A married father-of-three who started wearing women’s clothes four years ago and hasn’t looked back says he’s determined to challenge gender stereotypes when it comes to fashion.
Mark Bryan, an American living in Germany proudly dons tight skirts and high heels to work, at the shops and even at home, Bored Panda reports.
The 61-year-old robotics engineering manager first started wearing heels when he was in college, when his then-girlfriend asked him to before he danced with her.
He began wearing skirts later in life, and created an Instagram account @markybryan911 to share his daily looks.
Mark regularly posts photos of himself posing in his stylish outfits, often coordinating his typically male button-up collared shirts with a pair of heels to mix up what is expected for certain genders.
Speaking about his favorite items, Mark said his go-to are five-inch stilettos and pencil skirts, which he mostly purchases online.
‘Not the most comfortable, but I really do like the way the heels look with a tight pencil skirt,’ he said.
Mark told Bored Panda that he wears the clothes he does ‘because I can’ and claimed he has always admired women who wear tight skirts and heels and the power they present.
Several people have questioned Mark’s sexuality since he started openly wearing skirts, which he says can make him short tempered.
‘Most of the time, I’ll tell them it’s none of their business,’ he said. ‘Other times, I’ll just say, I’m straight.
‘But there are times I’ll go off on some, mostly men, when asked.
‘I’ll respond with something like “why would me wearing a skirt make you think of my sexual preferences?” or “would you ask that same question if I was wearing pants?”
Or “Do you ask a women wearing a skirt and heels her sexual preferences?”‘
Mark has been married three times but with his current wife for 11 years, and says his partner and children support him in his choices.
Speaking about the first time he opened up about his clothing to his children, a son and two daughters, he said: ‘I just told them that their dad liked to wear skirts and heels and not to worry about me being gay or that it’s anything sexual.’
From then on the 6ft father has been mixing and matching styles before feeling brave enough to go to work in his favourite outfit, starting out with heels and pants before going full-time in a skirt.
He admitted the first time he went to work wearing a skirt he felt nervous, before he realised ‘a big majority of people don’t really care what a person wears’.
While out and about Mark has faced some backlash, but he says he soon came to understand only a small proportion of people have a problem with it.
Mark said: ‘Some people, mostly men, are surprised that I am just a normal guy that can carry on a normal manly conversation.
‘Clothes have no gender, but I do refer to my shirts as men’s; just to be clear, I do not wear blouses.
‘Even if a say I wear a men’s shirt and a women’s skirt and heels, it’s all non-gender clothes to me.’
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