Alexander Skarsgård striding down the Cannes crimson carpet in over-the-knee black leather-based Saint Laurent boots wasn’t only a type assertion. It was a thunderous stomp into a brand new period of masculine vogue liberation. Lengthy gone are the times when males clung to their loafers and lace-ups like a safety blanket. Now, with the likes of Pedro Pascal and Skarsgård entering into knee-high leather-based, we’re witnessing the rebirth of daring, theatrical menswear.
As a lady who’s been telling males for over a decade to ditch the uninteresting and embrace the daring, I almost spilled my Negroni seeing Skarsgård pull off what many vogue mortals wouldn’t dare. Leather-based boots on the crimson carpet? With a tuxedo? That’s not simply type—it’s audacity wrapped in magnificence.
“These aren’t simply boots—they’re declarations. Masculinity now not stops on the ankle.”– Gracie Opulanza
The Rise of the Knee-Excessive Males’s Boot
Traditionally, knee-high boots weren’t female in any respect. Take into consideration equestrians, Napoleonic officers, or Seventies rock stars in stacked leather-based. Boots had been energy. Boots had been battle. Boots had been constructed to command consideration.
Quick ahead to 2025, and we’re seeing that energy reclaimed by males, not for conflict however for wardrobe. Alexander Skarsgård in Saint Laurent isn’t a gimmick. It’s a provocation—a chic, curated, and deliberate pivot away from the anticipated. And let’s be sincere, crimson carpets have been crying out for reinvention.
Pedro Pascal and the Booted Brotherhood
Pedro Pascal, vogue’s present darling, kicked issues off when he paired excessive leather-based boots with shorts and knitwear—an outfit that screamed confidence and luxury in equal measure. Skarsgård merely upped the ante. He went full runway editorial, merging old-school tailoring with high-fashion footwear. The consequence? A glance that mentioned, “I’m safe in my masculinity, and I can stroll in something higher than you.”
These males are usually not simply actors. They’re visible disruptors. They’ve performed what stylists and vogue editors dream of: made males’s vogue thrilling once more.
Why Leather-based Knee-Excessive Boots Work
Let’s break it down.
Texture: Leather-based provides depth and construction to an outfit. It displays mild otherwise than suiting materials, creating distinction.
Form: Over-the-knee boots lengthen the silhouette, give a clear leg line, and really feel architectural.
Energy Dynamics: There’s one thing commanding about leather-based boots—navy, aristocratic, even sensual. They converse with out shouting.
Males usually draw back from daring footwear, sticking to “secure” choices. However boots break these boundaries. They rework posture, motion, and presence.
Styling Leather-based Boots for Males: Tux, Blazer, or Naked-Kneed?
This isn’t cosplay. This isn’t about dressing like a glam-rock star at a fancy dress celebration. When you’re going to put on leather-based boots, it’s essential to perceive the proportions and the power.
1. The Tuxedo + Boot Combo
That is the Alexander Skarsgård methodology. And it really works as a result of it’s surprising. The standard tux—the velvet jacket, the satin lapel, the cummerbund—is disrupted by the rebellious leather-based under.
Fashion tip: Maintain the trousers tailor-made and tuck them into the boots, or put on a tapered lower that stops simply above the boot line. A cropped tuxedo trouser works fantastically. You’re aiming for a mix of old-money formality and new-money fearlessness.
2. The Blazer & Boot Avenue Edit
Swap the tux for a longline blazer or double-breasted coat. Layer with a sheer shirt, turtleneck, or perhaps a skinny roll-neck knit. Let the boots peek below slim or cropped trousers.
Fashion tip: That is the place coloration comes into play. Suppose oxblood or darkish inexperienced boots with a gray blazer. Or go full noir with black on black, offset with silver jewellery.
3. The Kilt or Skirted Look
For the courageous—and sure, the good—strive a skirt or pleated kilt above the boots. This isn’t about being female. It’s about being fashion-forward. Suppose Thom Browne, not Halloween.
Fashion tip: Maintain the highest structured—sharp shoulders, double-breasted tailoring. Your boots do the speaking, however the blazer holds the look collectively.
Is This the Loss of life of the Oxford?
Let’s not bury the Oxford simply but, however let’s admit it’s uninteresting. The period of predictable males’s footwear—brown brogues, black derbies—is crumbling. Pink carpets are now not nearly magnificence. They’re about presence. If girls can put on shoulder pads, heels, and dramatic robes, why ought to males stay caught in monochrome shoe packing containers?
Leather-based knee-high boots are usually not about copying girls—they’re about reclaiming drama, redefining masculinity, and restoring ardour to males’s dressing.
The Gender Fluid Vogue Wave
This motion isn’t remoted. It’s a part of a wider vogue evolution—one which questions inflexible gender roles. From Harry Types in pearls to Timothée Chalamet in backless halters, we’re watching the demolition of binary vogue in actual time.
The leather-based boot is simply one other step in that insurrection. It challenges the viewer. It makes individuals look once more. It’s not about being stunning. It’s about being seen.
Who Can Pull It Off?
You don’t have to be 6’4″ like Skarsgård to put on boots like this. You want posture, confidence, and management. The boots do the work—however it’s important to personal the stroll.
This isn’t for the timid. But it surely’s excellent for males bored with mixing in. Vogue has at all times been a type of communication. Leather-based knee-highs say, “I’ve arrived. And I’m not asking for approval.”
Remaining Ideas: A Lady’s View from the Sidelines
Watching males embrace boots like this isn’t simply refreshing—it’s empowering. It means we’re lastly seeing vogue open up. And for somebody who’s made a profession out of urging males to be extra daring, I can solely applaud it.
To all the lads questioning if they’ll “pull it off”—you completely can. Fashion isn’t about top, physique kind, or age. It’s about intention. And for those who put on these boots with goal, belief me, the room will really feel it.
Vogue has at all times had the facility to form notion. Now, males are lastly entering into that energy—in excessive, shiny, unapologetic leather-based.
