For better or for worse, we (I) make fun of Tom Cruise’s lifts all of the time. Tom is a shorter-than-average man, but he really, really wants people to think he’s a super-butch action star, so he wears lifts (or high heels, as I call them) all of the time, on and off the set. This isn’t so shocking really, I just like to look at Tom Cruise photos and try to spot where the “hidden” lift part of the shoe starts, and I always get a kick out of Tom trying to pull off skinny jeans and high heels. Over the years, I’ve also noticed that Robert Downey Jr., a fellow short dude, also wears lifts, although RDJ’s lifts aren’t a Tom-Cruise-level, OCD compulsion. RDJ seems to wear lifts for his job, when he’s filming a movie and he wants to look the same height as… Gwyneth Paltrow, I guess. In red carpet appearances, RDJ either wears sneakers with an extra inch of sole, or he just wears regular dress shoes.
Anyway, Us Weekly has a funny little story about RDJ’s special-order of some 3-inch heels. They’re for a movie, for the love of God!
Robert Downey Jr. needs a raise! Us Weekly’s Hot Stuff has learned that a fashion stylist for the 5-foot-8 actor, 46, has asked a custom shoe company to create 3-inch lifts for him to wear while filming Iron Man 3 in North Carolina this spring.
“They’re working on a special pair just for him,” reveals the source, adding, “The lift insole needs to be concealed in a high-top shoe or boot. The highest that’s offered to the general public is 2 inches!”
[From Us Weekly, print edition]
So here’s a question: why am I not delighted by this? Tom Cruise’s lifts are a source of constant amusement to me, but with Robert, it just feels like… meh. Of course, I’m of the opinion that RDJ is just wearing lifts for his job, to look taller on screen, and that he’s fine with his height and his body in real life. If his height really does bother him, though? That might bug me. Short guys can be sexy! They just have to own it.
…OK, now that I’m looking at some photos of his red carpet kicks… yeah, he’s wearing really HIGH heels. Damn it, Robert! Don’t go all Cruise. Own your height.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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