If you’re opening this blog post for the first time through a Google search, you’re probably expecting a girl to be writing about high heels, right?
Wrong!
I’m a dude who is a big flaming ball of gayness who just so happens to wear heels every so often when he’s feeling risqué.
Listen, if I can’t afford to be a drag queen, I have to do the next best thing.
Now, let’s get into the good stuff: if it wasn’t already clear by now, I love wearing heels and bending those dumb and stupid gender stereotypes that only girls can wear heels.
Before I ever even considered slipping on a pair of heels, the only people who I thought could pull them off were either drag queens or actual women. And that’s where I was wrong about myself – because little did, I know, I would end up loving the hell out of wearing them.
It all started at a drop-in dance studio here in Winnipeg. I was working part-time at the front desk where I would check people in and watch in awe as people danced in the studio next to me. As someone who has quite the lengthy background in dance, I was beyond jealous as I sat in a chair watching people live their best lives.
But it all changed when I was working one night, and I caught myself staring at one class in particular that was going on: Sexy Street Jazz. Basically, like jazz, hip hop, and dancing in stilettos all in one. I couldn’t stop looking at the one guy in the class out of all the other girls, who was wearing six-inch stilettos. And btw – he was completely tearing up the dance floor. It was fabulous.
My boss happened to be teaching the class that night, and after it was over, I asked her how I could start dancing in heels like that. She told me to buy this pair of open-toed “sock booties” from Call It Spring (sadly, this is not a Call It Spring partnership).
They were almost four inches and the heel were a stiletto style, which seemed like a lot at first, but they were actually pretty comfortable! I went in the next day to the nearest Call It Spring and I bought the heels.
And before I knew it, I was taking Sexy Street Jazz classes every single week and absolutely loving it. I had such a fun time dancing in heels I ended up performing at Pride Winnipeg 2019 alongside other heels dancers from the studio. Being able to express myself so freely in front of that many people will be a moment I cherish forever.
I unfortunately don’t have a video of the performance, but here’s a fun screen grab of when we performed the Pride dance at the drop-in studio’s year-end showcase:
As a gay man, I grew up being attracted to girls before I entered high school, because that’s what my family taught me. I didn’t get to truly express myself until after high school when I had access to my own money and job – and ultimately, my first pair of my heels.
Even though I had to shove my heels in the back of my closet when I wasn’t in class, I never felt more confident and like myself when I was dancing in heels.
I always felt like I was missing something in my life that would help me with my confidence. I struggled to find what it was for quite some time. Although I don’t wear heels everywhere, I go (I’m not THAT confident yet), whenever I’m feeling low or not so confident, I’ll throw on a pair of heels and I almost instantly feel better about myself.
Because, yes, I AM that bitch.
Not only did I gain a new obsession for heels and a huge confidence boost, but I gained so many friends who I can go to a heels dance class with and laugh, have fun, and forget about everything else.
I’m not telling you to buy a pair of stilettos and go to a dance class, because it’s not for everyone. If you do want to go to a dance class, I highly encourage you to do it. You will learn so much about yourself.
But what I am telling you, whether you’re a girl or a guy, is to embrace your feminine and girly side and put on some heels.
Whether they’re a 2-inch pump or a six-inch stiletto, if wearing them makes you feel badass, who cares what other people think? And even if you just put them on for a quick photo, hey, it still made you feel good at the end of the day. And that’s awesome!
I haven’t been to a heels class in quite some time because I dislocated my knee in August of 2019 and I’m still waiting to get surgery on it (thanks, COVID!)
However, they have made a few appearances on my Instagram, specifically this post and this one, too (feel free to follow me if you aren’t already!)
I hope you enjoyed this week’s post, and I hope it inspired you even a little bit to step out of your comfort zone the next time you go shoe shopping.
Let me know in the comments: do you wear heels? Or are you more of a sneaker’s kind of gal?
Cue Taylor Swift singing the lyrics from “You Belong With Me”..
..“She wears high heels, I wear sneakers.”
Anyway.. see you next week!