From time to time I see a great piece that talks about some aspect of wearing heels, this is one of them. He states his thoughts about wearing heels as a man better than I ever could and it was a blast to read. So I am posting his article in its entirety for your reading pleasure. (If you are sensitive to language, be warned!)
I Don’t Need Vogue’s Permission to Wear Stilettos – Men in Heels is and Has Always Been OK
John Benge Wednesday 30 Aug 2017 6:00 am
I deserve to look fantastic; screw the fashionistas, pop stars and naysayers!
‘Manners maketh the man’ – apparently. Well, I’m about to get potty mouthed and show my true fashion colours.
I love shoes. I’m a male shoe whore, a total shoe slut.
I don’t care who knows or what people think because they are just shoes, just things that happen to be on my feet. And I doubt you’ll get corns because of my footwear choices.
The question is, do I need permission to wear heels?
Let me set the scene.
I’m an unrepentant high heel wearing guy with a sharp haircut and beard, who can rock a pair of stilettos.
Sure, a beard and heels is a look that is going to confuse, but it’s also upfront and honest – there’s no hiding with heels.
Plus, I’m the practical type. I don’t collect anything just to put it on a shelf and admire it, unused. Shoes should be worn.
You can imagine how grateful I was, overjoyed in fact, when a recent article in Vogue announced Should Men Wear Heels? Why Kanye, Justin Bieber, and Harry Styles Are On To Something.
Except these are not vertiginous stilettos.
In fact, do the examples even count as heels?
I am so cross right now I could throw the heels I’m wearing in anger! But I won’t, as they’re a very nice pair of shimmering gold spike heels and I wouldn’t want to ruin them
I get that fashion changes. It’s a fact of modern life. Yet it seems to stay the same, rooted to some basic ideas of what is right and wrong for men and women to wear.
I wear heels and wear them bloody well because I like to, not because a higher power or occasional heel-wearing pop star has given me permission or provided justification.
And this isn’t the article for you if you want an analysis of trendy gender fluidity, the breaking of clothing norms and push to a homogenous happy wardrobe filled with white cardboard dresses made by a Swedish furniture company.
I’m not trying to break fashion boundaries, honest – because men in heels has always been a ‘thing’.
But I won’t bore you with a history of how men invented, used or were the owners of high heels. There will be no discussion of the practical uses of heels, how they indicated status, etc either. Plenty has been written about this exciting trend (so it’s claimed).
What really makes me mad (I’ve moved beyond being peeved or irked) is being told what is and isn’t acceptable when it comes to my personal choices – I’m a f***ing adult.
I deserve to look fantastic; screw the fashionistas, pop stars and naysayers!
So I’m wearing the effing shoes, even if they do have heels. No permission required or sought.
These heels are mine, I’m putting my best feet forward in them, and you can pry my size 9 stilettos from my cold dead feet.
Comments