History of High Heels

High heels. They look terribly uncomfortable, and according to my wife, they feel as unnatural as they look. Which, to her credit, is why she doesn't wear them. And I don't blame her. In fact, I would rather her leave them to the world of "fashion" and keep her feet healthy by donning practical, sensible footwear. 

That being said: Who thought that high heels were a good idea in the first place? These days, women tend to prize them as elements of a sort of "achievable" sensual appearance. But, this particularly cruel brand of fashion has a much different origin. In fact, their origins come not from women and fashion, but men and practicality. 

For the origins of high heels, we have to look backwards, to the 16th and 17th centuries. And we have to look away from the runway, and towards the battlefield, specifically that of horse-riding Persian warriors. 

As anyone who has seen high heels can attest, there seems to be something very impractical about the piece of wood or metal that juts out of the heel, lifting the wearer's foot a few inches from the ground. Today, it is impractical. But to Persian soldiers on horse-back, the heels were integral. In order to balance properly while holding a weapon and standing up in the stirrups, these skilled warriors needed something to keep their feet from slipping. Enter elongated heels, ones that even look similar to some worn by women today.

Fast forward to the western obsession with middle eastern culture and fashion that overtook the 17th century, and we see people in the ruling class complementing their appearance with heels reminiscent of those worn by the Persians. Gone was practicality, left behind in favor of looking worldly and important. 

Tracing the history further into the 17th century, women began to implement "male" fashion into their wardrobe, bringing along high heels. Their heels, however, became longer and thinner over time, while men's heels flattened and widened.

Then came the Enlightenment. Men shunned unnecessary ornamentation in favor of practicality, and women stuck with their long, thin heels, which had become synonymous with the "weaker" feminine stature. By 1740, men lost interest in them altogether, and within 50 years, so did the women.

Enter porn. In the 19th century, makers of pornographic images gave their models high heels to accentuate their legs, and the craze returned, now embodying the sexy, erotic revolution of the '60s and '70s. 

So, high heels went from battlefield necessity to porn-powered symbols of eroticism. From powerful men, to powerful women -- and possibly back again, according to the article: 

"If it becomes a signifier of actual power, then men will be as willing to wear it as women."

I'll stick with my TOMs, thanks.

-JJ