Should men wear high heels?

Last Updated on Wednesday, 26 May 2010 20:38 Tuesday, 25 May 2010 20:53

The Times online is reporting a new fashion craze among fashion conscious men - high heels. Dubbed the man-heel or 'meel', the heel has been spotted at men's fashion shows in New York, London and Paris and not just on the catwalk either. While the meel started out in gothic and glam devotees, its influence is spreading to more mainstream lines - TopMan and Dior Homme both getting in at an early stage.

Jean Michel Cazabat

The Times also says Selfridges are reporting a swing towards the trend with Sam Lobban, a contemporary buyer for the store describing the man heel as “flamboyant, but in an edgy, cool way. Heeled boots are the epitome of this and seem a natural turn for our customer — rock’n’roll twinned with elegance”.

Who can forget French President Nicolas Sarkozy with his 'special' shoes? Status shoes have been around a long time for men wanting those extra inches of height but not willing to commit to overt heels. Hidden heels, concealed by clever shoe design and only noticeable on close inspection have always done a regular trade. Where the meel trend branches off is making the heel the prominent factor in the boot or shoe, essentially feminising an item of man's clothing.

Women have borrowed concepts from male fashion since male fashion was invented. Hats, pants, suits and ties - all exist for women. But men have a mental block to wearing anything overtly female in origin. Perhaps the closest we've come is the sarong, famously sported by David Beckham on a trip to a restaurant. That failed miserably to catch on and Beckham was left looking slightly idiotic if a little brave for attempting it. We've also borrowed the idea of a corset to come up with the man shaper vests that suddenly strap our bellies in and give us pecs. But that's about the extent of it.

Will the man-heel catch on?

We're dubious of the idea. Status shoes are fine. After all, we all need to discreetly cheat sometimes, whether it be an extra inch for height or sucking in our gut when pretty ladies walk by. But man-heels represent something more. They belong to the realm of meshing men into the female, of putting us more in touch with our feelings than we should be. They represent another step into a time when men are no longer men, when our role in society has been transformed into the sensitive mammy soul that can neither stand up nor sit down without a ten minute dissection of the outcome of the options.

Jeffery West, Rochester boot

The 'meel' is the latest in a line of men's clothing being feminised. Ankle pants, mesh shirts, skinny jeans, tights and the thong are all female fashion made male in recent times. There's just something too feminine in showing our legs with ankle-pants while we should be wearing pants, especially when it comes to suit pants. We've a fine line for the latest trend in mesh tee-shirts too. See-through mesh can be good but blatantly see-through is bad. Skinny jeans - sure thing if you want to look like you could keel over at any minute. And the thong? As a party piece we've no problem, as an item of underwear - we'll stick to old-school fashion.

Sticking high heels on boots in the name of haute couture? No thanks. Men's boots should be manly, tough and hard wearing. The 'meel' is the feminisation of men's shoes. We'll do without.