A friendly hello from Germany

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Barefoot Joe
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Location: Germany

A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Barefoot Joe »

Best way to introduce oneself? Start with apologies... ;)
So first of all, sorry for my English, it's not my native tongue but I'll do my very best and hopefully you'll find the hidden sense in my weird word collections. :mrgreen:

Talking about weirdness.. ;) Well, I have some history with that and only recently I added wearing skirts to it. But I'll get back to that in a minute...

Basic data first: I'm a cis guy, bearded, married for 23 years, two teenage kids. Body has a total mileage of 50 years now, driver being in his early 30s I guess. ;) Apart from working in IT for a living I'm a certified health consultant, mostly doing presentations and workshops.

A few years ago I stumbled upon strange looking minimalistic shoes which made me research the topic of shoes from ground up (for a presentation) and resulted in me not wearing shoes ever again. For four years now I'm barefoot 24/7 with only minor exceptions. Doing that in public was one of the biggest coming-out's for me, but I learned a lot about peoples behaviour and how I influcence it. After going barefoot full time in public, I started taking more care of my feet and more or less naturally I started waring clear nail polish to get around the ususal polishing with a buffer. From feet to hands was only a small step. A slightly bigger step was going from clear to color nail polish and it happend to be a second coming-out. Starting with my pinky, then two pinkies, four fingers, then a full paint job. :) And of course, you already guessed it: A few weeks later the color jumped to my toes also.

Why was I writing this? Ah, yes, skirts... ;) Well, if you get in contact with other men polishing their nails, you happen to come across quite a few of them not only polishing their nails but also wearing womans clothes: trans woman and crossdressers. And somehow the idea of men in skirts found a nice cosy place in the back of my brain where it stuck and grew. The fact alone that todays society has some sort of an unwritten rule that skirts are not for men triggered my resistance. Dare you, society, giving me the rules! ;) As many I started in the closet just to see how it might look like and how it feels. I bought a knee lenght olive summer skirt and a blue mini skirt just for testing. I wanted to send them back but they fit so well, I just kept them (and wore them on a solo vacation trip). But how would my familiy react? A real skirt might be too much for a first contact, but then i found that about 40% of all men world wide are wearing a sarong. Well, now, that's a man's garment, isn't it? And it's hot summer and who will object if you wear a thin cloth wrapped around your waist to better stand the heat? So I bought a few sarongs in different colors. They are quite nice for a start in skirt-wearing because they are cheap, you won't have size issues and you can wear them from mini-skirt to long skirt just by folding them accordingly. I'm wearing them for some days now and I'm also running all the little errands wearing them. Today I went on our weekly grocery shopping tour in a big mall wearing a knee length black sarong (strongly resembling a "real" womans skirt). No reactions, just a few look. Piece of cake... ;) But I think the skirt ist the last thing, people notice. It's hard enough wrapping their mind around my bare feet and nail polish... :mrgreen:

My wife is observing all this with a mixture of "It's your choice..." and "Oh god, whats next?" ;) She has second thought about the reactions of other peoples and therefore objects going out with me in a skirt. But just yesterday I had to pick her up from late shift and usually we're going for a coffee then. So I thought that maybe the habit might be stronger than her objections - and I was right. I choose my most inconspicuous sarong and put my trousers on the back seat - in case it won't work out as expected. As we arrived at the cafe, she asked if i really wanted to go in there in a skirt and I said: Well, yes, no problem, but can YOU cope with it? She said "Let's see..." and of we went. Luckily not many other guests where there so no reactions. But during our stay quite a few younger people filled the cafe and leaving it was impossible without being noticed. But no one said anything, no chuckling, no snide remarks. Luckily, because this very first time with her skirted man in public showed her, that most people don't care. I guess that was one really essential step. Let's see, what future holds. There are still some "real" skirts to be introduced and lately I got a black perimum emp kilt ( http://www.emp.de/art_291700/ ) which is still in closet. ;) But it's way to hot these days for thick fabric, so I'll stick with my sarongs for a while...
If you're always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.
(Maya Angelou)
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DonaldG
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by DonaldG »

Hi Joan, and welcome to the forum. Great to hear your wife is OK (so far ) with your skirt wearing.
The more you go out doing ordinary things wearing a skirt the easier it becomes. Before long you will forget that you are wearing a skirt so will not be at all selfconcious. Keep on skirting.

Donald
dillon
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by dillon »

Welcome from a skirt lover and toenail painter. The variety of individuals you will meet here are like the flavors of Skittles. Taste the rainbow! My current nail color is what I can only describe as a gilded pink. It is a Sally Hansen color called 'Peach Daquiri'.
As a matter of fact, the sun DOES shine out of my ...
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rick401r
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by rick401r »

Welcome to the gang Joan. I thought I would enjoy being barefoot as well. I went out for a short walk barefoot, kilted, and my walking stick. I only walked less than a mile but got home with large blisters on both feet.
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Kirbstone
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Kirbstone »

Willkommen, Joan.

uebrigens, Barfuss ist billiger!

Whereabouts in Germany are you? I lived & worked (Fachzahnarzt) in Nordenham, Niedersachsen for 8 years. (eine triste Gegend). mit 73 Jahre bin ich immer noch Taetig. I like what I do.

Tchuess und viel Spass,

Tom.
Carpe Diem......Seize the Day !
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Barefoot Joe
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Barefoot Joe »

Thanks for the nice welcome... :)

In case you are wondering, I had to change my screen name since "joan" (coming from my first and last name) has too much of a feminine touch and might lead to false conclusions. ;) So I hereby shall be known as Barefoot Joe. :mrgreen:

@Donald:
> Great to hear your wife is OK (so far ) with your skirt wearing.

Actually it's going way better than I expected after the first shock. It seems my history of other "not normal" issues somehow prepared the terrain. ;) She still has second thoughts going into the crowd but well, I still have those too, so we're taking this together step by step. I'm absolutely happy that she let's me wear skirts around the house and in the garden and even doesn't object if I go to the beach or shopping without her. It might very well be another story as soon as we go out together but I surely wont force her into it and risk the current concessions by overdoing it.

> The more you go out doing ordinary things wearing a skirt the easier it becomes.

I had this experience before with being barefoot in public and wearing nail polish in public. There's always quite some adrenaline involved when going to new places but it wears down and gets normal. Today I won't even think about putting shoes on nor am I spending a second thought on others reactions to my nailpolish, but skirt wearing is still in its early days for me and far from normal. But I know the path ahead and will enjoy every second of it... :)

@rick401r
> I went out for a short walk barefoot, kilted, and my walking stick.
> I only walked less than a mile but got home with large blisters on both feet.

I've heard the same from a few other fellow barefooters and it seems pretty much caused by untrained soles. They are getting pretty smooth, thin and sensible in shoes and it needs some weeks of careful barefooting to build up a stronger sole. One of my barefooting friends, Martl Jung, crossed the Alps barefoot from Munich to Verona ( http://www.mobjects.com/index2.php?dv=n ... &type=list ). It seems our feet can endure much more than we usually think.

@Tom:
> uebrigens, Barfuss ist billiger!

Stimmt! :) ( I think, your German might be better than my English... ;) )

Yeah, I'm saving quite some money on socks and shoes - and even MOH is happy because she doesn't have to wash smelly socks anymore. :) And I've never had better shoes: quick drying, waterproof, airy, self repairing, self coloring... ;)

> Whereabouts in Germany are you? I lived & worked (Fachzahnarzt) in Nordenham, Niedersachsen for 8 years. (eine triste Gegend).

About 30 miles to the south of Frankfurt, in south west Germany. It's a small rural town here but not far from the big cities.
If you're always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.
(Maya Angelou)
Breezy
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Breezy »

Hello! I write back from liberal Berlin! Skirts are no problem here!
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Caultron
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Caultron »

Barefoot Joe wrote:...It seems my history of other "not normal" issues somehow prepared the terrain. ;)...
Yes, I agree it helps to have a history of odd or eccentric behaviors. Skirt-wearing, then, is just the latest one.
Courage, conviction, nerve, verve, dash, panache, guts, nuts, balls, gall, élan, stones, whatever. Get some and get skirted.

caultron
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Couya
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Couya »

One never knows what one might be walking on out in the streets, so i usually wear sandals, but I like to be barefoot whenever I can.
The most surprising thing for me is the reactions of people.
I get far more comments and disapproval about my bare feet than I ever have had about skirts or kilts.
"You can't go like that, it's dangerous, unhealthy, unhygienic, you'll catch cold, someone may tread on your toes ... etc etc." People can get really worked up about bare feet. Some have even offered to lend me shoes. Once, at a country dance group, I was literally taken to a shop to get shoes! (All with the best, kindest intentions, nothing violent).

Martin
Breezy
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by Breezy »

I really admire your bravery, its a nerve racking thing to do stepping outside societal norms and leaving yourself open to critisism. Breaking the mold so to speak. What are your reasons for walking bear foot?
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skirtingtoday
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Re: A friendly hello from Germany

Post by skirtingtoday »

Hi Barefoot Joe and a belated welcome to the site!

Good to hear that your initial steps have gone well, especially with your wife. 8) :D

I personally would not go barefoot in day-to-day living except at a sandy beach - and there usually without any clothing either! :shock:

Sadly I am one of the people here who's wife does not approve of skirts at home so I have to only wear them when alone. That is fine with me as I do most things skirted when I can (car, train, subway, flying, shopping, recycling areas, DIY shops and more) - just not with her.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on" - Winston Churchill.
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it" - Joseph Goebbels
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