I’ve never painted my toenails, and only rarely my fingernails, so I was totally shocked the other day when my co-worker was complaining that she really wanted to wear sandals somewhere, but hadn’t had time to paint her toes, so she wore tennis shoes instead and felt stupid and clunky. I asked why she just didn’t wear the sandals with her toes just the way God made them (okay, I didn’t say THAT) and she acted like I had asked her to strip naked and waltz across Public Square. She implied that the sight of naked unpainted toes was somehow disgusting. I was unrepentant, and really wished I had sandals at work to put on and gross her out!
Now, I’m 51. It seems to me that at some point in all those years, I would have noticed if a single other person on the planet had looked at my unpainted toenails and reeled with nausea. In fact, I have been in her presence in barefeet and sandals before, and I’ve never noticed her reacting negatively. So is this just one of her (many) hangups about appearance, or did I somehow miss another memo? Is there an unspoken rule about naked toenails that no one clued me in about? Do any of you have the same problem with letting your nekkid tootsies appear unadorned?
I don’t think you have to paint them. I do think sandals look better when you do. Then I have ugly feet so I have to do something before I dare show them in public.
You don’t have to paint your toe nails; however, you sure as shit need to make sure that your feet are groomed if you’re going to flop them out for all to see.
This means making sure your heels are smooth, you nails are clean and trimmed, and generally the nastyness of your feet (which are basically nasty) has been kept to a minimum.
I will say if you’re wearing a very feminine sandle an unpainted toenail will probably look out of place unless it’s very nicely buffed so it’s looking good.
ETA - if you DO paint your toenails and haven’t done it in a while and they’re all chipped and gross you DO need to either take the polish off or touch it up before you bust those bad boys out. I mean EW.
I’d say yeah, they need to be polished. Also, if your ears are pierced, you need to have earrings in them. Also, if you have belt loops showing, you need to have a belt in them.
Wait, I have pierced ears. The holes are so small, even I have trouble finding them when I want to put earrings in. Now you’re telling me I have to wear earrings all the time? How did I miss this development in proper grooming?
Yes, this is a new rule to me as well. I’d never claim to be fashion forward, but I think I would notice if every woman of my aquaintence always wore earrings.
Oh, and I never paint my nails, as I’m crap at it.
With all my digging in my back yard (I’m like a freakin’ terrier! {except if terriers dug with spades, and got dirt in their runners}), I paint my toenails so you can’t see all the dirt.
I always have painted toenails - polish stays on toes forever. I personally think unpainted toenails are kind of a gross yellowish, greyish colour, so I don’t like to see that on my feet (plus the afore-mentioned constant dirt). To each their own, though; I wouldn’t like to see your toenails in sandals if they are all dirty and ragged and long and stuff, but painted doesn’t make much difference to me. Now, can we discuss people wearing clothes that fit, and don’t look like uncomfortable, stuffed, bulgy sausages?
I adhere to the painted toenails rule. I assumed it was common knowledge; I don’t recall anyone ever having told me, so as far as I know it is an unspoken rule.
I’m also on board with the earrings in pierced ears rule, but I thought I made that one up. When I can’t be bothered to coordinate, I just wear studs.
I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing toe-exposing shoes without having my toenails painted, but I wouldn’t judge anyone else’s feet as wrong for having unvarnished nails. She’s projecting her comfort level onto the world at large, so she’s silly.
I don’t think you have to have painted toenails, but I think most people’s bare feet look nicer with painted toenails, to the extent that I painted my toenails when I had one leg in a cast. It was a little odd, but I did whatever I could do to fel well-groomed in that situation.
Goodness, that never occurred to me. But now that I think of it, I really prefer clean, bare toenails anyway. I often find the polish to be jarring, drawing more attention to the foot than it would otherwise attract.
I can’t find a cite but I remember reading either is acceptable but only if the feet are properly groomed. I used to paint, but now I just make sure my nails and cuticles are trimmed and all surfaces are kept smooth and soft. It’s something you pay attention to every day, even with polished nails.
Just for the record, my toenails are clean and trimmed and not in the least bit yellow or grey…just the same pink and white color as my fingernails. My heels are smooth and not cracked, and I make sure any Hobbit-hairs are gone before they see the air. There is a tiny, tiny problem with my baby toenails, as they come in two sections, but no one can see that without being really, really close (you can bet I’ll be self-conscious if the next CleveDopeFest is in warm weather). Oh, and my mom always implied that girls who painted their toes were a bit…fast.
So do you even notice if people’s toes aren’t painted? I would think, if you are self-conscious about your feet, you WOULDN’T paint them, because that just attracts the eye to them.
Oh, and my ears are pierced,but I’ve let the holes close up…I’ve been thinking about re-piercing though, but only one hole per ear…I’m a staunch traditionalist in that respect, and even made my daughter sign a contract promising not to get multiple holes when she begged to get HER ears done…at nine…she still carries the darn contract in her wallet to show people who ask her!
No, before you ask, I don’t think men should paint their toenails (personally I think saying women have to do so is kind of silly too, but whatever makes you happy).
But what is it with certain guys who wear sandals even with dress pants, and their feet are nasty? Ungroomed nails, dead skin, snaggly toes, rough heels–guys, women don’t want to look at your nasty feet any more than you want to look at theirs.
I wonder if this is a cultural thing, because 100% of the nasty feet I’ve seen with dress pants have been on middle-aged Indian (as in from India) guys. Before anybody jumps down my throat, I’ve seen many (far more, actually) well-groomed Indian guys (middle-aged and otherwise) in proper shoes. But I’ve seen enough leather-sandal-wearing, dress-pants-clad, nasty-footed Indian guys around here to make me wonder. Anyone know? Sandals with dress pants look odd enough to my Western eyes without compounding it with general lack of foot care.
Sorry about the hijack. Just something I’ve wondered about for awhile. No offense intended to anyone–just trying to fight my ignorance.
