Doll Talk: CFM; hoohoo (& other) display stands

[Baker, John]

        A little earlier on fuck-me shoes, from a poem, "Writing the
Realistic Short Story," at page 20 of the collection Sentences, by
Howard Nemerov (1980):  "And when she stood there in the middle of the
room | On her round-heeled stilted hi-come-fuck-me shoes . . . ."

        The Shelley Winters autobiography referred to is apparently
Shelley:  Also Known as Shirley (1980), but I haven't seen the specific
text.  I was under the impression that Doc Martens did not make anything
that could reasonably be called fuck-me shoes.

John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Baker, John
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 6:52 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Doll Talk: CFM; hoohoo (& other) display stands

        I don't speak the language of footwear, but who could resist
fuck-me shoes?  I gather that they have stiletto heels and have
cross-over straps at the top.  The locus classicus is Germaine Greer's
1995 accusation, discussed in various noncontemporary sources, that
Suzanne Moore had "hair bird's-nested all over the place, fuck-me shoes
and three fat inches of cleavage".  Some people think that Greer coined
the phrase, but it's older, maybe quite a bit older.  From New Statesman
and Society, 12/8/1995:

        "I'd never heard the phrase "fuck-me shoes" before that little
dust-up between Germaine and Suzanne. Seems it's been around for years.
Shelley Winters uses it in her autobiography, describing how she and
Marilyn would raid the studio wardrobe looking for the strappiest shoes
they could find. Then off they'd totter in their FMs for a night on the
town. What a relief it is for a mother to see her own gels getting ready
for a night on the town, and lacing themselves into their "don't even
think about it, Sunshine" DMs."


        I don't know which of Shelley Winters's autobiographies is
referred to.  The earliest clear documentation of the term I see on
Google Groups is from 4/3/1993:  "With her loud makeup and fuck-me
shoes, she looked even more whorish than the sluts in adult films."
There's also this 10/19/1992 use from Google Groups, though:  "I liked
that one [sc. a commercial] too, but the better one was one of some
nerdy little red-headed boy in glasses hanging out when who walks around
the corner but this fabulous babe in a very very short spandex dress,
"throw me down and fuck me" shoes and large jiggling breasts.


        Just as popular, and in fact beating fuck-me shoes on Google,
are fuck-me boots.  These are high boots that go above the knee, in the
style of Mrs. Peel from The Avengers.  The earliest on Google Groups is
from 7/31/1991:  "what is a drug? anything that affects your behavior?
like a miniskirt and fuck-me boots?"


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 5:57 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Doll Talk: CFM; hoohoo (& other) display stands

My understanding is that the term originally applied to the extreme, red
platform high-heeled shoes popular (they say) on the club scene in the
'70s. The idea was that any female who wore such a striking (and pricey)
style was maximally wild and crazy and unabashedly looking for umlove.

JL

Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:

By coincidence, it was in 1990 that I first heard this term and, FWIW,
I've heard only the alternate form, "fuck-me shoes." I've never quite
been able to winkle any sense out of it, even though my wife and female
friends have pointed out to me examples of such footwear. And, if memory
serves, there was even an episode of Sex And The City that revolved
around such shoes. OTOH, its application to a skirt, a dress, or a top
would make perfect sense to me.

-Wilson Gray