What if it were reversed?

[jeremy1986]

So my wife recently started a new job. Part of it is working at a site that's currently under construction, so she has to wear safety gear - hard hat, vest and yes - steel cap safety shoes (I know some of you here are in the construction industry!). The company gave the employees an amount towards buying a pair of these shoes, and allowed them to buy whatever they wanted. What my wife bought is your standard safety shoe thing -much like this style - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Blundstone-140-Steel-Cap-Safety-Work-Boots-/172434370904

Yesterday she wore them around the house and while we moved stuff around (due to some construction - read a little more here) . She was wearing a nice denim skirt and these ugly boots - it really looked odd. And it struck me - this is kind-of the reverse case of what's more common on the site: a woman wearing shoes that are most generally worn by men. And it looked very odd, and really took me a while to wrap my head around it. So, yes - seeing us guys wearing heels and such just, looks odd. Its not necessarily about not having an open mind, or not allowing freedom of clothes etc - but it just looks odd, and takes getting used to! 

This site as we know, does not focus on crossdressing. But for the sake of comparison between our heeling and crossdressing - How would we all honestly react if someone close to us "came out" about wearing heels or items of the opposite gender?   Just food for thought. 

[RonC]

Good point jeremy.  But women have been wearing shoe and boot styles from the men's aisle for many years.  Wing tips, brogues, combat and construction styled boots, etc.  Yet those are considered a non-issue for women, and sometimes even the "height of fashion".  Seeing a lot of combat boot styles this year - and not liking it either...lol.

[pebblesf]

Well, I guess I'm wondering how she thought she looked in those boots....I would be worried if she thought she looked fashionable/great, but wouldn't worry if the outfit was something she just jumped into with little or no thought or concern.  Perhaps she was wanting to break in those boots a bit...

[Shyheels]

Yes, women borrow from the mens section regularly and with impunity - we half expect it and so while it may look momentarily dd, our brains adjust quickly. Men seldom if ever borrow (publicly) from the women's aisle and so we do not expect to see a man in, say, heels. It looks odd and it is that oddness that jars, not necessarily the look itself. 

[Cali]

A woman can look very feminine in men's clothing or look very butch. It's just how she presents herself...the whole look, hair, etc. Not just what she is wearing.

I have been BUYING (not borrowing) from the women's section for years now. What matters to me is fit and how it looks on me, not what label or section somebody puts it in. I have been blending my clothes depend with how they look together. And my wardrobe is more colorful as a result.

Men's clothes don't make a man a man and women's clothes don't make a man a woman.  I may dress in 100% women's clothes and still project the image of a confident man. I fact I did it twice this week and had several comments on my outfit each time. It's more than what you have on, but how you wear it as to how it is perceived.

The only reason more men don't shop where ever they want to is because they are afraid of what others might think, a.k.a. herd mentality....Is that a manly trait?

Edited December 6, 2019 by Cali

[pebblesf]

7 hours ago, Cali said:

A woman can look very feminine in men's clothing or look very butch. It's just how she presents herself...the whole look, hair, etc. Not just what she is wearing.

I have been BUYING (not borrowing) from the women's section for years now. What matters to me is fit and how it looks on me, not what label or section somebody puts it in. I have been blending my clothes depend with how they look together. And my wardrobe is more colorful as a result.

Men's clothes don't make a man a man and women's clothes don't make a man a woman.  I may dress in 100% women's clothes and still project the image of a confident man. I fact I did it twice this week and had several comments on my outfit each time. It's more than what you have on, but how you wear it as to how it is perceived.

The only reason more men don't shop where ever they want to is because they are afraid of what others might think, a.k.a. herd mentality....Is that a manly trait?

I agree.  But societal "norms" are pretty powerful, and most of us me have experienced fear of herd mentality judgements.  

[Shyheels]

Don't underestimate the power of the herd - it can crush. 

[jeremy1986]

On 12/6/2019 at 5:33 PM, Shyheels said:

Don't underestimate the power of the herd - it can crush. 

Totally... 

I agree with most of you guys have said. Its not unusual for women to wear this kind of shoe … it just looked odd with a skirt, and not having seen my wife in that kind of shoe before. I don't think she "likes the look" per se, doubt she will be wearing them unless she really has to, and isn't part of "a look". And that was the point I was making, when we do get some "offish" comments from our loved ones - it might just be because it looks odd and usual to them, and having seen this in the reverse, just made me think about it - like we are expecting (or wishing) total acceptance and even support & encouragement, and need to sometimes look at it from the other side.

 

 

[mlroseplant]

I am fairly used to seeing women in construction garb--the one place in the world where men and women dress pretty much the same. Sometimes, the women can put their own twist on the required clothing--there is one female engineer at our job who doesn't actually turn wrenches, but is required to wear all the safety stuff. She tends to wear skinny jeans tucked into logging boots, to good effect.