On Wearing Tall Boots

[Shyheels]

I've mentioned this before but it continually amazes me that tall boots are not in fashion for guys - either with or without heels. Here in England we've not really had a summer this year, especially up north where I live, and lately it has been far more like late October than late August.  With cold hard rain, wind and chilly temperatures being the norm, boot season has arrived early - and once again I am happy be warm snug in my knee and OTK boots. The difference in warmth and comfort between wearing them and regular 'guy' shoes is startling. Not all of my tall boots have heels - it's about fifty-fifty - but all are perceived as feminine because boots have an element of theatre to them and that's considered a feminine attribute. Guys are not supposed to indulge in theatre when it comes to fashion, but to be all business and practical. But in cold weather boots could hardly be more practical. Surely they could be made fashionable for men? Perhaps if there were seen more? Obviously I'm doing my little part, but alas I doubt many people are going to be looking to a bohemian bargee for their style cues. 

[mlroseplant]

It's kind of a curious thing, isn't it? Here in Middle America, it has become way more acceptable for men to wear a wider variety of colors, and pink has become a favorite on the construction site. Maybe it's the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign that did it, but nobody even bothers to mention anything anymore if a guy shows up in a pink shirt, even if it's not Friday.

However, outside of equestrian circles, I do not see tall boots on men around here. With one exception: Latino laborers. Maybe not knee high, but they often wear their boots on the outsides of their pants. Plenty of men still wear cowboy boots around here, but always on the inside, and I doubt we've got any secret knee-high Luccheeses underneath there.

[Shyheels]

Yes, if you’re not riding a horse or a motorcycle - in short, have some accepted practical use for tall boots - you shouldn’t be wearing them, according to the uptight rules governing men’s fashion. Adding heels makes them even more unacceptable, but even flat soled knee and OTK boots will raise eyebrows if worn by a man.

I wear knee and OTK boots as a matter of course, mainly low heeled ones given the fact that I live along muddy towpaths. To be fair I’ve only had a few comments - and nothing overtly negative - but it does surprise me that more men don’t wear them. It seems like this is one bit of formerly masculine fashion that we could reclaim 

[Cali]

Hey, I do my part with knee high boots.

[Shyheels]

I know you do!

 

 

[CAT]

I definitely do my part.  Boot season is my fav.  I am packed with otk and even thigh high.   Prob 10 if that with no heel.  Over 100 degrees in Chicago the last couple days.   Definitely no boot weather. More like stay inside weather! 

[Shyheels]

Snap! It's stay inside weather here! Rain all day and chilly too. But staying nice and warm in jumpers and OTK boots as I work 

[Cali]

Fog just lifted...should be a nice 75 F today.  Sorry. It was 95 yesterday where I work...not boot season, BUT, I have been known to wear knee highs with shorts in that weather.

Edited August 28 by Cali

[Gige]

9 hours ago, CAT said:

I definitely do my part.  Boot season is my fav.  I am packed with otk and even thigh high.   Prob 10 if that with no heel.  Over 100 degrees in Chicago the last couple days.   Definitely no boot weather. More like stay inside weather! 

Yeah, the weather here has been brutal this week! It's not even boot season inside! Like you, can not wait for the cooler weather to break out my favorite boots! 

[Shyheels]

Regardless of the weather I feel certain that there is a latent desire out there for a greater more daring choice in footwear among men and that tall boots would be a saleable proposition is marketed intelligently. 

[mlroseplant]

The weather has been brutal here as well, until yesterday, when it was less brutal. All this talk about "doing my part" has got me to thinking that I better check out my collection to make sure I don't need to replace or augment anything. I put quite a few miles on my black, block-heeled Vince Camuto knee-highs last year, and I was beginning to detect signs of possible failure. I can remember thinking that those boots were just for showing, not for walking. I really hope I'm wrong about that.

23 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Yes, if you’re not riding a horse or a motorcycle - in short, have some accepted practical use for tall boots - you shouldn’t be wearing them, according to the uptight rules governing men’s fashion.

I have run into the same phenomenon with shaving legs. It's perfectly acceptable IF you "have" to do it for some kind of sport, but otherwise.  .  . you a little weird.

[Shyheels]

Yes, some cyclists used to do that but for what specific purpose no one can say - lots of ideas but none of them actually bear scrutiny. It was fine because it was done and therefor the thing to do! Silly.

[Cali]

I think cyclist did it for road rash reasons. If you ever lay down your bike and scrap body parts you would understand. Swimmers do it for speed (less resistance).

I often need to tape my legs and KT Tape does not work well with hair of any length. Hair does not stretch so the tape does not work as it should. As a result I get my legs waxed when they need to be. Even though I might not see any hair, I certainly feel it when I remove the tape.

[Shyheels]

Yes road rash is one of the oft stated reasons for cyclists shaving their legs, but there is no medical logic behind it, just a kind of myth, believed and followed by many. 

[CAT]

I shaved mine in 2020 for my knee replacements and kept them clean ever since 

[Gige]

5 hours ago, CAT said:

I shaved mine in 2020 for my knee replacements and kept them clean ever since 

Replacements? Yikes!!! Have you had any problems wearing heels due to the new joints? 

[Cali]

9 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Yes road rash is one of the oft stated reasons for cyclists shaving their legs, but there is no medical logic behind it, just a kind of myth, believed and followed by many. 

It's only a myth until you get the road rash and your hair mats down into the blood and scratches. Been there.

[Shyheels]

You’re not going to feel great with road rash whether you shaved your legs or not. Nobody does it today. It was a thing people did - sometimes saying it was in case of road rash, sometimes saying it was to reduce drag - using the same logic racers have been known to remove stickers from their bikes to reduce weight (seriously!)

Mainly doing it because everyone else was doing it.

I’ve never raced but over the years I’ve toured all over the world, riding at least a quarter of a million miles in all - I’ve experienced road rash a time or two …

 

[mlroseplant]

I work with three guys who are at least semi-serious runners. I think all of them have done at least one marathon, and they do shorter long races on a regular basis. Get all three of them together, and the talk soon turns to this running shoe vs. that running shoe, what do you use for heart monitor/GPS, etc., etc. The reason I bring this up is because somehow they got talking about leg shaving one day. Evidently, some runners shave their legs. All three of them think it's ridiculous. One of the guys said, "C'mon, you're not a swimmer! You can't tell me that a little bit of hair is going to create that much drag at speeds we can run."

Then they got into talking about how some guys will show up at a race with  stubble on their legs, like they forgot to shave for a few days. I, not being a part of that conversation at all, quipped dryly, "Yeah, I hate it when that happens." They laughed, but had no idea why I thought that was a humorous thing to say. Don't get me wrong, even though this particular group of guys doesn't know me outside of work, I never got the impression that they were ridiculing a guy for shaving his legs. They were ridiculing any perceived performance gains, much like Shyheels feels about guys who remove decals off their bicycles.

In order to tie this all back together, I'll repeat what I said before--It's perfectly acceptable for any guy to wear tall boots if there's some perceived practical reason for it. I think we got off into this leg shaving business because the attitude is pretty much the same. Of course, it's all ridiculous and subjective. Why do body builders shave pretty much their entire body, and that's just fine, but if I did it, I'd be really strange.

[Shyheels]

Laurent Fignon lost the 1989 Tour de France by only 8 seconds - the closest finish in the history of the race. Some physicist who obviously had far too much time in his hands spent ages working out all sorts of what-if drag coefficients and reckoned that had Fignon cut off his ponytail the reduced drag over the 2000 mile course could potentially have won him the Tour.

I did gave somebody ask me, upon seeing me in knee boots, where my horse was. He was wearing some kind of Nikes so I asked him where his basketball was. And he thought I was being snotty 

Edited August 30 by Shyheels

[CAT]

10 hours ago, Gige said:

Replacements? Yikes!!! Have you had any problems wearing heels due to the new joints? 

No there are no issues at all.  Was a very big concern prior to the surgery.  Best thing I have done.   Some of the others can tell you how now legged I was from the pics I posted.  You could see it in the past posts. 

[Gige]

34 minutes ago, CAT said:

No there are no issues at all.  Was a very big concern prior to the surgery.  Best thing I have done.   Some of the others can tell you how now legged I was from the pics I posted.  You could see it in the past posts. 

Great to hear! 

[pebblesf]

On 8/28/2024 at 1:11 PM, CAT said:

I definitely do my part.  Boot season is my fav.  I am packed with otk and even thigh high.   Prob 10 if that with no heel.  Over 100 degrees in Chicago the last couple days.   Definitely no boot weather. More like stay inside weather! 

For sure!  Hoping I can join you sometime with my tall cowgirl boots and gloss black Hunter rain boots!

[Gige]

I think that the reason men do not wear tall boots outside of necessity (equestrian, parade uniform, etc.) is due to two reasons. First, a man wearing tall boots simply for the pleasure of doing so (heel height notwithstanding) may make that person appear a bit eccentric. The same could be said for a man (on this side of the Atlantic) wearing a beret or fedora, an ascot, or a cape. All of these may be perfectly fine items to wear at most anytime and, in fact, may be specifically designed for men but given how they may be viewed others, men would not want to wear them. It seems to me that most men are more comfortable in simply putting together an outfit very quickly and without much thought or fanfare rather than incorporating any sort of style into it. There are certainly occasions when this is appropriate, such as when one is running errands or may become sweating or dirty. I tend to think that for most men, however, the greatest effort they will extend in creating some degree of a fashionable/dressy outfit comes when they have to wear a jacket and necktie to some function/event.

Second, it is rather clear that society is more concerned with quick comfort than class or elegance. Take a look at photographs of travelers (via airlines) in the 1950s. It is fairly noticeable that both men and women put effort into appearance for traveling. Photographs of crowds from our parents time (at least mine) show men and women dressed in "better" attire even for "routine" gatherings. And now? When you are at an airport, do you observe anyone (other than me) dressed up for the flight? Instead, one is bound to see torn jeans, flip-flops, and other clothing that is probably more appropriate for lounging around at home than being in public. Thus, the lack of any standards has certainly helped create a culture where putting some degree of effort into what is worn in public is no longer important, especially to today's younger folks. I'm sorry, but wearing "jeans" in public that are missing more fabric than that which is actually holding them together means they should be thrown away or more likely, not bought in the first place. 

Anyways....

I very much enjoy wearing tall boots and will do so in the future, and cannot wait for the arrival of cooler autumn weather to start doing so again.  I have progressed to the point where I really do not give a [care] if someone thinks I look awkward, silly, ridiculous, or whatever. If they feel that way, that is their problem, not mine. I tend to think that those individuals who put effort into appearance when such is not required of them are seen as being somewhat eccentric when excessively casual seems to be the accepted norm/approach. For those who are interested, attached are photos of tall boots outfits I have worn to the office or out in public - simple but yet displaying some degree of style

 

 

Edited August 30 by Gige
Correcting typos (again!)

[pebblesf]

5 hours ago, Gige said:

I think that the reason men do not wear tall boots outside of necessity (equestrian, parade uniform, etc.) is due to two reasons. First, a man wearing tall boots simply for the pleasure of doing so (heel height notwithstanding) may make that person appear a bit eccentric. The same could be said for a man (on this side of the Atlantic) wearing a beret or fedora, an ascot, or a cape. All of these may be perfectly fine items to wear at most anytime and, in fact, may be specifically designed for men but given how they may be viewed others, men would not want to wear them. It seems to me that most men are more comfortable in simply putting together an outfit very quickly and without much thought or fanfare rather than incorporating any sort of style into it. There are certainly occasions when this is appropriate, such as when one is running errands or may become sweating or dirty. I tend to think that for most men, however, the greatest effort they will extend in creating some degree of a fashionable/dressy outfit comes when they have to wear a jacket and necktie to some function/event.

Second, it is rather clear that society is more concerned with quick comfort than class or elegance. Take a look at photographs of travelers (via airlines) in the 1950s. It is fairly noticeable that both men and women put effort into appearance for traveling. Photographs of crowds from our parents time (at least mine) show men and women dressed in "better" attire even for "routine" gatherings. And now? When you are at an airport, do you observe anyone (other than me) dressed up for the flight? Instead, one is bound to see torn jeans, flip-flops, and other clothing that is probably more appropriate for lounging around at home than being in public. Thus, the lack of any standards has certainly helped create a culture where putting some degree of effort into what is worn in public is no longer important, especially to today's younger folks. I'm sorry, but wearing "jeans" in public that are missing more fabric than that which is actually holding them together means they should be thrown away or more likely, not bought in the first place. 

Anyways....

I very much enjoy wearing tall boots and will do so in the future, and cannot wait for the arrival of cooler autumn weather to start doing so again.  I have progressed to the point where I really do not give a [care] if someone thinks I look awkward, silly, ridiculous, or whatever. If they feel that way, that is their problem, not mine. I tend to think that those individuals who put effort into appearance when such is not required of them are seen as being somewhat eccentric when excessively casual seems to be the accepted norm/approach. For those who are interested, attached are photos of tall boots outfits I have worn to the office or out in public - simple but yet displaying some degree of style

 

 

Great outfits indeed, those boots look great.  Amazingly powerful and alluring when paired with the sports gear for sure...

[Shyheels]

5 hours ago, Gige said:

I think that the reason men do not wear tall boots outside of necessity (equestrian, parade uniform, etc.) is due to two reasons. First, a man wearing tall boots simply for the pleasure of doing so (heel height notwithstanding) may make that person appear a bit eccentric. The same could be said for a man (on this side of the Atlantic) wearing a beret or fedora, an ascot, or a cape. All of these may be perfectly fine items to wear at most anytime and, in fact, may be specifically designed for men but given how they may be viewed others, men would not want to wear them. It seems to me that most men are more comfortable in simply putting together an outfit very quickly and without much thought or fanfare rather than incorporating any sort of style into it. There are certainly occasions when this is appropriate, such as when one is running errands or may become sweating or dirty. I tend to think that for most men, however, the greatest effort they will extend in creating some degree of a fashionable/dressy outfit comes when they have to wear a jacket and necktie to some function/event.

Second, it is rather clear that society is more concerned with quick comfort than class or elegance. Take a look at photographs of travelers (via airlines) in the 1950s. It is fairly noticeable that both men and women put effort into appearance for traveling. Photographs of crowds from our parents time (at least mine) show men and women dressed in "better" attire even for "routine" gatherings. And now? When you are at an airport, do you observe anyone (other than me) dressed up for the flight? Instead, one is bound to see torn jeans, flip-flops, and other clothing that is probably more appropriate for lounging around at home than being in public. Thus, the lack of any standards has certainly helped create a culture where putting some degree of effort into what is worn in public is no longer important, especially to today's younger folks. I'm sorry, but wearing "jeans" in public that are missing more fabric than that which is actually holding them together means they should be thrown away or more likely, not bought in the first place. 

Anyways....

I very much enjoy wearing tall boots and will do so in the future, and cannot wait for the arrival of cooler autumn weather to start doing so again.  I have progressed to the point where I really do not give a [care] if someone thinks I look awkward, silly, ridiculous, or whatever. If they feel that way, that is their problem, not mine. I tend to think that those individuals who put effort into appearance when such is not required of them are seen as being somewhat eccentric when excessively casual seems to be the accepted norm/approach. For those who are interested, attached are photos of tall boots outfits I have worn to the office or out in public - simple but yet displaying some degree of style

 

 

Men are not encouraged, or allowed really, to indulge in any form of theatre in their dress. It’s quite puritanical really - dark colours, simple styles, nothing that smacks of idiosyncrasy or individualism. Conformity is the rule.
Tall boots are a form of theatre - permissible for women but not for men. But I like tall boots and am no longer willing to be bullied away from wearing them.

I too recall the days when people dressed up to travel. My mother certainly did and she made sure we kids wore nice clothes when we travelled. I am no fashionista. I’m quite casual. But there is no way I would ever how up for a flight dressed like so many people you see in airports today - even in the business lounges.

I wear tall boots now as a matter of course, pretty much every day - although not generally with heels given the muddy towpaths on which tread every day, I no longer notice if anyone thinks it’s odd. Wearing tall boots has simply become my norm

those are nice boots and a good look by the way. I wear mine in similar fashion

[pebblesf]

3 hours ago, Shyheels said:

Men are not encouraged, or allowed really, to indulge in any form of theatre in their dress. It’s quite puritanical really - dark colours, simple styles, nothing that smacks of idiosyncrasy or individualism. Conformity is the rule.
Tall boots are a form of theatre - permissible for women but not for men. But I like tall boots and am no longer willing to be bullied away from wearing them.

I too recall the days when people dressed up to travel. My mother certainly did and she made sure we kids wore nice clothes when we travelled. I am no fashionista. I’m quite casual. But there is no way I would ever how up for a flight dressed like so many people you see in airports today - even in the business lounges.

I wear tall boots now as a matter of course, pretty much every day - although not generally with heels given the muddy towpaths on which tread every day, I no longer notice if anyone thinks it’s odd. Wearing tall boots has simply become my norm

those are nice boots and a good look by the way. I wear mine in similar fashion

I'm with you buddy.  I think I look great in my boots, and no longer care what other's think.  I suspect many guys notice my boots, and are secretly envious....

[Shyheels]

I agree - I suspect plenty of guys would secretly like to try wearing boots and/or heels, for curiosity’s sake and the sheer pleasure of breaking ranks, if nothing else but are held in check by fearfulness. How nice it is to let go of that,

[pebblesf]

On 8/31/2024 at 1:55 AM, Shyheels said:

I agree - I suspect plenty of guys would secretly like to try wearing boots and/or heels, for curiosity’s sake and the sheer pleasure of breaking ranks, if nothing else but are held in check by fearfulness. How nice it is to let go of that,

You are sooo right.  I am so happy to be over all that "fearfulness", can wear most of my boots just about anywhere without worry, which is the best feeling ever.   I recently bought a pair of those Hunter gloss black tall "refined" rubber rain boots, love those as well.   I just wish I could help some guy get over all the ridiculous fears I suffered with early on, without wasting valuable time and enjoyment.  "Bootbuds", whether they be guys or gals, are a great way to ease your fears when out in public.  "Confidence in numbers" seems to work.  

[Shyheels]

Ah yes, Hunter boots - the very posh gum boots worn by the country gentry over here. I’ve a pair of those as well. Mine are the classic green. Extremely well made and good for walking.

I too regret lost time - years of fretting over my partiality to what designated as feminine style boots. And now I marvel that I ever worried about it.