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I can safely say that I am addicted to high heels. I wake up with it and I go to bed with it—so to speak. High heels are super feminine and give you just that few centimeters extra, which I don’t mind with my one-meter fifty-eight!
There is only one drawback to wearing high heels: they are not very comfortable. But you don’t need to worry about that because dolce vita paily heels have solved this problem as they are the most comfortable high heels shoes. So I wondered who came up with wearing high heels. And why? I wanted to know all about the history of the high heel and went to investigate!
Man, what nice pumps you have on!
I honestly expected that the high heel was an invention of men. But that they were also the first ones to wear them, that’s a surprise to me. Okay, in Roman times the warriors didn’t wear pumps to get an elegant pose. They wore shoes with a heel so as not to get their feet in the dirt. In the Middle East, horsemen found that wearing high heels stabilized their posture and allowed them to aim more accurately when archery. Can you already see the picture?
The heel as a symbol of status
The Eastern custom of wearing heels spread to Western Europe around 1600. At that time, high heels became a symbol of leadership, status, and wealth. The higher the heel, the more status. Those who really wanted to show off their wealth made sure their high heels were red. Red was a difficult color to make and only for the wealthy.
Although you can now also buy heels for a tenner and you don’t have to be rich for it, I do recognize the status that radiates from a pair of high heels. A suit with a pair of chic pumps looks different than a pair of flat slippers underneath. Anyone who still dares to opt for red still enjoys the appearance of status. Just look at Christian Louboutin’s red high heels!
Sun King Louis XIV, with his huge collection of red high shoes, was the Imelda Marcus of his time: Imelda’s collection consists of 1,220 pairs of heels. Louis XIV was short, and he made up for his height with four-inch high heels painted red!
Upside-down world?
Around 1650 women realized that those men were very nice. What men can do, we can too – they probably thought back then: it became fashionable for women to wear masculine clothes. They wore men’s hats and walked in high heels. Not only that; they cut their hair short and smoked tobacco.
Wealthy merchants took Parisian fashion back to their own country. These fashionable clothes and high heels were only reserved for the wealthy, so the high heel retained their status symbol. But not for long. The lower classes imitated the heels. The aristocracy responded to this by making the heel higher and higher! Pff, can you imagine that torture?
There has to be a difference
Eventually, the men will distance themselves from the high heel. Around 1700, men’s fashion and men’s shoes became solid and practical. The farewell to the male high heels started and a hundred years later there was not a guy to be found in heels. High heels were no longer a symbol of status but they were considered decadent and erotic!
Higher Baby!
Fortunately, the French Haute Couture (19th century) made the comeback of the high heel. Only for ladies this time. The Italians also loved high heels of all shapes and sizes. They came with the extravagant stiletto heel. Something I’m still grateful for. Well, since the 1970s, the high heel has become an integral part of the fashion scene. And the nice thing is that anything is possible these days. High shoes, ankle boots, knee-high boots, pointed or round toes, wedges, or platform soles. But the stiletto heel is here to stay that stands up to all the fads.
Also, read it.
