Ever seen a man in heels? Well, you’re about to. Usually the preserve of the fairer sex, heels are having a moment in the menswear world. Thanks to a smattering of celebrities and a few progressive designers, Cuban heels look to be a trend that’s grown legs over the past few months and who am I to argue?

At 5ft 7in, I’m neither a towering hulk nor a beanpole waif. I would look more at home in Hobbiton than I would on a Mr Hedi Slimane runway, and you know what? Most of the time I like it that way. But it’s 2020, a new decade. Why not wear Gucci heels for a week?

I’m following the example set by the fashion designer Mr Marc Jacobs who, in December, posted a characteristically outré photo of himself on Instagram sporting towering black Rick Owens heels. Mr Jacobs and I are not alone in our heel curiosity. Messrs Justin Bieber, Jared Leto and Harry Styles have all worn heels over the past couple of years.

Mr Kanye West, a personal icon and fellow short king, was seen wearing them as far back as 2017. They’ve been on runways and the red carpet more and more in recent seasons (Hood by Air and Mr Xavier Dolan are a couple of examples) and MR PORTER now stocks plenty of pairs, including the love-them-or-hate them Maison Margiela Tabi split-toe heels and a striking pair of patent TOM FORD Chelsea boots. Usually a Cuban heel, which basically means a solid heel of moderate height, is the leading style, but it’s by no means the only way to rock the trend. Just ask Mr Ezra Miller, who was wearing stiletto boots at this year’s Grammy awards.

When my chosen pair arrive, I’m a little apprehensive. Slick yet stompy with a chunky chain astride the vamp, they’ve been crafted in Italy from soft black leather. And they have “KITTEN” emblazoned in gold around the heel, which is just under 3in high. “They’re very Oliver Cromwell,” says a colleague. I think they’re the kind of thing a sexy and dangerous highwayman might wear if he crashed the Met Gala or a cocksure lothario in the court of King Louis XIII. My editor tells me I shall look like the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Heels made their debut in 10th-century Persia, where soldiers on horseback wore them to secure their feet in their stirrups. Later, the silhouette caught on in Europe with the upper classes, who wore them to appear taller and more formidable. Heels were popular with pioneering artists such as Sir Elton John, Mr David Bowie and Prince, who famously had 3,000 custom-made pairs and often jumped into the splits while wearing them.