"high Heels Are Fine For Men" - Itv

Heelfan · 28th March 2008, 13:20

On ITV's late morning programme (UK) at 11.45am today, I was delighted to see a feature on "high" heel fashion trends for men. Presented by Fern Britten, the feature started with shots of Sarcosi(?) the new French president wearing stacked heels for his current UK tour, followed by shots of celebrities Tom Cruise etc. also in raised heels.
Then they returned to their TV studio with a guest male fashion guru holding up several examples of current boots and shoes from well-known stores - Aldo, Diesel etc. with heels up to about 2.5" (all normal male thickness heels and hardly tapered). Rather tame, you might say, but still a nationwide television plug in the right direction.

Then they brought out several male models wearing further boots and similar shoes with "high" heels. Although again only up to 2.5", not bad considering they are all for the mainstream market.

However, the best thing of all, was when presenter Fern Britten wrapped up the feature by summarising "HIGH HEELS ARE FINE FOR MEN!" !!!!

Is that remark cool, or what?

Cheers, Heelfan

"Wellies" · 28th March 2008, 13:46

Can we really dare to hope?

Heelfan · 28th March 2008, 20:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by "Wellies"

Can we really dare to hope?

I certainly don't see why we shouldn't dare to hope. Mainstream high heel fashions for men have happened before, and no, I'm not talking about 300 years ago!

The early 1970s saw the male street fashion for flared trousers and platform shoes with heels up to 4" or more for streetwear (and up to 12" or more for Elton John and other rock personalities on stage.

Then eighties saw Beatle-Boots becoming popular streetwear with no platform and somewhat slimmer cuban heels up to about 4". The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Tom Jones and many other celebrities popularised these heels, which also appeared on stylish shoes from Shelley, Mr. Henry and other trendy London shoe stores.

If it's happened twice within my own lifetime, it's bound to come round again, and with todays more tolerant and unisex attitudes, maybe the mainstream male fashion wll embrace even higher and slimmer heels this time around.

Cheers, Heelfan

"Wellies" · 28th March 2008, 22:42

My memory dates Beatle Boots in the 1960's rather than the 80's, in fact I can't recall high heels for men since the late 1970's. I got married in 2" (5cm) cuban Heels in 1979. But my memory is not up to a lot nowdays so I am willing to be corrected.
However this is promising, thank you for letting us know about the program.

loswabs · 28th March 2008, 22:55

Last night me and the wife were out in London, and I chose to wear 4" high heel stiletto boots under a pair of fairly tight fitting jeans. We started the evening in Oxford Street for a lil bit of late shopping, moved onto a Starbucks for a couple of coffees, and finished in a bar to just be part of the scenery. We walked around quite a bit for the evening, got no hassle, no snide comments or anything.

I did enjoy walking past a table of young ladies in the bar. Going past them one obviously noticed 'cos on the way back they all watched, mostly with nice smiles, not the piss-taking variety. Of course, I walked as slowly as I could once I realised I was being watched and gave it my full catwalk strutt

All in all, a very nice evening out

thedesigner · 28th March 2008, 23:46

nice one !! I did 4.5" heels in oxford st with soulmate on tuesday with brown nails and blue eyeshadow. The guy who owns our favourite restaurant (afterwards) asked how long i 'd been c/ding, not in a dissing way, cos he'd done nails too, and we talked openly about it - the answer is 35 years incidentally... well for heels anyway.
Nobody seemed to be negative, so please go ahead!!!!
When heels come back, which they must do as fashion is cyclical, we can just go higher....

roniheels · 30th March 2008, 02:37

Hope springs eternal. I will keep my fingers crossed, keep an eye on the media, and continue to wear high heels until wearing them publicly will once again be common place for both men and women.

Dr. Shoe · 30th March 2008, 09:30

I was wearing 4" men's cowboy boots as late as 1982...

Heelfan · 30th March 2008, 13:44

Correction Dr. Shoe:

As late as last month in London Bridge and Greenwich, as witnessed by me and Crotch-in-Boots you were still wearing 4" cowboy boots! (oh no sorry, they were your newish 4.3" cowboy boots!)

Cheers, Heelfan

Rob · 5th April 2008, 10:06

Thanks for telling us about that Heelfan. I don't suppose you or anyone else recorded it?

I, myself, have some 2.5" YSL men’s boots which I really enjoy wearing. But they are a little to high (and expensive) to wear all the time. I'd like to be able to buy other shoes/boots with a range of heights from 1.5 to 2.5 at a more affordable price.

I was in Aldo with my lady a few days ago, and did also look at the men’s shoes and boots, but didn't see anything with a heel over 1". Hopefully what you say they showed on that program will arrive in the stores in the next few months.

And if they do, all of us need to buy them and support them. If they sell well, they will introduce more styles. And if the higher ones sell the most they are bound to try introducing even higher ones.

And the more these "lower heels" are worn on the streets, the easier it will make it for you more extreme heelers.

If anyone spots any of these new mens heels in the shops, please post here - ideally in the For Everyone forum where even the non-heelers will see the posts. Also post them on any men's style/fashion forums you may know of. Spread the word!