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Prince’s Style Was a Sign ‘O the Times, Rooted in Heels Prince’s Style Was a Sign O’ the Times, Rooted in Heels
(about 1 hour later)
Last February, during New York Fashion Week, the audience at the Hood by Air show had a “moment,” one of those rare shocks that jolt you out of your catwalk stupor and stick with you long after the lights have dimmed. It came courtesy of a model named Hirakish, who careened down the runway in a patent-leather suit and spiky high-heeled bootees, and who proceeded to go off-piste and to spend the rest of the show running in and out of the stands, interrupting other models’ struts and otherwise joyfully, and challengingly, sticking his stiletto-shod feet in our faces. In February, during New York Fashion Week, the audience at the Hood by Air show had a “moment,” one of those rare shocks that jolt you out of your catwalk stupor and stick with you long after the lights have dimmed. It came courtesy of a model named Hirakish, who careened down the runway in a patent-leather suit and spiky high-heeled bootees, and who proceeded to go off-piste and to spend the rest of the show running in and out of the stands, interrupting other models’ struts and otherwise joyfully, and challengingly, sticking his stiletto-shod feet in our faces.
I thought of this on Thursday when the news came that Prince Rogers Nelson, the diminutive musician with the oversize talent, had died. Unlike David Bowie, another musical icon who recently passed away, Prince was not often name-checked by designers as a collection reference.I thought of this on Thursday when the news came that Prince Rogers Nelson, the diminutive musician with the oversize talent, had died. Unlike David Bowie, another musical icon who recently passed away, Prince was not often name-checked by designers as a collection reference.
Though fashion played a big part in his image, as the many slide shows currently making their way around cyberspace attest, and though he made a surprise guest appearance in 2007 at Matthew Williamson’s 10th anniversary show, serenading the attendees and grinding with dancers and models (as one of the attendees, I can tell you, that was another “moment”), he wasn’t a go-to aesthetic inspiration. Though fashion played a big part in his image, as the many slide shows making their way around cyberspace attest, and though he made a surprise guest appearance in 2007 at Matthew Williamson’s 10th anniversary show, serenading the attendees and grinding with dancers and models (as one of the attendees, I can tell you, that was another “moment”), he wasn’t a go-to aesthetic inspiration.
Prince refused to adhere to genres in clothing, just as he refused to adhere to genres in music, which meant he tended to ooze into the designer imagination instead of immediately leaping to mind. But in the way he assumed the tropes of kitsch femininity — lace, ruffles sequins, peekaboo and high heels — and transformed them into the vehicles of an in-your-face masculine sex appeal, Prince had enormous influence. Prince refused to adhere to genres in clothing, just as he refused to adhere to genres in music, which meant he tended to ooze into the designer imagination, instead of immediately leaping to mind. But in the way he assumed the tropes of kitsch femininity — lace, ruffles, sequins, peekaboo and high heels — and transformed them into the vehicles of an in-your-face masculine sex appeal, Prince had enormous influence.
Most of which can be summed up by the shoe.Most of which can be summed up by the shoe.
The high heel was the through-line of his wardrobe for the four decades he was in the public eye; the consistent base upon which he layered all sorts of style and character changes. Prince wore heels when he barely wore anything at all (just bikini bottoms and a trench coat); he wore them in “Purple Rain” and with baroque brocade; he paired them with pastel suits, laser-cut, bottom-baring jumpsuits; he wore them with white hippie tunics at Coachella and slinky metallic gold at the Grammys; he wore them offstage, out to dinner in Sweden in 2013, and, according to Mike Tyson’s memoir, “Undisputed Truth,” to play basketball. The high heel was the through-line of his wardrobe for the four decades he was in the public eye, the consistent base upon which he layered all sorts of style and character changes. Prince wore heels when he barely wore anything at all (just bikini bottoms and a trench coat); he wore them in “Purple Rain” and with baroque brocade; he paired them with pastel suits, laser-cut, bottom-baring jumpsuits; he wore them with white hippie tunics at Coachella and slinky metallic gold at the Grammys; he wore them offstage, out to dinner in Sweden in 2013, and, according to Mike Tyson’s memoir, “Undisputed Truth,” to play basketball.
He wore them so much that there were rumors he needed hip surgery as a result. And he wore them, he said, not because he wanted to be taller, but because “women like ’em.” He wore them so much that there were rumors he needed hip surgery. And he wore them, he said, not because he wanted to be taller, but because “women like ’em.”
He wore them as they were originally designed to be worn, as demonstrated in “Standing Tall,” an exhibition last year at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto about men in high heels: as an expression of power and privilege reserved for male royalty, and only later co-opted by women in the 17th and 18th centuries. It made some sense. His name, after all, was Prince.He wore them as they were originally designed to be worn, as demonstrated in “Standing Tall,” an exhibition last year at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto about men in high heels: as an expression of power and privilege reserved for male royalty, and only later co-opted by women in the 17th and 18th centuries. It made some sense. His name, after all, was Prince.
And in doing so — in wearing them so regularly, unapologetically (he did not hide behind the acceptably masculine heels of cowboy boots) and effectively — he transformed the idea of men in heels to possibility from joke. On women, heels suggest sex; Prince showed they could function the same way for men.And in doing so — in wearing them so regularly, unapologetically (he did not hide behind the acceptably masculine heels of cowboy boots) and effectively — he transformed the idea of men in heels to possibility from joke. On women, heels suggest sex; Prince showed they could function the same way for men.
It is a meaningful part of the equation that has added up to the current trend toward gender fluidity in fashion. Which, let’s face it, really means men in women’s wear, since women have been borrowing from men’s wear for decades.It is a meaningful part of the equation that has added up to the current trend toward gender fluidity in fashion. Which, let’s face it, really means men in women’s wear, since women have been borrowing from men’s wear for decades.
Put another way: There was Prince, and then there was Hedi Slimane’s fall 2015 men’s wear show for Saint Laurent, with its three-inch heels; the heels in the men’s wear collections of Rick Owens and Gareth Pugh (and Hood by Air); and the black velvet midcalf heeled boots Kanye West wore in Paris last year, to name just some examples.Put another way: There was Prince, and then there was Hedi Slimane’s fall 2015 men’s wear show for Saint Laurent, with its three-inch heels; the heels in the men’s wear collections of Rick Owens and Gareth Pugh (and Hood by Air); and the black velvet midcalf heeled boots Kanye West wore in Paris last year, to name just some examples.
In the end, his shoes were, as Prince once sang, a sign o’ the times.In the end, his shoes were, as Prince once sang, a sign o’ the times.