Are Men’s Heels Really In? 

Yes, you read that right: men are getting into the high-heel game, too. Of course, you’d be hard-pressed to see this look outside of runways and celebrity award shows (yet), but could that change? Could men’s heels become just as common as women’s?

Where Did This Look Come From?

According to Vogue, this trend has been gaining popularity since at least Easter 2017, when Kanye West generated a ton of attention when he posed in heels for a family portrait. Now, these weren’t high heels, per se, but rather block heels.

From there, celebs like Justin Bieber and Harry Styles were spotted in similar footwear, but none of them ventured into high heel territory. West was again photographed in heels, this time in men’s velvet boots that almost rivaled his wife Kim Kardashian’s thigh-highs.

That seemed to be the end of it, until this year’s MusiCares Person of the Year, where Jared Leto appeared wearing some legit high heels. His white leather boots had a pointed toe and a much slimmer heel than anything we’ve seen on West or Bieber thus far. The shoes were part of the new Helmut Lang line.

Leto is a style chameleon, so it’s not a stretch at all for him to take a burgeoning trend and run with it.

Will It Stick?

Celebrities are like guinea pigs of sorts, trying new trends before they reach everyone else. While not every man will want to subject his feet to heeled boots, some will definitely wear this look off the runway, especially if more big names like West and Leto popularize the trend.

What Options Are Out There?

Last spring, Bieber and Styles wore ankle-height boots with long, pointed toes and block heels. In one photo captured of Bieber on the street, he had on a second-skin white t-shirt with tight gray faded skinny jeans and black leather booties. Styles’ look was more boho-chic: a gray t-shirt with a sleeveless cream vest, black skinny jeans, and brown suede booties with silver hardware.

Admittedly, West’s tall velvet heeled boots and Leto’s white pointed-toe beauties are probably outliers. These are the types of looks that will likely be confined to celeb footwear because the world isn’t quite ready.

Men who want to jump on the heels trend should try simpler looks like Justin Bieber’s or Harry Styles’. These heels aren’t very high, so they should be more comfortable to wear all day.

Header photo by @Fluevog on Instagram