White Shoes

My girl friend, "Mary", who goes with me to macho dancing bars, dislikes seeing guys in the malls wearing white leather shoes with dark slim/skinny jeans. She says it is a dead give away to a macho dancer in "porma" attire.

She's maybe on to something. In "Home Base" and "Neighborhood", when these models go up on stage in their casual attire, they usually wear those white pointy leather shoes. Almost all of them. Even paired with a tight roundneck or buttoned-down shirt. Oddly, those wearing the classic black leather shoes (which I believe looks nicer on dark jeans) even feel awkward walking on stage. When we meet up with our "dates" outside of the bar, we notice everytime that they will wear their best tops, best dark jeans, and voila!, their white leather pointy shoes.

I asked some of my ex-bfs why. They said it just looks nice, in-fashion. I didn't probe further.

When I went to Singapore and asked my (now) ex what he wanted for pasalubong, he said "white leather shoes", something that he can wear in the bar. He said he still didn't have a nice pair yet as a "newbie", and apparently, it was an unspoken requirement for "modeling". So I bought him those white loafer-type sneakers (leather on top with rubber soles), which he can also use in malls, outings, dinners, etc. When he opened my gift, he looked a bit disappointed. He was expecting the exact "white pointy formal leather shoes" that he sees his mates wear.

How did this seeming trend start? I guess one model just started wearing a pair in one of the events, partnered with white pants. It might have looked good on him, which was followed by another, then copied by another, until it spread to the bar and future bars, making even newbies in the industry want to have one. I guess for them, their limited experience of fashion, as what they see as "nice looking" in the street or in the mall counts as fashion already.

Another theory: maybe there was an event in the bar which required them to wear white leather shoes. And assuming these boys have limited pairs of footwear only (tsinelas, a pair of rubber shoes, and any formal shoes required for modeling), since they bought their white shoes already, they may think this footwear counts as "porma" attire already.

GB Goer
Learn more: Lessons from Gay Bars in Manila
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