Articles tagged with "Femininity"

Style magazine Luxuo sizes up heels for men and how the fashion industry is adapting to more inclusive, genderless fashion.

From the article:

“People who are buying status footwear want to be recognisable,” said Bruce Pask, men’s fashion director at Neiman Marcus. “We’ve been moving in that direction of having more statement-making footwear. That means making bigger, higher and thicker shoes.”

“When I strut down the street in my heels, every part of my being feels right.” Shaobo Han, co-founder of Syro stated. “Wearing heels allows me to connect and embrace my femininity and explore the limits of fashion. I don’t believe that heels should have a gender, it belongs to everyone.”

"Similar to apparel, the declassification of heels as a “woman’s” shoe continues to unfold as clothing become less tied to one’s gender identity and sexuality. As men hit red carpets and magazine covers in gowns, there’s no reason they shouldn’t have a nice pair of heels to accompany them."

Original URL: https://www.luxuo.com/style/inch-up-your-footwear.html

Jharna Pariani writes for Fashion Psychology (@fashionispsychology) website to explore how fashion's influence can be used to dismantle gender stereotypes.

From the article:

"Before the 20th century, women were shamed for cross-dressing in men’s outfits. It wasn’t until the 1920s that women’s clothing finally gained liberation and did away with tightly laced corsets, bustled skirts and puffy sleeves. Women began embracing the androgynous look, also known as ‘La garçonne’, revolutionised by Coco Chanel who paved the way for women’s trousers through her masculine-feminine aesthetic. In 1966, Yves Saint Laurent furthered the cause by introducing ‘Le Smoking’, a tuxedo look for women that became an embodiment of sexual empowerment."

"Women are now revered as ‘power dressers’ for donning sharp suits and enjoy the freedom of easily switching between both masculine and feminine styles. However, men haven’t enjoyed the same level of acceptance and freedom for embracing femininity."

"Gender is no longer just limited to male and female — or pink and blue — but is now a spectrum of non-conforming identities and fashion is beginning to reflect that."

Original URL: https://fashionispsychology.com/dismantling-gender-stereotypes-through-fashion/

It's always great to see brands emerging with open minded attitudes towards clothing and gender. AFT-R Barcelona is a relatively new shoe brand who are now embracing genderless heels. It's a bold move for a relatively young brand, though their styles will certainly appeal to a large audience regardless of gender. With sizes from EU36 to EU44, there's clearly still some caution about the market for men with the absence of sizes above EU44, though it's still a welcome start and keeps the conversation going about heels for men.

From the article:

"AFT-R BARCELONA, a genderless shoe brand created in Barcelona in 2019 by Eric Turró and Alejandra Conesa, has always been known for advocating inclusion and diversity through footwear. Coinciding with its third anniversary, the project expands its family of products by adding the genderless high-heeled boot to its offer."

Original URL: https://fuckingyoung.es/aft-r-barcelona-launches-solemates-its-new-line-of-genderless-heeled-boots/

From 2021, Free Press Journal brings us this article covering the twitter-storm around Indian Actor, Ranveer Singh's heels which he wore for a photo shoot. It seems the trolls came out in force and once again demonstrated their lack of intolerance and engrained social conditioning.

From the article:

"If you ask someone why a man shouldn’t wear a skirt, there is no real reason. It’s just something we have learned from childhood and never questioned because we believed what was told to us by our parents/society was the rule. The conflict starts only when we see different things happening in another society and wonder why that is, because either they are not following the ‘rules’ or there are ‘no rules’. Now, if someone wants to break the norm, it becomes uncomfortable for others because it defies a longstanding belief system for a culture or a community."

"I just feel everybody has the freedom of wearing what they want. Nowadays, fashion has changed as per generational choices and we should also move with the times. I don’t feel it’s something that should be trolled."

"I think people feel threatened when others are confident about their sexuality and are able to express themselves freely. It is very sad to see such intolerance."

Thankfully, people are starting to open up to the idea that men can be more expressive with what they wear, whatever that is.

Original URL: https://www.freepressjournal.in/weekend/ranveer-singhs-heels-lead-to-twitter-meltdown

Collective Culture features this article on how the high heel is being re-imagined by men as a new symbol of empowerment, breaking down cultural norms in the process.

From the article:

"17th-century noblemen used to wear heels as a sign of power and virility. Little by little, these accessories are regaining that power!"

"We are talking about dresses and skirts embroidered with gold, details everywhere, exuberant wigs; nothing could be left empty. At this time, women also began to wear heels because the trend was to imitate men's fashion."

"Nowadays this is changing. Today clothes are getting a new branding, and that is that they have no gender. Under this ideal, fashion stigmas carried over from the last century are being broken one day at a time."

"In this genderless fashion initiative, heels have become more and more gender-neutral elements of empowerment."

Original URL: https://culturacolectiva.com/fashion/heels-history-masculinity-men-accessories/

This article from the Catawiki website, reminds us of the history of men and high heels.

Heels have long been a symbol of status, style and femininity but once upon a time they were synonymous with masculinity too. Dating back to ancient Egypt, walking in raised shoes was at first a practical choice for working men that was quickly adopted by the men and women of upper classes as a sign of nobility and status. Since then, high heels have continued to feature in men's fashion throughout the ages from King Louis XIV to the late David Bowie. Fashion experts Fleur Feijen and Stefania Jesi help unpack the long history of men and high heels and why heels are still a statement shoe for men today.

You will see many articles on Men's Heels Revolution about the history of heels. It's important to know where heels came from and how changes in our society have affected the way people wear them. We are once again in a societal shift where people are re-evaluating gender norms. Heels, skirts, dresses, make-up and more are all returning as options for men to wear. Similar societal reactions can be observed, we're not doing anything new here, just doing what we used to do.

Original URL: https://www.catawiki.com/en/stories/753-the-forgotten-history-of-men-and-high-heels

Footwear Magazine takes a look at the new "Our Angels" Inclusive sized collection from Christian Louboutin and poses the question "Is it finally time to stop separating men's and women's fashion?".

The fashion industry has followed social gender norms since the dawn of what we now call fashion, though when now considered through egalitarian eyes there are huge differences between fashion offered for men and women. The fashion industry is reflecting on these imbalances and tentatively adjusting what's on offer one high heeled step after another.

In heels for men (or indeed genderless), with big names like Louboutin taking an interest and with real-world wear visible by celebrities on the Red Carpet and key social media influencers there is certainly more on offer now. It may take some time, but generally in the fashion world those trends will start to trickle down into the mainstream.

Original URL: https://footwearnews.com/2022/fashion/opinion-analysis/gender-neutral-fashion-trends-1203233685/

Our founder, Rob Taylor, had the pleasure of being interviewed by Hayley Lind (@hayleyclind) for this feature in Input Magazine (@input).

"Hayley was motivated to approach me by the amount of media coverage which I had referenced on heels for men for this piece." said Rob, "She certainly agreed with my findings that there was a definite trend happening in the fashion world for men to wear heels again".

Anchored with commentary from Rob throughout, the article explores the "genderless heels" trend with insights from independent designers who have changed their manufacturing and marketing methods to accommodate an inclusive approach where shoes are for all, regardless of gender. The article also uncovers why inclusive sizing is not quite as simple as to achieve you might think it could be, though not a problem that can't be solved.

We're delighted to get this great coverage and hope it will be the first of many!

Original URL: https://www.inputmag.com/style/harry-styles-lil-nas-x-mens-high-heels-genderless-kira-godey-lidia-talavera

CNN reports on the rise in platform heel wearing and explores some of the ideas why this is an emerging trend for both women and men.

Original URL: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/platform-shoes-fashion-trend/index.html

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Original URL: https://www.ruetir.com/2021/11/20/men-who-wear-a-dress-or-use-nail-polish-should-we-applaud-that/

Teen Vogue interviews @ShaoboHan and @HenryBae, founders of @ShopSyro on how they started Syro and how they see the market for men's heels developing.

Original URL: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/unbuttoned-syro-shoes

them. magazine interviews four queer, disabled individuals who discuss their right to self-expression and need for the fashion industry to do better.

Original URL: https://www.them.us/story/degender-fashion-movement-cant-leave-out-disabled-people

Quartz looks at how gender lines are blurring in the Fashion industry. Originally published in 2015, it's clear that although the topic has been on the agenda for a while, there is still a long way to go. The article does acknowledge that the constraints around what men and women wear are loosening and with lines from numerous retailers now clearly making clothes of interest to non-binary and androgynous buyers, they have at least set the wheels in motion.

Original URL: https://qz.com/381790/sex-and-gender-arent-perfectly-binary-why-should-clothes-be/

@eugenerabkin, founder of @stylezeitgeist, gives us his perspective on dressing in women’s clothes as a straight man. He shares his mindset for wearing womens clothes and how, like many men, it’s become more of a position of expanding his options when it comes to what he wears.

Original URL: https://www.sz-mag.com/news/2020/05/how-i-stopped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-womens-clothes/

This article from Fashion Journal in 2020 asks a pointed question “Why is fashion still gendered in 2020?” and suggests that segreated clothing in stores may soon be a thing of the past. It highlights Androngenous dressing as one factor driving the change and how we are re-thinking the purpose of clothing.

Original URL: https://fashionjournal.com.au/fashion/fashion-gendered-2020/

This article from Ethos News (@humanologyproject) highlights the way that gendered clothing creates barriers for non-binary people. Fashion is evolving to redefine masculinity and femininity, spurred on by Gen-Z and Millennials who are less likely than previous generations to view people as defined by their gender. They highlight how experimentation in fashion can help in appeasing your gender dysphoria and help you realise your gender identity. The article concludes with opinion from American singer Pharell Williams on how genderless clothing can help people feel comfortable and free in with what they wear.

Original URL: http://ethosnews.com/2020/01/11/clothing-has-no-gender/