When you look down at your feet, do your shoes give away your birthplace, income level or your social status? Do they tell the world what you do for a living, what your hobbies are or whether or not you’re married? Well, they used to. You Are What You Wear Shoes have been around in one form or another for thousands of years. Some of the earliest shoes were actually sandals worn by Egyptians and depicted the owner’s pecking order in society. Peasants tended to wear “comfortable” sandals made from woven papyrus with a flat sole that were lashed to their ankles with reeds. More affluent citizens could be identified…
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A Hairdresser’s Lament Things I learned (but will never repeat) in beauty school
While wrapping up the 1972 ski season, I met a male hairdresser who seemed to have everything I wanted: nice clothes, a new Porsche and lots of women. Wads of cash, thick hair on his chest, and lots of women. Socks with no holes, gleaming teeth and lots of women. But, what particularly impressed me was that he could afford a place without 18 roommates. So, at the end of the ski season, I moved into a studio apartment with two friends and enrolled at The Hair Academy of Beverly Hills. I didn’t do much research to see if it was a good school – I surmised if it was…
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Just Call Me Admiral The secret to earning respect: uniforms for everyone!
Immediately after graduating from high school, I made a bold move – I enlisted in the Navy. Even though the Vietnam War was revving up, it seemed like the right thing to do. I was a prime target for the draft, I had no aspirations for higher education and more importantly, I was sorely in need of discipline and organization. Unfortunately, it didn’t take me long to figure out that military life wasn’t for me – about 3 weeks. I didn’t particularly care for living in the same room with 40 other guys, I was never allowed to sleep in and I wasn’t very good at taking orders. But, it…