Interesting comments, Balacau.
In 1978 a friend of mine wore a pair of his older brother's shoes to school one day. They'd begun to drift out of style by then, but he wore them anyway, and received a few comments. Since it was that era, however, there wasn't any stigma attached to it. I was intrigued and he let me try them on. The heels were a good 3-1/2 inches, which meets nearly all definitions of a "high heel."
As for broad acceptability as a male fashion, that will come when it reaches a certain critical mass, provided, and this is key, that it's done in a tasteful manner, and with styles more appropriate to general acceptance by the male population at large. I think we've seen that most women have a much less difficult time accepting a man in heels than do most men, but I think most men's reluctance to buck the norm is merely reflected in their fairly conservative fashion choices, anyway. For some reason, the need to conform is greater among men, while the need for individuality appears to be greater among women, and explains why the women's department at JC Penny's has more than twice the selections as does the men's department (particularly in the shoe department!
Nordstroms, for example, has 3,268 selections for all women's shoes, yet only 1,017 selections for all men's shoes - less than a third the selections. |