Can a Woman Wear Men’s Sneakers?

The Torah forbids a woman to wear a man’s article: “A woman must not put on man’s apparel.” The Shulchan Aruch and the Rambam define this as items that men wear according to local custom. Their example on the reverse side is a man wearing colored garments or gold ornaments “in a place where only women wear those things.” So the prohibition applies to items that are distinctive of the other gender. Something worn by both, like unisex sneakers, is not included. The Rambam adds: “Everything follows local custom.”

The Rema adds that even a single such garment is forbidden, even when the rest of the person’s clothing shows whether they are a man or a woman. A woman may therefore not wear sneakers that look distinctly like men’s sneakers, even if the rest of her outfit is feminine.

• Deuteronomy 22:5 — a woman may not put on a man’s apparel, nor a man a woman’s clothing
• Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 182:5 — a woman may not wear men’s clothing according to local custom, and a man may not wear items that only women wear in that place; Rema: even one garment is forbidden, even if the other clothes show the wearer’s gender
• Rambam Hilchot Avodah Zarah 12:10 — the same prohibition, applying where such items are worn only by the other gender; everything follows local custom