nice dinner.

If the church doesn't mind Jill being barefoot fine, but I say it wasn't appropriate because of her wedding dress-- again too formally. Also, if it was OK for her to be barefoot, could her guests also go sans shoes? Just wondering. Was she out there in the parking lot barefoot too?

The shoes are just a symptom of an overall lack of understanding of when to wear what.

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I understand that both Jessa & Jill wanted bridesmaid dresses that were cheap and could be worn again, however, those ponte knit dresses were not appropriate bridesmaid dresses given the traditional and formal wedding GOWNS. Those bridesmaid dresses are more appropriate to wear to a lunch or running around doing errands--not even out to a nice dinner.

If they had a little bit of bling and accessories they would have been. Sometimes adding a few details can make an everyday dress look formal, and it wouldn't cost much.

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Try waking on very hot asphalt and concrete in the middle of July in Alabama. No thank you. I'll wear shoes. If it's possible to cook an egg on a surface during a heat wave, then it's too hot for your feet. And yeah, that old saying about cooking an egg on the sidewalk is true.

Oh, if you live in rural areas, there is also the possibility of stepping in animal shit, briars, burrs, or being bitten or stung by something.

I live in Georgia and there are times when the asphalt is too hot for the dogs to walk on without burning the pads on their feet.

Stepping in a fire ant hill will cure you of going barefoot really quickly.

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A fundie lite friend of my daughter was married a few years ago and my daughter was in the wedding. That wedding was similar to a Duggar weddding in many ways.

The bride wore a traditional formal dress but the mother of the bride made the bridesmaid dresses. They were similar to Jessa's and of a similar fabric. There were eight bridesmaids and two flower girls, the niece and sister of the bride, both the same age. The wedding was in their church with the reception in the church fellowship hall, yes an actual place dedicated to sweet fellowship. In some ways it would have been considered more formal than the Duggar weddings since it was held In the evening.

There was food, chicken salad sandwiches, made by friends of the mom and the cake was also made by a friend. No dancing of course. There were about 400 guests. The bride was 18 and the groom 19.

So why did the bride and all the attendants wear on their feet? White flip flops of course! The dress of the guests ranged from nice shirts and pants to jeans and tees for men and pretty dresses on women. Lots of frumpers and long wavy hair. The guests fundie, fundie lite, and people like who are neither. Some guests wore flip flops

This was in rural Oklahoma, right next to Arkansas. People there don't have a lot of money and do with what they have. I doubt that very few of the guests at the Duggar wedding saw anything wrong with bare feet in church or flip flops on guests at all.

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It's probably a preference thing. I never wear shoes inside and over the summer I go barefoot both inside and outside. Wear flip flops or sandals if I go to a store or someone's house. As for taking shoes off at a wedding... I know many many people who do that. I don't fin anything wrong with it since I am the same way.

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I would go barefoot/only wear flip flops year round if I could get away with it. (Alas, I live in New England, so I am not able to do so). Shoes are like foot prison. I definitely won't go out to the store or to a hospital without shoes, but mainly because it is socially unacceptable, not because I think it is dangerous or gross. I do take off my shoes at work a lot (most of the summer I am barefoot at my desk or in my immediate office, and only slip my flats or fancy sandals on to leave the office). And I am pretty exclusively barefoot at home. I just find it more comfortable. And dirt washes off, so I really don't see the big deal. It isn't as if I handle items with my feet that other people are touching. They are on the ground. I find it a lot grosser when people don't wash their hands often - those things actually touch the whole world! haha.

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Personally, I hate wearing shoes. I personally think feet are meant to be free. On a slightly different note, I used to not wear socks in high school, unless it was gym class, until my friends got on my case when they noticed. I just don't like socks and didn't see it as any different from flip flops. It comes down to comfort, I think. I go barefoot at home. When I lived in a dorm last year, the only time I put shoes on was when I went into the bathroom because the floor in there could get nasty, which is to be expected with 60+ girls sharing. As for the no shoes in a church thing, I think if they had a problem with it, someone would have surely said something. I didn't see a problem with it. Her wedding, her choice. Some people just really hate wearing shoes.

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I used to get paid $100 an hour to let pictures of my feet get taken! Tickling would have gotten me double, but I probably would have peed myself. Hey, nothing wrong with getting paid to fill someone's basement foot-fetish when faces aren't shown. It helped pay the bills in my single days.

Where can I sign up for to pictures? My feet are freaking adorable!

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If they had a little bit of bling and accessories they would have been. Sometimes adding a few details can make an everyday dress look formal, and it wouldn't cost much.

Alas, they didn't, bc they really don't make an effort to dress for the occasion be it hiking, farming, marrying.

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Sorry if this is off-topic, but what shoes did Jessa wear for her wedding? For some reason I can't imagine a Duggar in heels, though Anna has been in public in heels before. Was she barefoot like Jill? Or was it just typical sandals?

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A fundie lite friend of my daughter was married a few years ago and my daughter was in the wedding. That wedding was similar to a Duggar weddding in many ways.

The bride wore a traditional formal dress but the mother of the bride made the bridesmaid dresses. They were similar to Jessa's and of a similar fabric. There were eight bridesmaids and two flower girls, the niece and sister of the bride, both the same age. The wedding was in their church with the reception in the church fellowship hall, yes an actual place dedicated to sweet fellowship. In some ways it would have been considered more formal than the Duggar weddings since it was held In the evening.

There was food, chicken salad sandwiches, made by friends of the mom and the cake was also made by a friend. No dancing of course. There were about 400 guests. The bride was 18 and the groom 19.

So why did the bride and all the attendants wear on their feet? White flip flops of course! The dress of the guests ranged from nice shirts and pants to jeans and tees for men and pretty dresses on women. Lots of frumpers and long wavy hair. The guests fundie, fundie lite, and people like who are neither. Some guests wore flip flops

This was in rural Oklahoma, right next to Arkansas. People there don't have a lot of money and do with what they have. I doubt that very few of the guests at the Duggar wedding saw anything wrong with bare feet in church or flip flops on guests at all.

That sounds pretty similar to the weddings I grew up around, though perhaps a bit elaborate. I'm from a very small town in eastern NC. The traditional wedding is a church ceremony with cake and punch in the fellowship hall. The reception really only lasts long enough to pass through the receiving line and eat a piece of cake. "Fancy" weddings included pimento cheese sandwiches. No dancing (not b/c we think dancing is sinful, it just isn't part of the tradition). Absolutely no alcohol (we do get that thank religion for that). Weddings are generally schedule so they don't interfere with meal times. Formal invitations go to out-of-town family and friends, but there is also a blanket invite to everyone in the community, usually printed in the church bulletin. Guests dress like they would for any other church service - used to be suits for me and nice dresses for women, but over time has become more casual.

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Where can I sign up for to pictures? My feet are freaking adorable!

I used to have a roommate who produced porn, and had connections. One of his buddies ran a foot fetish site and was looking for new feet to fill some voids. I have big feet, which is the equivalent of "huge jugs" in regular porn. Cutesy feet are like the barely legal teens section of regular porn.

I got several pairs of cute shoes out of each shoot since I got to keep what I used. :D

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I don't get where everyone is getting the idea that people don't wear flip flops or casual clothes to church. I've been to super traditional liturgical churches where half the congregation was in flip flops. Heck, I grew up in a church where one pastor wore Birkenstocks and the other one wore Rainbows on the regular because hey, it's a beach town and anything above that is overdressed. Where are you finding churches that expect people to show up super dressed up for anything other than Easter?

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I don't get where everyone is getting the idea that people don't wear flip flops or casual clothes to church. I've been to super traditional liturgical churches where half the congregation was in flip flops. Heck, I grew up in a church where one pastor wore Birkenstocks and the other one wore Rainbows on the regular because hey, it's a beach town and anything above that is overdressed. Where are you finding churches that expect people to show up super dressed up for anything other than Easter?

There are definitely still churches where the norm is pretty formal - dresses only for women, suits for men, dress shoes for all. I know this is the norm for many traditionally/predominantly African American congregations. This is also more or less the norm at the church I grew up with. There is amazing diversity across Christian congregations in the US.

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I don't get where everyone is getting the idea that people don't wear flip flops or casual clothes to church. I've been to super traditional liturgical churches where half the congregation was in flip flops. Heck, I grew up in a church where one pastor wore Birkenstocks and the other one wore Rainbows on the regular because hey, it's a beach town and anything above that is overdressed. Where are you finding churches that expect people to show up super dressed up for anything other than Easter?

I've been wondering that, too. I'm Catholic and regular Catholics barely manage to dress up for Easter (I do, but I'm a convert). My husband's concession to dressing up for church is wearing a plain t-shirt rather than a graphic printed one. There are plenty of flip-flops at our masses when the weather is appropriate for them. That does annoy me a little but only because we usually go to the early Sunday mass with no music and all the flip flops make a weird accompaniment at communion time. I have been known to wear Birkenstocks to church in the summer, though.

Two different times when we've been to Saturday evening mass in winter, I have seen grown adults there who are dressed to head straight to the city for a D-I college basketball game and both times there were temporary tattoos on faces. If bare feet or flip flops upset people...

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There are definitely still churches where the norm is pretty formal - dresses only for women, suits for men, dress shoes for all. I know this is the norm for many traditionally/predominantly African American congregations. This is also more or less the norm at the church I grew up with. There is amazing diversity across Christian congregations in the US.

I grew in the Catholic faith and my church was semi-formal. You are expected to dress nice. Nice meaning dress pants, button up shirts, dress shoes, dresses, a nice pair of jeans. Women don't have to wear dresses and men don't have to wear suits. But you don't wear a t-shirt and jeans and not wearing shoes is a no no. One time I went to my friends church which is Christian, but I am not sure which domination, but almost everyone was is in jeans and a t-shirt. This was a total culture shock for my middle school self who always had to dress nice in church.

All the weddings I have ever gone to were very formal. To the extent that it looked like most of the women were going to prom. Even the older women. Men wear suits, the receptions are always very expensive and elaborate in nice halls, so shoes are a must. I think this is why I didn't agree with Jill not wearing shoes at her wedding. But if the church didn't have a problem with it then I guess it is okay.

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:fsm: Ive only been to the childrens christmas eve service as a kid and we had to dress smart because of the holiday, but apart from that I dont usually set a foot in a church. Last times were as tourists only.

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I don't get why not wearing shoes is such a big deal. I absolutely never wear shoes, unless 1. I'm in a place that requires them, such as the grocery store, in which case, I wear flip flops. 2. I'm doing something dangerous, like working with horses, or moving heavy furniture. 3. I'm at a formal occasion (this hasn't happened yet) 4. I'm at work. 5.There is snow on the ground. Everyone I knew growing up was the same way. For one, shoes would be passed down through several siblings, you wanted to keep them nice. You'd actually be in quite a bit of trouble if you were wearing shoes to play in. And for the record, I've never injured my feet not wearing shoes. Neither have any of my kids, and they're barefoot all the time too.

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There are definitely still churches where the norm is pretty formal - dresses only for women, suits for men, dress shoes for all. I know this is the norm for many traditionally/predominantly African American congregations. This is also more or less the norm at the church I grew up with. There is amazing diversity across Christian congregations in the US.

African Americans not only dress up for church, but the women wear such fabulous hats! I like that, but then I like hats.

ETA: We had to wear closed shoes in the chem lab to protect our feet from spills. Some of those chemicals you'd not want to expose your bare skin to. You'd also want to wear shoes around livestock in case a horse or cow decided to step on your foot.

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Time and place for everything.

A formal church service, wedding included, and a hospital are neither the time nor the place for going barefoot.

Swimming or a beach wedding, barefoot.

A hospital or church event, shoes please.

Others will vehemently disagree. Wonder how many attended school without shoes?

Cue, all the shoeless high school students.

I definitely agree about the hospital, and also any store/ venue which is selling food, because ew. But I have a good friend who has preached barefoot at church. Ours is not the most formal of churches, but still, going to have to disagree on this one :lol:

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I think when youre so restricted and have to cover so much skin, I imagine that bare feet can be a bit of freedom.

Or because Bill Gothard likes to wank to bare teenage girl feet and he tells his female followers to. Although I think if I was a fundie I would wear shoes all of the time because it creeps me out.

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African Americans not only dress up for church, but the women wear such fabulous hats! I like that, but then I like hats.

Several years back I was on Vay-cay in St Thomas, USVI and on Easter morning from my hotel balcony, I could see the families of the local people walking to church. thy all had the most beautiful pastel dresses and suits on, including beautiful hats for the ladies. That against the tropical setting was certainly a beautiful site. Something you'd never see anywhere else in the US.

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When I was younger I would not wear shoes all summer long. I live near the Amish and they take their shoes off as soon as spring starts and they don't put them on all summer they have some nasty feet, you really try not to look.

I wonder if they have a no shoes in the house rule. It is probably keeps a lot of the dirt down, have you ever noticed around the outside of the house it does not seem paved or a lot grass, so it is probably very muddy and dusty. The kids probably have grown very accustomed to going shoe less.

Have you ever seen that room full of clothes and shoes? They probably can't really find a matched pair that fits. I grew up in a large family with a lot of girls and my mom never matched socks, we had a sock drawer that she just threw the socks in, I wore mis-matched socks my whole elementary school age. i pretended it was my own personal style.

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I grew up in northeast Florida and my mom would yell at us if we went outside without shoes; there were a lot of what we called "sandspurs" (little stickery seeds) and nettles, not to mention snakes. Now when I watch Naked and Afraid (the survivalist show on Discovery), the thing that freaks me out the most is how vulnerable people's feet are in the wilderness... Safety issues aside, I do think bare feet in public indoor spaces is tacky, but I get that it's just a cultural thing.

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