“...cross dressing event.”
I was in ROTC in college, they passed out uniforms the first day. The second day I thought my khaki short-sleeved shirt looked good with bluejeans. I was about half-way across campus when some older ROTC guy chewed me out for being out of uniform.
Made me take off the shirt and run back to my dorm to get changed. (Late for class.)
ANYHOOO - by wearing those shoes - they were out of uniform. From my limited experience, that’s a pretty big deal.
Yes, that is a very big deal.