The Bata Shoe Museum announced Standing Tall as a new exhibition with the "ability to challenge preconceived notions about who wears heels and why".

From privileged rulers to hyper-sexualized rock stars this exhibition will explore the history of men in heels from the early 1600s to today, reflecting about the use and meanings of heeled footwear in men’s dress over the last four centuries. While some lifestyles today continue to accept men dressing in heels, such as the rugged cowboy in heeled boots, for most men even an extra inch on a pair of business brogues can prove to be highly destabilizing.

“When heels were introduced into fashion at the turn of the 17th century, men were the first to adopt them and they continued wearing heels as expressions of power and prestige for over 130 years”, stated Elizabeth Semmelhack, Senior Curator, Bata Shoe Museum, adding: “Even after they fell from men’s fashion in the 1730s, there were pockets of time when heels were reintegrated into the male wardrobe not as a way of challenging masculinity but rather as a means of proclaiming it”.


Offering rare examples of men’s heeled footwear from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mid-nineteenth century military boots, 1930s cowboy boots and 1940s biker boots, visitors also have the opportunity to view John Lennon’s original 1960s Beatle boot, platforms worn by Elton John in the 1970s, and recent heels from haute couture collections, all from the Museum’s own holdings.

Standing Tall is the kickoff exhibition for the Bata Shoe Museum’s 20th anniversary’s celebration and will be on display for a year until May 2016.

Image credits: Bata Shoe Museum