Seen out and About

[CrushedVamp]

My view on fashion is convoluted because it is ironically so simple: who gives a flying flip about what gender it is supposed to be for if its what you want to wear?

I wear leggings because they are warm and comfortable compared to sweatpants or long johns. And I think it is great that guys are wearing high heels because they were originally men's fashions. I don't care that women wear them now, but I would love to see it go back to where it is common place for men to also wear them.

I really cannot define it, but I just like seeing outfits that are well thought out and coordinate well. I can't define it, but I know when I see it. 

[Shyheels]

I'd love to see a return to that too, but once something has become "feminine" it seems to be forever out of bounds to all but a very small percentage of men. 

[mlroseplant]

Ah, like the belly button piercing, for example. It seems that there was some video back in the 80s, during the MTV times, whose popularity instantly made that particular piercing a female-only thing forever.

To put forth an unpopular opinion, which seems to be a thing on social media at the moment, so I'll bring it here: We like to say heels were invented by men for men, and while that's technically true, nobody was wearing what I consider "real" heels until the 1950s. Even King Louis XIV, whom many people like to look to for inspiration, did not wear "real" heels. At least not in that famous painting. The Persian cavalry did not wear "real" heels, they were for utility. The point is twofold: Firstly, what we are talking about centuries ago is fundamentally a different animal than what we have today, and second, it kind of doesn't matter anyway, because they are firmly entrenched in the worldwide psyche as being feminine, and it's going to be damn near impossible to get them back.

There is one hope, though. Long hair and earrings. We did get those back from the girls, so maybe high heels are simply unlikely, rather than impossible.

[Shyheels]

If you look at King Charles II’s coronation portrait he’s wearing real heels - they look to be about four inches. And at 6’1” he didn’t need the extra height. And the earlier Persian cavalrymen, while they  were not wearing towering heels - about 2 to 2.5” - they looked like what we would say today were very feminine ankle boots.

And bear in mind that when heels were in vogue for men, men were also wearing silk stockings, lace and bright colours, They all went together. I think it was real enough by our standards 

[mlroseplant]

Haha, I am so one-dimensional at times! I knew it in the back of my mind, but hadn't considered it in ages. That is, to pay attention to something besides the shoes. Yeah, men, or at least men of a certain socioeconomic class, were quite the peacocks, weren't they? Yeah, we're not getting that back, and I'm not sure we want that back, at least not all of it. Had the technology existed at the time, I suppose those guys would have worn stilettos.

[Shyheels]

Yes! It was WWII metallurgical advances that created slender steel rods of sufficient strength to make stilettos a viable proposition. The idea of stilettos had been around since the 20s but were impractical - the heels couldn’t be made strong enough. Roger Vivier introduced what we know as the stiletto in 1953 and they caught on quickly.

Ive no doubt that is the peacocks at the Sun Kings court could fave worn stilettos, they would have!

[CrushedVamp]

The only "heels" I know of today that is accepted in footwear for men in general terms is the "Logger Boots" that have a taller heel to them. I wore those for years, and probably still would if it was not for most having steel toes and being lace-ups. I have to wear safety toes, but they have to be composite and not steel because of the high voltage I work with, and the specific grounding situations inside substations. As for laces, I have just got accustomed to Sketchers slips in for sport, casual and work wear.

It is interesting about the history of heels though and how it came about. You are right though, in fashion once something is given the stigma of feminine it is hard to get back.

I do have another one though: leggings. They are slowly being adopted by men and women. It is more of jock wear then general acceptance but considered "unisex" now.

[Shyheels]

Cowboy boots have heels, but those have their own particular following. But they do have heels. Although I like chunky heeled boots, I’m not a fan but very much prefer the more feminine styles 

[mlroseplant]

I have some actual out-and-about news, and I have a picture. I didn't intend to have a picture, but when I sent a friend of mine a picture of my son playing with his jazz band, he wrote back to me, "Whose disembodied ankle do you suppose that might be in the far right corner? Betcha it's my beloved Brother's!" Meaning me. I could not figure out what in the heck he was talking about for a while, and then I remembered I had cropped the photo right after I sent it to him in order to get rid of the director's backside, which also got rid of the ankle and sandal.

Of course, it wasn't me, why would I be up on the stage? Somehow I think my presence there as an adult would disqualify them from the competition. Anyway, I finally figured out what I had done, and restored it to the original. As it turns out, the young lady in question plays the bass trombone, and my son didn't immediately say something negative about her, so I figure she must be OK. The band uniform is all black with a splash of color. All of the boys choose to do this with a necktie, but many of the girls choose to wear somewhat unusual shoes. In this girl's case, her splash of color was these shiny pink sandals.

I approached this girl after their performance and told her that I thought her shoes were really cool. She actually took it quite gracefully and naturally, which surprised me a bit. I think it helped that I was wearing heels myself, and also that her mother was standing right beside her at the time. I purposefully kept our conversation shorter than 15 seconds, but it might have gone longer if I hadn't stepped away. The sandals had a squared-off toe, which I'm not fond of, and oval shaped heels, which I'm also not fond of. I would estimate they were 3-3 1/4" in height, no platform. Not bad for this day and age!

[CrushedVamp]

Good for you @mlroseplant

I think it is so good to give the younger generation compliments. They get so many negative ones now, to the point where they now say a high schooler has the stress levels of a graduate student of 20 years ago.

As a father of daughters I always tried to encourage them to dress nicely and at times insisted on it. And of course their mother also dresses nice which hopefully will show them that dressing nice is important in life.

That is nice though that you complimented her and in a real, complementary way and one that was not creepy. I think today where encouragement is so often lacking that when it is done, it is ten times more powerful then the suggestions to dress like a slob.

[mlroseplant]

Haha, I only do it in the name of promoting high heels! I did not really introduce myself, but thinking about it in retrospect, the girl most likely already knew who I was. I mean, how many others dads show up to every band event wearing heels? Now, if only I could get my son to have a middle ground in his own style. It's either ratty t-shirt and jeans or suit and tie. And only the suit and tie when he is forced.

[Shyheels]

Big travel day today - Manchester to London to Leeds (and back to my boat) saw many a block heeled boot - from 2.5” to 3.5” but what surprised me was in Manchester I saw several quite high - 4” to 4.5” stilettos, both boots and pumps. And worn by people who knew how to walk gracefully in them. Their ages varied from about 30 to mid fifties.

it’s been quite a while since I’d seen people wearing high stilettos.

[pebblesf]

1 hour ago, Shyheels said:

Big travel day today - Manchester to London to Leeds (and back to my boat) saw many a block heeled boot - from 2.5” to 3.5” but what surprised me was in Manchester I saw several quite high - 4” to 4.5” stilettos, both boots and pumps. And worn by people who knew how to walk gracefully in them. Their ages varied from about 30 to mid fifties.

it’s been quite a while since I’d seen people wearing high stilettos.

great news indeed