Written by : Joyce Chua
High heels have been a mainstay in women’s fashion for centuries. Their widespread appeal is due to how well they flatter the feminine silhouette and add a touch of class and elegance to any outfit. High heeled shoes are now one of the most popular form of footwear amongst women.
Love your heels? Live in them? Check out some fun facts about your beloved footwear style:
1. Defining Height
According to high-fashion shoe labels such as Jimmy Choo and Gucci, a low heel is anything less than 2.5 inches (or 6.4 centimeters), while mid heels are anything between 2.5 and 3.5 inches (6.4 and 8.9 cm), and anything higher than that is considered a high heel. However, the clothing industry takes a simpler approach, whereby high heels are anything that ranging from two to five inches.
2. Well-Heeled Men
Did you know that men were in fact the first to slip into high heels? Shoes served as a status symbol since way back then, creating clear division between the elites and plebeians. High heel shoes were first adopted by the European aristocracy of the 17th century and served as a status marker. The underlying logic was that since only someone who didn’t have to work could possibly walk around in such impractical footwear, high heels are only for aristocrats or royals. Check out King Louis in his heels (below).
3. Rider’s Heels
The first high heel wearers, however, are believed to have been 9th century Persian horseback warriors, who wore them for a practical purpose. The extended heels they wore when riding prevented their feet from slipping out of the stirrups, and also helped to keep them steady when standing up in the stirrups and shooting arrows.
4. Women in Heels
Women later started wearing high-heeled shoes to appropriate masculine power and be regarded as their equal. The first women who wore high heels in public was Catherine de Medici, who wore them to appear taller at her wedding in Florence, Italy, in 1533 to Duke d’Orlean. Her shoes were two-inches high.
Later, around 1660, a shoemaker designed high-heeled shoes for Louis XIV. Some of them were higher than four inches (10cm)! The “Louis heels” subsequently came into vogue among the ladies. Today, it refers to heels that feature a concave curve and an outward taper at the bottom, which is similar to those worn by Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress.
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu postulated that aesthetic choices serve as indicators of class difference, that the elite will try to present themselves differently from commoners, going for different clothing, food, and such. The reason why men eventually stopped wearing heels was because the association between high heel shoes and women tainted the footwear as a status symbol for men.
5. High Heels Go Mainstream
Soon, as fashion trends are typically influenced by the elite, high heels became a widespread trend amongst the lower classes also began to wear high heels as well.
In response to the appropriation from the lower classes, women and workers, the elites took their heels even higher to create a greater distinction from them. Also, they differentiated heels into two main types — fat and skinny, where fat heels were worn by men and skinny for women.
6. Footwear in the Enlightenment Age
The Enlightenment Age emphasised rationality, which mean everyone quit wearing high heels in favour of practical footwear. Since then, high heels have gone in and out of fashion. Lower heels were the preferred style during the late 1960s and early 70s, while the 80s and 90s saw the comeback of high heels. High heels also evolved into various styles, including the block and wedge heels of the 70s, the mule and the stiletto heels that were popular in the 50s, 80s, as well as today.
Are you a fan of high heels? What other fun facts do you know?
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