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| Female feet | ||
| Written by Rachel | ||
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Bare feet
Yoga people tend to train in bare feet. Qigong, tai chi and kung fu women do
not. It would be akin to being topless.
Culturally offensive.
History
Long ago in Asia it was determined that the female foot was potentially
the most beautiful, elegant part of the female body. This insight led to all
manner of practices designed to accentuate the feet.
Avoiding extremes
Grotesque Asian foot 'enhancement' endeavours included 'foot binding'. Ugh!
By contrast, most considerations were
about how to make feet look pretty using 'natural' methods...
Asian feet...
Nowadays, Asian women tend to really look after their feet. They look
feminine pretty, clean and healthy.
Natural care
Natural foot care methods involve:
Massage
Exfoliation/scrub
Remove hard skin
Skin
care regime
Drying feet thoroughly after shower/bath
Careful choice of shoes (appropriate fit)
Good
use of the feet
Sensible exercise
Not sitting or standing too much
Soaking the feet (a cider apple vinegar soak is healthy)
Lotions/oils
Hosiery
Western feet...
What about Western feet? Now, that is another story altogether. Many
Western women have truly ugly feet.
Cracked heels, calluses, bunions, malformed toes (from cramming them into shoes
that don't fit)... How about you? What are your feet like?
Do YOU look after your feet?
For most women the answer is a flat NO.
A beautiful womans ugliness is
often hidden in her heart
or by her shoes.
(Mokokoma Mokhonoana)
Is this some sort of foot fetish?
No. If it was a fetish, then it would be about exciting men or eliciting
male sexual interest. It isn't.
Cultural
Asian women are interested in having
good-looking feet. They don't really take into account what men
think. It is a 'cultural' matter.
Feminine, attractive, healthy feet are
regarded as being an indication of grace, beauty and femaleness. They reflect
class, style, poise, gait, balance, intelligence and good education.
Yokel
In Asia, bare feet were considered to be 'village' or 'country girl' -
unsophisticated, rough, common and uncouth. Feet covered with sheer fabric
were regarded as more dignified/refined.
See comparison:
https://crumpetkitten.blogspot.com/2020/03/which-look-best-with-or-without-tights.html
Bare legs are not considered to be refined. In Asia, not wearing
hosiery is seen as being 'rough'.
Arrogance
In Asia, a woman who parades her bare legs is considered to be arrogant
because it assumes that her legs are so beautiful and utterly flawless that
they don't warrant hosiery. How many women can genuinely make such a
claim?
Aesthetics
Thin tights/stockings are the norm throughout Asia for women. Asian women consider thin hosiery to be
quintessentially feminine
and wear them pretty much all the time.
The majority of tights and stockings sold in the world are sold in Asia.
The average lady owns dozens of pairs
and always carries spare pairs with her.
Healthy feet
Ideally, the feet want to look pretty,
healthy and not misshapen or squashed. They should
be well cared for.
Hosiery colour?
Traditionally skin colour/tan throughout the day and black for evening wear.
90% of the time natural colour is preferred.
Natural
The aim with natural coloured tights is to
give the appearance of not
wearing hosiery. This is best accomplished with seamless tights; which have
a second skin
look.
Invisible
If playing tennis, gymnastics, running, yoga, pilates, cycling or simply
wearing shorts in the Summer, the hosiery needs to be invisible.
Tan
Many women like to give the sense of a slight
tan. Therefore the colour needs to be subtle rather than obvious.
Historically, this was done in order to highlight the fact that
hosiery was being worn.
Skin colour
The degree of tan is contingent upon your skin colour. Allow for surface
colour and undertones.
Black
Black tights are slightly more complex than
natural/tan. Thick black hosiery (opaque) tend to look 'grungy' and
confused. They normally contain lycra and are sweaty to wear.
Thin
black tights are a different matter altogether. The shading serves to
accentuate the muscle tone in the legs and flatter the wearer. With black
hosiery, the thinner the better.
Grace
Hosiery makes the skin of the legs look sleek, smooth, flawless and perfect.
It
accentuates the curves; adding contour and shading.
In Asia not wearing hosiery would be seen as selling yourself short; akin to not
washing/styling your hair or going without shoes.
Sheer...
The use of sheer fabric to emphasise and
accentuate femininity goes right back to biblical times. The 'dance of
the seven veils'? Sheer fabric serves to both reveal and conceal; a
nice ambiguity?
Bare feet
There is an Asian saying
"Only a monkey shows it's feet"...
It means that whilst bare feet are quite natural, they are not
exactly
refined/elegant to look at.
Especially when in public.
An Asian woman recognises that bare feet with bulging veins and dry skin are
exceedingly ugly/uncouth.
That thin layer of fabric transforms ugliness into beauty.
Bare feet & footwear
Wearing shoes when barefoot causes body odour to soak into the
leather. This becomes an ongoing problem because the shoes then transfer the
odour onto clean feet next time you wear the shoes.
Movie references
I once watched the film Memoirs of a Geisha and was pleased to hear a
very elegant lady quote the Japanese version of the 'monkey feet' maxim
mentioned above.
Stockings
Stockings are great providing you invest in a
good quality suspender belt.
Nicola by stockingirl
is the best I've ever come across.
Super comfortable.
Protection
Low denier hosiery protects the skin from the elements.
Women who live in a cool climate usually suffer dry skin.
This is caused by the weather.
Wearing hosiery provides a barrier than maintains moisture levels; akin to
wearing cream on your face?
10 denier
Low denier (10-15 denier are less sweaty) 100% nylon tights are great.
These are usually the cheapest pairs sold at the supermarket.
Seamless
There are some great seamless styles available which are really
comfortable.
Walking fast is neither sexy
nor engaging. Nobody notices the people who race around. If you're walking
in heels, you've got time. It's much more attractive.
(Christian Louboutin)
No lycra
Lycra hosiery was designed for fat people who want to give the illusion of
having toned/firm legs when quite the opposite is true.
In fact, lycra is an impediment to health.
It compresses the
bones and
muscles and this restricts
movement. It limits circulation.
A good test is toe flexibility... if you can't easily separate the toes, then
the hosiery is either the wrong size for you or it contains lycra.
Hosiery tips
For everyday wear,
I buy the cheapest
multipack non-lycra hosiery from the supermarket. They cost less than £5
and fit great.
Favourite
My favourite nicer tights are Golden Lady
seamless.
Expensive tights are probably
worth the money but cost a LOT more.
Seeing your own feet
Hosiery enables a female student to be able to see her own feet
without being barefoot in public (like a monkey). This is enormously
useful. Patterns of tension are quite obvious.
Whether the toes are relaxed. Whether the weight is evenly distributed
across the foot. Balanced? You cannot see any of this when you wear
socks or shoes...
Asian aesthetics
If you're wondering why women studying an Asian martial art are being asked
to adopt Asian aesthetic standards, surely the question answers itself?
Would somebody in a football team expect to play football wearing long
trousers? No. They'd adhere to the aesthetics associated with the game;
which would be short trousers...
Page
created 8 August 2009
Last updated
04 May 2023
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