Portrait of Louis XIV of France (1701) Photo: Getty Images

The trend of men wearing heels eventually died off during the Great Male Renunciation in the 18th century, a time period when men shrugged off the idea of detailed, polished dressing, leaving that aesthetic to women. But the heel eventually resurfaced centuries later, making a cameo during the glam rock era of David Bowie, later worn with funk in cuissardes form by Rick James, and in teetering, patterned booties on Prince. Now, men’s heels seem to be coming back as gender-blurring looks and nouveau-dandy styles are on the rise thanks to labels like Hood By Air and Maison the Faux.

(Left) Hood by Air Fall 2016; (Right) Maison the Faux Fall 2017 Photo: Indigital.tv; Courtesy of Maison the Faux / Team Peter Stigter

Now, the formerly female-centric shoe is trickling down, off the runway and into the mainstream, diluted in Cuban and stacked heels and worn by celebrity crews. It turns out West is just one of many high-powered, social media–knighted men delving into the healthy-amount-of-heel look. Harry Styles has long worn a retro heeled look à la Jimi Hendrix, and stepped out last week, ahead of his Saturday Night Live appearance, in a pair of West-esque brown boots. A few months ago, Justin Bieber wore a black boot with a sturdy heel with his skinny jeans. Even former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio created a stir with his sleek footwear, wearing a pair of kicky black heeled boots in a widely snickered-at moment dubbed “Bootgate” by The New York Times. His Florsheim-brand boots had even been christened with the loaded style name “Duke.” Rich, right? But you have to hand it to him, and the others. It takes a self-assured, kingly attitude to confidently clack against the grain. You could even say these men are on the heels of something sexy.