Shyheels

Interesting analysis from a practical business point of view. Can't fault your arguments.

I think you might be being a bit hard on Neanderthals!

League

(sorry, for some reason it posted twice)

League

Lead

Bingo

So true. Once upon a time I did lots of stretching for various sports - distance running and fencing sabre - and was as limber as gumby. I've long since lost all that and as I contemplate trying to get that back, and realise the low base from which I am starting,  I realise how much work and dedication it will take to get there and become too depressed to start...

I guess this same adaptability is how some people get used to walking in five inch heels - some to the point where they can no longer walk comfortably in flats. 

I agree. At best one might be able to market a Chelsea boot with slightly higher than expected heels. At best.

Jelly

Just add an NRA cap to your outfit. And scowl a lot. Crinkle your eyes like Clint Eastwood. Speak in a whisper. THey'll do anything to stay out of your way. 

Coroner

Cod

You seriously think that emphasising a perceived link to homosexuality is going to be a selling point to get mainstream men interested in, or accepting of, wearing heels? Seriously?

Even if everything you say is gospel, emphasising and underscoring a perceived link to homosexuality is hardly going to put heels for men on the fast track to mainstream acceptance is it?

Flaky

12 hours ago, kneehighs said:

You are putting FALSE words into my mouth.  I said "hundreds of positive comments".  I said thousands of likes.  The data was provided to suggest the potential reach of the Instagram engagement is in no way a "tiny portion of the world at large".   To prove reach and engagement, one would either pay a social media scraping service or manually count the numbers.  

I'm just clarifying that change is occurring.  That change can be put into perspective by marketing language.  That change is occurring within the millennial generation.  It's evident by supportive commerce and supportive media.  

The potential for reaching millions or billions does not equate to a reality of doing so. I might write a novel, put it on the web, charge ten cents per read and by tomorrow night be richer than JK Rowling, but that splendid idea and theory does not mean it will happen in practice. In fact you could bet very heavily against it - if you could find anyone to bet on the other side.

I do not know where these millennials are that you speak of - the ones who are embracing the notion of men in heels and to whom the images, contexts and references mentioned above are wildly exciting and eliciting change.  I can only assume they exist in the ether and in the ether alone, where it is easy for anybody to assume any identity they please and say what they like.

I live near London, one of the world cosmopolitan cities, and often go up there and I have never seen a single man, in any demographic, wearing heels.  Nor have I ever seen any on my travels, and I travel a great deal for work - more than 100 countries on every continent and to all 50 US states - but not once have I ever seen a guy in heels, or tall boots for that matter (other than equestrians, or hunters and fishing guides wearing the LL Bean type). And I spend many idle hours in airports and train stations people watching.  But none. Not one, Not ever. Nada.

Changes may well be happening in the bound-up world of men's fashion and footwear, but androgynous looks and Freddie Mercury styling and references to homosexuality - however oblique - are not going to be ringing in any mainstream changes, however many times they get Instagrammed.    

13 minutes ago, kneehighs said:

 

Good Instagram engagement (comments, likes, regrams = engagement) falls under 400 MILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE users.  This is not "tiny portion of the world at large" Source: AdWeek.com April 4, 2016

 Second, recent Pew Reseach suggests that Millenials outnumber every other marketing segment.  Source: PewResearch.org

Acceptance of men in heels from "the world at large" is already embraced by millenials.  Just because there's not evidence of change from within the Silent Generation or Baby Boomer, doesn't mean that change isn't happening. 

Going from 'hundreds of likes' as per your earlier post, to an assumption of 400 million is quite a leap, as is the assumption that based on a few hundreds of likes and/or comments that an entire generation has embraced men in heels. They haven't.

Interesting thought!

Good instagram engagement etc reflects an appeal to a certain specific demographic. While that demographic seems large and all encompassing to those who are within it - it's their whole world, after all - it represents a only tiny portion of the world at large. To the world at large these images and contexts serve only to deepen, harden and perpetuate already stronly held stereotypes.

It is the same whenever heels or tall boots appear on men in fashion shows - always with absurdist androgynous styles that would repel the vast majority of guys, or else in some tacky over-the-top campy way that most gays would avoid. Same as when a guy, for whatever reason, experimentally wears heels in the press - it's nearly always lipstick red stiletto pumps, to draw attention to the freak show.  I do not believe I have ever seen guys in heels, or tall boots, presented in the media in any normal attire, dressed as normal man-on-the-street guys would dress, so that one would would have to look twice to notice the footwear.  

Interesting point. One I never thought of, being able to play only the radio myself. But looking at the two photos one could readily imagine the sleeves on the jacket intruding themselves on the man's ease of play. As to your playing better without the accoutrements, do you play better in practice? I am assuming you don't dress up to the nines in practice (I mean at home, not rehearsals)

Testament

Jurassic

islay