by Madison Naves | WeINSPIRE Journalist

BIRMINGHAM, AL. -- Mark Bryan is not phased by the stares he gets in public. He hears the snickers of people passing by and keeps his head held high. When people point, he smiles, owning his confidence. Bryan is a 61-year-old man living in Germany. He is happily married to his wife of 11 years and works as a mechanical engineer. Bryan says the looks of disapproval do not shake him because he owns his style. He struts proudly in his community, knowing some people will just never understand him. Many people are convinced he is sexually confused or simply yearning for attention, while Bryan has always been sure of himself. This surety allows him to walk into his workplace with his briefcase in tow, tie secured, and red bottom stilettos to match. Strangers might see him as different or even weird, but to his 407k followers, he is Mark Bryan, the high-heeled man.

Bryan first began wearing high heels 40 years ago when he was in college. He was dating a young woman who matched his 6-foot stature. His then-girlfriend did not let this limit her style. She confidently wore heels making her tower over Bryan. She joked that if it bothered him to appear shorter next to her, he should wear heels too. Bryan ran with this idea as fast as he could in four-inch heels. He wore them sporadically for the following decades until about five years ago when a pair of heels captured his heart.

“I saw a pair that I really really liked,” Bryan said. “I was at a point that I said, ‘well why don’t I just wear them everywhere!’”

Bryan began by wearing short heels to his work office. This brave decision took his coworkers by surprise as they noticed him wearing what they assumed to be women’s shoes. He eventually gained the confidence to try new heels, hidden by his suit pants. By the time Bryan began wearing complete pumps to his workplace, his coworkers had grown accustomed to his style and joked with him about how funny it would be if he started wearing skirts too. Challenged with another idea, Bryan took them up on it.

“One day [my wife and I] were out shopping, and I tried on a skirt, ” Bryan said. “I opened up the [dressing room] curtain, and my wife said, ‘It doesn't look too bad.’”

He took this as motivation to wear what made him feel the most confident. He mentioned he did not feel ashamed and felt comfortable in his skirt and heels.

“If I see people snickering, pointing, or laughing, it doesn't bother me,” Bryan said. “You have to have the confidence to do it; Having confidence means that you’re comfortable doing something, you’re not afraid you’re doing something wrong [because] you fully believe in what you're doing.”

Bryan has established a large social media following. He uses his platform to remind his fans and others that clothes are genderless and do not necessarily reflect a person’s sexual identity. In 2015, Marc Bain wrote about the history of unisex clothing for Quartz.com. Bain highlighted that gender-specific clothing is a recent development emphasized in the past millennium. In the eighth century, it was not uncommon to see men in dresses and skirts because of the easy mobility they provided. William Kremer reported an extensive look into the history of men in high heels for BBC in 2013. He noted that men wore high heels until the 17th century to make horse riding easier, among other benefits.

As gender norms took a mainstream appeal in the mid-1900s, the rise of gender-based clothing did as well. Judgment and ridicule were often the results of seeing people in clothing that did not reflect their gender appearance. Many people have attacked Bryan’s style and made assumptions about his sexuality calling him slurs and accusing him of negatively influencing impressionable young children. Bryan clarified that his youngest stepchild is 29 years old, and his children and family are quite supportive of his decisions.

“My daughter loves it, she loves the attention; she was the one that actually told me that ‘Hey dad, Rihanna is following you!’” Bryan said. “She’s probably my biggest fan; she’s always got friends coming up and telling her, ‘Hey, your dad is awesome, he rocks!’”

Bryan says that even if he were raising young children, he would still wear heels. He believes teaching children that clothes have no gender could help them not judge a person’s appearance.

With the progression of LGBTQIA+ education to mainstream society, people see the rise of nonbinary expression in the fashion industry. Clothing brands are releasing more gender-neutral collections that anyone can wear and remove gender labels on clothing. In 2018 Anna Sundquist wrote in a blog post for The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) that removing gender labels on kid’s clothing eases the pressure to conform to social norms. Subsiding this pressure encourages children to pursue personal dreams outside of other’s expectations while also raising self-esteem and creativity.

Brands like Free To Be Kids and Fiera Wild World are successfully creating unisex clothing to encourage children to find freedom in expression.

Bryan hopes to see more acceptance of nonconformity in years to come. He wants to continue working with brands as an influencer to create more fashionable clothing for nonbinary and non-gender-conforming people. His favorite pair of heels, a bootie by Kkira Feet, named The Mark Bryan, is an example of the fashion-forward work he would like to continue making.

Bryan owns his identity. His confidence is as pridefully elegant as his walk. He wants to continue building his platform to educate more people on the importance of genderless clothing. He is happy to see the advancement of acceptance over the years and hopes to be a positive change. To see more of Bryan’s exquisite style, follow his Instagram @markbryan911.