Articles tagged with "Skirts"

Online newspaper "The Citizen" highlights the change lead by a new generation of fashion-forward, stereotype challenging celebrities.

From the article:

"Gender stereotypes are taking a hit. In the fashion industry, as in other sectors, collections and products that are co-ed, unisex, gender-neutral or gender-fluid are multiplying at high speed, challenging all clichés and precepts in the field."

"It’s no longer rare — or surprising — to see a man on the red carpet wearing a dress or a skirt, towering heels and flawless makeup. And it’s a phenomenon that’s not just limited to the confines of Hollywood — or the showbiz world more generally — since it has been working its way into the mainstream for several months, if not years."

The list in the article is not exhaustive and you might also be interested in one of our Q&A pieces - "Which male celebrities have been known to wear heels?" / Use quick code 'cel'.

Original URL: https://www.citizen.co.za/lifestyle/fashion-and-beauty/harry-styles-david-banda-lil-nas-x-the-new-icons-driving-stereotypes-out-of-fashion/

It's often a simple notion in your own head... "I like to wear heels and would like to wear them all the time". Ultimately you don't care what others think. You could be gender nonconforming. But what does that mean? This article from Psych Central unravels the meaning and puts it into context with other terms such as non-binary, genderqueer and genderfluid.

"Gender nonconformity is a way of expressing rejection of societal gender roles and expectations.

It isn’t automatically connected to a person’s gender identity or sexuality. Anyone of any gender identity can be gender nonconforming.

It’s best to inquire about how a person identifies and what pronouns they use rather than making any assumptions."

Original URL: https://psychcentral.com/health/gender-nonconforming

Livewire, the student new site of Bullitt East High School, explores the history of men defying social norms. Whether it's men in dresses, skirts, heels or other items of clothing normally associated with a different gender. Social norms perpetuate gender stereotypes about clothing. Harry Styles, though not the first, currently has the attention of the media for his gender nonconforming style.

From the article:

"Junior Sophie Boguszewski states her opinion that she doesn’t find anything wrong with it. “I don’t think it’s inappropriate. People used to not want women to wear pants, but now they do. So why can’t men wear dresses,” Boguszewski said.

Not only does this spark the idea of nongender-specific clothing, but it also sparks normalizing “feminine” things for everyone. The former One Direction member and the now solo artist is known for pushing against the social norms of men by painting his nails and wearing pearl necklaces.

Many famous men have paved the way for men in dresses in the past. In 1971, David Bowie was photographed wearing a dress while lounging around his house. Bowie has worn dresses on many occasions, including for one of his album covers."

Original URL: https://www.belivewire.com/8353/national/harry-styles-for-vogue-and-the-history-of-men-defying-social-norms/

While many curious men explore their gender identity at home, often with items of clothing they've acquired by mail order services, they may consider showing up at their workplace in those items as an unattainable dream. There is however some serious research being done in this area by many people to determine the sociological effect of workplace attire and how people who are gender nonconforming, non-binary, genderqueer and so forth are challenging the norm in the workplace.

From the Gender Sexuality at Work Conference 2022, Dr Briony Lipton gives this compelling presentation of her work on "Men In Heels And Workplace Attire" which forms part of a larger project "Invisibilities Of Gendered Inequality In The Age Of Remote And Hybrid Work". Her research on gender equality and changes in professional attire is particularly interesting as it addresses a fundamental shift in our pandemic and post-pandemic work lives where many of us now regularly work from home, or have a hybrid home/office arrangement with who we work for.

She explores "Queer Heterosexuality" and whether there are ways in which straight men can disrupt the dominant paradigm of the straight-masculine and whether this can help to communicate, challenge and influence organisations and individuals perceptions of gender and sexual identities and their perceptions of equality and inclusion in the workplace.

With notable mentions of @MarkBryan911, @The_Heads_Count, @AlokVMenon, @TheeBillyPorter, @GentlemanHeels and @Mens.Heels.Revolution there are a number of other Instagram accounts featured in the video which we'll leave you to discover for yourselves.

Original URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UCe441EoYI&list=PLhOObpoQndRlSrCjtoprhSRUWCa_qqZ8h&t=4s

Women Working magazine website brings us another report on Mark Bryan (@MarkBryan911), the 61 year old American Robotics Engineer who is legendary for rocking high heels on Instagram. With over 660,000 followers, he conveys a firm sense of his own style for high heels, and certainly provides an inspirational fashion and style narrative which includes the mantra that "Clothes and shoes should not dictate a persons sexual orientation or gender".

Mark comments about how he feels he appears to other people - "You look up and see this person, your mind tells you it’s a person with green hair, you think to yourself, ‘That’s odd or interesting,’ then you go back to do what you were doing and don’t give it another thought"

To Mark, a man in heels and a skirt is normal, and we can all take some inspiration from him. If he can do it, we can all do it!

Original URL: https://her.womenworking.com/straight-married-dad-of-three-wears-skirts-to-prove-clothes-have-no-gender-helps-raise-money

Stylus Media Group, an industry think-tank founded in 2009, reports on the collaboration between Jimmy Choo (@jimmychoo) and Billy Porter (@theebillyporter) to create heels for men in sizes up to US 15.

"While drag performers can find well-fitting footwear at specialised stores and retailers, many others including transgender women can often struggle to find appropriate heels in larger sizes. Reuters reports that transgender women can often be forced to “choose between more masculine styles and the hyper-sexualised designs of specialist retailers – with nothing in between.” Jimmy Choo and Porter’s collaboration taps into this market gap, providing more versatility in terms of sizing as well as everyday options, like classic heeled boots and suede pumps."

It is surely now only a question of time before the mainstream designers and retailers follow suit.

Original URL: https://www.stylus.com/unisex-heel-line-backs-fashions-blurred-binary

Opposing Views reports this story on @MarkBryan911 to raise awareness of gender neutral fashion. It's a brief, but interesting story on Mark and his views on wearing high heels to work every day.

Original URL: https://www.opposingviews.com/society/straight-married-father-of-three-says-hes-been-wearing-skirts-and-heels-to-work-for-years

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

Dazed magazine features the SS21 campaign for Amsterdam based fashion house Ninamounah which included Viral high heel wearing sensation, Mark Bryan (@MarkBryan911) as a "Special Species".

Original URL: https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/52137/1/mark-bryan-instagram-ninamounah-ss21-campaign-taxidermy-amsterdam

You've possibly already heard of Mark Bryan (@MarkBryan911), though many outside of Instagram won't know that this sixty-something man regularly wears a skirt and heels to the office. He believes, like many more now do, that clothes and shoes have no gender. This interview for Harpers Bazaar brings us up to date with what Mark has been doing recently.

Original URL: https://harpersbazaar.com.au/mark-bryan-interview/

Billy Porter reveals where his love of heels originated and how the role of Lola in Kinky Boots gave him the power to be himself in heels.

Original URL: https://www.ft.com/content/8da7beec-d827-4d02-86a3-22cc6db1102f

Bruzz interviews Mark Bryan.

“Most people assume that clothes say something about their sexual orientation, and they don’t want to put a label on them that doesn’t fit them.”

“The battle will only have been won when people stop seeing a skirt as uniquely feminine”

Original URL: https://www.bruzz.be/en/culture/culture/mark-bryan-man-high-heels-2021-11-03

This article from The Irish Examiner (@irish_examiner) reflects on the Spring/Summer 2022 runway shows at Paris Fashion Week and the rise of heels for men. It's not a new concept, just reinvented somewhat, as Jimmy Choo puts it "High-heeled shoes for men are unlike stilettos. The heel shape is adapted from the basic Cuban heel into a special shape that will bring out the best in the masculinity of the man wearing it.".

This is a great read for getting yourself up-to-speed with what's current on the catwalk.

Original URL: https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/fashionandbeauty/arid-40343159.html

Vogue Magazine looks back on how men’s fashion changed for the better in 2021.

The article has the full detail, but in summary...

• Hollywood stars took risks
• so did regular men
• The runways delivered exciting clothes
• and the stores reflected that
• The momentum isn’t going to stop!

Original URL: https://www.vogue.com/article/mens-fashion-recap-red-carpet-style

Vogue Czechoslovakia interviews Mark Bryan (@MarkBryan911), 62 year old cis family man with a passion for Porsches, American Football and... high heels. If you’ve been looking for profiles of men in high heels and not yet encountered Mark’s profile, you soon will. Having amassed a huge following, his matter-of-fact talking about men wearing high heels and skirts is inspiring. In particular, Mark relays a thought on “Fashion Apartheid”.

Original URL: https://www.vogue.cz/clanek/vogue-cs-in-english/martin-vasa/the-higher-the-heels-the-closer-to-god

This article from Czechoslovakian magazine RESPEKT, and translated online here into english, features Vlastimil and Michaela, the couple behind @genderblender1 who share some of their experiences and insights into their ongoing "Sociological Experiment" of gender bending fashion. We gain an appreciation of the experience from Michaela's perspective and what it was like for Vlasta venturing out in alternative fashion choices. Well worth a read!

Original URL: https://www.translatetheweb.com/?from=cs&to=en&dl=en&ref=trb&a=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.respekt.cz%2Ftydenik%2F2021%2F33%2Fpodle-vlastnich-pravidel%3Fgift%3Dmzxtjptmw0#

Vice magazine reports on how men expressing themselves by wearing items normally regarded for women is nothing new. "It's a bit of a middle finger to societal norms" says Alex Ringler, who interviewed for the piece. Another interviewee, Marcus Territory says "The primary purpose of the heels is to be just another piece of an unambiguously masculine outfit... a way to explore new aesthetics and styles." a view shared by many.

Original URL: https://www.vice.com/en/article/4av9km/men-high-heels-non-binary-fashion

This article from Medium goes looks back at the way we used to dress and how societal norms have changed around the association of certain items of clothing and colour with specific genders. What was normal only 150 years ago is now considered by conservatives to undermine masculinity in today's society. The article concludes that today's genderless and gender-neutral fashion is starting to change the way we think about the clothes we wear and what they mean.

Original URL: https://historyofyesterday.com/yes-men-used-to-wear-dresses-high-heels-and-colour-pink-280dd5fa03bc

@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/

Vogue magazine reports that skirt shopping is gaining popularity by men. Persistent presentation of men in skirts on the catwalk is finally paying off with more men adding a skirt or two to their wardrobe.

Original URL: https://www.vogue.com/article/men-are-shopping-for-skirts-thom-browne-lyst-report

Vogue magazine once again, reporting on 5 of Instagram's Top Influencers in the world of high heels for men. Men in heels certainly have the attention of the Fashion world's top magazine and for good reason. Read to to find out why.

Original URL: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/mens-heels-trend

The Bubble asks “Do clothes define gender?”. Harry Styles’ appearance on the cover of Vogue magazine in a Gucci dress opened the flood-gates of discussion around gender. This article digs a little deeper into the topic of gender, stereotypes and the associated backlash from conservatives.

Original URL: https://www.thebubble.org.uk/current-affairs/do-clothes-define-gender-harry-styles-sparks-debate/

Published only last week, @teovandenbroeke writes in GQ magazine that now is the time to bear our legs, and he’s not talking about shorts! Yes, it’s time we all stopped being so Victorian and let our legs loose!

Original URL: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/fashion/article/stop-skirting-the-issue

In this new video, Karl (@inkarlcerating) takes us through 6 options for styling long boots...

1. Skirts
2. Tunics
3. Oversize T Shirts
4. Asymetric Pieces
5. Coats & Blazers
6. Shorts

...and while high fashion/avant garde styles may not be accessible to everyone, we can certainly take much inspiration from Karl’s suggestions in this awesome video.

Original URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53OteK16Xr0