The First High Heels Were Designed for Men

While they’re typically considered feminine today, high heels started as functional footwear for men. In the 10th century, Persian men wore heeled shoes on horseback because they clicked into stirrups, which helped them stay steady when firing arrows in battle. The extra height didn’t hurt, either. The style spread to Europe in the 17th century, after Persian Shah Abbas I went on a diplomatic tour to Spain, Germany, and Russia. In Europe, they were considered a sign of masculinity; women began wearing them because adopting masculine styles was trendy at the time.

Practical riding heels — for example, cowboy boots — are still in use today for all genders, although they’re not typically advertised as high heels.

Early High Heels Were a Sign of Status

At first, Europeans adopted high heels in much the same way Persians did — for stability in horseback riding. As the 17th century went on, however, heels started to rise in usage among the aristocracy, particularly in France. There’s no way you could do manual labor, or even walk very far, in ornate 5-inch heels, so only people of leisure would wear them.

Louis XIV Loved a Signature Heel

French monarch Louis XIV was pretty short, and wore heels — 4-inch red ones, specifically — as a symbol of his authority. Sometimes, his heels were even decorated with battle scenes. Red dye was expensive, which made what was already a status symbol even more glaring. In 1670, the king issued a decree that only members of his court were allowed to wear red heels, which meant that (theoretically) you could tell who was in royal favor just by looking at their shoes.

16th-Century Venetian Women Wore Bizarre Platforms

In early 16th-century Venice, women wore a strange precursor to the heel: the chopine, a high platform shoe designed to protect feet from muddy streets. The height of the shoes may have been associated with the level of nobility of the wearer. One pair at a Venetian museum is a full 20 inches high — imagine the prestige!

Even at shorter heights, chopines were a luxury item, and usually required an attendant to walk next to the wearer to help them stay steady.

Stilettos Required Cutting-Edge Tech

Images of what would later be called stiletto heels, named for a small Italian style of dagger, appeared in erotic art in the early 20th century, but engineering hadn’t come far enough at that point to make actual stilettos that people could walk on.

After World War II, new materials and techniques, some designed for aircraft carriers, made ultra-thin heels possible. High heels had previously often been made of wood, which can only support so much weight without cracking, but in the postwar era, shoe designers increasingly turned to steel for its incredible tensile strength. Designers figured out steel shanks, a load-bearing part of the sole that supports the foot and takes the pressure off the toe and heel. Multiple designers released stiletto heels in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and fashion historians are still divided on which designer actually came first. As plastic technology improved in the 1960s, designers were able to make lightweight heels with plastic shanks instead.

Louboutin’s Red Soles Were Inspired by Nail Polish

One of the most sought-after makers of high heels is Christian Louboutin, known for his signature red soles; his wares are sometimes called “red bottoms.” It may seem like a nod to Louis XIV’s luxurious color preference, but according to the brand, it was more of a fortunate accident. The story goes that Louboutin was working on prototypes in the early 1990s, but was unhappy with the black soles on the shoes, which he thought made them look clunky. As he was having that thought, his assistant was painting her nails red — so he snagged the bottle and painted the bottom of the shoe. The rest is history.

High Heels Change Your Posture — Short- and Long-Term

One reason for the popularity of high heels is the way the wearer stands and walks in them. With the feet at an angle and body weight pitching toward the toes, different muscle groups have to fire to stay upright. The back arches, the chest puffs forward, the bottom sticks out, and calf muscles tighten. This creates what some consider an attractive shape, but staying in that position for too long too regularly can have serious consequences. Regular use can result in foot injuries, including bunions and hammertoe, as well as long-term changes to hip muscles, the lumbar spine, and even leg bones.

Coco Chanel Was in Her 70s When She Released Her Iconic Slingback

One of the best-known creations to come from the Chanel fashion house is the two-tone slingback heel with a beige body, black toe, and sturdy 2-inch heel. Coco Chanel designed the black toes, inspired by the black toes of sailors’ shoes and sturdy sporting sandals, to help hide scuffs, minimize the foot, and elongate the leg. They’re a mainstay for the brand even years after Chanel’s death — but they were released in 1957 during a second act for the designer, who was 73 or 74 at the time.

Manolo Blahnik’s Hangisi Shoe Was Inspired by Josephine Bonaparte

Designer Manolo Blahnik’s most sought-after footwear is the Hangisi shoe, a luxurious-looking heel with a decorative buckle on the toe. The shoe hit the market in 2008, and was popularized by the Sex and the City film that came out the same year.

Blahnik designed the shoe after seeing portraits of Empress Josephine Bonaparte and her sister-in-law Pauline and noting their opulent footwear, likely designed by the House of Leroy, Josephine’s preferred fashion house. White the style comes in many fabrics, each bejeweled buckle contains exactly 144 Swarovski crystals.

Fittingly, the shoe is now in a royal portrait of its own: Catherine, Princess of Wales, wore an emerald green pair posing for a painting alongside her husband, Prince William.