The return of Men's Highed Shoes?

["Wellies"]

So you Want High Heels to be Fashionable for Men

I would guess that this is the hope of all the male members of HH place, but how can it be achieved? Well this is only my opinion, but it will take an organised and well-planned effort if the members of HH-place were to achieve it alone. But I suspect we can push it a bit further forward, though in the main it will be the pop music world and the media that will do most of it if it is to happen at all.

I think it would be counter-productive to set our goals too high. There is no way I can see that you are going to get the average Joe into 4 inch stilettos. But there is every possibility of getting him into 2 to 3 inch block or Cuban heels. It has been done before, twice in my lifetime. Once in the 1960’s with the Beatle boots, though it was mainly teenagers then and as we all know, again in the 1970’s.

What is required then? A well-organised campaign, possibly, are there any members of influence in the media or the pop world. Though realistically, can we pool our efforts particularly with the shoe designers, and manufacturers?

Thighboots2 told us that he has bought some men’s boots made by YLS, boots with a 7cm heel but they cost £400 or $795. For most of us that is too much but Zappos have some in their Men’s section made by Giorgio Brutini, these cost $84. These are boots with a 2 to 2½ inch (5 to 6cm) heel obtainable in several styles for around $84. We really ought to ensure that when anybody tries to test the market with men’s high-heeled shoes they find that there is a big interest out there.

So, may I suggest that if anybody discovers a source of men’s shoes that have a heel over 2 inches that they bring it to our attention immediately, and then we all buy them or at least make enquiries about them. As we all know if a style sells well the shops will pressurise their suppliers for more.

I am not sure how useful it is if a few “old goats” like me are seen wearing shoes that are a throwback to the 1970’s. The young will want to aspire to the male young “celebs”. If the “Celebs” were to take to high heels that is another matter altogether.

I think another area that we might try is the cowboy/western boots. Most of the men’s cowboy boots don’t sport a high heel, though I thought in the 19th or early 20th centuries they would have done. Again enquiries with suppliers may help them realise that this is still some interest for proper cowboy boots with a heel of 2 to 3inches. Yes we can always buy women’s cowboy boots if our feet are small enough but that is not the point. In fact we can buy ladies 5inch stilettos, and wear them, but that s not going to get the rest of the men into any sort of high-heeled footwear. In fact the wrong sort of media coverage could put our campaign back by a decade or more.

Could HH place have a list of the current suppliers of men’s high-heeled shoes, which could be updated by the members? See some and let everyone else know about them.

Perhaps I have got it all wrong, so over to the other members for enlightenment.

[thedesigner]

The key to hh being mainstream is if its fashion again. The idea of "old goats" (your term) wearing heels is exactly the thing we dont want, 'old saddos wearing heels', cos we're not. We do it cos we like the style and need the young to get the same kick from it. Its bound to happen, fashion goes round - in ladies - but in gents its stuck in a play it safe environment, barring emos and goths, until another malcolm mclaren / vivienne westwood kicks off. When we were in another life, heels were de riguer, and the higher they were the more you were respected for it. Nothin dodgy about it at all. Nevertheless, style should be individual by its own nature - in the home as well as on the street - borrowing and melding fashion by the individual, to show their personality, otherwise it's a 'me too' army. Soulmate and I like to stand out in the crowd; we have one life, so we like to give it some all the time, and like the admiration for being interesting. Of course at you rightly say, media coverage can go both ways. Fortunately I can wear the full spectrum of ladies shoes, being uk 6 - 7, but for those whose feet are larger, you are often forced to wear heels that are, candidly, fetish, once again giving a wrong impression. I'm reading the Barbaba Hulanicki autobiography, how her business started by word of mouth. Perhaps the fact of us all confidently wearing heels, with perhaps bracelets and nails, would in itself start a 'me - too' trend. believe me, fashion is unpredictable - look at the womens mags - "flares are in / flares are out" "skinny jeans are in / skinny jeans are out" - within the same week. A realisation that style is personal, and that confidence makes a big difference, is something we all should take on board ! Keep em high, and your heads too !! now that's my longest post ever, must indicate my passion !!

[roniheels]

There are all kinds of pictures and articles all over the web of men wearing high (stiletto) heels. More and more fashion shows are featuring males walking the runway in high (stiletto) heels. Maybe I'm just trying to be optomistic, but I lived through the 70's during the female and male high heels craze. It started similar to what we're seeing on the web and in magazine articles. It started with a few men wearing them as a novelty. Then more and more wore them to live the fad. Then it was a combination of fad, trend, and then personal preference. Do you see any similarities? Man has gone through several evolutions in just the past 30 or 40 years. Maybe we'll see not as wide spread a trend in wearing high heels as it was years ago. What started out slowly back then as a unique fashion trend could evolve into the resurgence of high heels for the 21st century. Hope springs eternal!

[Rob]

Great post Wellies! At a UK size 8, I could buy women’s heels, and I have nothing against the idea. But nothing that I've seen in the women’s shoe departments (and me and my lady spend a lot of time in them) looks as good to me as the proper men’s heels I have. - Shoes designed to make my feet look bigger and with a masculine toe shape. And I expect a large majority of men - ones that have no interest in wearing heels (and don't visit here) - would buy them and wear them if they looked good in a masculine way. We are at a fork in the road:- This catwalk/high end trend could go mainstream in a big way, like in the 70's. Or it could just pass by and never take off. The key to it taking off is the right exposure. Guys looking good on the streets in manly looking heels (I'll be wearing my Johnny boots out today) features in the fashion/style press (not the gutter press making fun - like they did at Nicolas Sarkozy) and the right young bands and celebs wearing them. Let's do our bit to make this happen!