Joker

How high do you want the heel? I have a pair of the Brash Lunar wedges and the heel is 5 1/8" on a size 13 (platform is 1 1/4").

As a polite request, since some of us like to use threads like these for ideas on new boots we might like to get, could I humbly ask folk that when they post a picture of their new boots that they kindly include the brand name and the model name or number, in case we want to get a pair for ourselves, too. Thanks.

Sorry, I don't like them. In fact there haven't been any "heels for men" that I have like so far. The designers seem to be the ones who are stuck in a box.

I tend to agree here. If a manufacturer wants to market heels to men and gain a reasonably wide level of acceptance, they're going to have to avoid ultra-high fashion "catwalk" couture. The average guy isn't that fashion hyper-forward. Most guys also aren't comfortable walking in stillettoes yet, either. I think if a manufacturer wants to introduce men's heels, they need to focus in on the average man's comfort level and push it just a bit - begin offering traditional men's styles, but with a taller - though standard man's dress heel in the 1.5 to 2.5" range. Cuban heels can also easily be introduced into lines of men's shoes in gradually increasing heights as men become comfortable with wearing and walking in heels. They can also introduce some of the more unisex women's styles in men's sizes. These would primarily be thicker heels (.5-1.5" square at the base, or thicker), block heels, or wedges, with the occasional stilletto for the more daring or more slight-framed men out there. Until they gain full acceptance they probably need to keep to the "boring" basic shades of brown and black, though nothing says they can't experiment with different textures, exotic leathers, and suedes. Accents at first would likely need to keep at most to wider straps and/or buckles around the ankle - flowers and bows probably aren't ever going to gain wide acceptance as a male clothing statement. Sticking to classic more unisex styles initially would ease the transition for a much wider number of men who don't particularly want to look "girly". (Not that there's anything wrong for those that do, but you have to admit, they are a distinct minority of the male clothing buyers).

What's the brand and model number of those?

If you want something a little taller but with a western heel, you might consider these PL-RODEO-8822 boots from Pleasers. I think they are available up to a 15.

I have a pair of those. Just as an FYI, the heel profile does look very much like a Western heel, but it tapers in fairly sharply. At the base of the heel, it is only about an inch across. A true Western heel would only taper down to about 1.75 to 2" across. The narrower heel makes it much more wobbly than you'd think.

I've seriously considered taking them to a shoe repair place and having them knock the existing heel off, and replace it with an actual Western heel. I just haven't gotten around to it, yet.

Wellies, in his "The Return of Men's High-Heeled Shoes?" thread mentioned that Giorgio Brutini made taller, cuban-heeled boots for men. Granted "taller" is really just compared to men's shoes in general, and not high heels, as Brutini's cuban heels are in the 1.5-2.5" neighborhood. I was intrigued, so I looked in to them.

I've been weaing heels for my entire adult life, but not openly, just around the house, like many of the guys on this site. I'm still too chicken to wear what society deems "women's shoes" out in public. Now that I've looked at some of the styles that Giorgio Brutini offers, I'm thinking they might be a good way to slowly work higher heels into part of my normal wardrobe.

I'm not quite sure how to link in pictures here, yet, so I'll just post the URLs over to Zappos of a few different pairs that I like, and am contemplating purchasing.

Here's my quandry. I consider myself somewhat style-illiterate, and I'm looking to at least try to learn. I'd like to keep my overall dress style reasonably masculine, without drifing too far towards the dandy end of the spectrum. I respect the guys who go for the dandy look, but it ain't me. I'm just kind of trying to figure out how the snakeskin boots could coordinate in to an outfit.

While I like the look of the two snakeskin boots, the overall shiny-ness of the color seems to make it, in my mind, more of a dress boot, only. I don't know how it could work in to casual attire.

Also, and perhaps this is an unfortunate preconception of mine, but it seems to me that the reptile leathers in Brutini's style of footwear are primarily chosen by black men that prefer very fancy, very flashy attire that often straddles the boundary between "looking good" and "pimp." I don't think I could quite pull off the "pimp" look.

I'm a 6'0" tall caucasian guy, and at 230lbs, so I have a bit of a spare tire that I could afford to lose, but haven't. The flat leathers, I'd feel pretty confident, coordinating, but the skins have me puzzled. Would y'all have any suggestions of how to work the snakeskin boots into something casual that looks good and doesn't scream "off duty pimp"?

I appreciate the tips, y'all.

It's the hooker stigma. Most women think of heels higher than 4" as heels only worn by prostitutes or strippers, and don't want to be associated with that. When it comes to men there is no precedent, and no such stigma.

With men, I don't think it's so much that there's no precedent as that we tend to like that look. After all, if the hooker look DIDN'T attract guys, the hookers would quickly change attire, or go out of business.

Guys like the stripper/hooker heels look, and with most guys who enjoy wearing heels, there is a definite sexual/fetish aspect to it for them. They like the way it looks on women. They like the way it feels being around women in them. If that type of guy wants to wear heels, he's going to want to see what it feels like to wear the hooker/stripper heels, himself. He wants to know what that intensely sexual feeling is like from the other side.

Name: Steve

Age: 35

Gender: Male

Location: Atlanta, GA

Occupation: Engineer

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 230 lbs

Shoe size: US M11/ US F12(w)-14(w), depending on the manufacturer)

What's your favourite heel style: To look at: gently tapering stilletto, To wear: A little more chunky

What's your favourite shoe style: boots, sandles, pumps

Do you wear your heels outside: Only on very rare occasions

What is:

(a) Your favourite heel height: 3-4"

( Your highest heel height: 7.5"

How often do you wear:

(a) Your favourite heel height: daily.

( Your highest heel height: On occasion

Do you wear socks, hose, stockings or bare feet with your shoes: Socks or bare feet.

Anything else you wish to add: I'm still pretty much "in the closet" about wearing heels, although I do own over 80 different pairs.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071224071918AAiZhx9

I've been lurking her for a little while, now. And I've seen a couple of these Yahoo questions get posted here, and they always seems to get the exact same two responses: A)They must be gay. B)Eww! That's just WRONG!

Whether it should affect a person or not, seeing stuff like that is what intimidates most guys (myself included), from wearing in public.

It's pretty clear that it's something those people are not used to, and that it's something that intimidates and scares them a little. Hence the fall back to the ad hominen "He must be a fag." Obviously, they have no room in their minds for anything that's different from the way they thick it should be - but in the same breath they turn around and say that it would look normal on a goth guy. They don't even see their own double standard.

Frankly, to be honest, I suspect those opinions represent the vast majority of people - they view the idea that heterosexual men would even want to wear high heels as abnormal, and deviant. And that gives them every reason, in their own minds, to develop such intolerant attitudes.

It seems strange to us that people would develop such an intolerance for something that doesn't affect their lives in one way or the other, but they do.

What can we do, as a community, to lessen the fear and trepidation these other people have? For the most part, it's a completely harmless thing. But they neither see that, nor understand it.

I don't think men wearing high heels will ever be "mainstream" in my lifetime. It might reach the point where it's at least societally tolerated, if not entirely accepted. But how do we get to that point?