If you think high heels were invented for women, you should know that they actually started with men.
According to the curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, shoes with a pointed heel and a sloping pitch were first worn by men as riding boots in 9th-century Persia.
During the Renaissance period, women wore high platforms stacked heavily at the toe called chopines. They were said to rise about eight inches high and were worn in the sheer delight of displaying family wealth. These chopines later became a trend to prostitutes in Florence and Sicily.
In the 1500s, the high-heeled men's riding boot was revived by Queen Elizabeth who "acted" as a man. In the early 1700s, shorter heels started to become popular with women. By the time of the Second World War, heels started soaring higher with the discovery of using metal rods on shoes to maintain a strong and narrow structure. - HILLARY MAGAZINE
British designer Alexander McQueen came out with his outlandish 12-inch shoes/boots unveiled on Paris catwalk.
Statistics show that 80% of men agree that a woman wearing heels is sexier than wearing flats. It really flaunts the height of a tall woman, and makes a small woman gain confidence. It boosts not only self-assurance but the height itself. You may hate wearing it because it could torture your feet, but at the end of the day, it could soothe that pain after kissing a tall guy or being employed to the most coveted fashion house.
Here are 10 facts about heels by Catherine Strawn:
1. A new report indicates that on average, women begin wearing at age 12 and continue doing so until they’re 63.
2. High heels for women are believed to have originated with Catherine de Medici, a 16th century Italian noblewoman who was short in stature and wanted to make a bigger impression when she arrived in France to marry the future King Henry.
3. Christian Louboutin’s red soles are a registered trademark of the brand.
4. Altocalciphilia is the condition of having a high heel fetish, as in “Carrie Bradshaw had a borderline case of altocalciphilia.”
5. Jimmy Choos have been referenced in songs by Hilary Duff, Shyne,Pitbull, Clipse, Sway, 50 Cent, and Chester French.
6. 80 craftsmen will touch one pair of Stuart Weitzman heels during the 6 to 7 weeks of production time it takes to make them.
8. Roger-Henri Vivier is credited with inventing (or at least re-popularizing) the stiletto heel in the 1950s.
9. Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos owned 1,200 pairs of shoes.
10. Despite all of cutbacks during World War II, high shoes were very in style. Designers created tall, uplifting heels using materials that weren’t rationed, like wood straw and snakeskin.
Alexander McQueen is suing Steve Madden for allegedly copying this Faithful bootie:
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