The straight family man thinks that “clothes have no gender,” so he prefers to wear heels and skirts.
After 11 years of marriage, robotics engineer Mark Bryan had a daughter. He dresses in an unusual way and identifies as heterosexual. American Bryan, who now resides in Germany, doesn’t think gender is a factor in fashion. Every day, you can find Bryan at work or wherever else he goes wearing a skirt and heels.
Bryan expressed his dissatisfaction with the restricted fashion options available to guys, particularly with regard to workplace wear. Only a few colors—mostly black, gray, dark blue, and occasionally pinstripes and cuts—are available for men’s pants.
The fashionable dresser thinks that males ought to be able to wear dresses and skirts if women are permitted to wear pants. Bryan enjoys that, in contrast to men’s apparel, skirts are available in a wider variety of colors, patterns, and styles.
Bryan likes to combine traditional gender roles by dressing traditionally feminine on his lower half and manly on his upper half, such as a blazer and tie. Usually, he dresses in a pencil skirt and four-inch heels.
Bryan has no trouble wearing heels. When his college girlfriend requested him to dance with her in high heels so they could both be on the same level, that’s when he first learned how to do it. They went on like this for more than a year.
Bryan doesn’t let preconceived notions or preconceptions to prevent him from wearing in a way that makes him happy. He defies expectations and does it with no remorse. To find out what Bryan thinks of his wardrobe selections, continue reading.
Bryan is highly specific about his fashion preferences. “To me, clothes have no gender,” he said to Bored Panda. I like skirts more than dresses. I can’t mix the genders with dresses. Above the waist, I like to look “masculine,” and below the waist, I like to look non-gendered. It’s all about the genderlessness of clothing.
“I am old enough to remember that the girls were not allowed to wear pants to school,” he said. These days, pants are a non-gender-specific item of apparel. Thus, why are heels and skirts not gender-neutral? Men also started wearing heels before women did. Though perhaps not in the stiletto type of today, men wore heels before women.
Bryan is right on that. There is a lengthy history of high heels. They have existed at least since the 10th century, despite the fact that historians and archaeologists are unable to pinpoint the exact era of their origin. Additionally, they weren’t initially a fashion statement. Not at all. The Persian cavalry, who wore boots with heels called kalash or galesh to make it easier for them to keep their feet in their stirrups, were the first people to utilize high heels for practical purposes. By the way, this is also the explanation for the tiny heel on cowboy boots!
Only wealthy men could afford to wear these high-heeled boots since owning a horse was seen as a sign of prosperity. Over time, its use spread throughout Europe, and wearing high heels became associated with wealthy merchants or nobility. In fact, even the pope wore high heels after the Great Schism of the Christian Church in the eleventh century.
It took several hundred years for fashion to gradually shift. Cultural concerns around gender roles emerged in Europe throughout the 18th century, leading to discussions about appropriate clothing for men and women. This is the era from which the notion that fashion is frivolous and emasculating and unimportant to “real men” originated. Men mostly stopped wearing high heels since they were thought to be merely accessories and impractical as a result of these shifting perceptions.
Bryan exemplifies the gradual resurgence of high heels as a socially acceptable footwear option for guys. The engineer recognizes that many people will look twice at him, even though he advocates for men to wear high-heeled shoes. He makes a comparison between himself and someone who decides to get vivid colored hair dye. He clarified:
“Leave a person with vivid green hair behind. Green hair is not typical. You glance up and notice someone, and your brain immediately identifies them as having green hair. You may find that strange or intriguing, but you quickly move on to your previous task without giving it any more attention. I think people react the same way when they see me wearing heels and a skirt.
It’s also not hard for Bryan to find heels and skirts that fit him. He has smaller-than-average feet, thus his shoe size in heels is 8.5, and he wears a size 8 in skirts. Bryan advises beginning with a lower heel until you feel more at ease walking in high heels, so please share this advice with any men you know who are thinking about trying out wearing heels and skirts as well.
How do you feel about Mark Bryan’s fashion choices? Do you know any guys who would attempt to walk in stilettos? Please let us know, and don’t forget to forward this to your loved ones.
