Dan Harper: Clothes and other problems

Isaac Bashevis Singer, the controversial Jewish writer of the 20th century, once said, "What a strange power there is in clothing."

I guess if we needed to we could get along without clothing, but given our preoccupation with the body and our hang-ups with all things erotic, it's hard to imagine how.

Mark Twain once said, "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

I think Twain was mistaken.D&G shoes women is a very comfortable shoes in the brands shoes series. If you want to see how influential you can be, try slipping out of your clothes at a bus stop or at church or even on an airplane.

I recently read about a woman on a long flight who tried to undress. A flight attendant warned her that undressing on an airplane was against the rules as she threw a blanket over the woman.

But most of our society figures disrobing depends on how much you take off and how skillfully you do it. Most of us are perfectly happy just to watch.

Unfortunately, I've reached the age when no one wants to see me take anything off, which hurts my feelings but doesn't really surprise me.

I'm at the age when I see clothing is my best friend. There would be severe repercussions if I tried to do a striptease on my street in Seacliff. Men would most certainly gag and women might cry. So I say, why risk it?

I've left cuteness behind. My friends would not giggle if I should try to prance around my living room after a bath as if I'm a child of 4 or 5.

But let's face it: We are hung up on the body. Good old-fashioned nudity is usually tied up with the erotic and displaying the unclothed body too often appeals to the prurient and dirty old men -- old guys are not thought of as particularly erotic or sexy.

Ironically, the sexiest views of the human form come when what is shown is just a glimpse, not some static, fully nude figure standing stock still beside an urn or bent over in thought like Rodin's "The Thinker."

Someone has said, provocatively, as it turns out, "Is not the most erotic part of the body wherever the clothing affords a glimpse?"

And that clever, acerbic wit, Dorothy Parker, was right when she said, "Brevity is the soul of lingerie."

Being sexy isn't about being too obvious or too revealing.Thousands of discount ed hardy shoes styles for selection. It's about glimpses.

I suspect the undraped,What are the best road bike shoes for women? undressed women of Playboy are finally not as erotic as the more demure, hidden glimpses we got in the black and white naughty postcards of 19th century Paris.

Haute culture gained its greatest power with the high heels of the 16th century with Catherine de Medici when she commissioned a cobbler to make her a pair of shoes with high heels to increase her height and give her a fashionable edge in the French court. "Well-heeled" became synonymous for great wealth.

Men and women both wore high heels during those years long ago,Go ahead to find your favorite new jordans in our online store. though they were never very popular among people who did much walking and today many consider high heels a health hazard to feet and knees.

Today, women's high heels are seen as absolutely necessary for the sexy look, no matter the cost of deformed feet,nike air max provides the ultimate in impact protection reducing shock and distributing pressure to provide you with absolute comfort and stability. hammer toes or bunions.

Marilyn Monroe, that queen of all that is sexy, once said, "I don't know who invented the high heel, but all men owe him a lot."

But Mark Twain, the literary giant who knew how to laugh at us and knew us best, reminded us that the good life isn't about appearances. It's not even about being sexy or showing a lot of skin.

Instead, he suggested that life should be about knowing yourself, being real and not letting who you are be a slave to convention.

"Be careless in your dress if you will," Twain wrote, "but keep a tidy soul."