Heel shoe: Encyclopedia II - Heel shoe - History

Heel shoe - History

High heels are not a modern invention. Rather, they enjoy a rich and varied history, for both men as well as women. Controversy exists over when high heels were first invented, but the consensus is that heels were worn by both men and women throughout the world for many centuries and for a variety of reasons.

Although high heeled shoes are depicted in ancient Egyptian murals on tombs and temples, the earliest recorded instance of men or women wearing an elevated shoe comes from Hellenic times. It's suspected that the wear of an elevated sole, or heel, occurred centuries before, there's little direct evidence to support this, although there is indeed much indirect evidence that lends credence to the use of high heels for many reasons.

The first officially recorded instance of the wear of high heels involved the 1533 marriage between Catherine de Medici with the Duke of Orleans. She wore heels made in Florence for her wedding, and as a result, high heels became the norm for ladies of the Duke's court in France. In fact, it's plausible that the "modern" high heel was invented by non other than Leonardo da Vinci.

Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary"), another vertically challenged monarch, wore heels as high as possible. From this period until the early 19th century, high heels are frequently in vogue for both sexes."

Around 1660, a shoemaker named Nicholas Lestage designed high heeled shoes for Louis XIV. Some were more than four inches, and most were decorated in various battle scenes. The resulting high "Louis heels" subsequently became fashionable for ladies.

The late 18th-Century trend toward lower heels had much to do with the French Revolution. During the revolution, high heels became acquainted with the opulence. As a result, most people wished to avoid any semblance of wealth, which was singularly remarkable in the elmination of heels from the common market for both men and women. In the wake of the French Revolution heels become lower than at any time in the 18th century.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki