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.
American Mark Bryan, 61, wears high heels and skirts to work every day with a men’s button-up shirt as he believes clothes are not gendered
The father of three wears his preferred outfit of choice almost every where he goes, including on his commute to work, at the shops and even at home
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.
In his bio, Mark describes himself as a ‘straight, happily married guy that loves Porsches, beautiful women and incorporating heels and skirts into my daily wardrobe’.
Speaking about his favourite 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.
To create an online gallery of his looks, he set up an Instagram account where he poses in his non-gendered outfits which he feels most comfortable in
In his Instagram profile, Mark says he is a ‘straight, happily married guy that loves Porsches, beautiful women and incorporating heels and skirts into my daily wardrobe’
Mark’s go-to look is a button-up shirt with a tight pencil skirt and five-inch stilettos, which he says he loves because of the power women present when they wear them
Mark told BoredPanda 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?”‘
The robotics engineering manager said he can become short tempered when people question his sexuality and says he does not ‘act sissy’
The American, who currently lives in Germany, says he gets angry when people ask if he is gay and challenges those who ask him whether they would put forward the same question if he were a woman wearing his outfits
Thankfully, Mark has the full support of his wife and his three children – one son and two daughters – whom he sat down and spoke to about the way he likes to dress
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’.
Mark, who is 6ft, started wearing heels when an old girlfriend from college asked him to while he danced with her – and he has never looked back
Mark has faced some backlash for the way he dresses but has learned in time how to deal with the criticism and focuses on the fact only a small proportion of people have a problem with his clothing choices
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.’