Manolo says, from the Times of London…

Something is afoot in men’s fashion. So steady yourselves, because high heels for the heftier sex are making a comeback.

Diminutive shoe aficionados including Karl Lagerfeld, Prince, Richard Hammond and Nicolas Sarkozy have long championed the discreet(ish) Cuban heel. Now, though, height-enhancing footwear has begun to permeate across a broader demographic. For the first time since Glam Rock peaked three decades ago, men of average height are discovering the delights of a few extra inches. Well-heeled shoes of all types, from craftily sized “status” shoes to 21st century platforms, are enjoying a new vogue.

[…]
Some male style mavens, however, do even go so far as to wear extremely feminine styles out and about. The street fashion photo blog of Peter Stigter shows one example of a young man outside the New York fashion week venue wearing strappy, open-toed stilettos — teamed with a fringed handbag. These camp, provocatively gender-skewing style statements are not the only way in which the man-heel is flourishing. A mariachi-meets-Keith Richards shoe shape — a pointed shoe or boot teamed with a silhouette-boosting heel — is proving popular among a more overtly masculine crowd. Dior Homme’s collection features a cool pointed suede ankle boot that gives about two inches of extra lift.

This is nothing new. The Manolo reported and commented upon the “Sarkozy Effect” more than two years ago!

Here is the Dior Homme 6.5 Boot…

The Manolo would actually wear the Dior Homme Chelsea boot (well not the golden nor the silver ones) if the heel were not semi-comically elevated. And this is the problem with the exaggerated cuban heels, there is the savor of the spiv about them.

As for the more feminine lady heels as worn by men? Here the Manolo must admit that he is “confined by Western cultural modes of dress”.