What does""the term pinkie ring makes my toes curl"mean?

[reginaregina]

I saw this article from Esquire. Here is the column that people write to ask fashion questions.
The question: “Can you tell me your current thinking on wearing a pinkie ring?”
Nick Sullivan, Esquire’s Fashion Director:“I think I’m for it. The term pinkie ring makes my toes curl – have a seedy dash about them no matter whether you are to the manner born of, and they are favored by toffs and toughs alike. Either way, there is a whiff of the show-off about them."


What does "the term pinkie ring makes my toes curl-have a seedy dash about them" mean here? Thank you.

[bhaisahab]

I saw this article from Esquire. Here is the column that people write to ask fashion questions.
The question: “Can you tell me your current thinking on wearing a pinkie ring?”
Nick Sullivan, Esquire’s Fashion Director:“I think I’m for it. The term pinkie ring makes my toes curl – have a seedy dash about them no matter whether you are to the manner born of, and they are favored by toffs and toughs alike. Either way, there is a whiff of the show-off about them."


What does "the term pinkie ring makes my toes curl-have a seedy dash about them" mean here? Thank you.

Are you sure you have copied it correctly? The whole piece reads like a jumbled collection of thoughts.

[reginaregina]

Are you sure you have copied it correctly? The whole piece reads like a jumbled collection of thoughts.

Thank you for your time. Here is the whole answer.
“My current thinking, I think, is that I’m for it. I think that signet rings, for that’s what we’re speaking of here; the term pinkie ring makes my toes curl – have a kind of seedy dash about them no matter whether you are to the manner born of, and they are favored by toffs and toughs alike. Either way, there is a whiff of the show-off about them. I would say that if you’re going to wear one, keep the rest of the regalia (on wrists and fingers) to an absolute minimum. And do not, under any circumstances, refer to it as a pinkie ring.”

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for your time. Here is the whole answer.
“My current thinking, I think, is that I’m for it. I think that signet rings, for that’s what we’re speaking of here; the term pinkie ring makes my toes curl – have a kind of seedy dash about them no matter whether you are to the manner born of, and they are favored by toffs and toughs alike. Either way, there is a whiff of the show-off about them. I would say that if you’re going to wear one, keep the rest of the regalia (on wrists and fingers) to an absolute minimum. And do not, under any circumstances, refer to it as a pinkie ring.”

A pinkie ring is a rather garish gold ring worn on the pinkie finger (your fifth and smallest finger). The speaker hates the phrase "pinkie ring", preferring "signet ring". When we say that something makes our toes curl, it means that we dislike it, it makes us feel uncomfortable or slightly sick even!

[Barb_D]

Regina, it would have been very helpful to have had the full context from the beginning. The partial context made it very confusing.

[Tdol]

You can see why- a Google image search for pinky/pinkie ring brings up images of people wearing them, often critical, while a search for signet ring brings up respectable images of the rings themselves.