Trend Watch: Manly Men Pamper Themselves With Polished Pedicures
Posted by: Simcha Whitehill
Filed in:
guys
5:00PM, Wednesday February 18th 2009
This week on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” guest star Dean McDermott (Tori Spelling’s hubby) had on toenail polish! Say what? Both he and Kate Beckinsale’s director husband, Len Wiseman, have been seen strutting around LA in sandals to show off their colorful polish. But with around 30% of salon clients being male, they’re not the only bros getting their feet professionally pedicured. As hotel spa director, David Erlich, says, when it comes to treating your tootsies, “Men are the new women.” Yeah, the mantyhose, bras, garter belts, and girdles for men sorta hinted at that…
While colored nail varnish is optional, gentlemen from all walks of life are looking polished with pedicures. Floridian Pastor Jermaine Gordon believes cleanliness is next to Godliness. So, he has a professional cosmetologist take care of his toenails. Fellow salon-going guy, Dr. Bob Wyko, who also sees the hygiene benefits, considers polished feet a sexy way to clean up for his wife.
Dr. Bob waxed philosophic about his pedi to the St. Petersburg Times, saying, “I think it enhances the masculinity. It shows a man is not all muscle and not all about money. If my wife dresses to impress me, I should dress to impress her.” Touché, Dr. Bob!
But even men who aren’t health nuts see the benefit of well-groomed feet. A gamer, whose girlfriend recently dragged his feet into a salon, was inspired to beg his fellow gamers to shake off their grungy image and start getting routine pedicures. In a gamer forum, “ivanctorres” boldly challenged his people, “Are You Man Enough To Get A Pedicure?” The answer seems to be an astounding YES!
Like the top coat, it’s clear—manly men aren’t just toeing the line, they’re breaking grooming stereotypes. In Modesto, CA, at David Lee’s spa, there are monthly nights for men that feature Mexican food and tequila.
But it’s not just for lowbrow bro fiestas—the pedi trend has hit big business and has even gone corporate! To celebrate Sprint’s new Palm Centro phone, Rob K. invited his editorial clients, both men and women, to join him for mani-pedis. After all, what could be more powerful than conducting your meeting from a massage chair? It certainly takes a brave bad ass to walk into a salon full of woman and demand service, that’s for sure. Just look at Larry Malitzky. One day when he was the lone man getting a pedi at a spa in New York, his relaxation was cut short when a gunman came into the salon. But tough guy Malitzky risked ruining his polish and disarmed the psychopath.
Like antiquated attitudes about the foot treatment being too frou-frou for men, the terminology is also changing. Since “spa pedicure” can be construed as effeminate, even to a high-maintenance metrosexual, a lot of salons have re-dubbed the self-indulgence to get rid of the taboo and financially tap into the trend. After adding “The Executive Pedicure” to their menu, the Karen Allen Salon & Spas in Southern California saw a 15% jump in male clientele. While on the East Coast, Emerge Salon of Boston created an entire wing of their spa for men only. With separate stations for “Sports Pedicures,” their business is, an above average 35% male. “We even had a group of men organize a spa day Superbowl party in the Men’s Club,” claims salon owner Joyce Hampers.
So, now that it’s nearly spring sandal time, how do you feel about your man—or any man—getting their feet filed, buffed, AND polished in the chair next to you?
TheFrisky.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network
crazyincarolina
wrote on February 18 2009 @ 07:50 pm: [report]
like a guy to have decent feet, but polish? umm, no.
Chelle
wrote on February 18 2009 @ 08:37 pm: [report]
This is just ridiculous. I don’t even get pedicures. If they just gotta do it, they should at least use clear nailpolish so they don’t look like they cross-dress part-time.
Lynn
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 10:54 am: [report]
I’m OK with a guy getting a pedicure if he wants to (I’m not sure I’d want *my* guy to get one, though). But not colored polish - leave that for the girls!
Alison Wonderland
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 11:21 am: [report]
My brother and I want to open a “salon” called MANicure. With recliners and TVs with sports on them. It would be a place that would foster their manliness, but help them deal with their funky feet. Absolutely no polish though.
Jake
wrote on February 19 2009 @ 04:40 pm: [report]
I am not surprised at all hearing that more men are wearing their nails polished. My wife is a nail tech and she has seen a dramtic increase in the male pedicure business lately. She has also seen more men interested in polish, but she is not sure why. And yeah, I have tried it too.
There has been more buzz in nail blogs about men wearing their toes polished, so maybe this is beginnig to catch on.
After reading that many male celebs are doing it (above), I guess it makes sense that men with an eye on what’s new and trendy would notice.
SlayerRocks
wrote on April 12 2009 @ 11:32 pm: [report]
Dig It! Cool article. I don’t know why some people still frak out over a dude wearing nail polish. I’ve seen the rockers doing for going on 20 years now (like when the dudes in Motley Crue were doing it, like Tommy Lee and Nikkie Sixx) - and now, even the extreme sports people are into it - the ultimate fighter Chuck Liddell does it!
I’ve been wearing the stuff ever since I’ve been ten or so, and fully intend on doing so forever. I think it’s very cool, and so does my fiance. It’s really all about a freedom issue - I dig it - I don’t care if anyone else does or not - I’ll be dammed if I’ll let some snivelly assed whiny people try to sway me - my self-confidence doesn’t need any propping-up from anyone. Nail polish for dudes is here to stay!
Danielle001
wrote on April 15 2009 @ 10:46 am: [report]
My partner and I operate a salon where we cater to both men and women. We see no reason why men should not be able to be ‘pampered’ with similar services that women enjoy.
We feature men’s manicures and pedicures, hair styling and waxing, and massages. Related to this article, we have nail color swatches we’ve developed for men (no ‘feminine’ colors) because we do have a number of male clients that get colored polish on their toenails. We have noticed this trend becoming more popular lately too. In our opinions, there is no reason why men should not have nice-looking feet, and with sandal weather approaching, we are promoting it to men as a way to get ‘dressed up’ for vacations.
We have even had some female clients bring their spouses/BFs in for services, and the pedicures with polish are becoming the hot item in our area. And, it’s good for business to have men coming on regularly as well, so we are all for it!
Lynda
wrote on April 28 2009 @ 03:09 pm: [report]
My BF just tried this, and it looks great on him! We had never talked about it before, and so I asked him why he did it. He said he thought is might look cool so he gave it a go.
I would not have belived it would work on him if I had not seen it myself, but he used a silver-grey colored polish (Harley by Zoya) and it totally worked! Those who says it’s only for us girls should get their guys to try it.
9PrettyPiggies
wrote on May 27 2009 @ 11:00 am: [report]
Hi all! Men who like pampering are more of a gentleman than ever. I am admittedly new to the phenomenon of painting toenails but since have discovered that it’s so much fun. I actually started a blog to chronicle my experience with toe painting. It’s on blogger under 9PrettyPiggies. All are welcome. I’m wearing Vixen, a dark deep red that makes me feel great. That’s all it’s about afterall. Take care and keep those feet happy.
EastCoastMale
wrote on May 27 2009 @ 11:04 am: [report]
I definitely have fallen in love with shaping and buffing my own nails at home. I would totally go to a salon to get a manicure with buff but no topcoat, nor pedicure. My hands are seen all the time and especially at work but needing m toes done? not so much =)
Erik
wrote on June 24 2009 @ 01:47 am: [report]
I’ve been doing this for a few years already, ever since my wife got me started! I suppose once a celebrity starts doing it, it’s considered ‘okay’, right? Well, it’s more than ‘okay’ for me, I consider it part of my normal grooming and it makes my feet look a ton better than before I began paying any attention to them.
There’s been an increase in the buzz about this lately, it must finally be catching on….
smoothy
wrote on August 29 2009 @ 06:55 pm: [report]
I am new to nail polish on my toes. I started out by getting as pedicure while I was on a cruise ship. I never knew what I was missing until then. My first pedi I did not get polish and when i got home I found a salon that my wife went to and started getting pedi and maniis there. Last month i was sitting in the chair getting a pedi and the woman next to me was getting a French pdi. I thought it looked great on her so I told the girl to gove me one also. It did not seem like it was a big deal to the nail girl. She knew me because i had been to hert several times. She did a great job. I could not stop looking at my toes. My wife was surprised when i got home, but she loved the look. I have a=had another french pedi since and still love the look. I may try another color next time. It is only nail plish. Guys can wear earring, nose rings and all sorts of things that only girls wore before so what is the big deal about nail polish? They are my toes and I will do what I want.
CadenceL
wrote on November 20 2009 @ 01:23 pm: [report]
My husband is also new to this. He was introduced to polish on his toenails just last weekend as he and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to enjoy a spa pedicure when we were shopping while traveling.
He really enjoyed the treatment (as did I) and when it came to the part where I was choosing a color of polish for my toes, the nail tech asked if he cared to try polish as well. She told us that she had a number of male clients who regularly had her polish their toes, and she felt that it was an up and coming thing for men. I think it took him by surprise, but when I encouraged him to give it a try (hey, I was curious), he chose a nice silver color.
She did a wonderful job on his feet and when she was done, they looked much better than either of us had anticipated. His toenails had been cleaned, smoothed and shaped, and his feet were softened and his callouses were filed down so that his feet looked great! The silver polish just added that right touch of class to his feet and he liked how they turned out as well.
The experience prompted me to ask him if he would consider having his toes polished again in the future. He thought for a moment and replied that yes, he would consider it, and mainly because he really enjoyed both the pedicure treatment and the way his feet looked. Who would have known?
blackfoot68
wrote on November 26 2009 @ 03:18 am: [report]
REALLY PEOPLE?!?!? What’s wrong with it? Are you that insecure in your sexuality that you must impose your views on someone else who is obviously secure enough to do something that they enjoy, and harms absolutely no one?
I get pedicures and I get my toes polished (with color) as well. I’m not a cross-dresser as one post suggested and I’m not gay as others assume (mistakenly) about any guy who gets his toes polished. I have friends/associates in both of those realms and like anything else people can have an opinion on, some of them like it and some of them don’t. Let’s set the stage—I’m a black (african american) man, I’ve been divorced once, I’m currently married and have 3 children, I’m a U.S. Veteran (Desert Shield timeframe), I’ve driven 18-wheelers all over the U.S. and Canada, I’m a Black Belt (and had my own karate school for a time), and I’m currently a Corrections Officer in a state prison. Could I get more “manly”?
I got started polishing my toes by accident. I went to set up a surprise lunchtime pedicure for my wife, just because. While I was at the spa, the owner talked me into trying a pedi. It was awesome!!!! The nail tech asked me if I wanted clear or color. My suave answer was, “ummmm…” and she quickly said, “You’d look good with color.” Spur of the moment I thought, WTF do it. Next thing you know I’ve got burgundy toes.
Now, not only did it look good to me, but several people commented on it that day. The wife and kids liked it, and the pedicures have taken care of some “debris” from a bad case of athlete’s foot I had some time ago. My feet once again look and feel like they did when I was a 20-something stationed in Europe. The pedicures themselves help since my job requires me to do a lot of standing and walking.
Men wear pants, women wear pants; men work outside the home, women work outside the home; men get tattoos, women get tattoos; women wear ear rings, men wear ear rings; women grow long hair, men grow long hair; women paint their toes, men paint their toes… what’s the connecting factor? Before someone of the opposite sex did it, all of these things were considered “masculine” or “feminine”. Other than giving birth is there really such a distinction between male human and female human?
Why do women do it? It feels good, it looks good and they like it. Is it wrong for a man to feel good, look good and like it? BB Couture is spending money on developing a men’s line of polish, hmmmm… that’s a serious commitment by a major company. Maybe this is something you “haters” might just have to get use to.
It’s just paint people, it comes right off.
denverman63
wrote on December 4 2009 @ 08:55 am: [report]
blackfoot68 i couldn’t have said it better. Ive been doing my toes ever since i heard scott speed the nascar driver did his. then i found out there are a lot of guys like you said they like to take care of there feet.and believe me Ive seen some pretty nasty feet on women,all crusty toes all deformed. it really pissed off my x wife when the neighbor lady had come over one day and noticed my blue toes and said, wow your toes are blue,then she said i had nice looking feet, they look better than my wife’s. i think thts why women don’t like it is cause there mad they have nasty looking feet. the first thing that comes out of there mouth is wht are you gay. and the women that dont have a problem with it they love my toes and feet. they say i have nice looking feet.
denverman63
wrote on December 4 2009 @ 09:27 am: [report]
hmmm
funandlife
wrote on December 14 2009 @ 12:13 pm: [report]
i love seeing my toes look nice and my wife loves them well pedicured and polished with light polish
i hope there are more salons for males toes….
i hope you females agree
denverman63
wrote on December 16 2009 @ 09:23 am: [report]
hey fun it dosent madder i love going in the nail salons and some of the older ladys look on there face. but usually the yonger gals say nice feet lol
Jake K
wrote on February 8 2010 @ 02:38 pm: [report]
Okay, I am your typical guy in his 40s, I work in contruction, fix cars, drive a pickup and yes, I wear my toenails (not fingernails) painted. I mean, why not? It looks good and my wife thinks it’s sexy, so really not a big deal to me. Nail polish can look good on anyone, if it’s done well. Besides, it’s fun.