A man in Germany wears skirts and heels daily, stating that he feels “empowered” while rocking sky-high stilettos.
Mark Bryan caught the internet’s attention after posting his OOTDs on Instagram, where he shows off his toned, muscular legs in high heels and a skirt, usually paired with a collared top.
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He wears his polished outfits even while working from home, as seen in his posts documenting life in lockdown.
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Amid his eye-catching looks, his Instagram bio reads, “I am just a straight, happily married guy that loves [Porsches], beautiful women, and incorporating high heels and skirts into my daily wardrobe.”
Bryan is an American and is based in Germany where he works as an engineer, he told Bored Panda on Friday, Oct. 16. He has been married for 11 years and his wife and family are supportive of his fashion choices.
“My wife often makes suggestions on what I should wear. My daughter wishes she could borrow my shoes at times,” he said in the report.
With his 6-foot frame and 29-inch waistline, he says finding skirts is easy for him. His shoe size is an 8.5 in the U.S. and 41 in Europe, which is also easily accessible.
He has a tip for purchasing heels: “I buy most of my heels online so that I can try them at home. This way I can have some shoe time and try going up and down the stairs. Feel how much they slip, the stability when testing stilettos. I’ll also wear them while sitting for half an hour or so. If they hurt right out of the box, then back in the box they go. So having a good comfortable shoe is important, but so is the style.”
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He said he began wearing heels in college, when a former girlfriend asked him to wear them for dancing. After more than a year of dancing in heels, he got used to it and wore them “off and on.”
“I just started wearing heels with skirts in the last 5 years. It was suggested that I would look a lot better in a skirt and heels than pants and heels,” he added.
“When wearing heels, I feel taller, but also empowered for some reason. In all, maybe having the inner strength to have the confidence to wear non-conforming clothing has also given me the confidence and strength to handle my pressures at work.”
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“I dress like this because I can. Just to be different,” he said in the report. “I have always admired the women that wore tight skirts and heels. Not sexually, but the power they presented. I don’t dress to be sexual, but to dress like any professional woman would.”
“To me, clothes have no gender,” he added. “I prefer skirts to dresses. Dresses don’t allow me to mix the genders. I prefer a ‘masculine’ look above the waist and a non-gendered look below the waist. It’s all about clothes having no gender.”
He said another benefit to wearing heels and skirts is you have more options in terms of fashion, noting that men’s pants mainly have dark tones and no prints.
“With skirts, you can add reds, green, brighter blues, floral prints, animal prints, etc.,” he explained. “Same with shoes, but then you also have many more styles and heel types. Plus you can wear open-toed shoes when the weather is nice.”
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For men who want to dress in a skirt, he advised, “Just do it.” He added that skirts are “more acceptable” than a man wearing heels.
As for heels, he suggested, “[Start] with a low heel and work your way up as your confidence gets higher. You cannot be afraid. Some people are like animals, they attack the weak. Show confidence and show the world you are not afraid and nobody will bother you.” JB
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