Ashley Maxwell-Lam goes to his Sydney office every day wearing regular formal attire – a classic suit, shirt and tie. However, there’s something a little different about his outfit. Instead of men’s work shoes, Maxwell-Lam likes to put on high heels.

The 30-year-old financial expert, who works in the insurance industry, rocks six-inch stilettos nearly every day without any apprehensions. As he says in the video above, he doesn’t really distinguish between men’s shoes and women’s. Though, like most women, he admits that even though they look good, high heels do hurt.

He tried them on after a female colleague’s suggestion and was floored by the discovery. “It was like a lightbulb just switched on. I felt confident, I felt invincible, I felt empowered like I could take on anything and do whatever I wanted,” he says in the video (above), made by The Project.

The video also brings out an interesting nugget: even though high heels are considered the preserve of women today, they actually started off gender neutral in western fashion, being worn by wealthy women and men across Europe in the late 1590s.