Why did men stop wearing high heels ?

[dipsydoodle]

For generations they have signified femininity and glamour - but a pair of high heels was once an essential accessory for men.

Beautiful, provocative, sexy - high heels may be all these things and more, but even their most ardent fans wouldn't claim they were practical.

They're no good for hiking or driving. They get stuck in things. Women in heels are advised to stay off the grass - and also ice, cobbled streets and posh floors.

And high heels don't tend to be very comfortable. It is almost as though they just weren't designed for walking in.

Originally, they weren't.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21151350

[pnwmom]

1. The real question is

why would anyone, male or female, ever begin?

[Live and Learn]

2. And why do women continue to wear them? nt

[pnwmom]

3. I have no idea. (I've never worn a heel bigger than an inch.)

[azurnoir]

12. years ago I was given a pair of knee high stiletto heeled boots

about 31/2 to 4 inchs they were gorgeous however walking in them was another story the heels throw off your entire center of gravity literally you have to learn to walk in them, I wore them a couple of times and passed them on

[pnwmom]

15. When I was young, women as tall as I never felt the need to wear heels.

I'm always shocked when I see women even taller -- 6 feet and over -- wearing heels! Why torture your feet like that? I don't get it.

[azurnoir]

16. height never had anything to do with it

it was a fashion thing I'm average height 5'5" and these days wear riding boots which have a low heel half inch or so

the height of the boot (knee) was always more important to me

[Warpy]

29. Don't look at me. I always said I married a short guy

so I'd never feel compelled to put on a pair of high heeled shoes.

I consider myself lucky to have come of age in the late 60s, able to wear Earth Shoe knockoffs and other sensible footwear. The highest heel I've ever worn was an inch, and even that made my feet and back hurt.

I swear I don't own dresses or skirts because they work best with heels and I just can't wear 'em. That and I feel like I'm in drag when I put one on.

Women who live in heels seem to walk in them perfectly well. What they can't do is run in them, and that's a real problem in this culture.

[Lasher]

4. Many men still do.

It is by no accident that today's cowboy boot resembles the riding footwear in your linked article.

[yurbud]

10. ouch! I didn't think of that, though I often have when I've seen cowboy boots

when else do guys wear high heel, pointy-toed, fancy pattern and bedazzled footwear?

[Kali]

11. the fancy decoration is a personal thing, but the toe and heel are practical

they are made for stirrups - the narrow toe to go into the stirrup and the heel to prevent the foot from going all the way through. (to facilitate getting on a horse and taking off in a hurry and also to get "loose" if some wreck should cause the rider to become unseated, the idea to prevent being dragged/trampled by the foot by a runaway horse)

they are indeed NOT meant for walking. yee haw!

[Lasher]

13. That heel also helps keep your foot on a motorcycle foot peg.

I thought the spurs looked pretty cool, but had to give them up because they tended to get tangled up in other motorcycle parts.

[Kali]

14. ha!

still, if the rowels were big enough you could use them for training wheels

[yurbud]

17. it takes about half a second of wearing them to figure that out.

[louis-t]

28. Mine are higher than this.

At least 3" heels. Snakeskin and suede. And the toes are pointier and longer! Second hand store, $18. They zip up the back. I can't go to the link or I will be inundated with boot ads again.

[louis-t]

30. aaack! I just typed the word 'boot' and the boot ads are

all over my screen. Jeez.

[jsr]

5. Very interesting!

[booley]

6. high heels are for showing off your behind

.... as being on your tip toes makes you butt look firmer and smoother since your legs have to work extra hard to maintain what is actually an unnatural position.

It also stresses your calf muscles for the same effect.

and I think that's where photography and porn came in. They helped make a woman's body appear better and later the shoes themselves became a kind of fetish.

But unless you are trying to look sexy for that particular moment, I don't recommend anyone wearing them.

[pscot]

7. when they quit worrying

whether those tights made them look fat.

?w=690

[laturb]

8. Boot obsession

I am an unapologetic boot fan, and have been since purchasing my first pair (F. Pinet) in Bond Street, London, whilst enjoying a summer job at John Lewis in Oxford Street, where I was inspired by the boots my boss was wearing.
Since then, I had amassed a splendid collection ranging from Chelsea Cobbler to Fratelli Rossetti to hand made walking boots from a wonderful bootmaker in North Wales.
But now I am devastated, seemingly having lost the bulk of my collection to theft at my storage facility in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, prior to shipping to the UK!

[yurbud]

9. two related trends killed it: mass produced clothing and few truly manual labor jobs

The rich wore their fancy foofoo stuff to show that they were a cut above the rest of us, but as clothes became mass produced, anyone could buy a cheap knockoff of the stuff the rich wore, ruining the fun of it.

Also, wearing such nonsense was a way of showing that you didn't have to do manual labor like everybody else.

But as jobs requiring actually brute strength declined, guys instinctively sensed they could be replaced by women at any time--especially when women could be paid less to do the same job. So they had to dress more macho to prove to themselves they were men and had a reason to exist.

A guy who dresses like a woman (besides as a joke) reinforces that fear that mean aren't needed, and maybe even the idle rich felt that too.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

18. It's probably because glam went out of fashion.

Last edited Mon Jan 28, 2013, 01:21 PM - Edit history (1)

[img][/img]

From http://hardrockhideout.com/2007/05/31/top-10-glam-rockers/

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From http://rokpool.com/taxonomy/term/8472

Disclaimer: I totally love glam.

[dipsydoodle]

19. Yiu'd have loved the annual Marc Bolan event

at my pal's pub which closed New Years Eve for good. Annual event for c. 300 sold out in advance.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

20. I was specifically looking for a good picture of him in high heels.

Last edited Wed May 8, 2019, 02:53 PM - Edit history (2)

From https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/marc-bolan-10-songs-to-remember-him-by-762994

If the song seems vaguely familiar, it's because it was used in a Mitsubishi car commercial about ten years ago.

[dipsydoodle]

21. You missed out Slade

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. They were like the Bay City Rollers, but without the tartans.

Last edited Mon Jan 28, 2013, 12:54 PM - Edit history (1)

Woody was the cute one.

Bay City Rollers:

[/img][/img]

From http://lilabhose.blogspot.com/2012/06/bay-city-rollers.html#!/2012/06/bay-city-rollers.html

[img][/img]

From http://www.retroland.com/bay-city-rollers/

From Slade, their big hit, "Mama weer all crazee now." Which version do you prefer?

The 70s had a lot more good music than people give it credit for. Can someone please get a move-on and invent the time machine?

[dipsydoodle]

23. A friend of mine who I was taking care of / keeping an eye on

cos she had cancer wanted to go the Osmond's gig at Wembley Arena which local anyway - this as about 5 years ago. I grabbed 2 tickets on ebay quickly and we went. Bay City Rollers were a support group and they were truly awesome - far better than when they were youngsters.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

31. No love for Gary Glitter?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

24. I can't stop watching these videos.

Every glam artist I can think of, there's a video for him at YouTube. As I watch them, I'm tapping my toes, and I have a huge smile on my face.

I doubt that anyone can outdo Gary Glitter. It's hard to find a picture of him at any site that does not go into the recent unpleasantness.

http://hits-of-the-70s.blogspot.com/2012/05/in-1970s-gary-glitter.html

Can it get any more outrageous?

[libodem]

25. I still like to see a cowboy

In tight jeans and boots with a riding heel. Hold over from the urban cowboy phase in the 70's. I was more of a little hippie but there was a cross over to country back then. I had moved to the other side of the state with my first husband, to a small cow/calf operation. Worked for me. Hippie girl moves to the country. Learns how to swing dance. Buck hay.

[GodlessBiker]

26. Did they?

[abelenkpe]

27. Nice article

Didn't know heels were about riding.

Platform shoes were supposedly about avoiding ick filled streets.

I'm 5'9 and prefer a nice comfy pair of converse. Wearing any kind of heel makes me feel like a giantess.

To each his (or her) own.