High heels

Established decades ago, as one of the most fascinating pieces of fashion, high-heeled shoes are one of the world’s most popular items, especially for women. But were they created to adorn women's feet? Amazingly, the answer is no. The high heel was invented for men, to bestow them dexterity, power and authority. Its association with female elegance came much later. But we’ll get to that later.

Louis XIV even decreed that only high nobility could enjoy the privilege of wearing heels

The history of high heeled shoes certainly has no lack of mysteries. It is, for example, not known, when exactly they appeared, although the clues we do have, lead us to ancient Egypt. All because some images dating back to 3500 BC depict a species of shoes of considerable height, worn by the civilisation’s wealthier classes. But this is not the only record. Author Elizabeth Semmelhack from the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada, has already stated that the first high-heeled shoes were created for Persian riders, in order to ensure a better position of their feet in the stirrups during mounting.
The high heel thus gained fame on the battlefield. As historian Greg Jenner also explains: «People in West Asia were tremendous horse riders, and that’s how they fought, they rode the saddle, and they stood up to shoot with their bows, and that meant you need a heel to keep you in the stirrups, nice and stable.»
We’re talking about the late 16th century, when Persian culture spread across Europe, which meant that heels were seen as a sign of virility. In the following century, this footwear model was already quite popular among members of the more privileged classes. European men wanted to wear high-heeled shoes to emulate the strength of the Persians, and Queen Elizabeth I started wearing them to look more masculine.
At that time, shoes began to be made in two parts, a flexible upper part joined with a heavier and harder sole. The simple riding heel then gave way to thinner heels, making them more elegant. The heel as a fashion is attributed to Catherine de’ Medici, who at 14 years of age married a powerful Duke of Orleans. Medici was noticeably shorter than the duke. Feeling insecure, she started wearing shoes with heels, made by an Italian craftsman, that made her taller. This model was a real success, to the point of transforming the fashion of the French aristocracy, and has since become one of the symbols of social privilege of that era.
In the early 1700s, the king of France, Louis XIV, also adopted it in his regal attire and even decreed that only high nobility could enjoy the privilege of wearing heels. The monarch exploited luxury, wigs and high heeled shoes. According to gossip, but also from the records, you can see that the king was no more than 160 centimetres tall and the heels gave him a different stature. What’s more, he became famous for wearing red heels - which would later inspire Christian Louboutin, at the end of the 20th century. 

In some public buildings it was even forbidden to enter with this type of footwear due to the damage it caused to the floors

According to Greg Jenner, high heels went in and out of fashion several times, without ever disappearing completely, and these changes affected the way they came to be seen according to the gender that wore them. It was at one of these moments in history that, in 1740, high-heeled shoes came to be seen as ridiculous and men stopped wearing them. Precisely at the time when philosophers started talking about men’s rationalism. Women, on the other hand, «were seen as emotional and sentimental, and can’t be trusted to do important things, like think.» Promoted at that time in Europe, this difference about what was believed to go on in the heads of men and women influenced what was worn on the feet. And thus men were advised to wear rational footwear, because heels were not.
Around 1800, heels returned with incredible variety and spread across America. In the late 1800s and early 1900s they began to be more comfortable. Hollywood stars contributed to give them fame and elegance. A famous quote by actress Marilyn Monroe has gone down in history: «I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.»
In the post-war period, with the revitalisation of fashion in 1950, Christian Dior and designer Roger Vivier developed the stiletto heel, which resembled a blade composed of an iron structure. In some public buildings it was even forbidden to enter with this type of footwear due to the damage it caused to the floors.
Abandoned by men, heels were then embraced by women. In the 1860s women’s high heels began to become sexy and erotic. A trend that went from strength to strength during World War II, when the so-called pin-ups adorned posters and magazines in sexy poses, wearing high heels.
A 2017 research led by David M. G. Lewis, from the Murdoch University in Australia, concluded that wearing heels actually makes women more attractive. This impact, however, has nothing to do with the feet - but, rather, with the movement caused by the heel on the rest of the female body, in particular the lumbar curvature. However, although considered attractive, such a change is not good for the body. Heels are not healthy, as there is a greater risk of musculoskeletal conditions, bunions and back pain.
In 2016, for the first time, more women bought trainers than heels in the UK. Could we be looking at a reversal of trends? We’ll see... But high heels will always be a fashion icon.