About The life of a Tieksboy
My Background
❤️🔥🦄👠👗👢🚵♀️👡🎭🥿🪖🥿🎭👡🚵♂️👢👗👠🦄❤️🔥
I am a dude...I wear ballet flats & heels...I wear kilts & skirts. I'm happily married to my high school sweetheart for over 30 years and I love fashion, airsoft, and cycling. This is pretty much my tag on Instagram.
I am a TIEKSBOY!
I started running sound back in the 80's and have been doing AVL ever since. I got my degree from DeVry and have worked with a variety of companies including Goodman Audio and PRG. I've done everything from Oscar/Emmys to corporate gigs at the Playboy Mansion and Studio lots.
I have captained a local Airsoft team for 20+ years where I've had the honor to see many of them make careers in local Law Enforcement or join the Military. The team (The Roughnecks) is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
I have been into fashion since the 80's and loved everything from the bold colors, "guy liner", genderless fashion, piercing, long hair, Punk/Ska music, Metal, New Wave, John Hughes films, and everything else from that decade. Some of the most iconic styles and music sounds came from the 80's.
My Skills
I have over 40 years experience in Audio Engineering, Lighting Design, Video Directing, and Video/Photographic Editing.
My Experience
I have worked with a variety of clients, from startups to large corporations, integrating their AVL and helping to maintain all equipment in a constant state of readiness.
My Mission
Caren and I have been involved with a group that started out as "Marriage Bootcamp" and evolved into "Relationship Lifeline" (R3). It literally saved our marriage. The program was started by Ron and Tina Konkin to help individuals, save marriages, and protect children.
Relationships need help and don't just exist on autopilot. R3 is designed to help Reveal, Rewrite, and Renew. You can't change or heal what you don't Reveal. If your relationship is struggling, please click the link below...
An interview with Sarah Guinn Westinkirchner: October '23
HOW ONE MAN TRADED PANTS & "TYPICAL" MEN'S FOOTWEAR FOR A WARDROBE OF KILTS, SKIRTS, HEELS, & FLATS
HOW ONE MAN TRADED PANTS & "TYPICAL" MEN'S FOOTWEAR FOR A WARDROBE OF KILTS, SKIRTS, HEELS, & FLATS
HOW ONE MAN TRADED PANTS & "TYPICAL" MEN'S FOOTWEAR FOR A WARDROBE OF KILTS, SKIRTS, HEELS, & FLATS
If you've ever spent any time at all in the Tieks Anonymous group on Facebook, then you ve seen the man — one of a handful in a predominately women's footwear fashion soundboard — known affectionally as the Tieks godfather.
Jeff Polen has been a mainstay in the designer ballet flat group since 2019, regularly posting how he styles his flats with kilts, skirts and skorts of every color along with what a typical member would think was hosiery.
A former lighting director, Polen described himself as a "very visual person" and can't get enough hues into his wardrobe.
"When I started wearing the kilts, I got to see what color looked like again," he said. "It was like my (former) black and white world suddenly got Technicolor."
Turns out, Polen hasn't always pulled kilts and stockings from his wardrobe. A medical condition led him to have to consider different choices in order to alleviate pain, and in the process, found much more than a new world of personal style, being changed not just on the outside, but inside too.
"I would have to say 'definitely;' I know who I am. I know who I'm not. I embrace who I am and it has allowed me to be a pillar and rock for those around me," Polen said. "I don't feel like I wear a mask or hide behind a wall anymore. What you see is what you get. I no longer feel like I'm in a rat maze being made to 'perform' by looking a certain way?"
Q: How do you describe your style?
HOW ONE MAN TRADED PANTS & "TYPICAL" MEN'S FOOTWEAR FOR A WARDROBE OF KILTS, SKIRTS, HEELS, & FLATS
HOW ONE MAN TRADED PANTS & "TYPICAL" MEN'S FOOTWEAR FOR A WARDROBE OF KILTS, SKIRTS, HEELS, & FLATS
A: I wear what would appear to most to be women's pantyhose. I wear a kilt, which to some has been confused as a skirt. I wear ballet flats. The "pantyhose" are medical compression and recommended by a physician. The kilt is exactly that...a kilt. It's not a dress, not a skirt, not anything else you may want to call it.
It is a kilt. The ballet flats are just shoes like any other and probably the most comfortable shoe I've ever worn with the exception of my old rainbow flip-flops or my old Johnston and Murphy Italian loafers.
Someone recently posted:
"Confession #78 (Author unknown)
At this point for me, pants, like helmets, goggles, or work gloves, are only PPE: uncomfortable but unavoidable for cold or
dirty tasks"
So my style is pragmatic, yet individual to me.
Q: Have you always worn kilts?
HOW ONE MAN TRADED PANTS & "TYPICAL" MEN'S FOOTWEAR FOR A WARDROBE OF KILTS, SKIRTS, HEELS, & FLATS
Q: Where did you get your fashion inspiration?
A: About 16 years ago, I was diagnosed with CVI, Chronic Venous Insufficiency. It means that the blood flow is very low in my limbs, and blood and fluid pool in my feet. My doctor told me I should consider wearing medical compression hosiery to help reduce symptoms and to alleviate the pain. After going back and forth on the decision for a while, I decided I was tired of the pain. I wore pants for a long time with socks over the compression hosiery (which was excruciatingly hot) because I was ashamed and scared other people would notice or say something. I worked for a church and was afraid they'd fire me. For one summer, I decided to try going back to normal for me and not wear them so I could go back to wearing shorts and my rainbow flip-flops. That summer was miserable as everyday when I came home, my legs felt like pins and needles and my feet felt like kettle bells. I decided to tell my department at a retreat and after the initial questions, there was acceptance. So from then on, I decided that I would go back to wearing shorts and not be ashamed of my medical condition. I still missed wearing my flip-flops, but at least I wasn't in pain and could do my job.
Q: Where did you get your fashion inspiration?
Q: Where did you get your fashion inspiration?
A: I was reading an April Fools joke that a company by the name of 5.11 did. It was a tactical duty kilt. I'd been airsofting for almost 20 years. We've had a couple teams where the guys have been wearing Multicam kilts. Hell! I was in junior high and high school marching band and I remember the bands that had the drum major in a kilt and a few bands where the whole band was wearing kilts. I was always intrigued by them. They always looked so regal and fancy. Anyway, I decided to order one of the 5.11 kilts and I loved it. I won't go into a ton of detail other than to say that when you have to wear a tight covering over your legs to start with, the ability to provide better ventilation and better movement is a plus.
A kilt provides that and so much more. My first kilt came a little over ten years ago now (2014).
I've been wearing full time for the last 7 years (2018) and I seriously don't see a reason to ever go back to wearing pants. I'm part Scottish and I think they've got it right.
Being a teen of the '80s, those years were filled with some amazing styles and dress. People like Adam Ant, Boy George, Dead or Alive, and so many others which were so inspirational in their music as well as style and outfits. Some people were drawn to bands like Kiss. I was drawn to artists like David Bowie and Queen.
Songwriters who wrote songs that spoke to me. So their style was always something I wanted to emulate. Regretfully, it took me a while to accept my style and to find the confidence to move past the fear. I think that having an amazing wife who encourages me and great friends who support me gave me that second wind and ability to push forward past sartorial views of fashion and to see it as equal and genderless.
Some recent inspirations have been people like Michael Spookshow (HisBlackDress), Mark Bryan (@MarkBryan911), and Paul Duane (#SoulAnarchist). People who also feel that clothes don't define your gender or sexuality.
Q: How did you come to know Tieks?
Q: What's your closet by the numbers these days?
A: I needed to wear shoes that didn't damage the expensive hosiery, and yet were comfortable enough not to create a new problem. I had been wearing Tom's and Skechers for a few years and they just didn't last. It seemed like I had to replace them every couple months. Somewhere, I had read an article by a man who was talking about how comfortable and stylish ballet flats were. I decided to buy a pair that I found clearanced at Nordstrom Rack. I wore them around the house as slippers to go outside. They were amazing and felt like Ninja Slippers. In fact, I still have that same pair some six years later and they are in great shape. We were in Paso a few years ago and I had a pair of chestnut flats that I was wearing with my kilt when a friend recommended a pair she had that would probably go better with it. They were a pair of Tieks ballet flats in Cardinal Red. We wore the same size so I tried them on. For most men (since women already mostly know this) this will come as a shock to you, but ballet flats are extremely comfortable. Almost like wearing flip-flops or slippers. They are super lightweight, provide just the right amount of support, and they don't make your feet all hot like a tennis shoe or work shoe.
Q: What's your closet by the numbers these days?
Q: What's your closet by the numbers these days?
A: I have 43 pairs of Tieks now. Is it bad that I have 44 pairs of Nine West heels?
Nine West keeps having these killer sales and I just can't say no. Haha. Anyway, I also have 48 kilts and a little over 138 skirts. Forty-six are LuLaRoe Madisons alone. I suppose Marie Kondo would have a field day in my closet. That's why she'll never get an invite. All my kilts and skirts hang neatly on kilt and skirt hangers. All my shoes have shoe tree inserts to keep them nice and formed. You can see that in the picture.
Q: How do you respond to people who don't understand?
Q: What advice do you have for others who struggle to find their style?
Q: What advice do you have for others who struggle to find their style?
A: For those wondering, "What's next? Are you gonna wear high heels and dresses?" The answer is "Depends." My attire, while trying to be fashionable, is somewhat pragmatic. It makes sense for me. Because of my health issues, I'm doing what makes sense for me and makes me happy. If my kilts didn't have pockets, then I'd wear something else that allowed good ventilation and had pockets. If my ballet flats weren't so comfortable, then I'd probably still be wearing Toms and Skechers. I'm also huge on fashion styles and variety so if I found some other shoes like heels or clothes which were fashionable and comfortable, I'd likely give those a try.
If you do any research on mens attire over the last 300 years, you'll find that women's fashion today is based on men's fashion back then. I find it funny when someone tries to be funny or snarky to me and says "Nice Dress." When women wear jeans and boots, does anyone look at them and ask why they are dressing like a man? When women show up to work dressed up in a suit, does anyone think twice about asking them why they are wearing men's clothing? No. I find it very hypocritical that when I wear a kilt (current Scotsmen attire), and ballet flats (worn by royalty and the wealthy in the 1700-1850), that suddenly, I'm labeled a crossdresser or a transvestite. Again, people need to do their research before opening their mouths.
Clothing has no self aware gender. It is merely material. I love the church we are at where the tagline is "This is for Everyone." A few of the guys I serve with have asked my story and I've told them. I've never been treated differently or made fun of except when it was the throwing of insults back and forth like guys do. My work is the same way. All in all, I'd say that the people in my daily life are all understanding, get it, and have been very supportive.
Q: What advice do you have for others who struggle to find their style?
Q: What advice do you have for others who struggle to find their style?
Q: What advice do you have for others who struggle to find their style?
A: I guess one of the main themes that I've put forth both on Tieks Anonymous and a few other avenues is this idea of "being yourself." I feel like once I turned 50 (and actually a little before that,) I fell into this attitude of not caring what others whom I didn't even know thought of me. I mean, my close friends and family have seen me dress like this for years and accept me, so why would I care what someone who I don't even know thinks? So my advice is to wear what makes you happy because clothes don't have a gender and at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is your own. Just like when men would grow their hair long or get their ears pierced. It's all a matter of personal preference. When women started wearing pants or started shopping in the men's section, nobody was there to say
"you can't do that" the way they do to men these days.
My advice is to be authentic and don't try to be what others want or expect you to be. Be true to yourself. I've always had a love for fashion dating back to the '80s, so I would have ended up where I am today even if I hadn't been diagnosed with CVI and been told to wear a garment that is traditionally a "women's" garment. I think that finding myself through the journey has made me a better man, husband, and friend to those in my life because I'm not trying to be someone or something I'm not.
Additional edits to original article by Jeff Polen.
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The life of a Tieksboy
AVL : A Collection of Projects and Events
