are we going to become trendy?

[FGWJON]

as some of you know i work in Reading which like most other large uk towns/cities has quite a lively night life & thus the presence of lots of young men & women.during my normal late turn yesterday in between lusting after ladies & studying their footwear i noticed two chaps (who were not toghether) each with a girlfreind in tow wearing heels.The first gent appeared to have a pair of biege loafers with a 3" block heel,while the second seemed to be wearing a masculine style brown zip up ankle boots with a similar heel. If that is now enough the previous day i served a west indian gentleman who was wearing platform wedges...........On another note while watching Glastonbury last week on vid......i think the badn was called fernandez.....if i have got the name right the lead singer was wearing block heel boots as well......are we going back to the 70's......can we all go out with boots similar to what Dave Hill from Slade used to wear & become hot property with the ladies.......I'm certainly up for it.......

[shyguy]

lets hope you're right and it's becoming mainstream for guys to wear heels

[JeffB]

Mainstream? Trendy? Hmm! To tell you the truth, I really don't know. But then, would we want to be? I for one find what we do, wearing heels to be rather unique, to become just part of the landscape would cause this to lose it's specialness. But that's just my opinion.

[genebujold]

I believe there's a definate upswing. Prior to about two years ago I never saw any man in Vegas wearing heels (other than Halloween, where it's part of the costume for about 5% of us). In the last six months, however, I've seen three. That's still not very good odds, considering the fact that in the last six months I've probably made eye to shoe contact with between 10,000 and 18,000 men (perhaps 40 to 100 a day). Then again, it could be they do as I do and wear longer, dark pants, stay out of brightly lit areas, etc. I may have missed dozens! Even so, that's still only 1 to 3 per 1,000, at best - but that would be a definate trend, as there is a gap between 1976 and 2000 where I didn't see a single man wearing a high-heeled shoe. So, crunching those numbers that would be an increase from 1 in about 250,000 to 1 in about 750, or more than 250 times as many who're wearing heels now! Then again, three data points is no where near enough of a sample population to draw any definate conclusions one way or another. When the count gets to 100, I'll run the numbers again...

[asdf174]

It would be nice if It does. But around here I don't see it becomeing trendy anytime soon. (I'm in Kansas City, Missouri, United States.)

[sendra45]

Hi John, I two work in Reading but I have not seen any of this going on in my area. I promise to keep my eyes open more in the future! hope to meet you some time. Nigel

[new_look]

i dont believe it should be kept as a forbidden fruit with people laughing at you here and there. It would be much better to have heels available. I know some people get a kick out of being pointed out as different, but why should anyone have to hold back from what they would love to wear because of fearing what others are going to say or think. on note of trend, certainly ive seen a couple of men in heels about, and jade has just started a new job and says a guy at her place wears block boots. My opinion would be as it gets more popular, many men in particlar who have no interest in heels would criticise the same way they do gay people. Lets face it, although intelligent minded people have no problem with a gay bloke, there are still loads who enjoy turning their nose up or making comments, and in rougher occasions as far as getting beat up for it. I think a similar thing would happen if some blokes were presennted with having to accept 'womens' shoes as fashionable

[genebujold]

i dont believe it should be kept as a forbidden fruit with people laughing at you here and there. It would be much better to have heels available. I know some people get a kick out of being pointed out as different, but why should anyone have to hold back from what they would love to wear because of fearing what others are going to say or think.

Over here, that's not the problem. Rather, it's what they might do.

England may be violence free (I don't believe it in the least, though...), but America is still a frontier in some ways. Those who're different enough in some areas may be seriously injured, or killed. It's rare, but it still happens, and sometimes even the local law enforcement will look the other way until it's too late before saying, "ain't that a shame..."

Fortunately, you shouldn't have any problem street-heeling through most major cities on the East and West coasts here in America, and that includes New York, Boston, Washington D.C. and surrounding area, Atlanta, Chicago (with a large alternative nightlife), New Orleans, Denver, Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle.

Like most large cities, however, there are always areas where you're very safe, and areas where you're a moving target, regardless of what you're wearing. So if you're visiting America, ask the locals, or better yet, a qualified tourguide what areas are the safest with respect to alternative styles. Most of the cities I mentioned above have "highly tolerant" sections, and smaller, "anything goes" sections. You still have to follow the local laws, however (no public nudity...).