Women wear high heels to appear feminine, professional, or taller. Though these ladies shoes are a common staple of fashion, the history of its popularity and how it came to be is wrought with gender wars and controversy.
In the ancient world, shoes with heels were used to identify people of different social rankings. In Egypt, those of higher social standing or who took part in religious ceremonies wore heeled shoes while the poor walked barefoot. However, in ancient Rome heels were a sign of prostitution.
The Dark Ages and Renaissance established the heel as a signifier of rank. Pattens and chopines were two different kinds of soles people used to attach to the bottom of expensive shoes to keep them clean from mud. European monarchs' influence also aided in turning the heel into a statement of social importance. For example, Catherine de Medici of France and Mary I of England wore heels to increase their height and impress their respective courts. By 1580, privileged men and women wore heels to signify their own importance and social standing. In the 1700s, King Louis XIV of France decreed only the rich could wear red heels. While in Europe, these were used to show social status, but in Turkey and China heels were used to keep women from running away a superior male figure.
The 18th century saw a decline in heels. In France, Napoleon tried to destroy anything perceived as a sign of excess, including high heeled ladies shoes. In the American colonies, witches were accused of trying to seduce men because they wore heels.
The 1860s saw the heel making a comeback. Sewing machines made shoe manufacturing quicker, and heels became a beauty statement as they emphasized the arches of women's feet.
In the 20th century, the high heel's popularity continually fluctuated. At first women demanded practical and comfortable shoes. However, the 1920s and the rise of Hollywood celebrities donning heels revived its popularity. During the Great Depression and WWII, less high heels were manufactured and less people could afford them. Designer Christian Dior and Roger Vivier recreated the high heel in the 1950s. They presented the stiletto, a heel with an extremely thin heel and narrow toe. The Daily Telegram described these as a sign of "sexual maturation".
The latter part of the century saw a continual ebbing of the high heel's reputation. In the 1960s, feminists rejected heels and saw them as a sign of men's stereotyping women's sexuality. The platform shoe, worn by men and women, was extremely prominent in the 1970s, largely due to John Travolta. Later in the 1980s and 1990s, women's attitudes towards high heels changed. Attractive shoes were no longer a symbol of subservience to men but of women accepting their own sexuality.
Today, women wear heels to create fashion statements of their own beauty and power. From pumps to heeled tennis shoes, the heel has found its way into almost every kind of shoe and has cemented itself in the fashion world.
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